You drain me: Apple replaces some iPhone 5 batteries for free

'Very small percentage' affected, says Apple; but small sample showed 2 out of 3 phones eligible

Apple last week said that it will replace some iPhone 5 batteries free of charge, claiming that "a very small percentage" of the smartphones needed to be charged more often and that those charges were quickly exhausted.

The program, which was announced only in a support document published on Apple's website, offered free battery replacements for iPhone 5 devices that "suddenly experience shorter battery life or need to be charged more frequently."

According to Apple, the affected phones were sold between September 2012 and January 2013, and "fall within a limited serial number range." The Cupertino, Calif. company also said that only "a very small percentage" of iPhone 5 devices were impacted.

Computerworld's experience was different. Out of an admittedly small sample -- three iPhone 5 phones bought during the stretch in question, each several weeks apart -- two were eligible for the battery replacement. Neither of the two that qualified, however, had required more charging than was normal for a nearly-two-year-old iPhone, nor did their batteries drain any faster than the third, ineligible, device.

Apple started selling the iPhone 5 on Sept. 21, 2012. It retired the model last year when it was replaced by the iPhone 5S and 5C.

This was not the first time that Apple has dealt with iPhone battery issues. In October 2013, the company confirmed that it was contacting a "very limited" number of iPhone 5S owners and offering them a replacement phone.

In both 2009 and 2011, iPhone users also reported battery-draining problems with their iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4S devices, respectively.

Customers can check their iPhone 5 for battery replacement eligibility on Apple's website by entering their device's serial number. That can be found under Settings/General/About.

Until Friday, Aug. 29, the replacement deal will be available only in the U.S. and China; on that date, other countries will come online.

Users must take advantage of the free replacement within two years of the phone's last purchase, or by March 1, 2015, whichever comes first. Customers can take their smartphones to an Apple retail store or authorized service provider for the new battery swap, or ship it to Apple.

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Five reasons to build an enterprise app store ASAP

This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.

Enterprise IT leaders are embracing enterprise app stores as a way to get business-approved applications into the hands of end users, and with momentum building, now is the time to seize the opportunity. Our recent survey identified the five key reasons why IT should consider building an enterprise app store.

Increased app usage control. Seventy two percent of respondents say increased control over app usage is a primary benefit of having an enterprise app store. To manage business approved applications in the next 12 months, 41% have either deployed an enterprise app store or plan to.

An app could be anything from standard business software to a third-party app like Dropbox. The goal is for users to come to the enterprise app store for all their apps, which enables IT to track costs while remaining in the loop on usage metrics.

This approach empowers us to better track which apps are in use across the enterprise and exert better control over those apps. An enterprise app store features solutions IT is familiar with and able to support. Ultimately, IT must align the apps with those that their customers want and need to do their jobs.

Decreased risk. Sixty five percent stated reduced risk is a primary benefit of having an enterprise app store. When it comes to improving enterprise application security, 61% of survey respondents say implementing an enterprise app store is either very effective or effective.

Growing mobile usage in the enterprise includes users accessing social media and other unapproved apps, which can leave a network open and vulnerable to hacking. An enterprise app store minimizes the potential of malware and spyware resulting from shadow IT by providing more options within the app store that IT has approved.

Control over software expenditures. Fifty four percent of survey respondents say greater control over software expenditures is a primary benefit of having an enterprise app store. With an enterprise app store, IT is kept in the loop with clear visibility over user expenditures.

A user who is unaware that a software license was already purchased may innocently purchase another license. This line item expense often becomes buried and forgotten about when paid for through an employee expense account, and therefore drives up costs unnecessarily. Deferring to IT, who typically receives preferred rates not available to other departments such as HR or marketing, is another way to lower costs.

When IT has control over users coming to the enterprise service catalog for apps, they can start looking at trends by department. Enabling IT to offer users suggestions based on what solutions their coworkers are using is a powerful tool. Monitoring what users are requesting means IT can stay on top of trends and deliver better tools that address user needs.

