All news in category "Vendor and Hyperscaler Watch"

Kaspersky Launches Kaspersky for Linux for Home Users

🛡️ Kaspersky has introduced Kaspersky for Linux, extending its award-winning home security lineup to 64-bit Linux desktops and laptops. The product adapts the vendor's enterprise-grade Linux solution for home users and combines real-time monitoring, behavior-based detection, removable-media scanning, anti-phishing, online payment protection, and anti-cryptojacking. Distributed as DEB and RPM packages, installation requires a My Kaspersky account and a 30-day trial is available; subscription tier does not change Linux feature availability while GDPR readiness is pending.

Mountpoint S3 CSI Driver Adds Observability Metrics

📈 You can now monitor Mountpoint operations in observability tools such as Amazon CloudWatch, Prometheus, and Grafana. Mountpoint emits near real-time metrics (request count, request latency, and error types) over the OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP), so you can use the CloudWatch agent or an OpenTelemetry collector to publish metrics and build dashboards. Configure Mountpoint at mount time to stream per-EC2-instance metrics for proactive monitoring and faster troubleshooting.

Amazon Kinesis Data Streams: On-demand Advantage Launch

🚀 Amazon Kinesis Data Streams introduces On‑demand Advantage, letting customers warm on‑demand streams to absorb instant throughput spikes up to 10 GB or 10 million events per second without over‑provisioning. The mode removes the fixed per‑stream charge and offers a simpler usage pricing model with data ingest at $0.032/GB and retrieval at $0.016/GB in US East (N. Virginia). Extended retention costs fall by 77%, and Enhanced fan‑out retrievals are priced the same as shared throughput, making high fan‑out scenarios more economical. On‑demand Advantage requires a minimum billed aggregate of 25 MB/s for both ingest and retrieval at the discounted rates and is available in all AWS regions, including GovCloud (US) and China.

Google Confirms AI Search Will Include Ads, Evolving Format

📣Google says its ad business will remain central as it integrates advertising into AI-powered search experiences. Google currently offers AI Overviews and a more capable AI Mode, and has begun limited experiments placing ads within those results. Executives say ads won't disappear but may appear differently and become more personalized based on user data. Tests and further plans are expected to continue into next year.

Windows 11 Build 26220.7051 Adds Ask Copilot Taskbar

🖥️ Windows 11 Build 26220.7051 introduces a taskbar-based Ask Copilot, allowing testers to query the web, local files, and AI using text or voice. The feature is optional and can be enabled under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar; Microsoft says it may eventually replace the existing Windows Search UI. The update also rolls out a full-screen Xbox handheld experience, a Bluetooth LE-based "Shared audio" preview to stream audio to two devices, and improved x64 emulation support to boost ARM PC performance.

Windows 11 Build 26220.7051 Adds Ask Copilot and More

🗞️ Windows 11 Build 26220.7051 is rolling out to Insiders and introduces three headline features: a taskbar-based Ask Copilot, a new full-screen Xbox experience for handhelds, and Bluetooth Shared audio. Ask Copilot lets users search the internet, local files, and AI using text or voice and can be enabled via Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Ask Copilot. The new full-screen experience (FSE) aims to prioritize gaming on compatible handheld devices and can be set under Settings > Gaming > Full screen experience. Additionally, Windows now supports sharing audio to two Bluetooth devices and improves ARM PC performance by expanding x64 emulation support.

Amazon Route 53 Resolver Adds AWS PrivateLink Support

🔒 Amazon Route 53 Resolver now supports AWS PrivateLink, allowing customers to access and manage Resolver and its associated features privately over the Amazon network rather than the public internet. This private access covers Resolver endpoints, Route 53 Resolver DNS Firewall, Resolver Query Logging, and Resolver for AWS Outposts, with create, delete, edit and list operations handled via PrivateLink. Route 53 Resolver continues to respond recursively for public records, VPC-specific DNS names, and private hosted zones and remains available by default in all VPCs. The capability can be used in regions where Resolver and its features are offered, including AWS GovCloud (US) Regions.

Windows 11 Trials Shared Bluetooth Audio on AI PCs

🔊 Microsoft is testing a new Shared audio feature in Windows 11 that uses Bluetooth LE Audio broadcast technology to stream audio to two Bluetooth devices simultaneously on eligible Copilot+ PCs. The option appears as Shared audio (preview) in Quick Settings in Windows 11 Build 26220.7051 (KB5067115). Initially it is limited to select Surface models with Qualcomm Snapdragon X and a few upcoming Samsung and Surface AI PCs, and requires compatible accessories such as Galaxy Buds2 Pro.

Amazon GameLift Streams Adds AWS Health Lifecycle Alerts

🔔 Amazon GameLift Streams is integrated with AWS Health to send automated lifecycle notifications about aging stream groups. Accounts receive reminders on days 45 and 150 warning that adding new applications will be restricted after day 180, with a final re-creation reminder on day 335 before expiration at day 365. The feature is available in all AWS Regions at no additional cost, and expiration details are visible in the console or via the GetStreamGroup ExpiresAt field.

Amazon Route 53 Resolver Adds AWS PrivateLink Support

🔒 Amazon Route 53 Resolver now supports AWS PrivateLink, enabling private management and access to Resolver and its features without traversing the public internet. Customers can use PrivateLink to reach Resolver endpoints, Route 53 Resolver DNS Firewall, Resolver Query Logging, and Resolver for AWS Outposts over the Amazon network. All operations — create, delete, edit, list — are supported via the private connection in supported regions, including AWS GovCloud.

