From The Editor
By Jeff Caruso, Site Editor
- Most popular stories this week: Aug. 27
- Check out the full list below.
1. Microsoft: 'We love open source'
2. ACLU Report: Spying on Free Speech Nearly At Cold War Level
3. Technology's Biggest Myths
4. Air Force uses real...
- Most popular stories this week: Aug. 20
- This week's top stories were all about conflict - Torch vs. iPhone, Apple Graphics Tablet vs. iPad, Microsoft vs. Google. But there were exceptions, like the story about the number of devices...
- Breaking news: Intel buys McAfee
- Intel announced Thursday morning that it would buy antivirus software maker McAfee for $48 per share, or $7.7 billion.
Both boards of directors have approved the deal. McAfee will operate as a...
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VMware to acquire two companies; Russia tracking ransomware gang Listen now!
- HP raises 3PAR bid to $33 per share
- Hewlett-Packard has raised its offer for virtualized storage vendor 3PAR to US$33 per share, or roughly $2.4 billion, from its previous bid of $30 per share, 3PAR said Thursday. The move tops Dell's latest offer of $32 per share, according to 3PAR.
- The Web's Most Annoying Apps
- They install themselves, marking their territory with icons. They flash distracting, trivial alerts on the screen in front of you. They demand that you install the latest update, and they won’t take no for an answer. When you give in and install the update, they make you restart. They nag you to upgrade to a paid version. They spam you. They beg you to sign up. They’re a pain in the browser.
- Apple's iOS beats Android 6:1 on the Web
- Apple's iOS mobile operating system is now the third-most popular platform on the Internet, with a share nearly six times larger than Android's, a Web measurement company said Wednesday.
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- Botnet takedown may yield valuable data
- Researchers are hoping to get a better insight on botnets after taking down part of Pushdo, one of the top five networks of hacked computers responsible for most of the world's spam.
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- As Earl looms, tips to batten down IT
- With forecasters predicting a very active hurricane season, experts say IT managers must review business continuity and disaster recovery plans to ensure to prepare for potential power outages and data center damage.
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- Samsung launches Galaxy Tab
- Samsung has finally revealed the Galaxy Tab, a tablet computer running Android 2.2 that will begin shipping in October. It can be used to surf the Web, watch movies, read e-books, navigate using GPS -- and even make phone calls, according to Samsung.
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- Baidu launches new entertainment features for search engine
- Baidu, China's largest search engine, officially launched a series of new entertainment features on Thursday, making it easier for users to access games, television shows and books.
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- New iPods vs. Old: Specs, Design Reveal Big Improvements
- Apple on Wednesday unveiled what CEO Steve Jobs called Apple's "biggest change in the iPod lineup ever." The newly released iPods are available for pre-order now and start shipping next week. New iPods include a smaller iPod Nano featuring a multitouch screen and a throwback iPod Shuffle featuring physical playback controls on the device. Apple also debuted a new iPod Touch featuring back- and front-facing cameras and FaceTime video calling.
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- New Apple TV: Living Room as Tech Battleground
- Today's unveiling of a smaller, cheaper Apple TV set-top box is the latest in a long line of tech industry efforts to conquer the living room. Recent reports and rumors have Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Sony all developing low-cost entertainment devices that would stream entertainment bits--movies, TV shows, music, photos, and so on--from the Internet to your HDTV.
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- IBM X-Force backs-off Google as major patch offender
- IBM has overhauled its list of worst security patchers among software vendors, putting Microsoft at the top of its list and shifting Sun from No. 1 to No. 5.
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- Microsoft to VMware: Windows is still relevant in the virtualization era
- Virtualization has not stripped Windows of its relevance, a Microsoft official said in response to VMware CEO Paul Maritz’s argument that operating systems are no longer the center of innovation in the IT world.
