IT News :)
- GOOGLE INTRODUCING CHROME OS
IT'S BEEN AN EXCITING NINE MONTHS SINCE WE LAUNCHED THE GOOGLE CHROME BROWSER. ALREADY, OVER 30 MILLION PEOPLE USE IT REGULARLY. WE DESIGNED GOOGLE CHROME FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON THE WEB — SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION, CHECKING EMAIL, CATCHING UP ON THE NEWS, SHOPPING OR JUST STAYING IN TOUCH WITH FRIENDS. HOWEVER, THE OPERATING SYSTEMS THAT BROWSERS RUN ON WERE DESIGNED IN AN ERA WHERE THERE WAS NO WEB. SO TODAY, WE'RE ANNOUNCING A NEW PROJECT THAT'S A NATURAL EXTENSION OF GOOGLE CHROME — THE GOOGLE CHROME OPERATING SYSTEM. IT'S OUR ATTEMPT TO RE-THINK WHAT OPERATING SYSTEMS SHOULD BE.
- MIT SENDING SMART ROBOTS INTO WAR ZONES TO SAVE LIVES
RESEARCHERS AT MIT ARE TESTING A ROBOTIC FORKLIFT PROTOTYPE THEY HOPE CAN ONE DAY UNLOAD AND MOVE MILITARY SUPPLIES IN A WAR ZONE, KEEPING SOLDIERS OUT OF HARM'S WAY. MIT SCIENTISTS USED ROBOTICS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE A PROTOTYPE OF WHAT THEY'RE CALLING A SEMI-AUTONOMOUS FORKLIFT. THE MACHINE, WHICH CAN LIFT AND MOVE PALLETS LOADED WITH TIRES, WATER CONTAINERS OR CONSTRUCTION SUPPLIES, USES SITUATIONAL AWARENESS SOFTWARE. THAT TECHNOLOGY ENABLES THE FORKLIFT TO USE SENSING, INFERENCE AND MEMORY TO LEARN THE LAYOUT OF ITS ENVIRONMENT AND "MOVE PURPOSEFULLY" IN IT, ACCORDING TO SETH TELLER, AN MIT PROFESSOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, IN A STATEMENT. - EXPERT: DOMAIN NAME REDIRECTS OPEN DOOR FOR HACKERS
WHEN YOU MAKE A TYPO IN A DOMAIN NAME, MANY ISPS RE-DIRECT YOU TO A PAGE WITH SPONSORED LINKS. IT'S A WAY FOR THE ISP TO MAKE A LITTLE EXTRA CASH FROM YOUR MISTAKE, AND IT HAD BEEN CONSIDERED RELATIVELY HARMLESS. HOWEVER, A SECURITY RESEARCHER HAS FOUND A WAY TO EXPLOIT THE ARRANGEMENT, AND IT COULD CREATE AN OPENING FOR MALICIOUS ATTACKS. - VIRTUALIZATION GOES MOBILE
SEVERAL COMPANIES, INCLUDING VIRTUALLOGIX, ARE WORKING ON WAYS TO BRING VIRTUALIZATION TECHNOLOGY TO MOBILE PHONES. THE GOAL IS TO MAKE IT EASIER TO COMBINE FEATURES SUCH AS WEB BROWSING, E-MAIL AND SPEECH WHILE MAXIMIZING THE EFFICIENT USE OF PHONE RESOURCES. - MICROSOFT AIMS TO LASSO EVERYTHING WITH LIVE MESH
MICROSOFT'S NEW LIVE MESH SERVICE IS INTENDED TO TIE DEVICES ON MULTIPLE PLATFORMS -- SMARTPHONES, COMPUTERS, PERSONAL MEDIA PLAYERS, ETC. -- INTO ONE SYSTEM, ALLOWING FOR TASKS FILE-SHARING AND FOLDER SYNCHRONIZATION. MICROSOFT HAS ITS SIGHTS AIMED HIGH IN ATTEMPTING TO JOIN SO MANY SYSTEMS INTO THE SAME WEB, AND CHALLENGES MAY BE ESPECIALLY STEEP IN THE FACE OF DRM ISSUES AND NON-MICROSOFT HARDWARE. - MICROSOFT STICKS TO ITS BID FOR YAHOO
