IT Outsourcing, Information Technology, Outsource

American Airlines Officially Rolls Out In-flight WiFi

2008-08-21T09:27:00.005-05:00

American Airlines today became the first airline to offer onboard WiFi service for its fliers. As expected from previous reports, the Aircell Gogo service will be available for passengers willing to pay the $12.95 surcharge for flights that are more than three hours in length.

Nonstop flights on Boeing 767-200 aircraft flying between New York and Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, and New York and Miami will have the new WiFi service. American Airlines planned on launching the WiFi service on the 15 Boeing aircraft last month, but it was delayed because the system had to be modified.

Each Boeing plane is connected to the WiFi network via ground-based systems through an air-to-ground network. The planes receive signals from cell towers already in use, which makes the service cheaper for the fliers. Passengers must wait until the plane reaches 10,000 feet in elevation before signing up for the service.

Talking on cell phones is still prohibited and VoIP has been disabled for all flights, Aircell previously stated. Aircell will charge $9.95 for all flights three hours or less, and its pricing outline is for all airlines that use its service.

The service will be available on more flights after an initial testing phase of three to six months.Delta Air Lines confirmed it will begin testing a WiFi service in the fall, with Alaska Airlines, Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines and Virgin America also have in-air WiFi tests in the works.

Delta will use Gogo for its first class and economy passengers starting sometime in 2009, on at least 330 Delta aircraft. Several airline companies in Europe and Asia have been testing WiFi and cellular phone use while in flight, with varying results thus far.

Experts discover major Internet flaw

2008-07-09T16:15:00.001-05:00

LOS ANGELES, (UPI) --

U.S. security experts have discovered a major flaw in the design of the Internet's address system that affects virtually every corporate computer network.

The flaw in the Domain Name System could allow hackers to steer most people using corporate networks to malicious Web sites, The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

So far, hackers haven't taken advantage of the flaw, and the security experts say every major software company affected is in the process of issuing patches to fix the problem.

The man who discovered the flaw, Dan Kaminsky of the Seattle-based security firm IOActive Inc., says he hopes the patches will be broad enough that hackers won't be able to reverse-engineer them.

"We got lucky in this particular bug, because it's a design flaw," says Kaminsky. "It shows up in everyone's network, but the fix is a design fix that doesn't point directly at what we're improving."

Kaminsky says it took only a couple of hours to find the flaw but fixing it will take several months.

Microsoft Unveils New Internet Explorer Security Features

2008-07-02T15:20:00.002-05:00

Coming to IE8 is a set of cross-site scripting defenses to defeat hackers looking to steal cookies and browser history, logging keystrokes, stealing credentials, or just evading phishing filters.

By J. Nicholas Hoover InformationWeek

Internet Explorer's getting a little bit safer. Microsoft Wednesday unveiled significant new security features that will be in the next version of the company's Web browser, Internet Explorer 8, currently in public beta testing.

From Microsoft's standpoint, any improvement in security is a plus, and the company seems to be taking that to heart with Internet Explorer 8, which includes a slew of new or upgraded security features. In the past, Microsoft has been heavily criticized for its browser security, while its chief competitor, Mozilla Firefox, has been largely lauded.

One of the most important new features in IE8 is a set of cross-site scripting defenses to protect the browser against the most common type of these attacks, known as "reflection" attacks, wherein transmitted data is sent back to the attacker. During these attacks, hackers could be stealing cookies and browser history, logging keystrokes, stealing credentials, or just evading phishing filters.

Internet Explorer 8 will also have what Microsoft's calling the SmartScreen Filter, which has been previously announced, but is more than Microsoft originally let on. It's an upgraded version of the phishing filter found in Internet Explorer 7 with a twist. It now includes malware protection, a feature also found in the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox and Opera.

When users visit a site that's been reported by any one of a number of third-party data providers as a phishing or malware-laden site, they'll be greeted with a big red background and a warning. That's an upgrade over the anti-phishing user interface in Internet Explorer 7, which Microsoft tests found looked too much like a potentially less harmful page that just has security certificate errors.

The warning has options either to go to the user's home page or to "disregard and continue," though the first option is in much bigger text. Businesses will be able to set policy so that "disregard and continue" doesn't show up as an option. The anti-malware protection will also block suspicious downloads.

Several third-party data feeds will provide Internet Explorer with the information needed to block phishing and malware-laden Web sites. Microsoft gets data on reported phishing sites from seven providers, though it's not yet clear where it will get data on sites reported to contain malware.

Microsoft's already announced a number of security features for Internet Explorer 8. For example, the browser has a number of anti social engineering features. It will highlight domain names in the URL bar to help prevent URL spoofing, like when an e-mail tells the recipient to click on a site that's represented as a PayPal site, but is really a malicious one. There's also an additional anti-phishing feature, where a dialogue that catches certain site characteristics sets off a red flag even when the site isn't in IE's anti-phishing data feeds.

There are several new browser-based security features, including improvements to ActiveX dialogues and control. There are now several levels of security for ActiveX controls. With per user control, users can download and install a control and it will run whenever it wants. An opt in level allows users to decide whether the control should run each time it wants to. ActiveX kill bits can stop a control from loading at all, and per site control means a control can only be invoked by one particular Web site.

Data Execution Prevention helps mitigate many memory-related attacks, including buffer overruns, by blocking code execution from running in protected memory. Several other features, including cross domain request and cross domain messaging, are aimed at preventing attacks from taking place in mash-ups or any time two Web sites have to exchange information.

Cisco Ogles Russian Startups

2008-07-02T15:12:00.002-05:00

More than a year after announcing its intention to invest in some Russian startups, Cisco Systems Inc. has revealed a few details about its plans and partners.