By having a single pane of glass, IT can ensure customers have the apps they need to do their job, ensuring they are the latest versions and retiring those no longer in use, thereby increasing the value of the app store.

IT is often in the unfortunate position of having to clean up someone else’s mess. Commonly, it involves an unauthorized app that wreaked havoc on a laptop or even the network. IT may have to stop what they are doing and set up a team just to tackle the issue at hand. Shadow IT operations create unnecessary administrative expenses for the organization and headaches for the IT
An enterprise service catalog, which houses the enterprise app store, enables IT to be more proactive in making sure users aren’t getting apps the company can’t support or that pose potential security risks.

Forty one percent of survey respondents say reduced license fees is a primary benefit of having an enterprise app store. Realizing cost savings on license fees is easy to execute with the visibility gained from an enterprise app store.

IT is in a position to strike deals where they obtain licenses at a bulk rate. Achieving a cost savings via consolidating and pooling discounts on solutions multiple users need is an area in which IT can become the fiscal hero.

The time to build an enterprise app store is now. The benefits of building an enterprise app store are numerous. The question is not why should you build an enterprise app store, but why aren’t you building one right now?

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9 wireless battery chargers: No power? No problem!

Tired of having to fumble for the USB port every time your mobile device runs out of power? With these wireless chargers, just put your device down and let it power up.

Wireless chargers are about convenience. Plop your mobile device on a charging station and as long as it's within range (5mm or .20 in. for most chargers) it will power up, no wires needed (but at a slightly slower rate than a wired charger).

The technologies incorporated into most of these chargers is Qi, a standard developed by the Wireless Power Consortium. It transfers energy from the charger to your device through an electromagnetic field. If your phone doesn't have Qi built in, there are a variety of Qi-compliant cases available.

Meanwhile, a merger between the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) and the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) could provide another alternative.

Need a boost? We've assembled one PMA and eight Qi-enabled chargers.

Anker Qi-Enabled Single-Position Wireless Charger
The Anker wireless charging pad has not one, but two display lights on its face. A power indicator glows green if the pad is connected to a power source; a charge indicator lights up green when it is charging your phone but flashes red when your phone is placed incorrectly on the pad (it will stay red if it has malfunctioned). Standard graphics on the face of the charger show where you should place your phone.
As with most wireless chargers, the 6.1 × 3.5 × 0.3 in. Anker will power your device about 15% to 20% slower than a wired charger. It plugs into a power source through a micro USB port on the bottom edge.
Price: $29.99 retail

Choe Inductive Qi Wireless Power Pad
At 3.6 x 3.6 x 0.3 in. and weighing only 2.5 oz., the compact Choe wireless charger is the smallest charger profiled here. It is available in either white or black.
An LED indicator on the side of the charger lets you know it is working; the blue light on the edge will flicker continuously when it is charging your phone. The company says it will charge a Nexus 5 smartphone in around four hours.
Price: $29.99 retail

Duracell Powermat
Instead of Qi, Duracell's Powermat uses a magnetic inductive charging technology championed by the PMA. As a benefit, the PMA is partnering with stores like Starbucks to provide wireless power stations for customers.
The Powermat needs to be coupled with a Duracell wireless case in order to work ($49.99 for an iPhone 5/5S, $25.99 for an iPhone 4/4S or a Samsung Galaxy S III). An audible beep tells you charging has started successfully and another sounds when your device is fully powered -- the Powermat then stops to avoid overcharging your batteries.
A Powermat for one device measures 3.75 x 3.75 x 0.37 in.; larger versions accommodate up to three devices.
Price: $39.99 direct, $24.69 retail (for one-device version)