SAN FRANCISCO: MICROSOFT'S CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER SAID THAT THE US SOFTWARE GIANT IS STANDING BY ITS $44.6 BILLION BID FOR YAHOO AND THE APRIL 26 DEADLINE IT GAVE THE STRUGGLING INTERNET PIONEER TO DECIDE. "WITH RESPECT TO YAHOO WE HAVE BEEN CLEAR SPEED IS OF THE ESSENCE," CHRIS LIDDELL SAID YESTERDAY WHILE DISCUSSING A FRESH MICROSOFT EARNINGS REPORT. "THE IDEA WE SHOULD INCREASE OUR BID JUST BECAUSE WE CAN AFFORD TO IS NOT ONE THAT I FAVOUR. UNLESS WE MAKE PROGRESS WITH THE YAHOO BOARD BY THIS WEEKEND WE WILL EXPLORE OUR ALTERNATIVES. MICROSOFT HAS GIVEN YAHOO'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNTIL APRIL 26 TO ACCEPT ITS UNSOLICITED $44.6 BILLION OFFER. MICROSOFT'S OPTIONS INCLUDE WITHDRAWING ITS OFFER OR TAKING IT DIRECTLY TO SHAREHOLDERS IN WHAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED A "HOSTILE" PROXY BATTLE. "WITH OR WITHOUT A YAHOO COMBINATION, MICROSOFT IS FOCUSED ON THE ONLINE ADVERTISING MARKET," LIDDELL SAID. MICROSOFT MADE ITS OFFER FOR YAHOO ON FEBRUARY 1 IN A QUEST TO COMBINE THE FIRMS' RESOURCES TO GAIN GROUND ON INTERNET SEARCH KING GOOGLE. LIDDELL'S COMMENTS ECHO THOSE MADE BY MICROSOFT CHIEF EXECUTIVE STEVE BALLMER DURING A PRESS EVENT IN MOROCCO EARLIER IN THE WEEK. "WE HAVE A STRATEGY FOR THE INTERNET THAT WE ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT," BALLMER SAID. "WE THINK WE CAN ACCELERATE OUR STRATEGY BY BUYING YAHOO AND WE WILL PAY WHAT MAKES SENSE FOR US TO PAY FOR OUR SHAREHOLDERS." - VOIP: WHEN CHEAPER COULD MEAN COSTLIER
FOR ENTERPRISES, THE PRIMARY REASON FOR ADOPTING VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL (VOIP) PHONE SERVICE IS MONEY. LONG-DISTANCE PHONE CALLS PLACED OVER THE INTERNET TYPICALLY COST A MERE FRACTION OF THOSE PLACED UNDER THE BUSINESS RATE PLANS OFFERED BY TRADITIONAL TELEPHONE COMPANIES. AS A RESULT, THE BUSINESS WORLD IS EMBRACING VOIP PHONE SYSTEMS FOR THEIR ABILITY TO MERGE PHONE LINES WITH THE INTERNET AND MAKE ENTERPRISE COMMUNICATIONS CHEAPER AND MORE MANAGEABLE. HOWEVER, COMPANIES MAKING THE SWITCH OFTEN FAIL TO CONSIDER THE HIGHER SECURITY RISKS POSED BY HACKERS AND PHISHERS SEEKING SENSITIVE CORPORATE DATA. WITHOUT STRINGENT CONTROLS MAINTAINED BY NETWORK MANAGERS AND INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS, VOIP COMMUNICATION ARE JUST AS SUSCEPTIBLE TO HACKERS AS UNSECURED WIFI CONNECTIONS TO THE INTERNET. A HACKER COULD, FOR EXAMPLE, TAP INTO A CORPORATE VOIP SYSTEM AND LISTEN TO CONFIDENTIAL CALLS. ANOTHER TYPICAL SECURITY RISK INVOLVES HACKERS SLIPPING INTO A CALL CENTER USING VOIP AND LISTENING AS CUSTOMERS GIVE SENSITIVE INFORMATION LIKE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AND FINANCIAL ACCOUNT INFORMATION TO CALL CENTER WORKERS. VOIP SECURITY OFTEN DOES NOT GET THE ATTENTION IT NEEDS, AND THIS MAKES VOIP A POTENTIALLY HOT TARGET FOR HACKERS. "PEOPLE LOVE THE NOTION OF REDUCED CALLING COSTS. VOIP IS A GREAT WAY TO REDUCE COSTS, BUT SECURITY COSTS EXTRA. BUT USERS DON'T ALWAYS WANT TO PAY THAT. OFTEN COMPANIES LOOK AT REDUCED CALLING COSTS AND FAIL TO PUT SECURITY ON TOP OF THAT," SCOTT MONTGOMERY, VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL TECHNICAL STRATEGY FOR SECURE COMPUTING, TOLD TECHNEWWORLD. - WATCH DIGITAL TV, FILMS WITHOUT DISRUPTION
