6 dirty secrets of the IT industry II

The classic illustration of this principle occurred in January 2012, when U.S. and New Zealand authorities shut down Kim Dotcom's MegaUpload file locker in January 2012. Along with a trove of allegedly pirated movies, the authorities confiscated the data of thousands of law-abiding customers and refused to return it. Whether those customers will ever get their data back remains unresolved.

"The risk of seizure is real," confirms Jonathan Ezor, director of the Touro Law Center Institute for Business, Law and Technology. "If there is any legal basis for law enforcement or other government officials to seize storage devices or systems -- which may require a warrant in certain circumstances -- and those systems contain data of both suspects and nonsuspects, all might be taken. Ultimately, any time an organization's data are stored outside of its control, it cannot prevent someone from at least gaining access to the hardware."

Users who want to protect themselves against this worst-case scenario need to know where their data is actually being kept and which laws may pertain to it, says David Campbell, CEO of cloud security firm JumpCloud.

"Our recommendation is to find cloud providers that guarantee physical location of servers and data, such as Amazon, so that you can limit your risk proactively," he says.

Encrypting the data will decrease the chance that anyone who seizes it will be able to read it, adds Ezor. Another good idea: Keep a recent data backup nearby. You never know when it might end up being your only copy.

Dirty IT secret No. 4: Your budget's slashed, but the boss has a blank checkRFPs are for peons

In virtually every midsize or larger organization, there are two ways to get purchases approved, says Mike Meikle, CEO of the Hawkthorne Group, a boutique management and information technology consulting firm. There's the official purchasing procedure -- a time-consuming process that forces you to jump through more flaming hoops than a circus act. And there's the special procurement diamond lane, available only to a special few.

"People at the senior leadership level have their own procurement pipeline," he says. "What takes an IT person eight months to obtain through official channels these execs can get in a few weeks, if not sooner. It's what I call the Diamond Preferred plan. I've never worked with an organization in government or private industry that didn't have a secret procurement path."

The purpose of the official procurement process is to make it harder for employees to spend the company's money, says Meikle -- unless, of course, they know the secret handshake. Unfortunately, he adds, the CIO is usually not a member of this club, which means large tech purchases can be made without serious cost benefit analysis or consideration of IT's strategic vision. 

"They'll go out to lunch, a vendor will whisper sweet nothings in their ear, and the next thing you know they've spent half a million on a mobile application management solution, not realizing you already had one," he says. "Now you have two."

Not so, contends a private consultant to the military and Fortune 100 companies who asked to remain unnamed. While there are cases where organizations may bypass standard procurement procedures, it's almost always for something the IT department needs right away and doesn't want to waste weeks cutting through red tape to get it, he says.

"Nontechnology executives don't know enough about IT to make a large purchase decision," he adds. "If a senior executive circumvents the procurement process, that purchase order has to have a signature on it before the supplier will ship it. If anything goes wrong with that technology, the executive would be accountable and traceable. That's like kryptonite to those guys." 

Dirty IT secret No. 5: You're getting the short end of the customer support stickThat technician is just another script kiddie

Stop us if this sounds familiar: You're on the phone with a support technician halfway around the globe, but you get the distinct impression they know less than you do and are just reading from a script. Guess what? They probably are.

"IT support is a cheap commodity," says Tim Singleton, president of Strive Technology Consulting, a boutique support firm catering to small and midsized businesses. "Tools that do most of it for you are free, and computers require less knowledge now than they used to. Your neighbor's daughter or the tech-savvy guy in accounting can probably fix your computer as well as any IT company."

But some say that assessment is too broad. While that may be true for the simplest problems, it's not true for more complex ones, notes Aramis Alvarez, SVP of services and support at Bomgar, which makes remote IT support solutions for enterprises.

"The problem with calling IT support a 'cheap commodity' is that not every problem is created equal," says Alvarez. "Some basic issues can be diagnosed by any tech-savvy person, but difficult ones, such as viruses, cannot. Your neighbor's daughter may be armed with enough knowledge to be dangerous, but she could end up destroying the data on your computer."