The IP giant has contributed the "anchor investment" for a $60 million venture capital fund that will be managed by Almaz Capital Partners.

We thought that meant Cisco was supplying some nautical equipment, but that's its way of saying it's not revealing exact amounts: "Cisco is a significant contributor to that $60 million," says a spokesman for the San Jose, Calif., behemoth.

Cisco's not the only "significant" investor, though: Its contribution is being matched by Moscow-based UFG Asset Management.

The fund is focused on "high-growth small and medium-sized companies in the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors" in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

But that's not the limit of Cisco's ambitions in the region. "Cisco will pursue investment opportunities in technology-related start-ups in the region, both directly as well as indirectly through this regional venture fund."

And it's already made a direct investment, having taken a stake in Russian online retailer Ozon .
The move comes as operators in Russia and the CIS invest more and more of their capex budgets in state-of-the-art broadband fixed and mobile networks, a trend that's attracting other vendors too.

Wireless Internet Coming to Inside of Chrysler Vehicles

2008-06-25T16:31:00.001-05:00

And you thought surfing the web on a plane was already pretty cool. Soon, you may be able to watch the newest YouTube videos, read up on some terrific fighting games, and check up on the latest Mobile Magazine articles while cruising over to your family's summer cottage.

Starting with 2009 model year cars, Chrysler will begin to offer in-car wireless Internet access. According to the LA Times, the wireless access will be powered by a 3G data connection that can then be translated to a moving Wi-Fi signal. The service is called UConnectWeb and it will officially be unveiled tomorrow. Watching YouTube is probably more fun than crappy DVDs any day.

Naturally, UConnectWeb is not being targeted at the driver. He should be keeping his eyes on the road. The wireless web should only be used by the increasingly bored passengers.

Firefox 3.0 Doesn't Focus On Business IT

2008-06-18T15:15:00.000-05:00

However, a lack of enterprise support won't stop employees from downloading and using the browser on their own, with or without the backing of IT.

By J. Nicholas Hoover

Mozilla released Firefox 3.0 this week, but don't expect the new version to come entirely business-ready. The company's approach is to keep the end user first in mind, not the IT manager.

"Give people the things they want and then they'll take it into the enterprise," Mike Schroepfer, Mozilla's VP of engineering, said in an interview. "Our approach for a long time now has been pull rather than push." Mozilla has no enterprise sales or support staff to speak of, and the company relies on third-party add-ons such as FrontMotion Firefox MSI, CCK Wizard, or FirefoxADM for business features like centralized deployment and management. >more

38 in US, Romania Charged in Phishing Schemes

2008-05-19T15:50:00.003-05:00

Grant Gross, IDG News Service

Thirty-eight people in the U.S. and Romania have been charged in two indictments alleging they used complicated Internet phishing schemes to steal thousands of credit and debit card numbers, U.S. and Romanian authorities announced Monday.

The indictments, in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and the District of Connecticut, focus on two related phishing schemes with ties to organized crime, the U.S.

Department of Justice said. Phishing involves sending e-mail messages that look like official correspondents from banks or credit card vendors in an attempt to get recipients to go to a fake Web site and enter their account numbers.

A grand jury in Los Angeles charged 33 people for their alleged participation in a scheme that targeted thousands of individual victims and hundreds of financial institutions. The 65-count indictment was unsealed Monday. Seven people were charged in a Connecticut indictment for their roles in an Internet phishing scheme, including two who were charged in the Los Angeles case.

U.S. authorities were acting on nine arrest warrants in the Los Angeles area and Romanian authorities acting on search warrants there Monday in connection with the racketeering indictments.

Among the charges in the Los Angeles indictments are conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act; conspiracy in connection with access devices; unauthorized access to a protected computer; bank fraud; and aggravated identity theft.

The RICO conspiracy charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, bank fraud has a maximum sentence of 30 years, and device fraud conspiracy has a maximum sentence of seven and a half years. The unauthorized access count carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, and aggravated identify theft carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence.

The Romanian members of the organization obtained thousands of credit and debit card accounts and other personal information through phishing, according to the indictment. The group sent more than 1.3 million spam e-mail messages in one phishing attack, the DOJ said.
The Romanians collected the victims' information and sent the data to cashiers in the U.S.

through Internet chat messages, the DOJ said. The U.S. cashiers used hardware called encoders to record the fraudulently obtained information onto the magnetic strips on the back of credit and debit cards. Cashiers then directed other criminals called runners to test the fraudulent cards by checking balances or withdrawing small amounts of money at ATMs.

The cards that were successfully tested were used to withdraw money from ATMs or point-of-sale terminals with the highest withdrawal limits, the DOJ said. Part of the money was then wire transferred to the supplier in Romania.

Seuong Wook Lee, a cashier in the scheme, pleaded guilty on May 15 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to racketeering conspiracy, bank fraud, access device fraud and unauthorized access of a protected computer, the DOJ said.

In the related Connecticut case, seven Romanian resident were charged in an indictment returned by a grand jury in New Haven on Jan. 18 and unsealed Friday. The indictment alleges the defendants used a phishing scheme to commit fraud in connection with access devices, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The Connecticut investigation came from a state resident's complaint about a fraudulent e-mail message made to appear as if it originated from Connecticut-based People's Bank. The e-mail message directed victims to a computer in Minnesota that had been compromised and used to host a counterfeit People's Bank Internet site.

Investigators found that the defendants had targeted several banks and other companies, including Citibank, Capital One and PayPal.

On April 23, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced a strategy to combat international organized crime.

"Criminals who exploit the power and convenience of the Internet do not recognize national borders; therefore our efforts to prevent their attacks cannot end at our borders either," Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip said in a statement. "Through cooperation with our international partners, we can disrupt and dismantle these enterprises, just as we have done today with these indictments and arrests."