DUTCH RESEARCHER ALINA WEFFERS-ALBU HAS DEVELOPED A METHOD WHICH WOULD TAKE CARE OF SUCH PROBLEMS AND ENSURE HASSLE-FREE VIEWING. HER METHOD CALCULATES HOW SUCH A DEVICE CAN OPTIMISE THE LIMITATIONS OF PROCESSOR AND MEMORY CAPACITY. DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MATHEMATICAL PROTOTYPE, WEFFERS-ALBU IMPOSED THE CONDITION THAT THE EQUIPMENT SHOULD BE CHEAPER AND MORE RELIABLE. THIS WORK WAS CARRIED OUT AT PHILIPS RESEARCH AND EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SUCCESSFULLY. - CHINA BUMPS US FROM NO. 1 RANKING ON NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS
THE COUNTRY CLOCKED IN WITH 221 MILLION INTERNET USERS IN FEBRUARY, SURPASSING THE U.S. FOR THE TOP BILLING, ACCORDING TO REUTERS, WHICH CITES THE XINHAU NEWS AGENCY'S REPORTING OF FIGURES FROM THE GOVERNMENT-BACKED CHINA INTERNET NETWORK INFORMATION CENTER. HOWEVER, THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT'S FIGURES DO HAVE SOME COMPETITION. MARKET RESEARCHER COMSCORE TOLD CNET NEWS.COM ON THURSDAY THAT THE U.S. MAINTAINS A SLIGHT LEAD OVER CHINA, ACCORDING TO ITS MARCH FIGURES. THE NUMBER OF U.S. INTERNET USERS REACHED 188 MILLION LAST MONTH, VERSUS 173 MILLION IN CHINA, ACCORDING TO COMSCORE. THE DISCREPANCY MAY BE DUE TO THE LENGTH OF TIME THE TWO AGENCIES TRACK FIGURES, A COMSCORE REPRESENTATIVE SAID. COMSCORE RELIES ON DATA GATHERED ON A MONTHLY BASIS, WHILE THE CHINA INTERNET NETWORK INFORMATION CENTER COLLECTS DATA OVER A SIX-MONTH PERIOD, THE REPRESENTATIVE SAID. AND WHILE THE NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS IN CHINA IS HIGH BY ANY COUNT, ITS PENETRATION RATE IN RELATION TO ITS POPULATION IS STILL LOWER THAN THE WORLDWIDE AVERAGE. THE PERCENTAGE OF INTERNET USERS IN CHINA IS 16 PERCENT OF ITS POPULATION, COMPARED WITH 19.1 PERCENT ON A GLOBAL SCALE, REUTERS SAID. A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF INTERNET USERS IN RURAL CHINA RELY ON INTERNET CAFES TO ACCESS THE NET, ACCORDING TO THE CHINA INTERNET NETWORK INFORMATION CENTER. - MICROSOFT PUBLICLY POSTS ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL DOC
MICROSOFT CORP. TOOK ANOTHER STEP TOWARD FULFILLING ITS INTEROPERABILITY PRINCIPLE OF ENSURING OPEN CONNECTIONS TO ITS HIGH-VOLUME PRODUCTS AND DRIVING GREATER INTEROPERABILITY, OPPORTUNITY AND CHOICE ACROSS THE IT COMMUNITY OF DEVELOPERS, PARTNERS, CUSTOMERS AND COMPETITORS. MICROSOFT POSTED ON MSDN MORE THAN 14,000 PAGES OF PRELIMINARY VERSIONS OF TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION FOR MICROSOFT PROTOCOLS BUILT INTO MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007, MICROSOFT OFFICE SHAREPOINT SERVER 2007 AND MICROSOFT EXCHANGE SERVER 2007. WITH THIS ACTION, MICROSOFT WILL HAVE POSTED A CUMULATIVE TOTAL OF MORE THAN 44,000 PAGES OF PROTOCOL DOCUMENTATION THAT IT COMMITTED IN ITS INTEROPERABILITY PRINCIPLES. AS A RESULT OF TODAY'S POSTING, ALL TYPES OF DEVELOPERS INCLUDING INDEPENDENT SOFTWARE VENDORS, OPEN SOURCE DEVELOPERS AND DEVELOPERS IN CUSTOMER IT DEPARTMENTS WILL HAVE CONSISTENT, OPEN ACCESS TO THIS PROTOCOL DOCUMENTATION THAT DEFINES HOW THESE HIGH-VOLUME MICROSOFT PRODUCTS COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER MICROSOFT PRODUCTS. THIS CONSISTENT, OPEN ACCESS TO INFORMATION WILL PROMOTE MORE INTEROPERABILITY OPTIONS FOR DEVELOPERS OF ALL TYPES AND WILL HELP FOSTER IMPROVED REAL-WORLD