2014-09-19

As developers for tablets and smartphones we like to keep abreast of the latest mobile technology developments . This is a daily digest of mobile development and related technology news gathered from the BBC, the New York Times, New Scientist and the Globe and Mail to name a few. We scour the web for articles concerning, iPhone, iPad and android development, iOS and android operating systems as well as general articles on advances in mobile technology. We hope you find this useful and that it helps to keep you up to date with the latest technology developments.

First look: iPhone 6, 6 Plus

The wait is finally over as the Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus finally start landing in the hands of customers. As has been suggested, the iPhone 6 Plus is indeed in relatively short supply at launch with greater stock availability of the new 4.7-inch model. We have got our hands on a 64GB iPhone 6 in Space Grey and a 16GB iPhone 6 Plus in Silver, and both are stunning devices to behold. So how are they shaping up in our first few hours with them?



How To Do Email Handoff in iOS 8

One of the great new features of iOS 8 is continuity and part of that is handoff.  Handoff allows you to start working on a file, message or email from one device and finish it on another.  Let’s say you are walking to the train station and you start an email on your iPhone.  When you get on the train and you open up your iPad, you can swipe up on the Lock Screen to move that email to your iPad for a more comfortable typing experience. In this How To I will show you how to do email handoff

The post How To Do Email Handoff in iOS 8 appeared first on AlliOSNews.

Wozniak on the iPhone 6: 'I've gotten rid of my Android phones'

Approached by a stalking TMZ.com producer fresh off a flight, Apple co-founder and member of the Inventor Hall of Fame Steve Wozniak spoke briefly about his enthusiasm for Apple’s latest products, including the iPhone 6. While he didn’t specify which model he has, he apparently already has at least one of them, as he has “gotten rid of all [his] Androids,” he told the reporter.

Apple Releases Safari 7.1 for OS X Mavericks

Apple continues to work on OS X Mavericks with the release earlier this week of the 10.9.5 update.  This morning they have release Safari 7.1, the latest update to the Mac browser.  The update brings several new features and enhancements, the biggest of which is search engine DuckDuckGo.  If you aren’t familiar with DuckDuckGo, it is a search engine that does not do any user tracking.  You can now select this as your default search engine inside of Safari’s settings. For Yahoo users, there are new security improvements in Safari 7.1.  Now all Yahoo search fields when using in Safari

The post Apple Releases Safari 7.1 for OS X Mavericks appeared first on AlliOSNews.

Watch This Guy Get The Store's First iPhone 6, Then Immediately Drop It

Looks like the iPhone 6 may have gotten its first drop test.

Jack Cooksey, a young man in Perth, Australia, was the first customer out the door with a brand-new iPhone 6. But when a morning television show asked him to take it out of the box on live television, he got a little nervous.

Check out the clip above to see what happened.

“Luckily it’s covered in plastic, so it’s fine,” Cooksey told Perth Now.

Definitely don’t try this outside your own local Apple Store… or anywhere else, for that matter.

Teardown of iPhone 6 Plus posted by iFixit, reveals 2915mAh battery

The Australian branch of repair specialists iFixit has obtained an iPhone 6 Plus, and has naturally opted to risk destroying it in the name of doing a teardown for the benefit of its users and gadget fans. The biggest discovery is the confirmation that the iPhone 6 Plus, a 5.5-inch version of the iPhone 6, uses a 2915mAh battery — twice the capacity of the one found in the iPhone 5s — to power the larger screen and yet provide better runtime life.

Australia opens iPhone 6 sales to 'massive' crowds

While buyers in North America must wait until tomorrow for the launch of Apple’s new iPhone 6 lineup, Australia — by dint of being on the other side of the international date line — becomes the first country in the world to launch the new iPhones. A MacNN staffer visiting the Penrith Apple Store in New South Wales near Sydney has reported a “massive” lineup, consisting of hundreds of buyers outside the store.

'Artificial eye' to detect particles

The human eye has inspired physicists to create a processor that can analyse particle collisions 400 times faster than currently possible.

2014 Ig Nobel Awards Include Jesus In Toast Researchers

The 2014 Ig Nobel winners, awarded Thursday at Harvard University by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine:

___ PHYSICS: Kiyoshi Mabuchi, Kensei Tanaka, Daichi Uchijima and Rina Sakai for studying the slipperiness of banana peels.