Mozilla Opens Firefox 3 RC1 Up For Public Testing

2008-05-19T15:47:00.002-05:00

By Jennifer Hagendorf Follett, ChannelWeb

Mozilla is one step closer to the launch of Firefox 3, rolling out Release Candidate 1 of the revamped browser for testing by developers and the open-source community at large.

The new version, based on the Gecko 1.9 Web rendering platform, adds several new features that will make Firefox 3 more secure, easier to use, and more personal, Mozilla said on its Web site. Firefox 3 also adds improvements for developers and will offer better performance, Mozilla said.

Mozilla Friday made Firefox 3 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) available for download from its site for testing purposes so that it can collect feedback from Web developers and the Firefox testing community.

Among Firefox 3's new security features is one-click access to site info to allow users to quickly see information on who owns a given Web site and whether the connection is protected from eavesdropping. New malware protection warns users when they land on a site known to install viruses, spyware and other malware.

Firefox 3 also offers simplified password management via an information bar that can be used to save passwords after a successful login, simplified add-on installation and a new simplified download manager that enables users to search for downloads by the name of the Web site they came from.

Mozilla also said improvements to its JavaScript engine will enable applications such as Google Mail and Zoho Office to run twice as fast in Firefox 3 compared to Firefox 2. It will also use less memory than previous versions.

Mozilla offered no timeframe for launching the final version of Firefox 3, though executives previously have said it will be available in June. "The final version of Firefox 3 will be released when we qualify the product as fully ready for our users," the outfit said in the release notes for RC1 on its site.

Gates says big changes in store for Internet in next decade

2008-05-06T09:36:00.001-05:00

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said there will be a vast shift in Internet technology over the next decade as he met Tuesday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

"We're approaching the second decade of (the) digital age," the software mogul and philanthropist told Lee at the start of their meeting at the presidential Blue House, according to a media pool report.

"The Internet has been operating now for 10 years," Gates said. "The second 10 years will be very different."

Microsoft Corp., the South Korean government and South Korean companies are investing $313 million in information technology for vehicles, games and education, according to a Blue House statement.

Microsoft and automakers Hyundai Motor Inc. and Kia Motors Corp. announced earlier Tuesday a deal to use Microsoft's in-car software, which allows people to control music and telephones with voice commands.

The company has a one-year exclusivity deal on the software with Ford Motor Co. in the U.S., but that expires in November. Fiat also has been selling cars with the software.

"We're doing some very interesting work on automobile software," Gates said after having dinner with Lee. "That's a really wide open area where some very exiting things will come out of."
Lee, a conservative former construction CEO, swept into office in February with a vow to boost economic growth through deregulation and increasing foreign investment.

In the Blue House statement, Gates was quoted as saying that new deals would boost South Korea's economic growth by as much as $6.9 billion over the next five years.

Gates, at a later event sponsored by South Korean television network SBS, talked about the future of software and human interaction in the next decade.

"We can expect that the variety and quality of software will accelerate in the years ahead," the Microsoft co-founder said.

Gates added that "natural interaction" between hardware and software was finally becoming possible, citing as an example speech commands to computers.

"The whole environment will be very, very different," he said.

Microsoft also said Tuesday that it will invest $280 million to build a research and development center in China's capital Beijing, and will double the number of its full-time research staff in China to 3,000 in three to five years.

Source

IBM CEO Palmisano Says New Trends Will Spur Old Company

2008-05-01T21:03:00.005-05:00

By Paul McDougall - InformationWeek

In addition to data centers, IBM expects to capitalize on the 3 billion people joining the middle class in the next 20 years.

IBM, which in recent years has struggled to grow its core software and services businesses, is counting on three trends to add some oomph to its top line, CEO Sam Palmisano said Thursday.

Palmisano said the company is poised to benefit from growth in emerging markets beyond the so-called BRICs -- Brazil, Russia, India, and China. IBM is also well positioned to extract more revenue from midmarket customers that want high-end technology and from large businesses that need to reduce data center costs and energy consumption.

"The world is changing ... and we need to make some adjustments," said Palmisano, speaking in Los Angeles to a group of IBM business partners.

Palmisano said IBM's efforts to expand its footprint in global tech hotspots like India and China have paid off, but noted that other parts of the emerging world are driving growth as well. "It's not just the BRICs, there are 50 or 60 others," he said.

"Three billion people will enter the middle class in our lifetime," said Palmisano. Much of that growth, he said, "will be supported by IT."

Another opportunity for IBM is the growing appetite among small and midsize businesses for enterprise-class technology. "That's a $500 million spend," said Palmisano.

Palmisano said IBM is also ready to profitably serve smaller customers thanks to its efforts to build out, along with Google, an infrastructure that enables it to deliver software and services through the Internet. The cloud, Palmisano said, is a virtual "application marketplace" that promises low overhead and high margins.

IBM's plan: to create a "Google like technical infrastructure that takes success in the consumer market and applies it to the consumer market," Palmisano said.

Palmisano said IBM also expects to profit from the fact that large corporate data centers need to be transformed in order to reduce space and energy requirements. "Those technologies have not been managed well," said Palmisano, noting that most companies spend three times more managing their data centers than they did buying the parts.

Data center modernization efforts will benefit IBM because it is, by virtue of its software, server, and services arms, the only vendor able to "solve problems end to end," Palmisano said.

"The solution is not a different router," Palmisano said. "Don't dumb down the problem."

Palmisano noted that IBM will be 100 years old in three years, but said that doesn't mean it can't cash in on new computing trends. "We don't mind being old. We're disciplined," he said.

Source

Adobe moves to broaden Flash reach

2008-05-01T20:56:00.003-05:00

No doubt, Adobe System's Flash is popular: it's installed on 99 percent of all PCs, according to the company.