INTEROPERABILITY SOLUTIONS IN THE MARKETPLACE. "MICROSOFT IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE TODAY ANOTHER STEP TOWARD PUTTING OUR INTEROPERABILITY PRINCIPLES INTO ACTION WITH THE PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF THESE PROTOCOL SPECIFICATIONS FOR MICROSOFT OFFICE, OFFICE SHAREPOINT SERVER AND MICROSOFT EXCHANGE SERVER," SAID TOM ROBERTSON, GENERAL MANAGER OF INTEROPERABILITY AND STANDARDS AT MICROSOFT. "WE BELIEVE THAT PROVIDING OPEN, CONSISTENT ACCESS TO THESE PROTOCOLS WILL FURTHER UNLEASH THE CREATIVITY OF ALL DEVELOPERS TO WORK ON REAL-WORLD INTEROPERABILITY SOLUTIONS. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MICROSOFT'S INTEROPERABILITY PRINCIPLES IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF OUR OVERALL EFFORTS TO PROMOTE INTEROPERABILITY IN THE MARKETPLACE." IN ANOTHER EXAMPLE, DEVELOPERS WORKING WITH EXCHANGE SERVER PROTOCOLS WILL HAVE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO BUILD APPLICATIONS THAT DIRECTLY COMMUNICATE AND STORE INFORMATION WITH EITHER EXCHANGE SERVER OR MICROSOFT OFFICE OUTLOOK RELATED TO E-MAIL, CALENDARS, CONTACTS, VOICE MAIL AND TASK TRACKING. "TODAY WE ARE POSTING PRELIMINARY VERSIONS OF PROTOCOL DOCUMENTATION FOR MICROSOFT OFFICE, OFFICE SHAREPOINT SERVER AND EXCHANGE SERVER," SAID JEAN PAOLI, GENERAL MANAGER OF INTEROPERABILITY AND XML ARCHITECTURE AT MICROSOFT. "WE ARE VERY EAGER TO RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM MEMBERS OF THE DEVELOPER COMMUNITY AS THEY ACCESS THIS DOCUMENTATION OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS AND MONTHS SO WE CAN USE THAT FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE OUR FINAL DOCUMENTATION TO BE RELEASED IN JUNE." THE PRELIMINARY VERSIONS OF THE MATERIAL POSTED TODAY REPRESENT THE FIRST OF A THREE-PHASED APPROACH MICROSOFT IS TAKING TO MAKE THE PROTOCOL INFORMATION AVAILABLE AND ACCESSIBLE TO ALL DEVELOPERS. THE SECOND PHASE, WHICH WILL RUN UNTIL JUNE, WILL BE THE COLLECTION OF INPUT FROM THE COMMUNITY AS DEVELOPERS REVIEW THE DOCUMENTATION AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK. THE THIRD PHASE, WHICH WILL OCCUR BY THE END OF JUNE, WILL BE THE POSTING OF THE FINAL VERSIONS OF THE DOCUMENTATION ALONG WITH FINAL PATENT LICENSING TERMS. MICROSOFT WILL ALSO ANNOUNCE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION AND DISCLOSURE SCHEDULES IN THE FUTURE. - CIA, FBI COMPUTERS USED FOR WIKIPEDIA EDITS
PEOPLE USING CIA AND FBI COMPUTERS HAVE EDITED ENTRIES IN THE ONLINE ENCYCLOPEDIA WIKIPEDIA ON TOPICS INCLUDING THE IRAQ WAR AND THE GUANTANAMO PRISON, ACCORDING TO A NEW TRACING PROGRAM. THE CHANGES MAY VIOLATE WIKIPEDIA'S CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST GUIDELINES, A SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE SITE SAID ON THURSDAY. THE PROGRAM, WIKISCANNER, WAS DEVELOPED BY VIRGIL GRIFFITH OF THE SANTA FE INSTITUTE IN NEW MEXICO AND POSTED THIS MONTH ON A WEB SITE THAT WAS QUICKLY OVERWHELMED WITH SEARCHES. THE PROGRAM ALLOWS USERS TO TRACK THE SOURCE OF COMPUTERS USED TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE POPULAR INTERNET ENCYCLOPEDIA WHERE ANYONE CAN SUBMIT AND EDIT ENTRIES. WIKISCANNER REVEALED THAT CIA COMPUTERS WERE USED TO EDIT AN ENTRY ON THE U.S.