NEUROSCIENCE: Jiangang Liu, Jun Li, Lu Feng, Ling Li, Jie Tian and Kang Lee, for their study “Seeing Jesus in Toast,” and trying to understand what happens in the brains of people who see human faces in a piece of toast.

PSYCHOLOGY: Peter K. Jonason, Amy Jones and Minna Lyons, for figuring out that people who habitually stay up late tend to be more self-admiring, more manipulative and more psychopathic than people who habitually arise early.

PUBLIC HEALTH: Jaroslav Flegr, Jan Havlicek and Jitka Hanusova-Lindova, and to David Hanauer, Naren Ramakrishnan and Lisa Seyfried, for investigating whether it is mentally hazardous to own a cat.

BIOLOGY: Vlastimil Hart, Petra Novakova, Erich Pascal Malkemper, Sabine Begall, Vladimir Hanzal, Milos Jezek, Tomas Kusta, Veronika Nemcova, Jana Adamkova, Katerina Benediktova, Jaroslav Cerveny and Hynek Burda, for carefully documenting that dogs align themselves with earth’s magnetic field when defecating.

ART: Marina de Tommaso, Michele Sardaro and Paolo Livrea, for measuring the relative pain people suffer while looking at an ugly painting, rather than a pretty painting, while a laser beam is aimed at their hand.

ECONOMICS: Italy’s National Institute of Statistics for taking the lead in fulfilling the European Union mandate to increase the official size of its national economy by including revenues from prostitution, illegal drug sales, smuggling, and other unlawful financial transactions.

MEDICINE: Ian Humphreys, Sonal Saraiya, Walter Belenky and James Dworkin, for treating “uncontrollable” nosebleeds with strips of-cured pork.

ARCTIC SCIENCE: Eigil Reimers and Sindre Eftestol, for testing how reindeer react to humans disguised as polar bears.

NUTRITION: Raquel Rubio, Anna Jofra, Belen Martin, Teresa Aymerich and Margarita Garriga, for their study of using infant fecal bacteria as potential probiotic starter cultures for fermented sausages.

Oracle boss Larry Ellison steps down

Multi-billionaire Oracle boss Larry Ellison steps aside to focus on product engineering, as Mark Hurd and Safra Catz are named as co-chief executives.

A Billion Websites and Counting

According to Yahoo News, quoting information from Internet Live Stats, we passed the billion mark for websites, just after the web hit its 25th birthday in April. Across the globe, people have taken their time, energy and creativity to produce over a billion points of connection to other people, and that figure continues to grow. A billion is a number that’s really too big for me to wrap my brain around.

A couple of years ago, DOMO created an infographic depicting the sheer volume of data coursing through the virtual veins of the Internet. Every minute, “YouTube users upload 48 hours of video, Facebook users share 684,478 pieces of content, Instagram users share 3,600 new photos, and Tumblr sees 27,778 new posts published.” The numbers are higher now; that was two years ago, which, in the virtual world, is ancient history.

How are we to cope with this flood of information? And, within this flood, which are facts and which are not? Who do you trust when you’ve got a billion choices? How do you filter out what you need to know from all the digital flotsam and jetsam? How do you know what’s real and what’s virtual?

When I was growing up and needed a pair of shoes, there were three brick-and-mortar stores to choose from. I had a parental cost filter, as well, so my choices were limited. Yet, I always was able to find shoes. Now, on Bing, when I type in “shoes,” I get 156 million websites to choose from. It is not possible for me to visit 156 million websites to search for shoes. I guess I could just hit the first sponsored link (Zappos) and take my chances. Or, I could go down to the local store I’ve shopped at for years, but, if I do, what am I missing out on?

Have you ever watched an average person at a press conference, caught in some sort of media spotlight? When the forest of hands and cacophony of questions swell in front of them, they can look like a paralyzed deer in the headlights, overwhelmed and unsure of what hand to pick or which question to answer first. In a way, a billion websites is like a billion hands in the air. In a way, a 156 million websites is like a 156 million people telling me what kind of shoes to buy.

As a kid with three choices, I always had shoes but, sometimes, I was glad when a pair wore out and I got to choose again. Choice is supposed to be about freedom, making a stand with what you choose. But what happens when there are so many choices, you can’t choose? Three choices may not have been much of choice but I’m not so sure a billion choices are any better. The Internet is growing, which means choice is growing. Somehow, we need to find a way to navigate through those upraised hands, clamoring for our attention, because we can’t pay attention to them all.