But when it comes to mobile devices and other non-PC platforms, Flash is an also-ran. One reason for that situation, according to Adobe, is the lack of good development tools and the company's own restrictive licensing.

A new program, announced by Adobe on Thursday, is intended to remedy that problem. The program, called the Open Screen Project, is an industry alliance, of sorts, initiated by Adobe that includes prominent device manufacturers, content developers, and telecommunications carriers.

Open Screen is being spearheaded by Adobe. But the company is working with Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Qualcomm, Chunghwa Telecom, Samsung, Motorola, NTT Docomo, Toshiba, Verizon Wireless, ARM, Intel, Marvell, NBC, MTV, and the BBC. It's "a who's who in the industry," said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president of the Platform Business Unit at Adobe.

"It's time for the industry to provide a consistent platform for development across PCs, mobile devices, set-top boxes, and other platforms," said Wadhwani. "There are five times the number of connected devices than PCs in the world. The consumer market is demanding video and rich content across all of these screens," he said.

Adobe's answer to the problem--no surprise--is Flash, and later Adobe's AIR software. The company's goal is to establish Flash as the common runtime software on a variety of devices and to rapidly gain market share. What about Java, Sun Microsystems' "write once, run anywhere" software, you ask? Wadhwani dismisses Java's viability. "Java does happen to be running on these devices. But not necessarily write once, run anywhere."

Sun was not immediately available for comment.

Wadhwani said the Open Screen project has five basic elements. Adobe will remove license restriction on the .swf file format. "It is published already, but in order to view it you have to say you will not create a competing player," said Wadhwani. "We're lifting that restriction. People have been worried about vendor lock-in. This will remove that obstacle, and concern."

Adobe will also remove licensing fees for embedding Flash Player on devices. The software has always been a free download for PC users. But Adobe has charged for embedding on devices. Those charges will disappear with the next release of the software.

Adobe will also publish a variety of APIs and protocols related to Flash.

Clearly, some big names will likely not be participating in Adobe's plans. Sun and Microsoft, for starters. Sun has Java; Microsoft has a variety of Windows technology for mobile devices and has developed its own Flash-like software called Silverlight.

Apple and Google are also not involved in the project. Wadhwani said that Adobe will be actively recruiting additional partners, however.

Source

U.S. targets China, Russia, others on copyrights

2008-04-30T10:00:00.002-05:00

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is accusing China, Russia and seven other nations of failing to protect American producers of movies, computer software and other copyrighted material from widespread piracy.

The administration today placed the nine countries on a "priority watch list" that will subject them to extra scrutiny and could eventually lead to economic sanctions — if the administration decides to pursue complaints before the World Trade Organization.

In addition to China and Russia, the other seven countries targeted were Argentina, Chile, India, Israel, Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela.

The administration named another 31 countries to a lower-level watch list, indicating it has concerns about copyright violations in those nations but they don't warrant the highest level of scrutiny.

Because of improvements in their efforts to protect U.S. intellectual property rights, four countries — Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Ukraine — were taken off the "priority" list where they were last year and placed on the lower-level watch list.

In releasing the annual report, which is required by Congress, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said that copyright piracy is "one of the central challenges facing the global economy."
"Pirates and counterfeiters don't just steal ideas, they steal jobs and too often they threaten our health and safety," she said in a statement.

This year's report devoted attention to what it described as the growing problem of counterfeited pharmaceuticals and other products that threaten the health and safety of consumers around the world.

Stan McCoy, assistant U.S. trade representative for intellectual property, told reporters in a briefing that both China and Russia had made improvements in protecting intellectual property over the past year but that a number of issues remain.

The United States has a WTO case pending against China in which it has accused the country of doing too little to crack down on rampant piracy of American music, movies, computer programs and other products.

Discussions between the United States and Russia over improving copyright protections have been a key sticking point in negotiations over that country's bid to become a member of the WTO, the Geneva-based organization that regulates world trade.

Source

RIM looking for Cocoa devs: iPhone apps, or something else?

2008-04-30T09:53:00.003-05:00

Research In Motion is apparently looking for experienced Cocoa developers for a new software development team. The internal job listing, characterized by AppleInsider as "confidential," gives few details about what the "newly-created team" will be working on, but says that it involves "development and design of BlackBerry software." AppleInsider's sources say the company is keeping the project on the down low, sharing few details even within the company.

The requirements in the listing are reported to include emphasis on Mac OS X development with Cocoa and Objective-C, UI design, and web-related development using JavaScript and XML. Also preferred is experience with Sync Services and interfacing via Bluetooth and USB.

Though the obvious assumption is that RIM is writing applications for the iPhone—currently seen as BlackBerry's most serious competitor—the requirements read (to us) more like the skills needed to write software for syncing a BlackBerry with a Mac. With 42 percent of the current US smartphone market, according to a recent ChangeWave survey, I don't think RIM is ready to give up on itself just yet.

A native syncing application could certainly make a BlackBerry more compelling to someone looking at a new smartphone. ChangeWave's survey found that, among those looking for a new smartphone, 35 percent were eyeing the iPhone, while only 29 percent were considering a BlackBerry. Clearly, RIM is looking to answer the iPhone threat, and rumors indicate it is prepping a 3G-capable touchscreen BlackBerry to compete more directly with iPhone. With the increase in Mac sales and renewed enterprise interest, it only makes sense to make sure this device is as Mac-compatible as the iPhone.

Source

MS pulls plugs on XP SP3 mass launch

2008-04-30T09:47:00.002-05:00

Microsoft has pulled the general release of Windows XP service pack three (SP3) at the eleventh hour, blaming a “compatibility issue” for the cock-up.