Gmyle Qi Wireless Charging Pad
The Gmyle aims to keep your smartphone steady. Magnets snap your phone into the optimal position for charging, and the pad sports a non-slip surface to keep the phone in place (since evidently the magnets alone don't do the trick). And your phone has to be only within 8mm to 9mm (about 1/3 in.) of the Gmyle, almost twice the max distance of most chargers.
This thin, black charging pad is only slightly larger than many smartphones, so it requires little real estate on your table. Gmyle says the device charges at over 80% the rate of plugged-in chargers.
Price: $29.98 direct, $26.98 retail

Mugenizer N11 Portable Wireless Charger Power Bank
It's hard to stand out from the pack. What makes the Mugenizer N11 unusual is that this wireless charger doubles as a portable battery. You can also plug in your device the old-fashioned, wired way. In fact, you can charge two phones simultaneously: one plugged in and one wireless.
With a 4800mAh capacity, the 8.1 oz. Mugenizer has the capability to charge a phone more than once. A rubberized ring in the middle of the 2.9 x 5.4 x 0.5 in. pad keeps your phone from slipping when charging. Six LED lights let you know when the Mugenizer is charging a phone and also tell you how much juice is left.
Price: $69.95 direct

Nokia Wireless Charging Plate
If you find the basic black, white and silver of other wireless chargers boring, then Nokia's Wireless Charging Plate might have the style you are looking for. It doesn't only come in white or black, but also cyan, red and yellow.
Measuring 2.36 x 4.72 x .43 in., the Nokia charger is compatible with all Qi-enabled devices. And it is recyclable to boot. A small light on the edge of the charger shines continuously while your phone is charging and it gives one long blink when the charge is complete. Just try not to miss it.
Price: $24.50 - $49.99 retail

Oregon Scientific Time & Wireless Charging Station
If you find yourself missing the old-fashioned nightstand clock from the days of yore, you may want to try Oregon Scientific's Time & Wireless Charging Station. It's not only a Qi charger -- it also acts as an alarm clock and gives you the date and the indoor/outdoor temperatures.
Just drop your phone on the station before you go to bed and it will be ready to go in the morning. Charging is not placement specific, so you don't have to worry about lining your phone up with a charging point. The digital display is blue, and the alarm clock comes in either black or white.
Price: $129.99 direct, $29.30 - $109.99 retail

RavPower Orbit Qi-Enabled Wireless Charger
Lose things a lot? If you're always wondering where your wireless charger's cable ended up, look to the RavPower Orbit. It comes with a built-in USB cable that wraps handily around its base when you're not using it.
To accommodate the wrapped cord, the Orbit is thicker than other wireless chargers, measuring 2.8 x 0.8 x 2.8 in. Like many wireless chargers, it detects when your phone is fully charged and automatically switches into idle mode. The device also makes a "ding" sound when it connects with your phone and a red LED light indicates when your phone is charging or fully charged.
It also sports an anti-slip surface to keep your phone from sliding off.
Price: $39.99 direct, $35.99 retail

Tylt Vu Wireless Charger
While most wireless chargers take longer to power your device than their wired counterparts, Tylt maintains that its Vu wireless charger will fill your phone's battery just as fast as if you plugged it in.
Another useful feature of the Vu is that its futuristic design allows you to easily see your phone while it charges, since it rests on a 45-degree angle. So you can charge your phone and watch your favorite video at the same time. Also, it looks cool.
The Vu comes in green, blue, red or black and measures 7.5 x 3.5 x 0.5 in.
Price: $69.99 direct
Rebecca Linke is an associate online editor at Computerworld who writes about social media and personal technology, among other topics.

Tylt Vu Wireless Charger
While most wireless chargers take longer to power your device than their wired counterparts, Tylt maintains that its Vu wireless charger will fill your phone's battery just as fast as if you plugged it in.
Another useful feature of the Vu is that its futuristic design allows you to easily see your phone while it charges, since it rests on a 45-degree angle. So you can charge your phone and watch your favorite video at the same time. Also, it looks cool.
The Vu comes in green, blue, red or black and measures 7.5 x 3.5 x 0.5 in.
Price: $69.99 direct
Rebecca Linke is an associate online editor at Computerworld who writes about social media and personal technology, among other topics.