Then you may end up paying much more later to clean up the mess, adds Joe Silverman, CEO of New York Computer Help -- which often happens when companies cut corners by shortchanging or overburdening internal IT support.

"We have gone to many NYC offices and apartments to see the leftover tracks of a shoddy computer repair or IT job from another company, family member, or friend who acted as the go-to IT guy," he says. "The guy in accounting who sometimes takes care of computer issues is most likely too busy and too inexperienced to fix a failed hard drive, motherboard, or power supply. If the network or server crashes, do you want to really depend on your accounting guy to get the job done, or a senior network engineer with 20 years of experience?"

Dirty IT secret No. 6: We know a lot more about you than you thinkGoing all in on data collection

Think the NSA has you under surveillance? They're punks compared to consumer marketing companies and data brokers.

One of the biggest offenders are casinos, says J.T. Mathis, a former casino database manager and author of a self-published expose about his experience titled, "I Deal to Plunder: A Ride Through the Boom Town." When you enter a casino, you're gambling with more than just money -- you're risking your most personal data. Mathis estimates that his former employer's marketing database contained the names of more than 100,000 active and inactive gamblers.

"From the moment you enter the casino, everything you do is tracked," says Mathis. "If you sit down at a slot machine, they know exactly where you're at, how many times you've pulled the handle, and how much money you're putting in. They know you like to eat at 4:30 and order the lobster platter. They know your favorite cigarettes and wine and whether you watched porn in your room. And when you arrive during the summer they know the lady you're with is not your wife, so employees make sure to call her Cindy and not Barbara."

Former casino executive and LSU professor Michael Simon confirms Mathis' story. But, he adds, it's not that much different than the kind of data collection performed by companies like CVS, PetSmart, or Amazon.

"I teach an MBA class on database analysis and mining, and all the companies we study collect customer information and target offers specific to customer habits," he says. Simon, author of "The Game of My Life: A Personal Perspective of a Retired Gaming Executive," adds, "It's routine business practice today, and it's no secret. For example, I bring my dog to PetSmart for specific services and products, and the offers they send me are specific to my spending habits, and I like that. PetSmart on the other hand gives me what I want instead of wasting time sending me stuff I won't use like discounts on cat food or tropical fish."

One thing that is different: When Mathis was laid off in May 2012, he still had copies of the database in hand. When he tried to return it, he was out of luck -- the casino refused to return his calls. Talk about gambling with your data.

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6 dirty secrets of the IT industry

IT pros blow the whistle on the less-than-white lies and dark sides of the tech business

IT pros usually know where the bodies are buried. Sometimes that's because they're the ones holding the shovel.

We asked InfoWorld readers to reveal the dirtiest secrets of IT -- the less-than-white lies and dark sides of technology that others may not be aware of. We then ran those "secrets" through a BS detector, fact-checking them with experts in the relevant field. In some cases the experts concurred, in other cases they did not.

[ Also on InfoWorld: Take heed, young techies, of these 10 hard-earned lessons of a lifetime in IT and beware these 7 fatal IT mistakes that will get you fired. | Think you got it bad? Check out InfoWorld's dirty IT jobs hall of shame for a dose of perspective. | Get a $50 American Express gift cheque if we publish your tech tale from the trenches. Send it to offtherecord@infoworld.com. ]

Do sys admins wield power far beyond the CIO's worst nightmares? Are IT employees routinely walking off with company equipment? Can the data you store in the cloud really disappear in an instant? Are you paying far too much for tech support?

Read on to find out what our leakers and experts believe.

What's the biggest IT secret you know about? Spill the beans below. (6 Comments.)

Dirty IT secret No. 1: Sys admins have your company by the short hairsWhen the IT fox is guarding the data hen house

Anyone who's followed the Edward Snowden story knows what kind of damage a sys admin with an agenda can do. But even IT people may not realize the full range of unfettered admin access and the kinds of pain it can bring.