The software giant said late yesterday it was suspending mass download of the long-awaited service pack while it investigates the problem between its point-of-sale app – Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) – and both XP SP3 and Vista SP1.

It said in an email that the update, which was released to manufacturing and volume licensing customers a week ago and was supposed to be generally available from yesterday, will not be pumped out to the masses via its Windows Update (WU) website as planned until the company fixes the bug.

However, the firm hasn’t pinpointed when XP SP3 will be available, much to the chagrin of Vista-shy customers who have been patiently waiting for the update to land.
“In the last few days, we have uncovered a compatibility issue between Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) and both Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)," said the firm.

"In order to make sure customers have the best possible experience, we have decided to delay releasing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) to the web.”

It also said that filtering would be put in place “shortly” to prevent WU spitting out both service packs to systems running Dynamics RMS. Once that tweak has been made, XP SP3 will be made available online.

Microsoft added that customers running its point-of-sale app, which is used mainly by small to medium-sized retailers, should swerve installing the service packs on either OS until a fix has been provided.

Redmond pushed back the release date of XP’s final service pack several times, and was supposed to be withdrawing sales of the operating system from the market at the end of June.
But earlier this month Microsoft, in a somewhat embarrassing U-turn that suggested the firm was pricking up its ears and listening to unfavourable customer feedback about Vista, said it would continue to sell Windows XP Home for bargain basement PCs beyond its scheduled 30 June kill-date .

Just last week Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer hinted that XP could be reprieved from end-of-life if enough customers demand it.

Source

Apple Updates iMacs Amid Booming Sales

2008-04-28T14:56:00.002-05:00

In addition to faster processors, the new iMacs are rated EPEAT Silver and meet the Energy Star 4.0 requirements for power consumption.

By Thomas Claburn InformationWeek

Apple on Monday refreshed its iMac line with faster Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Core 2 Duo processors and an optional more powerful graphics processor on its high-end 24-inch model.

The new iMac is available in three basic configurations: a 20-inch 2.4 GHz model ($1,199), a 20-inch 2.66 GHz model, and a 24-inch 2.8 GHz model. The 2.4 GHz iMac comes with an ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT (128MB memory) while the 2.66 GHz and 2.8 GHz models come with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO (256MB memory).

There's also a built-to-order 24-inch 3.0 GHz model featuring NVIDIA (NSDQ: NVDA) GeForce 8800 GS (512MB memory) that lists for $2,199 at the Apple Store, with 2GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive.

The new Intel Core 2 Duo processors that power the iMacs feature a 1066 MHz front-side bus and can be configured to support up to 4GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory.

Apple's iMacs include built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi networking, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Gigabit Ethernet; a built-in iSight video camera, five USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400 port, and one FireWire 800 port. They also come with Apple's iLife consumer media suite and Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.2, known as "Leopard."

According to Apple, its new iMacs are rated EPEAT Silver and meet the Energy Star 4.0 requirements for power consumption.

EPEAT, the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, is a program run by the Green Electronics Council that attempts to encourage environmentally responsible electronics manufacturing. It lists 23 required criteria and 28 optional criteria that are used in determining whether products qualify for the organization's Gold, Silver, and Bronze ratings. The Silver designation means a product must meet all 23 required criteria and at least 50% of the 28 optional criteria.

Federal acquisition rules require that 95% of computers purchased comply with EPEAT criteria; as of April 2008, San Francisco city departments may only purchase computers and monitors that are rated EPEAT Silver or Gold.

Apple's new iMac arrive on the heels of another in a series of strong quarterly financial reports. Last week, Apple reported revenue of $7.51 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.05 billion, a 43% increase year-over-year.

Apple said that it shipped 2,289,000 Macintosh computers during the first quarter of 2008, a 51% increase over the same quarter in 2007.

In a statement on Monday, Apple's senior VP of worldwide product marketing Philip Schiller noted that Mac sales have been growing at a rate three and a half times faster than PC sales.
Earlier this month, research firm IDC reported that Apple's share of the U.S. PC market during the first quarter of 2008 reached 6%, up from 4.9% in the first quarter of 2007, representing 25.1% growth. Dell (Dell)'s share of the U.S. PC market during this period reached 30.9%, up from 27.7% in the first quarter of 2007, representing 15.6% growth.

PC makers find ways to extend XP's life

2008-04-26T19:41:00.001-05:00

by Ina Fried

Facing a June 30 deadline to stop selling PCs with Windows XP, the world's largest computer makers are getting creative.

Taking advantage of the "downgrade rights" offered as part of the Windows Vista license agreement, Hewlett-Packard and Dell both plan to offer machines loaded with XP well beyond June.

Technically, the computers will be Vista Business or Vista Ultimate machines that have been factory downgraded to XP at the customer's request. In practice, they are more like XP machines that come with an already paid-for upgrade to Vista when and if the customer chooses to do so.

HP said it plans to continue selling the "pre-downgraded" desktops, notebooks, and workstations to its business customers until July 30, 2009. Dell is already pitching the same option on its Web site and promising the models will stick around long after it stops taking standard XP orders on June 18. Other computer makers tell CNET News.com they are still exploring what to do but also want to sell XP beyond June 30.

There are limits to the approach being taken by HP and Dell. Only the Business and Ultimate flavors of Vista come with downgrade rights, meaning consumer machines can't be sold in a similar fashion.

While companies can offer pre-downgraded machines via their Web site, things get a little more complicated when it comes to buying a PC at retail stores. It may be possible for customers to buy such a machine, but just how this will work--and if stores will offer such an option--is not totally clear. The tricky issue is that, to stay within Microsoft's terms, the customer has to somehow "request" the XP downgrade.

All of this prompts the real question: Why won't Microsoft just extend the deadline? The company's rationale that customers and computer makers aren't demanding a longer life for XP seems to be increasingly implausible.
Kevin Kutz, a director in Microsoft's Windows unit, said that the downgrade-rights option meets customer needs.