If you think you can, try going to the Internet Live Stats website; it’s mind-bending. There are real-time counts for categories like Internet users in the world, Total number of websites, emails sent today, Google searches today, blog posts written today, and a host of others. All with numbers frantically spinning higher and higher so fast they become a dizzying blur.

The number of options available to me over the Internet is exploding. When confronted with a billion upraised hands, how do I know which ones I should choose and how do I feel good about those choices? When there were three choices, I was confident I chose the best shoes I could. With a billion choices, how can I be so sure?

In 25 years, we’ve gained choices but we may have lost our confidence we’re making good ones. Happy birthday, Internet.

3 Ways to Plan Digital Afterlife

Facebook, Google and Twitter all have different policies dealing with your digital afterlife. State laws are emerging in the social media afterlife world. That being said, here are 3 ways to plan your digital afterlife now:

1. Google/Gmail/Google Plus/You Tube/Blogger:

Use the tool “inactive account manager.” Your data can be deleted after a certain period of inactivity or you can designate someone to receive the data. Inactive account manager (Your survivor must sign into their google account to access this tool.)

2. Facebook

There is no access to accounts of dead people on Facebook. Your survivors can request that the account be “memorialized.” The account then will not appear in the “people you know” section for friendship suggestions.

The settings remain the same as if you were alive. Memorialized

3. Twitter

A death certificate needs to be presented and the account can be deactivated. Since the name on the death certificate might not match the name on the account, your survivors also need to provide a “brief description of the details that evidence this accounts belongs to the deceased,”

A deactivated account can be deleted after 30 days. Delete account

Clemson University Halts Use Of Survey Asking About Students' Sex Lives

Clemson University suspended a controversial online Title IX training program after students complained the survey wanted to know too much about their sex lives.

The conservative website Campus Reform reported students at the South Carolina school had to answer questions about how many times they had sex in the past three months and with how many people. Students were also asked about their drinking habits and affiliation with Greek life and athletics. Although students were told their responses would be anonymous, they had to use their university IDs to log into the training. Completion of the entire training was mandatory.

The training program, which intends to prepare students for college by “focusing on minimizing the risks associated with alcohol, drugs and sexual violence,” was created by CampusClarity. On its blog, the company writes about the importance of training students in sexual assault and substance abuse together, pointing to the high percentage of survivors and assailants who were drinking during assaults.

In a call with The Huffington Post, CampusClarity said that in its three years of administering the program, complaints about the personal history questions didn’t arise until this year. Three schools have voiced concerns this year out of the 190 using the program, and CampusClarity is working with them to amend the training.

CampusClarity’s privacy policy notes that while student responses to the behavioral questions are recorded, their names and IDs are not connected to that information. The information is aggregated into a report for school administrators so they can get a sense of behavior on campus and find high-risk groups. CampusClarity told HuffPost it plans to add an option next year for students to decline to answer personal background questions.

The Obama administration, members of Congress and experts on sexual violence have pressured colleges to conduct climate surveys recently, as they have shined a spotlight on how campus rape cases are handled.

However, the student backlash to the unexpected survey at Clemson began quickly, as students immediately emailed administrators and talked to professors about their concerns. Students were upset that their personal backgrounds would be recorded on a third-party website and questioned the necessity of providing that information, according to Greenville Online.

Campus Reform published an initial article about the program on Wednesday, and by late Wednesday night the program had been suspended “until the content is further reviewed and revised,” Clemson announced.

The CampusClarity program is similar to other online training programs, such as AlcoholEdu, which has faced questions about its long-term effectiveness. However, some smaller-scale experiments on short online intervention programs have shown a positive influence on students’ behaviors in college.

We Tasted Surge Soda So You Don't Have To

Surge soda returned to the e-shelves on Monday and people are reacting as though Coca-Cola brought back their childhood. Which it kind of did.

Though the ingredients haven’t really changed, we questioned the taste. After a mysterious box of Surge appeared in the HuffPost offices, we decided to conduct a Surge Taste Test.

Gulping down the green drink, which contains roughly 230 calories and 50 milligrams of sodium per can, wasn’t pretty, but it was definitely worth it just to say we got to sip the 90s again.

Here are our reactions to Surge:

“Tastes like 3 am Dungeons & Dragons with a hint of no girlfriend.” -Andy McDonald

“Subtle hints of citrus and lime, with a nutty finish that doesn’t overwhelm the palate. Just kidding.” -Ben Hart

“I’m sorry. I can’t try this. It looks like poison.” -Kate Bratskeir.