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5 wireless chargers that may be in your next car

Wireless charging in cars is expected to take off next year -- but in the meantime, here are five cars that currently offer that feature.

With 50 million wireless charging-enabled smartphones forecast to ship this year, the adoption of in-vehicle wireless chargers is expected to accelerate in 2015, according IHS.

One of the barriers to adoption has been three competing standards bodies championing different specifications.

This month, however, GM announced its vehicles will support both Duracell’s Powermat and the Qi wireless format. Powermat falls under the Power 2.0 specification and the Power Matters Alliance (PMA). Qi (pronounced “chee”) falls under the Wireless Power Consortium.

The other major wireless charging spec, Rezence, backed by the Alliance For Wireless Charging (A4WP) has yet to get its foot in the car door. Here’s what wireless charging will look like when your car company adopts it.

Cadillac models first to get Qi wireless charging this fall
Cadillac vehicles with the "Cue" infotainment system will add Powermat and Qi-specification wireless charging of smartphones. GM will start with the 2015 Cadillac ATS sport sedan and coupe launching this fall, followed by the CTS, Escalade and other full-size GM models later this year.

The wireless phone charger is located inside the storage bin behind the motorized center instrument panel faceplate of the car. The phone can also be paired to the car via Bluetooth to stream music and other data.

Toyota
The 2015 Toyota Avalon, Prius, Camry and Lexis NX models have a wireless charging option for Qi-enabled smartphones. The wireless charging pad is integrated into the vehicle's eBin, which rests behind a lid situated in the vehicle’s center console.

According to the Wireless Power Consortium, the industry group backing the Qi-charging specification, Korean automaker SsangYong's Chairman vehicle also sports a wireless charging option.

Under the center console armrest
Chrysler currently has a Qi wireless charging option in its 2014 Jeep Cherokee, but in no other vehicles. It also has no current plans to add wireless charging to other models, according to a spokesperson.

Aftermarket wireless charging
Though Chrysler only offers wireless charging in the Jeep Cherokee, you can get a $200 Mopar aftermarket wireless charger in the 2014 Dodge Dart.

Things to come...
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year, Audi displayed its concept for wireless charging using the Qi standard. Audi has yet to offer wireless charging in its production vehicles.

Last year, however, the Consumer Electronics for Automotive (CE4A) consortium, a mobile standards working group representing Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen, chose the Qi wireless charging standard for future rollouts. At the time, it stated that all of its members were planning wireless charging options this year.

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How to Clean Up Your IT Resume

As spring comes to a close, it's an ideal time to clear the clutter from your resume. It's key to make sure you present only relevant, current information in the most attractive way possible. Here, three experts weigh in on what to toss out and what to keep.

The warm weather signals time to open the windows, deep-clean the house and enjoy the sunshine. But don't forget to clear the clutter from your resume while you're at it; even if you're not currently looking for a job, keeping your resume fresh and updated is a must. Here, three experts weigh in on what to keep and what to toss.

Blocking any useful cloud app doesn't work and ultimately does the business a disservice. This list

Use Formatting to Your Advantage
In short, a resume is a one-page overview of your life, says Michelle Joseph, talent acquisition expert and CEO of PeopleFoundry. "However creative you may get with fonts and colors, the content is of the utmost importance," Joseph writes in her blog.

That said, you do want to take advantage of fonts and formatting to help highlight important content, says Caitlin Sampson, CHRP, CPRW, CEIP and Career Consultant with Regal Resumes.

"Companies get a lot of resumes, and you want to stand out as much as possible," Sampson says. "Take advantage of the fact that a reader's eyes go to the first half of the resume first, and that readers are more likely to remember the first and last line of every paragraph," she says.