"While (computer makers) continue to see large numbers of customers making the transition to Windows Vista, there are some pockets--like small business--that need a little more time," Kutz said in a statement. "And from what we've heard from our partners, the downgrade rights option fulfills that need."

The pre-downgraded PC option is just the latest way that PC makers have responded to stronger-than-expected demand. After shifting largely to Vista after its January 2007 mainstream launch, Dell and others quickly began adding more XP options in response to customer requests.

For some time now, computer makers have been selling machines with an XP recovery disc as a downgrade option.

Lenovo, for example, plans to keep offering an XP recovery disc with some Vista models through January 2009, according to InformationWeek.

The latest twist is the machines, like the ones HP and Dell will sell beyond June 30, that have Vista rights but contain XP pre-installed.

As for whether a broader reprieve might yet come for XP, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has left the door open a crack.

"XP will hit an end-of-life," Ballmer said in Belgium recently, according to Reuters. "We have announced one. If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter, but right now, we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments."

No Change in XP Plan Despite Ballmer Comment, Microsoft Says

2008-04-24T20:45:00.007-05:00

James Niccolai, IDG News Service

Comments by Steve Ballmer at a press conference in Europe today have led to speculation that Microsoft is reconsidering its June 30 deadline to stop selling most new Windows XP licenses. A spokeswoman from Microsoft's public relations firm said Thursday that there is no plan for a change in deadline, however.

"Our plan for Windows XP availability is unchanged. We're confident that's the right thing to do based on the feedback we've heard from our customers and partners," the spokeswoman said, reading from a Microsoft statement.

Ballmer's comments at a press conference at Louvain-la-Neuve University in Belgium led to a flurry of reports that Microsoft may be considering an extension of its deadline.

"If customer feedback varies we can always wake up smarter, but right now we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments," Ballmer said, according to Reuters. Microsoft did not have a transcript of the event, but the spokeswoman from Waggener Edstrom said the comments seem accurate.

XP Petition Signed

The spokeswoman said Microsoft is aware that some customers are pushing for an extension to the deadline -- more than 160,000 people have signed a "Save XP" petition launched by Infoworld magazine, for example. But the company has also done its own research among partners and customers, and feels that "the dates are right," she said, speaking on behalf of Microsoft.

"We feel we've made the right accommodations for customers in certain segments who may need more time to transition to Windows Vista," she said. "But as Steve noted, we maintain a constant stance of listening to our customers and our partners. That's what is guiding our plan, and will continue to guide us going forward."

The "accommodations" refer to several exceptions that Microsoft has made to the June 30 deadline. For example, companies that make volume purchases of Vista Business or Vista Ultimate can ask their vendor to "downgrade" their license to Windows XP. Microsoft has also made exceptions for the emerging class of small, ultra-low-cost PCs, and it will continue to provide Windows XP Starter Edition for PCs sold in emerging markets.

Retailers and PC vendors can also continue to sell any backlog of Windows XP licenses that they bought before the June 30 deadline. Beyond those exceptions, most new Windows licenses purchased after June 30 will be for Windows Vista.

The owner of a PC support center near Boston questioned which users Microsoft had been gathering feedback from."I'd love to know exactly what, and how many 'customers' Microsoft claims to be getting this feedback from," David Bookbinder, owner of Total PC Support, said via e-mail. "My guess, and it's an educated one, is that it's more likely stockholder feedback."Total PC Support provides service to home and small-business users in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire."I service over 600 clients and have yet to find ONE speak highly of Vista, or wish XP to end," he wrote. "And that goes from the biggest novice on up."

Interested in a Blackberry Enterprise Server?

Microsoft's Tellme launches BlackBerry voice search

2008-04-23T13:55:00.002-05:00

By JESSICA MINTZ

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp.'s Tellme subsidiary launched an application for the BlackBerry on Tuesday that lets people speak commands into their smart phones to search for businesses, look up movie times, check traffic and make other queries.

Once users download the program, they can push on their phone's green "talk" button and say either the name of a business, type of business, or the keywords "weather," "movies," "traffic," "map" or "driving directions."

Using GPS, the system figures out where the user is located and delivers nearby results from Microsoft's Live Search engine to the smart phone's screen, along with links to call, get directions, buy movie tickets and other related actions.

The program only works on some of Research in Motion Ltd.'s newer BlackBerry models. Tellme, which Microsoft acquired in 2007 for $800 million, said versions for Helio, Windows Mobile and Apple Inc.'s iPhone devices are in the works.

The Tellme program's launch comes just weeks after Yahoo Inc. unveiled a new version of its mobile search system, oneSearch 2.0, which includes voice search and is also designed to work with certain BlackBerry models.

"People are getting more frustrated with the fact that these cell phones are getting smaller and smaller, but more and more function is getting crammed into them," Mike McCue, founder and general manager of Tellme, said in an interview. "To try to get anything done — navigate through all these menus — it takes time. To try to do that while driving, walking, on the go, is very challenging."

McCue said his team hopes to add sports scores, train schedules, voice dialing, text-message dictation and other functions to the service in the future.

He also said that while Tellme's technology is separate from Microsoft's Sync system, which lets drivers use their voice to control phones, music players and other devices in some Ford car models, the two experiences will become much more similar.

The application was launched on the BlackBerry first, instead of Microsoft's own platform, because of BlackBerry's support for the Java programming language, according to McCue.
The system is advertising-free for now, but eventually, ads will be incorporated, according to Dariusz Paczuski, a senior director at Tellme.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Tellme's voice technology also powers AT&T and Verizon's 411 directory services, as well as automated customer service systems used by companies including Domino's Pizza and American Airlines.