“If you melted down green freeze pops, this is what you would be left with.” -Samantha Toscano

“Surge is like what would happen if Mountain Dew and Sprite had a baby that they didn’t feel like heavily carbonating.” -Jenna Amatulli

“Nostalgia never tasted so good.” -Marc Janks

“Tastes like creme de menthe and water. It actually looks less appealing than Mountain Dew.” -Buck Wolf

“This tastes sort of like sweeter Sprite, and is probably best as cold as humanly possible.” -Hilary Hanson

“Tastes like Sprite, but less fizzy. The intense green color makes me feel like I’m drinking something from another planet… still waiting for my energy surge.” -Suzy Strutner

“This didn’t need to be brought back. It’s just not that good and its color is upsetting.” -Simon McCormack

“The toxic green color tricked my brain into thinking it tastes like green apple, but upon thinking, it actually just tastes like a vague citrusy sugar flavor. It’s not terrible, but I wouldn’t voluntarily drink this again.” -Kristen Aiken

The one bonus we can think of? It’s kinda low in sodium. Enjoy!

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Home Depot Admits 56 Million Payment Cards At Risk After Cyber Attack

The Home Depot said Thursday that about 56 million customer debit and credit cards were put at risk after hackers broke into the company’s payment systems.

In a statement, the home improvement retailer said the malicious software used in the attack had been removed from its computer system in the United States and Canada and that the company had enhanced encryption at point-of-sale terminals at its U.S. stores.

The number of cardholders affected in the Home Depot attack marks what is likely the largest breach ever of a retailer’s computer system, surpassing the 40 million cardholders who were affected when Target was hacked last fall.

Home Depot’s investigation found the hackers escaped detection by using custom-made malware that had never been seen before. Such malware — which hackers call “zero days” because that’s how long it’s been known — can’t be spotted by traditional anti-virus software.

Home Depot said the malware that stole the credit card data resided on its computer systems from April until September of this year — far longer than the attack against Target, which went on for about three weeks.

Home Depot said there was no evidence that debit card PIN numbers were compromised or that the breach impacted stores in Mexico or customers who shopped online.

The retailer is offering free credit monitoring to customers who used a payment card at a Home Depot store since April. Home Depot has 1,977 stores in the United States and 180 in Canada.

“We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and anxiety this has caused, and want to reassure them that they will not be liable for fraudulent charges,” Home Depot CEO Frank Blake said in a statement. “From the time this investigation began, our guiding principle has been to put our customers first, and we will continue to do so.”

The company said it has finished installing security software that scrambles credit card data to make it unreadable to hackers. The rollout of the software began in January, but it wasn’t completed in Home Depot’s U.S. stores until last Saturday.

The company also said it will finish setting up more secure credit card readers in all of its U.S. stores by the end of the year. The new technology will be able to read a new type of credit card that uses a combination of an embedded microchip and a code to authorize transactions. “Chip and pin” technology, as it is known, is supposed to make it much more difficult for thieves to use stolen credit card data to make counterfeit cards. All merchants and banks are under an October 2015 deadline to upgrade to the more secure credit cards.

The Home Depot breach is just the latest in a string of cyber attacks against major retailers this year. Target, Sally Beauty, Neiman Marcus and Michaels have all also been hacked.

That list is expected to grow even longer. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security warned that more than 1,000 U.S. retailers may have been infected with malware lurking in their payment systems.

While Home Depot confirmed the size of the breach Thursday, many questions remain unanswered, including how the hackers found their way into the retailer’s computer system — and who they are.

Investigators believe the thieves may be from Eastern Europe because the malware they used in the attack had links to websites referencing the United States’ role in the conflict in Ukraine, according to The New York Times.

While the breach affected 56 million cards, it could have been even worse. The hackers installed malware mostly on payment systems in Home Depot’s self-checkout lanes, suggesting they likely stole fewer cards than they could have if they had targeted regular checkout lanes, according to cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs, who cited sources close to the investigation.

Virtually 'no chance' of finding iPhone 6 Plus at retail on Friday

People trying to buy an iPhone 6 Plus at a third-party retailer tomorrow may be out of luck, sources at carrier stores and Apple’s retail partners say. Although outlets are said to be receiving shipments all day today, only 2 to 3 percent of iPhone 6 units are said to be the Plus, and even then only in one color. There’s almost “no chance” of finding a Plus on Friday, the people claim, adding that the 16GB version will be absent entirely. The regular iPhone 6 should be available in all colors and storage capacities, if in varying degrees.