"There are no secrets for IT," says Pierluigi Stella, CTO for managed security service provider Network Box USA. "I can run a sniffer on my firewall and see every single packet that comes in and out of a specific computer. I can see what people write in their messages, where they go to on the Internet, what they post on Facebook. In fact, only ethics keep IT people from misusing and abusing this power. Think of it as having a mini-NSA in your office."

This situation is more common than even most CIOs are aware of, says Tsion Gonen, chief strategy officer for data protection firm SafeNet.

"I'd estimate this is true in 9 out of 10 organizations," he says. "Enterprise security is only as secure as the ethics of trusted IT administrators. How many of them have sys admins who abuse their access privileges is harder to say -- but enough to hit the news almost every week. The scariest thing is that the same people who present the greatest risk are often the very people who approve access."

David Gibson, VP of Varonis, a data governance solution provider, agrees that admins are often able to access data they shouldn't without being noticed, but he puts the number closer to 50 percent. He adds it's not just the admins; most users have access to far more data than they need to do their jobs.

He says the solution comes down to getting a better handle on two things: reducing access to get to a "least privilege" model, and continuous monitoring of who is accessing data.

"The organization needs to be able to see who has access to what data, who the data belongs to, and who has been accessing which files," he says. "From there, IT can involve the data owners directly to make informed decisions about permissions and acceptable use."

Dirty IT secret No. 2: Your employees may be helping themselvesWhen "retired" IT assets enjoy a surprise second career

Old tech equipment rarely dies, it just finds a new home -- and sometimes, that home is with your IT employees.

"Employee theft of retired equipment is commonplace," says Kyle Marks, CEO of Retire-IT, a firm specializing in fraud and privacy compliance issues relating to IT asset disposition. "I have never met someone from IT that doesn't have a collection of hardware at home. To many, taking retired equipment is a victimless crime. Most don't view it as a security threat. Once equipment is retired, they act like it is fair game."

The problem with taking equipment bound for the scrap heap or the recycling bin is that it often still contains sensitive data, which if lost could result in massive liability for the company that owns the equipment, says Marks. And, of course, it is still theft of company equipment.

"Theft and fraud are serious situations that create massive privacy liability," he adds. "A capricious IT insider can have costly consequences if left unchecked. Yet in most cases, the people responsible for making sure assets are disposed of properly -- with all data removed -- are in IT. Organizations need to have a 'reverse procurement' process that assures assets are retired correctly."

But does every IT employee really steal old hardware? A veteran of the IT asset disposition industry, who asked to remain anonymous, says the problem isn't nearly as commonplace as Marks makes it out.

"I'm not saying that theft is nonexistent," he says. "I am simply stating that I have never met anyone in the industry with that particular mind-set."

Most equipment that goes missing is simply lost for other, less nefarious reasons -- like it was shipped to the wrong place, he adds.

"It sounds like a bad generalization when in essence a lot companies pride themselves on providing secure services and act in a way that is completely honest and full of integrity."

Dirty IT secret No. 3: Storing data in the cloud is even riskier than you thinkAll the security in the world won't help when Johnny Law comes knocking

Storing your data in the cloud is convenient, but that convenience may come at a high price: the loss of your data in a totally unrelated legal snafu.

"Most people don't realize that when your data is stored in the cloud on someone else's systems alongside the data from other companies, and a legal issue arises with one of the other companies, your data may be subject to disclosure," says Mike Balter, principal of IT support firm CSI Corp.

In other words, your cloud data could be swept up in an investigation of an entirely unrelated matter -- simply because it was unlucky enough to be kept on the same servers as the persons being investigated.

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Firefox community roiled by Java crackdown

Mozilla's decision to stand firm on a move to block Java except on a click-to-play basis has admins and developers frustrated.