Web criminals fuel big rise in "trojans"

2008-04-23T13:49:00.002-05:00

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - Cyber-criminals are behind a dramatic rise in stealthy programs called "trojans" that infect computers to sell rogue software, send unwanted email or steal personal data, a study has found.

In a report released in London, Microsoft said the number of trojans removed from computers around the world in the second half of 2007 rose by 300 percent from the first half.
The figure has risen so sharply because more computers are fitted with software that detects malicious programs and because criminals had come to see trojans as their "tool of choice," the report said.

"The numbers have simply exploded, it's huge," said Vinny Gullotto, general manager of the Microsoft Malware Protection Center. "There is a lot of criminal intent there."
Trojans can log keystrokes to gather passwords, send spam from private computers or harvest email addresses or personal information for criminal purposes.

The most common family of trojans last year was "Win32/Zlob," a piece of malicious software, or malware, that people unwittingly download from the Internet.

Its designers trick people into saving it by telling them they need a new piece of software to watch video online.

Once installed, it bombards people with pop-up messages and bogus flashing warnings that their computer is infected.

The messages say: "Your computer is infected! Windows has detected spyware infection. Click here to protect your computer."
The trojan then sends adverts offering to sell rogue anti-spyware on sites that could expose customers to credit card fraud. Microsoft said the problem is global and linked to organized criminal gangs.

"The majority (of trojans) come from the (United) States, China, Russia and South America," Gullotto said on the fringes of the Infosecurity Europe trade conference on Tuesday.
Microsoft said the number of computers around the world that were made safe after being infected with trojans rose from one million in the second half of 2006 to 19 million in the second half of 2007.

The report is online: http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/sir.aspx

Microsoft finishes big XP update

2008-04-22T21:34:00.002-05:00

by Ina Fried

Microsoft said on Monday that it has wrapped up development of its long-awaited Service Pack 3 update to Windows XP.

The update, which consists of previously released updates and a few new bug fixes and changes, will be available for download via the Web on April 29. Microsoft said it plans to start pushing out XP SP3 this summer to "home users" who have Automatic Updates turned on.

A Microsoft representative said the company won't update boxed copies of Windows XP with the service pack, though it will be an option for computer makers that are still offering XP on new machines. Large computer makers have only until June to sell XP on standard systems, though some low-cost, low-memory machines can be sold with XP until 2010, as can some PCs aimed at emerging markets.

Microsoft has been testing Windows XP Service Pack 3 for some time. The product was planned to be released as early as 2006, but was pushed back several times as Microsoft focused on developing and updating Windows Vista.

Yahoo sidesteps the big questions

2008-04-22T21:26:00.002-05:00

Yahoo reported solid earnings for its first quarter, but by completely sidestepping discussion of the big Microsoft acquisition issues, the company left more unresolved than resolved.

The company had solid revenue growth, expressed cautious optimism about weathering an economic downturn, and modestly beat analysts' profit expectations. Chief Executive Jerry Yang issued lukewarm metaphors: "Our results this quarter demonstrate we are on the right track. We are pursing the right strategy, and it's beginning to bear fruit."

And in after-hours trading, the company's stock was essentially flat.

I'd say "Ho hum," but the stakes are too high right now. Unfortunately, Yahoo didn't show any of its cards.

Yahoo's financial results didn't carry an implicit conclusion, either. They weren't so bad that Microsoft's attempt to acquire Yahoo for $31 a share looks generous or so great that Yahoo shareholders will laugh off their suitor.

"The results, being neither fish nor fowl, presented a pretty clear outcome," said Gartner analyst Allen Weiner. "I think they're at that critical juncture where the best shareholder value they can give people is the $31 per share Microsoft has offered."

On a conference call to discuss the results, company executives stuck closely to a standard earnings script without advancing the discussion regarding the big issues:

• Selling to Microsoft. "Our board and management team continues to be open to any and all alternatives including a sale to Microsoft," Yang said, but, "We will not enter into any transaction that does not recognize the full value of this company."

• Partnerships such as one reported possibility to acquire AOL in exchange for an investment from Time Warner that could be used to repurchase Yahoo stock. The company is "expeditiously exploring a number of strategic alternatives," Yang said.

• A partnership to test Google's search ads alongside Yahoo's search results, a move that could increase the revenue per click that advertisers pay Yahoo. Yahoo gave passing mention to the test but said, in effect, "Stay tuned."

Given that Yang had no big news to announce, he had to walk a fine line on the conference call. He didn't want to throw in the towel to Microsoft, and he couldn't declare that Yahoo now has got Google running scared. And addressing touchy issues can open a can of worms during the question-and-answer period.

But just as there are consequences for saying something injudicious on the conference call, there are consequences to playing it too straight. If it wants to fend off Microsoft, Yahoo has to prove to its shareholders that its alternatives are real.

For example, sharing some preliminary results from the Google ad test could have helped advance the discussion about just how real some of the company's alternatives are. Analyst estimates accord 9 cents to Google for each ad clicked to 4 cents at Yahoo, so a partnership could be financially important.

Yahoo lost an opportunity to seize the initiative by rebutting Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer's latest take on the acquisition: "I wish Yahoo all the success with its results, but it doesn't affect the value of Yahoo to Microsoft."

Instead, Yahoo merely reported earnings. For seizing the initiative, I guess we'll have to wait for Ballmer.

Huge sponsorship for ICT congress

2008-04-22T13:47:00.003-05:00

PETALING JAYA: The total sponsorship for the upcoming 16th World Congress of Information Technology 2008 (WCIT 2008) has crossed the US$10mil mark, according to WCIT 2008 Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Dan E. Khoo.

The amount, which exceeded the US$6mil raised under WCIT 2006 in Austin, Texas, was achieved with the addition of 41 new strategic partners.