London's 7 Fast-Growing & Disruptive Health Tech Startups

By Lora Schellenberg

For a nation whose National Health Service has become a model system for universal healthcare, it is no wonder the UK is an international hub for health technology.

The health tech movement in the UK is not concerned with creating the next “Yo” app or useless million dollar hype. Rather, it is focused on transforming the face of a distorted, behind-the-times industry.

A £100 billion industry in the UK alone, the costs of healthcare are only rising. Incorporating technology will be the answer to lowering costs and providing better quality of life for everyone.

From battling sleep disorders to giving anyone real-time direct access to physicians, here are the fast-growing London startups that are contributing to changing the face of healthcare in the UK and beyond.

Babylon

Founded in 2013 by Ali Parsa

A relatively new app on the scene, Babylon aims to help patients access a doctor through mobile technology, much like you would order an Uber or Hailo cab. The company officially launched in May 2014 with the vision of offering the public the world’s simplest virtual health service, right from the palm of your hand.

Currently only available in the UK on iOS and Android, the app offers a range of health-related services, including access to virtual clinicians, prescription retrieval, and symptom monitoring, all for a small monthly fee of £7.99.

With the app, you can schedule an appointment with a doctor over webcam or even send a quick text with a photo of an infected toenail. Within minutes, a professional responds to the query, and like other novel service-oriented mobile apps, users can then rate the quality of their appointed doctor post-consultation.

After an impressive debut at WIRED Health 2014, Babylon was widely praised as a game-changer in the developing world of on-demand healthcare.

Big Health

Founded in 2010 by Peter Hames and Professor Colin Espie

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 450 million people worldwide suffer from a mental health condition, yet so many of them aren’t finding the help they require to live more fulfilling lives. Why is it that pills with endless side effects are pushed at the problem when behavioral solutions can often give a better quality of life?

Big Health, a company which creates highly personalized behavioral psychotherapy treatment programs for various conditions, emerged in 2010 with its initial product Sleepio. An online sleep improvement program based on cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), the web app has been clinically proven to help people make changes necessary to overcome issues like long term poor sleep, without any medication. On average, Sleepio users fall asleep 54% faster, experience 62% fewer nighttime awakenings, and report a 58% boost in daytime energy and concentration.

This year, Big Health won the WIRED Health Bupa Startup competition and secured $3.3 million Series A funding from Forward Partners and Index Ventures. Look out for Sleepio on iPhone, the company’s first native iOS app, set to be released soon.

TrialReach

Founded in 2009 by Pablo Graiver, Dr. Jessica Mann and Dr. Eithan Ephrati

If you have a chronic or life-limiting disease, wouldn’t you want to know all your treatment options? TrialReach, a global platform making it easier for patients to find clinical trials, was born out of genuine frustration. How could it be so simple to book a hotel or flight, but impossible to find additional medical trial options for people suffering from serious conditions? Most doctors aren’t even aware of what ongoing trials are out there because information online is scattered, complex and often unreliable.

TrialReach is addressing a fundamental problem in research: connecting the right people with the right researchers. A surprising 84% of cancer patients aren’t aware that a clinical trial is a possible option. Patients miss out on the opportunity to access potentially innovative treatments, especially seeing as it takes an average of 12 years for a drug to pass through trials and enter the market.

This year, TrialReach has become the biggest source of clinical trials worldwide due to a partnership with the World Health Organization, giving patients access to over 270,000 clinical trials across the globe. In addition, they’re working closely with Facebook on a project to increase patient awareness of cancer treatment trials. Forbes recently stated about the company that “Democratizing clinical trial information, making it available and understandable, could break down the barriers required to fundamentally change the way patients and researchers work together”.

CreateHealth.io

Founded in 2012 by Jonathan Gwillim, Kate Eversole, and Theo Fellgett

CreateHealth.io offers customer insight to healthcare providers through online crowdsourcing of patient opinion. Branded originally as PatientsCreate, the company promotes people having the power to inform and change how they are cared for.

For healthcare companies, CreateHealth.io’s services will quickly and easily engage thousands of people to discover fresh insight and test new ideas and innovations. Basically, they’ve created a giant online focus group applying itself solely to key topics in healthcare.