The Objective Statement
The general, vague objective statement, long a constant on the traditional resume, is now tired and obsolete, according to Joseph. While you still need to include a statement of intent, make sure this is customized and specific to the job you're applying for.

"By speaking only in generalities, you're not adding any substance to the resume," Joseph writes. She adds that many of today's job seekers just eliminate the objective statement altogether, but if the resume feels naked without it, a sentence or two explaining why you'll be perfect for the position you're applying for will suffice.

Rona Borre, CEO and president of IT staffing and recruiting firm Instant Technology, says having such a statement at the top of the resume helps focus a reader and is crucial to setting the stage for the rest of the resume.

"From a logistical standpoint, it's really crucial to have that at the top, as long as it's geared to the position that you're applying for," Borre says. "This is your 'elevator pitch' --- the company is your customer and you're selling yourself to the job, so make sure your opening statement is powerful and aimed right at the position," she says.

Contact Information and References
Keep personal data and contact information short and sweet. Ensure that you have important contact information such as your name, email, and phone number at the top of the page, but relegate references to a separate page that's only sent if employers specifically ask for it, she adds. "If they want references, they will request them; there is no need for you to waste space saying, 'References available upon request,' either," Joseph writes.

You must provide the name of the college or university that you graduated from along with the degree you received, according to Joseph. And for applicants new to the job market, this can be a great way to draw attention to relevant curriculum or projects that could highlight desired skills, even without on-the-job experience, says Instant Technology's Borre.

"Newer folks in the workforce should have a strong educational portion of their resume where they highlight skills, classes, projects, etc. that are relevant to the role they want," Borre says.

"Even if you don't have a lot of work experience, laying out the skills, roles and responsibilities you had and the outcome of those projects is also important to show you're adept at teamwork and have leadership skills," Borre says.

But make sure you include information about the outcome of the project, which is important for recruiters and hiring managers. And, Borre adds, don't get caught in the trap of the collective "we" when outlining the scope and outcome of projects and curriculum -- you want to seem like a team player, but also highlight individual strengths.

"Make sure you are highlighting your individual role on the team and how you contributed to the project or program's success," she says. "Remember, the company is hiring you, not the group you worked with."

Keep the Past in the Past
Your resume should include only the last 10 to 15 years of work history, the experts agree. Experience from more than a decade ago is no longer pertinent information for an application, as much will have changed since that time, Joseph writes. Unless a job was deliberately short-term -- like an internship, a contract position, or a job in event planning, then it should be left off the page as well, she adds.

And every job listed should have some relevance to the posting you're applying for, experts agree. "If you worked at a grocery store for three months 22 years ago, you don't need to include that information," says Regal Resumes' Sampson.

To make it easier to customize resumes for different positions, Joseph suggests keeping a master list of every one of your past jobs, roles, responsibilities, dates and the like so you can quickly add or subtract information relevant to the job you're looking at.

This is tricky: You want some level of granularity here, but not an excessive amount of detail, which could bore readers and turn their attention elsewhere.

Joseph suggests including an overview of tasks and duties during the duration of your time in each job, without going into the mundane, tedious tasks that are a given, like filing, copying and other administrative duties.

However, you should provide information that shows results, says Sampson, and prove that you are able to work as a team, multitask, assume leadership responsibility and any other relevant information by using examples.

"If you're applying for a project management position, include past experience, roles, responsibilities and outcomes that showcase your project management skills," Sampson says. "And make sure you show measurement -- instead of just saying that you saved your previous employer money, it helps to explain the scope of that savings. So, you 'saved the company $10 million over my five years there,'" Sampson says.

And you should always be looking for ways to improve your abilities and gain new skills and knowledge, says Sampson, and add these to your resume.

"Taking courses and learning new skills can help you to stay current and have a competitive edge over others in the job market," Sampson says. "For example, if you notice a lot of companies you're applying to are looking for someone who has SharePoint experience, then go out and get some SharePoint experience," she says.