“Our aim is to sign up 2,500 delegates for WCIT 2008,” Khoo told a press conference after the exchange of agreements between WCIT 2008 and the 41 new partners yesterday.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili witnessed the event.
To date, more than 2,300 delegates have signed up for the congress, often dubbed as the Olympics of the information and communications technology (ICT) industry.

The new partners include seven Malaysian states, four international media organisations and 26 technological development and services companies, bringing the number of institutional participants to 67.

WCIT 2008 chairman Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said WCIT 2008 would be a shot in the arm for the local ICT industry and MSC Malaysia.

“More than 100 high-profile speakers will share their wisdom and experience on pressing issues such as the impact of ICT on outsourcing, education, innovation technopreneurship, healthcare, the environment and the future of the Internet,” he said.

The latest speakers to confirm attendance include celebrity genome scientist Dr Craig Venter and Google chief Internet evangelist Dr Vinton Cerf, who is widely acknowledged as the “Father of the Internet”, Badlisham said.

Other major events that will be held in conjunction with the congress are the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Terrorism's World Cyber Security Summit, the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development, the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation E-Governance Asia Forum and the 11th International Advisory Panel for MSC Malaysia.

“These events are just as significant to support the agenda for Malaysia as well as to provide opportunities to local and foreign entrepreneurs. We are bringing the ICT world to Malaysian companies and states,'' Badlisham said, adding that the event was expected to attract some 50,000 participants comprising 6,000 delegates and 44,000 expo visitors.

Outsourcing Key For Smaller Firms

2008-04-22T11:04:00.003-05:00

By Alexandra Zendrian, Inc.com

Facing greater competition for skilled professionals, more small-business owners are turning to outside help for administrative tasks in order to remain focused on core operations, a recent study shows.

Based on a survey of 150 companies nationwide with 20-25 employees by Achilles Group, a Houston-based human resources firm, the study found that smaller employers tend to outsource at least two functions, including accounting, payroll, information technology and public relations.
Employers said offloading these tasks helped free up time to concentrate on growth strategies and other revenue-producing activities. Outsourcing also reduced costs, while offering greater access to expertise from outside the company, they said.

"The most common reason to outsource at the enterprise level is to reduce costs and typically focuses on administrative tasks before moving to more strategic matters," Achilles Group Vice President Bill Bradshaw said in a statement. Smaller businesses also tend to outsource work to save time, he added.

Windows XP SP3: A quick, painless upgrade

2008-04-21T21:01:00.005-05:00

Posted by Robert Vamosi

On Monday, Microsoft released to manufacturers (RTM) the final code for Windows XP SP3. The upgrade provides support for WPA2 and the Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRP) used in Windows Vista, among other things. The public version will be available for download via the Web on April 29. Based on our initial installation, the upgrade will be effortless for most Windows XP users.

The last Service Pack for Windows XP, SP2, was released in August 2004. The initial release took some users all night to download and install. The company pushed back the initial public release from June 2004 originally. Despite numerous glitches still present in the code, Windows XP SP2 was formally made public on August 20, 2004, and Microsoft had to work hard to convince users to upgrade.

Windows XP SP2 featured a new Security Center, an improved firewall, and other tweaks.
That's not the case with SP3, which was delayed several years while Microsoft did work on Windows Vista.

Microsoft says the service pack includes functionality previously released as updates. Perhaps that's why the download and installation for SP3 was effortless on our test system. XP SP3 took only 30 minutes to download, and 10 minutes to install.

Some updates relevant to the home user include:

Support for WPA2, the latest standards-based wireless security solution derived from the IEEE 802.11i standard.

Improvements to black-hole router detection (detecting routers that are silently discarding packets). Windows XP SP3 turns this protection on by default.

BITS 2.5, which is required by Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 and Windows Live OneCare.

Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRP), which allows Windows XP applications to communicate with Windows Vista programs that use PNRP.

Windows Installer 3.1, which contains new and enhanced functionality and addresses some issues that Microsoft found in Windows Installer 3.0.

Digital Identity Management Service (DIMS), which allows users who log on to any domain-joined computer to silently access all of their certificates and private keys for applications and services.

However, the balance of these improvements are not necessarily relevant to the home user. For example:

MMC 3.0, which is a framework that provides common navigation, menus, toolbars, and workflow across diverse tools.

MSXML6, which provides better reliability, security, and conformance with the XML 1.0 and XML Schema 1.0 W3C Recommendations as well as System.Xml 2.0.

IPsec filter creation and maintenance. XP SP3 reduces the number of filters that are required for a server and domain isolation deployment. Also, the Simple Policy Update removes the requirement for explicit network infrastructure permit filters and introduces enhanced fallback to clear behavior.

The Security Options control panel includes more descriptive text to explain settings and prevent incorrect settings configuration.

Network Access Protection (NAP), which is a policy enforcement platform built into Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows XP SP3 to better protect network assets by enforcing compliance with system health requirements.

Starting April 29, all Windows XP SP2 users should upgrade to SP3, if only to get a complete set of Windows XP patches installed.

Red Hat Drops Plans For Consumer Desktop Linux

2008-04-17T16:55:00.002-05:00

Linux commands only about 1.2% of the desktop market in the United States, according to research group Gartner.

Red Hat said it has dropped plans, disclosed last year, to develop a version of the Linux operating system for consumer PCs -- in part because of Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s dominance over the market.

"The desktop market suffers from having one dominant vendor, and some people still perceive that today's Linux desktops simply don't provide a practical alternative," Red Hat officials said in a blog post Wednesday.

"Building a sustainable business around the Linux desktop is tough, and history is littered with example efforts that have either failed outright, are stalled, or are run as charities," they said. >more