Analysis Christian Klein cut a lonely figure in front of mysteriously floating cameras in his computer-generated studio. Yet, presenting a vision of enterprise resource planning arguably as idealised as the CGI mountains looming over his shoulder, SAP’s CEO pressed on. “Having one semantic data layer on your platform is a key treasure, which only SAP can offer… Combined with one analytics layer across our apps, it enables you…

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With a certain inevitability, Microsoft has wielded the axe on the preview of Azure Service Fabric Mesh, before the technology even had a chance to trouble General Availability. Launched back in July 2018, the theory was that developers would delight in the ability to pop their containerised apps into the managed cloudy service without having to worry about VMs, storage or network configuration. The theory went that one could…

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The UK’s halls of computing geekery continue to be shut thanks to the ongoing pandemic. However, virtual tours and talks are on offer for those seeking a diversion from streaming platform bingeing. Museums have endured a tough time since restrictions were first imposed. As well having to close in response to government guidelines, the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge suffered a burst water main, which flooded much of…

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Eleven years ago this week, Steve Jobs introduced the iPad to a bemused world. We say bemused, because at the time, nobody really knew what it was. It was as though the tech chattering classes were cut into two opposing camps: those who saw it as the future of computing, and those who dismissed it as a “beefed-up iPod touch“. Over a decade later, it’s not clear which side…

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The OSI (Open Source Intitiative) has approved version 2 of CERN’s Open Hardware License (OHL), meaning it conforms to its Open Source Definition and respects the ideals and ethos of the movement. Geneva-based CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) says it has an open-source culture. “Our main mandate at CERN is to conduct basic research. But there is a lesser-known part of our mandate, which is to make…

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Bork!Bork!Bork! Windows Mobile may be dead, but Microsoft’s earlier attempt at a lightweight operating system lives on – albeit in unexpected form – thanks to the self-scanners so beloved by some of the UK’s supermarkets. British grocery behemoth, Tesco, seems to be having a few problems with its wonder gizmos, judging by the deluge of distressed devices snapped by eagle-eyed Register readers. Tesco’s “Scan as you Shop” service is…

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Apple is making bank in a pandemic – as millennials might say. The company last night reported doubles all round as demand for its latest blower ballooned, and customers locked indoors due to coronavirus countermeasures lapped up Macs and iPads. For the company’s Q1 of fiscal 2021 ended 26 December – seasonally Apple’s strongest quarter of the year – revenue bounced 21 per cent year-on-year to a whopping $111.4bn….

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Linux kernel maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman has responded to complaints that the current promise of two years for 5.10 is not enough, explaining that support is not automatic but requires commercial help. Version 5.10 of the kernel was released in December and designated a “long-term maintenance” release, which generally means six years of support with important bugfixes and security patches. Broadcom’s Scott Branden spotted that the official release table only…

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It is official: Huawei is no longer a major smartphone maker after it fell out of the top five line-up of the biggest sellers in Q4. As for Apple? It is again at the summit, at least according to Canalys. In total, Apple shipped 81.8 million iPhones worldwide during the three months ending 31 December, representing 4 per cent year-on-year growth and taking its market share to 23 per…

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Visual Studio Code only succeeded because a failed online editor was pivoted to become a desktop product, according to Microsoft Distinguished Engineer Erich Gamma. Gamma spoke at the virtual VS Code Day yesterday on how the world’s favourite programmer’s editor (or is it an IDE?) came about. Introduced at the Build event in April 2015, the VS Code open-source editor is nearly six years old. Microsoft already had a…

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