The Firefox web browser will, henceforth, require users to manually activate Java objects on sites that they visit, Mozilla has confirmed. The change is aimed at improving security and moving away from a dependence on proprietary plug-ins, but critics say it will cause untold headaches for developers, admins and less-technical end-users.
Java

When a page that features Java elements is loaded, a red security warning will display in the address bar – clicking on this will provide the option of activating Java. Many of those opposed to the change say that less technically savvy users might either miss the warning or simply decline to click through, out of a fear that they are compromising their security.

[MORE SOFTWARE: Study: Despite bright, shiny rivals, good old Office still rules at work]

Java is a key underpinning of a vast amount of rich web content, including everything from games to line-of-business apps, despite its long-standing role as a major target for malicious online activity. Requiring users to click past a warning that the plugin may be unsafe before running any Java content could head off some security threats, but it’s also likely to break Java apps designed to run automatically and generally create a less convenient web experience for Firefox users.

At the center of the controversy is Mozilla engineering manager Benjamin Smedberg, who has remained resolute on the issue. He’s received the bulk of community outrage in a lengthy bug tracker thread, which features several lengthy diatribes about the disruptive nature of the change.

It was pointed out, as well, that Java is also currently blocked by default in Google Chrome, though one discussion participant argued that Google’s interface for activating Java – a simpler and more obvious drop-down bar that states “java needs your permission to run” – is more suitable.

In an announcement of the prospective change last month, Smedberg urged web developers to move away from the use of plugins like Java.

“Even though many users are not even aware of plugins, they are a significant source of hangs, crashes, and security incidents. By allowing users to decide which sites need to use plugins, Firefox will help protect them and keep their browser running smoothly,” he said.

The change seems likely to be a further damper on Firefox’s reputation among institutional users, many of whom will have a lot of work to do to prepare end users and their own code. Mozilla’s move to a rapid release schedule was not well received by businesses, and the company eventually added a long-term support track to help address concerns.

But Mozilla is one of the prime movers behind the general trend toward more open web technology, and may simply find the prospect of accelerating HTML5’s ongoing replacement of older plug-in-based frameworks too tempting to pass up.

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How startups should sell to the enterprise

CIOs sound off at DEMO Fall 2013 about the best – and worst – ways to establish business with them.

DEMO is all about startups pitching their new products, but a panel discussion on Thursday turned the tables, with CIOs telling startups what they can do to win business in the enterprise.

The panel was moderated by CITEWorld editorial director Matt Rosoff and featured Dish Network CIO Mike McClaskey, BDP International global CIO Angela Yochem, EchoSign co-founder Jason Lemkin, and Workday strategic CIO Steven John.

Citing the growing reach of technology into new departments of the enterprise, Lemkin warned that buying decisions for technology all eventually come back to the CIO. Even though other areas of the company may make small or even moderately sized purchases, CIOs may take note of the vendors that circumvent them when making the sale, and could block them from any future business. What seems like a short-term win could turn out to be a long-term problem.

However, some startups have been able to sell to enterprise customers after taking an alternative route. Yammer, for example, was mentioned during the panel as a company that gained traction with lower-level employees, often without the knowledge of the CIO. Once Yammer started to attract attention from executives, it embraced CIOs and scaled to meet their needs, satisfying both an enterprise customer’s users and decision makers.

Similarly, McClaskey mentioned the opportunity afforded through consumer technology outlets, such as the Google Play and Apple App Stores. Almost all CIOs use multiple devices that access these outlets, and if they come across a potentially useful enterprise technology while using a personal device, they’re more likely to seek more information about it later on.

Flexibility was mentioned as a key aspect for startup companies that are lucky enough to land large customers early on. McClaskey cited two cases in which Dish opted to work with startups. One of the most important aspects of the relationships was the younger companies’ willingness to incorporate Dish’s input on the product. The startups’ product development teams worked directly with Dish to help adjust aspects of the product to accommodate their needs. This is important not only to sustain business with early customers, but to help attract new customers in the future.

Lemkin cited the importance of use cases and references when trying to attract customers as a young company. Those that are willing to adapt in order to establish strong relationships early on will be more likely to build similar relationships with new customers.

