Next April, Microsoft is ending support for Windows XP. Since its release in 2001, Windows XP has gone on to become Microsoft’s most successful operating system release. But that popularity means that many customers now have to map a migration path to their next desktop system. [ + ]

The world is experiencing a historic influx of personal devices. But new ‘personal” devices aren’t staying at home - they’re coming into the workplace, and it’s giving some enterprise IT departments cause for concern as they confront the ways this bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend complicates one of their primary duties: data protection. [ + ]

A look at the evolution of out-of-band infrastructure management tools and technologies shows their growing impact beyond the data centre in managing today’s highly distributed networks. [ + ]

NBN Co’s plan to fast-track 262,400 extra customers onto fibre meets ISP resistance and Mike Quigley refutes the Coalition’s costings of Labor’s NBN. [ + ]

Big data is causing many a CIO to reconsider how they manage information. But does data need representation at the executive level? Gartner thinks so. [ + ]

This week: Samsung admits to paying Taiwanese students to write negative comments about HTC phones online, while ispONE has made a counterclaim in its ongoing legal battle with Kogan Mobile. [ + ]

Here are some scary numbers for IT managers trying to develop a mobility strategy. Over 800 million workers across the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) will be considered mobile by 2015. That’s more than a third of the total workforce in the region, with 38% of workers being out of the office for two days each week. Will you be ready? [ + ]

Forty years ago, a revolution took place that completely changed the way we connect, communicate and collaborate. [ + ]

The emergence of mobile wallets in various markets is increasingly paving the way for the support of mobile payments through the partnership of financial organisations with communications service providers. [ + ]

Tiny LED lights now being developed could deliver Wi-Fi-like internet communications, while simultaneously displaying information and providing illumination for homes, offices and a whole host of other locations. [ + ]

An international team of researchers has found a new method of producing molecular magnets. Their thin layer systems made of cobalt and an organic material could pave the way for more powerful storage media as well as faster and more energy-efficient processors for information processing. The results of this research have been published in the journal Nature. [ + ]

This week: the inquiry into the Queensland Health payroll fiasco hears fresh admissions of IBM exploiting leaked documents from rivals, while analysts peg Windows 8 as the reason for dramatic drops in PC shipments. [ + ]

The Coalition last week revealed its plan for Australia’s National Broadband Network. The plan has drawn both praise and derision from across the industry. [ + ]

Misunderstandings about unified communications tools mean Australian organisations could be spending big on unified communications tools that don’t improve employee productivity. [ + ]

Social media has the capacity to be the glue that connects your business with the rest of the world. [ + ]