Microsoft Edge adds scareware sensor for faster blocking

🛡️ Microsoft is adding a new scareware sensor to Edge that notifies Defender SmartScreen in real time to speed up indexing and global blocking of tech-support and full-screen scam pages. The sensor is included in Edge 142, disabled by default, and reports suspected scams immediately without sharing screenshots or extra data beyond SmartScreen’s usual telemetry. Edge’s local scareware blocker — introduced at Ignite 2024 and widely enabled since February — still warns users, exits full-screen, stops loud audio, shows a thumbnail, and offers an option to continue. Microsoft plans to enable the sensor for users who have SmartScreen enabled and will add more anonymous detection signals over time.

SAP Cloud ERP (GROW) Now Available in Frankfurt Region

🚀 SAP and AWS have expanded the SAP Cloud ERP on AWS (GROW) offering to the Europe (Frankfurt) region, delivering a full SaaS ERP solution that can be implemented in months rather than years. The service centers on SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public edition and integrates HR, procurement, sales, finance, supply chain, and manufacturing with SAP Business AI–powered processes. Customers can leverage generative AI via Amazon Bedrock in the SAP generative AI hub and benefit from AWS Graviton processors' energy efficiency.

Amazon Aurora DSQL Adds FIPS 140-3 Compliant Endpoints

🔐 Amazon Web Services announced that Aurora DSQL now supports FIPS 140-3 compliant endpoints, enabling customers to meet federal cryptography requirements when sending requests over public or VPC endpoints. The capability is available beginning Oct 31, 2025, in US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), and US West (Oregon). This update lets organizations contracting with the U.S. federal government use Aurora DSQL for workloads that require a FIPS-validated cryptographic module.

AWS PrivateLink Adds Native Cross-Region Service Access

🚀 AWS PrivateLink now supports native cross-region connectivity for select AWS services. With this change, Interface VPC endpoints can privately access Amazon S3, Route 53, ECR and other supported services hosted in different Regions of the same AWS partition without cross-region peering or internet exposure. Endpoints present a private IP in your VPC, simplifying secure inter-region connectivity and helping meet data residency requirements. Refer to AWS PrivateLink pricing and documentation for the full list of supported services and Regions.

Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) Adds AWS PrivateLink

🔒 Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) now supports AWS PrivateLink, allowing cluster management APIs such as CreateCluster, DescribeClusters, and DeleteCluster to be accessed over private IP addresses inside your VPC. Data-plane operations like GetItem and Query were already handled privately within the VPC; this update moves management-plane traffic off the public regional endpoint. The feature is available in all Regions where DAX runs and incurs additional AWS PrivateLink charges.

Resiliency in the Cloud: Shared Responsibility & Azure

☁️ Microsoft positions resiliency as a shared responsibility, combining its global infrastructure, SLAs, and platform capabilities with customer-owned architecture, configuration, and recovery planning. Azure Essentials packages blueprints, assessments, and validation tools like Azure Chaos Studio and Azure Monitor to enable zone-redundant and multi-region designs. The guidance stresses continuous validation, automated remediation, and governance to reduce downtime and accelerate recovery.

Conversational AI Agents: Designing for Retail UX, Commerce

🛍️ Google Cloud outlines UX and implementation guidance for building conversational AI agents tailored to online shopping. The article presents seven practical design principles — including multimodal input, intelligent query handling, rich visual presentation, and clear trust signals — that improve discovery and reduce friction. It highlights features like predictive assistance and contextual clarification and offers a Figma component library plus developer resources to accelerate deployment.

GKE and Gemini CLI Integration Enhances Developer Workflows

🚀 Google has open-sourced the GKE Gemini CLI extension, bringing Google Kubernetes Engine directly into the Gemini CLI ecosystem while also functioning as an MCP server for other MCP clients. The extension injects GKE-specific context, tools, and tailored prompts so developers can use shorter, more natural language interactions and integrated slash commands to complete complex workflows. It simplifies common operations—like selecting models and accelerators or generating Kubernetes manifests for inference—while improving compatibility with Cloud Observability. The project is actively maintained with regular releases and community contributions.

Log Analytics Query Builder Makes Log SQL Easier for Teams

🔍 The Log Analytics query builder in Google Cloud Console provides a UI-driven way to build and preview SQL-based log queries without hand-coding. It helps DevOps engineers, SREs, and application developers search across fields, infer JSON schemas, select nested values, and apply aggregations via an intuitive interface. Real-time SQL preview and one-click visualizations let users switch to the editor to fine-tune queries and save dashboards.

Choosing Google Cloud Managed Lustre for External KV Cache

🚀 This post explains how an external KV Cache backed by Google Cloud Managed Lustre can accelerate transformer inference and lower costs by offloading expensive prefill compute to I/O. In experiments with a 50K token context and ~75% cache-hit, Managed Lustre increased inference throughput by 75% and cut mean time-to-first-token by 44%. The analysis projects a 35% TCO reduction and up to ~43% fewer GPUs for the same workload, and the article summarizes practical steps: provision Managed Lustre in the same zone, deploy an inference server that supports external caching (for example vLLM), enable o_direct, and tune I/O parallelism.