The panel also discussed the importance of maintaining trust with customers and other connections throughout the IT industry. John cited trust as a main factor in all business decisions, from engaging in new business to hiring employees. Decision makers in large enterprises are more likely to side with people who they can trust, whether that trust comes directly from previous business or from word-of-mouth recommendations from others in the industry.

Yochem pointed out the benefit of establishing a good relationship even when failing to complete a sale. Regardless of how a discussion on new business goes, the connection made in the process is still valuable. Another important and often overlooked consideration is asking around for any other potential customers. Even if a potential customer company isn’t in a position to make a purchase, they might know of others who are. Yochem advised salespeople at startups to end every conversation with a potential customer by asking if they know anyone else they should talk to.

The panelists also gave valuable insight into the most effective, and ineffective, methods of engaging an enterprise customer. McClaskey mentioned being “bombarded” with cold calls, emails and webinar invites from sales representatives, and often even from third-party companies hired to do this work for them. These requests often receive the lowest priority, sometimes for no other reason than that they get lost in the white noise created by all the companies that want their business.

The best way to connect with a CIO, according to McClaskey, is through mutual connections – analysts, partners, references, or other companies they’ve done business with.

Similarly, Lemkin also warned against bringing in outside employees to head up their sales operations too early on. Most entrepreneurs won’t have a clear idea of what they want in a president or vice president of sales until they’ve made a handful of meaningful sales on their own. He advised startups to hold off on hiring a sales vice president until they’ve made two sales to CIO-type customers, and to learn from that experience.

For young companies selling tech products and services, Lemkin said the CIO is their best ally. Following his advice, and that of his colleagues, may set one startup apart from the rest of the crowd.

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VCPC510 VMware Certified Professional on vCloud

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QUESTION 1
-- Exhibit –



-- Exhibit --
Click the Exhibit button.
An administrator needs to modify the range of static IP addresses available to the network in
question. The administrator clicks on the Network Specification tab and is presented the options
shown in the exhibit, which cannot be selected.
What is a possible cause for this issue?

A. The administrator does not have the vShield Manager role.
B. The administrator does not have the organization administrator role.
C. The vShield Edge appliance has been powered off and is inaccessible.
D. The network in question is a direct connected external organization network.

Answer: D

Explanation:

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QUESTION 2
-- Exhibit –



-- Exhibit --
Click the Exhibit button.
When adding storage in the Provider vDC wizard you don’t see the intended Storage Profile. What
could be the cause?

A. The Storage Profile has not been created in vCenter.
B. The Storage Profile has been named with more than 5 characters.
C. The Storage Profile is set by the Org vDC wizard
D. The Provider vDC combines all storage profiles into *(Any)

Answer: A

Explanation:

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QUESTION 3
-- Exhibit –



-- Exhibit --
Click the Exhibit button.
Which External Organization Network type is being created in the Organization Network Creation
Wizard?

A. External port group-backed
B. External VLAN-backed
C. External Direct
D. External Routed

Answer: C

Explanation:

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QUESTION 4
-- Exhibit –



-- Exhibit --
Click the Exhibit button.
ACME has a virtual machine with an IP address of 192.168.0.51. It is running an SMTP mail
service and is unable to communicate from the assigned network. The network is an External
Routed network with the firewall rules displayed in the exhibit.
Which configuration change would correct this behavior?

A. Set the Destination IP address to 192.168.0.51.
B. Disable the Web Services rule for the Incoming Traffic Type.
C. Change the ACME External rule Traffic Type to Incoming.
D. Set the ACME External rule to Allow.

Answer: D

Explanation:

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QUESTION 5
-- Exhibit –



-- Exhibit --
Click the Exhibit button.
Which External Organization Network type is being created in the Organization Network Creation
Wizard?

A. External port group-backed
B. External VLAN-backed
C. External Direct
D. External Routed

Answer: D

Explanation:

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Ballmer hammers home Microsoft's 'high-value' strategy in final letter to shareholders

Ballmer hammers home Microsoft's 'high-value' strategy in final letter to shareholders
Unlike last year, no surprises in CEO's last letter to investors

In his last letter to shareholders before retiring, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hammered on the same themes he and other executives struck three weeks ago in front of Wall Street analysts.