Their first pilot project saw the pharmaceutical company AbbVie host an open online discussion where those living with Parkinson’s disease discussed their definition of “quality of life”. It was the first time a life sciences company used open social media in this way and CreateHealth.io continues to work with global pharmaceuticals and hospitals through this crowdsourcing method.

In October, the startup is hosting their second annual customer summit, CreateHealth London, which will gather 25 speakers and 250 healthcare executives to focus on creating and validating new healthcare solutions. They’re also currently developing London’s first healthcare co-working space to support digital health innovation and collaboration, an exciting prospect for everyone involved in the London health tech scene.

uMotif

Founded in 2012 by Bruce Hellman and Ben James

15 million adults in the UK have at least one long term health condition, many of which have more than one, and this number continues to rise. Because of this, digital health startup uMotif developed an app that helps strengthen vital relationships between patients and their clinicians and carers, aiming to improve the lives of those suffering from chronic illness.

The daily tracking app lets patients measure various aspects important to their health condition, from glucose levels for diabetics to blood pressure for heart disease patients. In 2012, the company launched its first app targeting Parkinson’s disease, which has since been further developed to support diabetes, heart failure, types of cancer, renal conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, and adrenal insufficiency.

The company works with patients, doctors, and academics alike in developing and testing the app. It combines patient-led data inputs, passive sensor data, health open data sets and a range of engaging content to help patients improve how they self-manage their condition.

Users are currently only able to access the app via personal invitation from a doctor, but uMotif aims to release their product to the general public in the future. The ultimate goal is to help people with long term conditions live more healthy, engaged and independent lives through health self-management.

HealthUnlocked

Founded in 2010 by Jorge Armanet and Dr. Matt Jameson Evans

HealthUnlocked is an online social network where patients, caregivers and health advocates around the world can connect safely online within condition-specific communities.

The digital platform allows patients to share personal stories and information, supporting each other through challenging times in dealing with health conditions like cancer, fibromyalgia, and heart disease. Offering a secure and anonymous online community, 47% of HealthUnlocked users say they access fewer clinical services because they have peer support on tap.

The intelligence of the system also “reads” which conditions, symptoms, treatments, and services users are discussing online, offering the most relevant content to users based on their profile. Over 3 million experiences have been shared in HealthUnlocked communities, and many more are created every day.

HealthUnlocked officially launched in the US in July 2014 and continues to expand their existing 2.5 million monthly worldwide visitors.

Zesty

Founded in 2012 by Lloyd Price and James Balmain

Booking appointments online is a luxury that patients in the UK and Europe as a whole still aren’t widely benefitting from. Zesty‘s mission is to make this simple action an everyday reality.

The Zesty platform allows patients to find local healthcare providers and compare doctors and services using real crowdsourced reviews from its users, as well as book confirmed appointments within minutes. Clinicians can also open up cancelled appointment slots in real time, providing more opportunities for patients to book appointments, all in a sleek, easy-to-use online system.

Live in London since May 2013 and now with over 1,000 healthcare professionals signed up, Zesty has a Series A funding to look forward to in November 2014. Patients can also expect the launch of a suite of mobile apps for iOS and Android as the company expands to other northern and central European countries.

The impact these London-based healthcare technology companies aim to create in the next decade, in addition to the numerous innovative efforts around the globe, will change the face of healthcare forever. In the near future, booking an appointment online, accessing the right specialist in minutes, connecting with other patients about similar health conditions and accessing clinical trials will become the norm for patients everywhere.

Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO, Is Stepping Down

Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, is stepping down as CEO, according to the company. Ellison, who is the fifth-richest man in the world according to Forbes, was appointed the company’s chief technology officer and will also serve as chairman.

Safra Catz and Mark Hurd are both being promoted to the position of CEO. Before joining Oracle, Hurd was CEO of Hewlett-Packard. He was ousted in 2010 after being investigated over his expense reports and an improper relationship with a contractor.

Ellison co-founded Oracle in 1977.

Here’s more from the AP:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is ending his 37-year reign as CEO of the business software maker that he co-founded and is handing over the job to his two top lieutenants, Safra Catz and Mark Hurd.

As part of the changing-of-the-guard announced Thursday, Ellison will become Oracle Corp.’s chairman and chief technology officer. Jeff Henley, the company’s chairman for the past decade, becomes vice chairman.

Ellison, 70, is likely to continue to play an influential role at Oracle, given his leadership position on the board and his stature as the company’s largest individual shareholder.