-LED INVASION OF IRAQ IN 2003. A GRAPHIC ON CASUALTIES WAS EDITED TO ADD THAT MANY FIGURES WERE ESTIMATED AND WERE NOT BROKEN DOWN BY CLASS. ANOTHER ENTRY ON FORMER CIA CHIEF WILLIAM COLBY WAS EDITED BY CIA COMPUTERS TO EXPAND HIS CAREER HISTORY AND DISCUSS THE MERITS OF A VIETNAM WAR RURAL PACIFICATION PROGRAM THAT HE HEADED. AERIAL AND SATELLITE IMAGES OF THE U.S. PRISON FOR TERRORISM SUSPECTS AT GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA, WERE REMOVED USING A COMPUTER TRACED TO THE FBI, WIKISCANNER SHOWED. CIA SPOKESMAN GEORGE LITTLE SAID HE COULD NOT CONFIRM WHETHER CIA COMPUTERS WERE USED IN THE CHANGES, ADDING THAT "THE AGENCY ALWAYS EXPECTS ITS COMPUTER SYSTEMS TO BE USED RESPONSIBLY." THE FBI DID NOT HAVE AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE. COMPUTERS AT NUMEROUS OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND COMPANIES WERE FOUND TO HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN EDITING ARTICLES RELATED TO THEM. GRIFFITH SAID HE DEVELOPED WIKISCANNER "TO CREATE MINOR PUBLIC RELATIONS DISASTERS FOR COMPANIES AND ORGANIZATIONS I DISLIKE (AND) TO SEE WHAT 'INTERESTING ORGANIZATIONS' (WHICH I AM NEUTRAL TOWARDS) ARE UP TO." IT WAS NOT KNOWN WHETHER CHANGES WERE MADE BY AN OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF AN AGENCY OR COMPANY, GRIFFITH SAID, BUT IT WAS CERTAIN THE CHANGE WAS MADE BY SOMEONE WITH ACCESS TO THE ORGANIZATION'S NETWORK. IT VIOLATES WIKIPEDIA'S NEUTRALITY GUIDELINES FOR A PERSON WITH CLOSE TIES TO AN ISSUE TO CONTRIBUTE TO AN ENTRY ABOUT IT, SAID SPOKESWOMAN SANDY ORDONEZ OF THE WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION, WIKIPEDIA'S PARENT ORGANIZATION. HOWEVER, SHE SAID, "WIKIPEDIA IS SELF-CORRECTING," MEANING MISLEADING ENTRIES CAN BE QUICKLY REVISED BY ANOTHER EDITOR. SHE SAID WIKIMEDIA WELCOMED THE WIKISCANNER. - YAHOO! SATISFIES MORE THAN GOOGLE?
WHILE GOOGLE MAY BE THE NUMERO UNO IN TERMS OF WEB SEARCH, YAHOO! IS A FEW NOTCHES AHEAD WHEN IT COMES TO CONSUMER SATISFACTION... OR SO REVEALS DATA FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN'S AMERICAN CONSUMER SATISFACTION INDEX (ACSI). THE SURVEY FOUND YAHOO! TO HAVE RISEN BY 3.9 PERCENT OVER THE LAST YEAR TO REACH A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SCORE OF 79 OUT OF 100 POINTS. AND GOOGLE TO HAVE FALLEN BY AROUND 3.7 PERCENT TO REACH A SCORE OF 78 POINTS, ONE POINT BEHIND YAHOO!. LARRY FREED, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF FORESEE RESULTS, WHICH SPONSORED THE ACSI REPORT, EXPRESSED THE VIEW THAT THE POSITIVE PERCEPTION OF YAHOO! STEMS MAINLY FROM THE RELAUNCH OF IT'S MAIN SITE AND THE VARIOUS OFFSHOOTS THAT ARE NOW GAINING GROUND. HE SAID PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN COMFORTABLE WITH THE YAHOO! INTERFACE, AND THAT IT CONTINUES TO BE DOMINANT IN TERMS OF IT'S CORE STRENGTHS -- COMMUNITIES AND SUB-FUNCTIONS. BY COMPARISON, FREED SAID GOOGLE NEEDS TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO LEVERAGE ALL THOSE GREAT APPLICATIONS THEY'VE DEVELOPED. FOR THE AVERAGE CONSUMER, GOOGLE TODAY IS THE SAME AS WHAT HE/SHE SAW THREE YEARS AGO. IN RESPONSE TO THE SURVEY, ALL THAT A GOOGLE SPOKESPERSON HAD TO SAY WAS THAT THEY ARE ALWAYS WORKING TO PROVIDE USERS THE BEST ONLINE EXPERIENCE, AND THAT THEY WELCOME STRONG COMPETITION FOR IT HELPS DRIVE MARKET INNOVATION. MEANWHILE, THE ACSI REPORT FOUND MICROSOFT'S CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SCORE TO HAVE RISEN BY 1.4 PERCENT; ASK.COM'S TO HAVE RISEN BY 5.6 PERCENT TO REACH 75 POINTS; WHILE THAT OF AOL TO HAVE FALLEN BY MORE THAN 9 PERCENT TO 67 POINTS. THE ACSI DATA IS COLLECTED BASIS INTERVIEWS OF NEARLY 70,000 CUSTOMERS TO MEASURE SATISFACTION WITH OVER 200 COMPANIES PANNING ACROSS 45 INDUSTRIES. HOWEVER, AS REGARDS THE INTERNET VERTICAL, THE SURVEY COMBINES TWO DIFFERENT CATEGORIES; NAMELY, SEARCH ENGINES AND PORTALS. AND IT IS ON THE BASIS OF YAHOO!'S PORTAL STRENGTH THAT THE SURVEY FOUND YAHOO! TO EDGE OUT GOOGLE -- FOR THE FIRST TIME! - MICROSOFT INCREASES HOTMAIL STORAGE
HOT-ON-THE-HEELS OF GOOGLE'S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT IT WILL START SELLING ADDITIONAL STORAGE SPACE TO BE USED ACROSS IT'S APPLICATIONS, MICROSOFT HAS REPORTEDLY NOW ANNOUNCED INCREASING THE STORAGE LIMIT FOR WINDOWS LIVE HOTMAIL FROM 2GB TO 5GB. THE MOVE PLACES MICROSOFT SQUARELY AHEAD OF GOOGLE YET FAR BEHIND YAHOO!'S UNLIMITED STORAGE OFFERING. A COMPANY BLOG SAYS THE CHANGES WILL BE ROLLED OUT OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS TOGETHER WITH A SERIES OF OTHER UPGRADES. SIGNIFICANTLY, USERS WILL NOW BE ABLE TO STORE 10GB OF EMAIL DATA FOR AN ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION OF $14.99. THEY WILL BE ABLE TO FORWARD EMAIL FROM THEIR HOTMAIL ACCOUNT TO A GMAIL OR ANY OTHER EMAIL ACCOUNT. MICROSOFT HAS ANNOUNCED OTHER IMPROVEMENTS INCLUDING: THE ABILITY TO SHUT OFF THE 'TODAY' FEATURE THAT SHOWS TOP NEWS AND FEATURES ON THE MSN PORTAL; A NEW SECURITY FEATURE NAMED 'REPORT PHISHING' THAT WARNS ABOUT POSSIBLE SCAM WEB SITES LINKED TO EMAILS; BETTER PERFORMANCE FOR HEBREW AND ARABIC WRITERS; PREVENTION OF DUPLICATION OF CONTACT INFORMATION; AND THE ABILITY TO SET AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE; AMONG OTHERS. MEANWHILE, THE COMPANY BLOG SAYS MICROSOFT IS ALSO TRYING TO MAKE HOTMAIL RUN FASTER, AS WELL AS TRYING TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT MESSAGES ARE STORED IN THE JUNK AND DELETED ITEMS FOLDERS BEFORE BEING AUTOMATICALLY FLUSHED. - IBM, C-DAC PARTNER TO PROMOTE HINDI
CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED COMPUTING (C-DAC) AND IBM INDIA RESEARCH LABORATORY HAVE ANNOUNCED DEVELOPMENT OF "SHRUTLEKHAN-RAJBHASHA", A HINDI SPEAKER INDEPENDENT, CONTINUOUS SPEECH RECOGNITION SYSTEM THAT USES IBM DESKTOP HINDI SPEECH RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY. "SHRUTLEKHAN-RAJBHASHA" IS PART OF C-DAC'S ONGOING MANTRA-RAJBHASHA PROJECT FOR ENSURING A HIGH LEVEL OF ACCURACY IN THE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH TO HINDI, IN AREAS INCLUDING ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, AGRICULTURE, AND SMALL SCALE INDUSTRY. - GENIUS LASER MOUSE CUM PRESENTER