Among the strategies Ballmer outlined in his shareholder letter were the ongoing transformation of Microsoft to a "devices-and-services" company -- a massive turn from its history as a purveyor of packaged software -- and its continued reliance on enterprise sales to drive the firm's revenue.

This year's missive was not as revolutionary as 2012's, when Ballmer first publicly floated the idea of devices and services, saying, "It truly is a new era at Microsoft."

On Monday, Ballmer spelled out the corporation's mission statement with as much loquaciousness as when he spent 2,700 words this summer trumpeting the "One Microsoft" strategy and the resulting reorganization.

"We declared that Microsoft's focus going forward will be to create a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most," wrote Baller [emphasis in original].

Microsoft has used that phrasing before, as has Ballmer, including in his July letter to employees and on Sept. 19 when the company hosted a half-day event where executives spoke to Wall Street analysts.

The company has said that it plans to stick with the strategy swivel no matter who is appointed Ballmer's successor, a stance that has irritated some analysts but that was likely cemented when Microsoft announced last month that it would acquire parts of Finnish phone maker Nokia for $7.2 billion. "[The Nokia acquisition] will accelerate our growth with Windows Phone while strengthening our overall device ecosystem and our opportunity," Ballmer promised shareholders Monday.

Ballmer also said that Microsoft would rely on its strength -- its dominance in the enterprise -- to generate revenue, putting consumer services as a step-child for, and step toward, commercial wins.

"We will primarily monetize our high-value activities by leading with devices and enterprise services," Ballmer said. "In this model, our consumer services such as Bing and Skype will differentiate our devices and serve as an on-ramp to our enterprise services while generating some revenue from subscriptions and advertising."

"High-value" was a buzzword Ballmer used repeatedly in his letter -- seven times altogether -- and more often than he wrote "employees" (1), "strategy" (6), "customers" (3), or "family of devices" (3), the watchword of his July memo.

Ballmer's message about enterprise was virtually the same as the one he gave to financial analysts last month. Then, he said that Microsoft knew how to monetize services to businesses.

"How do we get our services to be popular on non-Windows devices?" Ballmer asked rhetorically during the Q&A with analysts on Sept. 19. "With the enterprise we kind of know how to do that. You walk into the enterprise, you say sign up for Office 365, you say we're going to embrace your iPads and your iPhones, and blah-de, blah-de, blah. We know how to do that. We know how to get paid. Life feels pretty straightforward."

But when it came to consumers, Ballmer tacitly admitted last month, Microsoft faces an iffier sales pitch.

"How do you monetize high-value activities? Amy [Hood, Microsoft's CFO] talked about the three bubbles: devices, consumer services and enterprise services," noted Ballmer. "The two that are most easily monetized, in fact, are devices and enterprise services. Consumer services, as we say, are tough."

Industry analysts saw the prioritization of enterprise in the Sept. 23 introduction of the revamped Surface line, especially the it's-a-tablet-no-it's-a-notebook Surface Pro 2. Ross Rubin of Reticle Research read Microsoft's emphasis on the Surface Pro 2's ultralight notebook-like characteristics as consistent with the strategy to focus on the enterprise over consumers, for example.

While Ballmer gave a quick summary of the restructuring he launched three months ago -- "We are well underway," he said, of the shuffling of executives, personnel and responsibilities -- he said nothing of the search for his replacement.

That search, which conceivably could take until late August 2014, has been the subject of much rumor and discussion by pundits and analysts, but no clear leading candidate has emerged. Among those most often mentioned as possible successors have been Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor; Paul Maritz, a former Microsoft executive and most recently the CEO of VMware; Tony Bates, who joined Microsoft after it bought Skype, and who now leads business development and evangelism; and Stephen Elop, the former CEO of Nokia who will return to Microsoft once the acquisition closes early next year.