The shake-up nevertheless opens a new phase in Oracle’s history. The Redwood Shores, California, company is trying to adapt to the technological upheaval that is causing more of its corporate customers to lease software applications stored in remote data centers instead of paying licensing fees to install programs on machines kept in their own offices.

Before their promotions, Catz and Hurd were Oracle’s co-presidents and had been working closely with Ellison for years. Catz is a former investment banker, while Hurd is best known as the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co.

Hurd stepped down from HP four years ago after that company’s board raised questions about his expense report. Ellison ridiculed HP for its treatment of Hurd, a close friend, and hired him at Oracle.

Ellison, now one of the world’s richest men, founded Oracle Corp. in 1977 with $1,200 of his own money. He was its chairman from May 1995 to January 2004.

Reinventing Law School

Law school was once considered a ticket to prestige, job security, and career satisfaction. Not anymore. According to a new analysis by the National Law Journal, applications to U.S. law schools have declined by more than 37 percent since 2010.

It’s easy to see why. Today’s law students face a contracting job market, massive student debt, stiff competition from abroad, and low job-satisfaction rates.

Law schools must rethink their approach. Like medical schools, they should offer specialized, practical training that ensures students are career-ready the day they graduate.

The nation’s current crop of aspiring attorneys has plenty to worry about. The average student at a private law school will graduate with about $125,000 of debt. The job market for new lawyers is worse than it’s been in two decades, according to a new report from the National Association for Law Placement.

In fact, the employment rate for recent graduates has fallen for six straight years.

Making matters worse, most law students leave school ill-prepared for real-world work. For instance, a second-year law student I mentor loved interning at a technology company this summer. Yet she doesn’t think she’ll be able to get a job there, as her school doesn’t offer the specialized education she needs to even apply.

Her problem is hardly new. When I graduated from Santa Clara Law in 1984, I had no training in areas like intellectual property law, contract negotiation, or SEC filings. And I received no training that would help in the business world, like how to deal with HR disputes or handle basic accounting. I was, however, required to spend countless hours studying the intricacies of community property law, civil procedure, and countless other subjects that had little relevance to my chosen career.

Fortunately, I was able to learn on the job. But in today’s environment, most companies are reluctant to invest in the extensive training that even the most brilliant new lawyers require.

Instead, many recent grads end up at established law firms, with the hopes of receiving more specialized training and pursuing their real interests once they’ve paid off their loans. Such transitions, however, are hard to pull off, because attorneys trained at large law firms often require retraining once they come in-house.

Compared to attorneys at big firms, in-house lawyers need to understand business basics, be comfortable with risk, and have strong communication skills. Elaborately-worded, five-page emails might be fine at a big law firm trying to cover its bases. But when you’re answering a legal question for a time-crunched CEO, brevity and clarity are far more important.

The Digital Age has also hurt job prospects for recent U.S. law school graduates, as legal work has become increasingly portable. Today, companies are able to move work to more cost-effective locations. Some work can even be handled abroad.

Fortunately, law schools can address these challenges by adopting a more practical, career-specific approach to training.

Consider the “ReInvent Law Laboratory” at Michigan State. The program was created, in part, to mix technology into the law school’s curriculum. Today, the Law Lab hosts conferences across the world that have been called “TED for lawyers.” The creators hope that by combining tech and law, lawyers will eventually revolutionize their services to better serve the public.

At the University of Colorado, the law school offers a four-week Tech Lawyer Accelerator program. After the program ends, students spend a semester working for a startup. As with Northwestern University, the school is working to integrate law with business and technology.

A revamped American system might take its cue from medical schools. Under this model, second and third-year law students would choose a specialty track focused on classes relevant to working in-house, at a law firm, in the public sector, or at a nonprofit.

Students would also spend time with a range of practicing lawyers, learning on-the-job in several subspecialties of their chosen field — similar to the rotations of a surgical resident. At the same time, law schools could offer classes in practical business skills like public speaking, corporate management, or even spreadsheet basics.

None of these proposals will be possible, of course, without dramatic reforms by the nation’s bar associations. Indeed, the bar examination’s emphasis on theoretical issues is a chief reason law schools fail to prepare students for the actual practice of law.

A legal-education overhaul of this sort would leave law students better equipped to realize their professional goals, while also making them far more attractive to potential employers. Until law schools and bar associations recognize the need for reform, legal education will remain a risky investment.

Michael Dillon is senior vice president and general counsel for Adobe.

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