Finally, one of the most important steps is to proofread. A few missed commas or misspelled words may not seem like a big deal, but to a hiring manager or employer, these details can make a huge difference. If you're not certain, have a friend or colleague take a peek and make sure to accept and incorporate their feedback.

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Web acceleration protocol nears completion

The HTTP/2 protocol will speed Web delivery, though it also may put more strain on Web servers

When it comes to speeding up Web traffic over the Internet, sometimes too much of a good thing may not be such a good thing at all.

The Internet Engineering Task Force is putting the final touches on HTTP/2, the second version of the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP). The working group has issued a last call draft, urging interested parties to voice concerns before it becomes a full Internet specification.

Not everyone is completely satisfied with the protocol however.

"There is a lot of good in this proposed standard, but I have some deep reservations about some bad and ugly aspects of the protocol," wrote Greg Wilkins, lead developer of the open source Jetty server software, noting his concerns in a blog item posted Monday.

Others, however, praise HTTP/2 and say it is long overdue.

"A lot of our users are experimenting with the protocol," said Owen Garrett, head of products for server software provider NGINX. "The feedback is that generally, they have seen big performance benefits."

First created by Web originator Tim Berners-Lee and associates, HTTP quite literally powers today's Web, providing the language for a browser to request a Web page from a server.

Version 2.0 of HTTP, based largely on the SPDY protocol developed by Google, promises to be a better fit for how people use the Web.

"The challenge with HTTP is that it is a fairly simple protocol, and it can be quite laborious to download all the resources required to render a Web page. SPDY addresses this issue," Garrett said.

While the first generation of Web sites were largely simple and relatively small, static documents, the Web today is used as a platform for delivering applications and bandwidth intensive real-time multimedia content.

HTTP/2 speeds basic HTTP in a number of ways. HTTP/2 allows servers to send all the different elements of a requested Web page at once, eliminating the serial sets of messages that have to be sent back and forth under plain HTTP.

HTTP/2 also allows the server and the browser to compress HTTP, which cuts the amount of data that needs to be communicated between the two.

As a result, HTTP/2 "is really useful for organization with sophisticated Web sites, particularly when its users are distributed globally or using slower networks -- mobile users for instance," Garrett said.

While enthusiastic about the protocol, Wilkins did have several areas of concern. For instance, HTTP/2 could make it more difficult to incorporate new Web protocols, most notably the communications protocol WebSocket, Wilkins asserted.

Wilkins noted that HTTP/2 blurs what were previously two distinct layers of HTTP -- the semantic layer, which describes functionality, and the framework layer, which is the structure of the message. The idea is that it is simpler to write protocols for a specification with discrete layers.

The protocol also makes it possible to hide content, including malicious content, within the headers, bypassing the notice of today's firewalls, Wilkins said.

HTTP/2 could also put a lot more strain on existing servers, Wilkins noted, given that they will now be fielding many more requests at once.

HTTP/2 "clients will send requests much more quickly, and it is quite likely you will see spikier traffic as a result," Garrett agreed.

As a result, a Web application, if it doesn't already rely on caching or load balancing, may have to do so with HTTP/2, Garrett said.

The SPDY protocol is already used by almost 1 percent of all the websites, according to an estimate of the W3techs survey company.

NGINX has been a big supporter of SPDY and HTTP/2, not surprising given that the company's namesake server software was designed for high-traffic websites.

Approximately 88 percent of sites that offer SPDY do so with NGINX, according to W3techs.

Yet NGINX has characterized SPDY to its users as "experimental," Garrett said, largely because the technology is still evolving and hasn't been nailed down yet by the formal specification.

"We're really forward to when the protocol is rubber-stamped," Garrett said. Once HTTP/2 is approved, "We can recommend it to our customers with confidence," Garrett said.

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