Ballmer also reminded everyone that although he will soon step down as CEO, he will remain a major stockholder. "I'm optimistic not only as the CEO but as an investor who treasures his Microsoft stock," Ballmer wrote Monday.

That was muted in comparison to his comments last month before Wall Street analysts.

"I am very long on Microsoft. I believe in the company as an investment," Ballmer said. "I believe in what the company can do. I believe in the people and talent that are here. And at least this one shareholder will absolutely be cheering every day, from the day I'm not working here on. I'm Microsoft, if you will, all over."

As of Sept. 13, Ballmer controlled about 4% of the company's shares for a paper value of approximately $11.1 billion at Monday's closing price. Co-founder and current chairman Bill Gates owns about 4.5% of Microsoft's shares, but because he sells about 80 million shares annually under a pre-set plan, by this time next year -- assuming Ballmer retains his shares -- Ballmer will be the largest individual stockholder.

Ballmer is up for reelection to the Microsoft board of directors when shareholders meet Nov. 19.

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iPad 5 rumor rollup for the week ending Oct. 1

Smaller Apple iPad, bigger iPad, mini 2 delays, and date debate

The iOSphere knows so much about the iPad 5 and iPad mini 2 that it's easy to overlook how little it really knows.

A video of an alleged iPad 5 rear casing confirmed that the Next iPad will be somewhat smaller than the current one. Unless it’s much bigger than the current one. Anguish blew through the iOSphere over claims that unnamed production problems will delay full-scale release of the iPad mini 2 until early next year. And, based on nothing except looking at the calendar one year after the last iPad announcement, confidence is high that the new tablets will be announced Oct. 25.

You read it here second.
Thanks to a plethora of rumors, leaks, photos and videos we have a good idea what to expect from the iPad 5 when it arrives, but there are still some parts of the iPad 5 that remain up in the air.
— Josh Smith, GottaBeMobile, who was, nevertheless, unable to identify any specific feature, beyond the possibility of new rounded instead of sloping edges, for the iPad 5.

iPad 5 will be smaller than current iPad, but not by much

A video posted by a Chinese parts supplier, sw-box.com, compares the current iPad and iPad mini with a slate-gray rear housing alleged to be that of the iPad 5. Finally, someone in one of these dealing-in-stolen-property revelations actually uses a tape measure to compare the sizes.

And it turns out that the iPad 5 will be a little bit smaller than the current model.

[SLIDESHOW: 20 essential business apps for iPads and iPhones]

MacRumors apparently was the first to pick up on the video post.

The Youtube video itself is very straightforward, showing all three devices in a line, and then looking at the iPad 5 housing in more detail.

Here are the measurements, converted into inches:
Width x Length
iPad 4 - 7.31 x 9.49
iPad 5 - 6.67 x 9.42
iPad mini - 5.41 x 7.87

According to the video, iPad 5 is a smidgen thinner than the current iPad: 0.28 inches versus 0.37. If this is an actual iPad 5 rear housing, then the new tablet will be about one-half inch less wide, a teensy bit shorter, and about one-tenth of an inch thinner. The screen size and display area, presumably, will remain unchanged, with a 9.7-inch diagonal panel.

These figures would fit with the long-held belief that the sides (or bezel) of the front “frame” around the display will be thinner, but the top and bottom of the frame will be very close if not identical to the current model. The new casing is also somewhat lighter. Whether that will translate into a lighter finished product may depend on whether or how Apple has changed other components, including the display panel.

For most rumoristas none of this is new, though Business Insider’s Dylan Love seems stunned by the video. “According To This Leak, The 'iPad 5' Will Have A Completely New Design That Looks More Like The iPad Mini,” is the headline to his post. The Completely New Design, based on the rear housing in the video, means a body with rounded edges.

iPad 5 will be bigger than current iPad, by a lot

Apple is actively working on a 12-inch iPad model with Quanta, a Taiwan based contract manufacturer, according to the resurgent rumor of a larger-screened iPad.

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