GENIUS HAS INTRODUCED IT'S LATEST BLUETOOTH LASER MOUSE THAT DOUBLES AS A PRESENTER, THE TRAVELER 915BT LASER, WHICH IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A MOBILE PHONE. THE TRAVELER 915BT LASER INCORPORATES THREE LATEST TECHNOLOGY TRENDS; NAMELY, BLUETOOTH WIRELESS, LASER MOUSING, AND SIZE/PORTABILITY. USERS CAN EASILY CONNECT THE TRAVELER 915BT LASER TO THE BLUETOOTH ENABLED NOTEBOOK, ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR A RECEIVER AS ALSO ALL KINDS OF CORDS AND TANGLES. GENIUS CLAIMS THE HIGH PRECISION 1600 DPI LASER SENSOR CAN TRACK BETTER ON A VARIETY OF SURFACES AS COMPARED TO AN OPTICAL DEVICE ON TRICKY POLISHED OR WOOD-GRAIN SURFACES. TRAVELER 915BT LASER SPORTS A UNIQUE METAL COVER FINISH, AND FEATURES A 4D SCROLLING ROLLER FOR FASTER BROWSING -- BE IT LEFT, RIGHT, UP, OR DOWN. SIGNIFICANTLY, THE TRAVELER 915BT LASER ACTS AS BOTH A MOUSE AND A PRESENTER. WITH A PRESS OF THE SWITCH MODE BUTTON, THE DEVICE ALTERNATES BETWEEN A MOUSE AND A PRESENTER. AS PRESENTER, THE 915BT LASER GIVES FULL CONTROL OVER LASER POINTER, PAGE UP/DOWN, ESC, AND F5 TO ACCOMPLISH THE PURPOSE OF PRESENTATIONS. ACCORDING TO GENIUS, THE TRAVELER 915BT LASER OFFERS UP TO 20 TIMES THE SENSITIVITY OF A STANDARD OPTICAL MOUSE, AND LETS USERS SWITCH FROM 800 DPI TO 1600 DPI ON THE FLY. THE TRAVELER 915BT LASER IS AVAILABLE THROUGH AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTORS OF GENIUS, AND IS PRICED AT RS 5,499 APIECE. - MOBILE BROADBAND: TOO ENERGY INEFFICIENT?
IN A PIECE OF RESEARCH THAT COULD HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE OF MOBILE BROADBAND, A US ANALYST HOUSE HAS CLAIMED NEW MOBILE APPLICATIONS WILL MAKE PURE MOBILE TECHNOLOGY TOO ENERGY-INEFFICIENT TO BE PRACTICAL IN THE FUTURE.INSTEAD, SUGGESTS THE REPORT BY ABI RESEARCH -- WHICH IS ENTITLED, "ENERGY EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS FOR MOBILE BROADBAND SOLUTIONS" -- OPERATORS MAY BE FORCED TO INTEGRATE WIMAX AND CITYWIDE (OR METRO) WI-FI INTO THEIR NETWORKS. - SEAGATE WITH MICROSOFT TO PROMOTE BACKUP
SEAGATE ANNOUNCED THAT THE COMPANY IS WORKING WITH MICROSOFT TO RAISE AWARENESS ON THE NEED TO SAFEGUARD VALUABLE DIGITAL CONTENT AND DATA.TO ACCOMPLISH THIS TASK, THE TWO COMPANIES HAVE ENTERED INTO A JOINT MARKETING AGREEMENT PROMOTING WINDOWS VISTA BACKUP AND RESTORE AND THE MAXTOR ONETOUCH III, AS A COMBINED, SIMPLE AND EASY SOLUTION TO HELP PROTECT PHOTOS, MUSIC, BUSINESS DOCUMENTS, VIDEOS AND MORE. ACTIVITIES WILL INCLUDE WEB PROMOTIONS, ADVERTISEMENTS, LAUNCH EVENTS, TRADE SHOW ACTIVITIES AND RETAIL PROMOTIONS THAT FOCUS ON EDUCATING PEOPLE ABOUT PROTECTING THEIR DIGITAL ASSETS. - WINDOWS XP FIREWALL HACK RELEASED
SECURITY RESEARCHERS SAY HACKERS HAVE PUBLISHED CODE THAT COULD LET AN ATTACKER DISABLE THE BUILT-IN FIREWALL ON COMPUTERS RUNNING MICROSOFT'S WINDOWS XP OPERATING SYSTEM. THE CODE, WHICH HAS BEEN AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET SINCE SUNDAY, COULD BE USED TO DISABLE THE FIREWALL ON COMPLETELY UP-TO-DATE WINDOWS XP COMPUTERS RUNNING MICROSOFT'S INTERNET CONNECTION SERVICE (ICS), ALLOWING MALICIOUS CODE TO BE PLANTED ON THOSE MACHINES. THE EXPLOIT DETAILS WAYS TO SEND SPECIALLY FORMED MALICIOUS DATA PACKETS TO FORCE ICS TO FAIL. BECAUSE ICS IS CONNECTED TO THE WINDOWS XP FIREWALL, THE PACKETS COULD ALSO CAUSE THE FIREWALL TO FAIL. - AMD PLANS COMBINED PROCESSOR-GRAPHICS CHIP
AIMING TO LEAPFROG ARCHRIVAL INTEL CORP., ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES WILL DELIVER A WIDE RANGE OF MERGED X86 CPUS WITH ON-BOARD GRAPHICS ACCELERATORS STARTING IN LATE 2008. AMD ANNOUNCED ITS SO-CALLED FUSION PROGRAM WEDNESDAY (OCT. 25) UPON THE FORMAL COMPLETION OF ITS $5.4 BILLION ACQUISITION OF GRAPHICS AND CHIP SET DESIGNER ATI TECHNOLOGIES INC. THE MERGED COMPANY WILL SHIP VERSIONS OF THE COMBINED PROCESSORS FOR LAPTOPS, DESKTOPS, WORKSTATIONS, SERVERS AND CONSUMER ELECTRONICS DEVICES GEARED FOR EMERGING MARKETS. THE MOVE COULD POTENTIALLY GIVE UPSTART AMD AN EDGE OVER ITS MUCH LARGER RIVAL, PARTICULARLY IN A HANDFUL OF GENERALLY SMALL BUT POTENTIALLY PROFITABLE SECTORS SUCH AS HIGH-END CONSUMER GAMING MACHINES, LOW-END CONSUMER DESKTOPS AND SOME TECHNICAL COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS. HOWEVER, EVEN WITH THE AMBITIOUS MERGER AMD STILL TRAILS INTEL BY FAR IN TERMS OF ITS OVERALL REVENUE, PROFIT AND STAFF RESOURCES TO ADDRESS MAINSTREAM COMPUTING MARKETS. THE FUSION CHIPS AIM TO INCREASE PERFORMANCE-PER-WATT FOR APPLICATIONS SUCH AS 3D GRAPHICS, DIGITAL MEDIA AND TECHNICAL COMPUTING. IN A PRESS STATEMENT, AMD SUGGESTED THE PROCESSORS WILL LEVERAGE BOTH ITS COHERENT HYPERTRANSPORT INTERCONNECT AS WELL AS PCI EXPRESS TO LINK TO EXTERNAL CO-PROCESSORS - NEW CHIP-COOLING TECHNOLOGY
AIMING TO LEAPFROG ARCHRIVAL INTEL CORP., ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES WILL DELIVER A WIDE RANGE OF MERGED X86 CPUS WITH ON-BOARD GRAPHICS ACCELERATORS STARTING IN LATE 2008. AMD ANNOUNCED ITS SO-CALLED FUSION PROGRAM WEDNESDAY (OCT. 25) UPON THE FORMAL COMPLETION OF ITS $5.4 BILLION ACQUISITION OF GRAPHICS AND CHIP SET DESIGNER ATI TECHNOLOGIES INC. THE MERGED COMPANY WILL SHIP VERSIONS OF THE COMBINED PROCESSORS FOR LAPTOPS, DESKTOPS, WORKSTATIONS, SERVERS AND CONSUMER ELECTRONICS DEVICES GEARED FOR EMERGING MARKETS. THE MOVE COULD POTENTIALLY GIVE UPSTART AMD AN EDGE OVER ITS MUCH LARGER RIVAL, PARTICULARLY IN A HANDFUL OF GENERALLY SMALL BUT POTENTIALLY PROFITABLE SECTORS SUCH AS HIGH-END CONSUMER GAMING MACHINES, LOW-END CONSUMER DESKTOPS AND SOME TECHNICAL COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS. HOWEVER, EVEN WITH THE AMBITIOUS MERGER AMD STILL TRAILS INTEL BY FAR IN TERMS OF ITS OVERALL REVENUE, PROFIT AND STAFF RESOURCES TO ADDRESS MAINSTREAM COMPUTING MARKETS. THE FUSION CHIPS AIM TO INCREASE PERFORMANCE-PER-WATT FOR APPLICATIONS SUCH AS 3D GRAPHICS, DIGITAL MEDIA AND TECHNICAL COMPUTING. IN A PRESS STATEMENT, AMD SUGGESTED THE PROCESSORS WILL LEVERAGE BOTH ITS COHERENT HYPERTRANSPORT INTERCONNECT AS WELL AS PCI EXPRESS TO LINK TO EXTERNAL CO-PROCESSORS