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- Suse Linux for VMware ships
- Virtualization and cloud capabilities are touted in the joint Novell-VMware announcement
- Fujitsu says green IT services can cut bills by 20 percent
- Most of the talk about IT energy efficiency has focused on the data center, but office equipment like PCs and printers can offer plenty of opportunity to cut costs as well. Fujitsu is rolling out some new services Wednesday that aim to help companies tackle both areas at once, and it claims they can reduce a company's IT energy bills by 20 percent on average.
- 3Par faces lawsuit as bidding war continues
- 3Par, which is already the subject of a bidding war between Hewlett-Packard and Dell, is now among a group of companies being sued by Crossroads Systems for patent infringement.
- Disable A Laptop Touchpad While You Type, Win 7 Edition
- Many moons ago I wrote about TouchFreeze, a free laptop utility that solves one of life's most maddening problems: accidental swipes of your touchpad while typing. (Why isn't Windows smart enough to do this on its own? Just saying.)
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- Blackberry Loses More Ground To Apple and Android
- In a continuing trend, more businesses are shifting loyalties from Blackberry to iPhones and Android devices as the relative newcomers make inroads into the corporate world. Three-quarters of the 200 businesses surveyed in the United States and the U.K in the study reported that their employees are choosing other than Blackberry, Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. reported to Bloomberg. The number was 83 percent for U.S. companies.
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- Firefox 3.6 Becomes Number Two Browser as IE6 Declines
- The data from the Net Applications for browser market share in August show that Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 continues to lead overall and outpace all competitors in growth. Even better news is that Internet Explorer 6--the archaic and insecure browser that refuses to die--is losing ground.
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- Install Apps With Ubuntu Software Center
- Introducing the Ubuntu Software Center
- 3D content is king at giant tech show
- Most observers agree that more content is needed for 3D to take off in the living room. An important part will be self-generated, Panasonic said Wednesday at the Internationale Funkaustellung (IFA) trade show in Berlin.
- ActiveState prepares Python for databases
- The new ActiveState Python distribution includes modules for GUI design and interacting with databases
- Discover to get $5M from Heartland for '08 data breach
- Heartland Payment Systems has agreed to pay $5 million to Discover to settle claims arising from the massive data breach disclosed by the payment processor last year.
- 11 Must-Have Android Apps for Business
- Now that business users have begun clamoring for Android phones in earnest, it's a better time than ever to take a fresh look at the Android apps now available for enterprises.
- Sony, Borders Shift E-Reader Strategy to Challenge Kindle
- Both Sony and Borders have shifted things around this week on their e-reader product lines to compete more aggressively as we approach the holiday season. The opposing strategies are a stark contrast in how to take on the Amazon Kindle, and neither is likely to succeed.
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- Windows Phone 7 released to manufacturers
- Windows Phone 7 has been finalized and released to manufacturers, Microsoft announced today.
- DARPA launches insider threat detection effort for military
- The Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched an effort aimed at finding and detecting to insider threats on Department of Defense networks.
- West Virginia's IT workers fight state outsourcing
- West Virginia's IT workers are concerned that the state plans to outsource their jobs and have responded with a protest and a lawsuit.
- Mobile CRM app helps construction firm diversify its business
- VCC, a nationwide retail construction company, finds that giving project managers smartphone access to customer data is a big boost in attracting new business.
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- Miami man pleads guilty in ID theft case
- A Miami man has pleaded guilty to two identity-theft related charges after federal agents found more than 26,000 credit card numbers stored on his computer, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
- Brocade set to unveil 100G Ethernet
- Brocade will soon unveil 100Gbps Ethernet additions to its switching and routing product line, in what the company claims is its most significant Ethernet/IP product rollout since acquiring Foundry Networks in 2008.
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- Is Charles Phillips leaving Oracle?
- Oracle co-President Charles Phillips may soon be leaving the company after some public missteps and a recent change in Oracle's upper management, a financial analyst company said Wednesday in a research note to its clients.
- Jobs slashes Apple TV price, unveils 'Ping' social network
- Apple CEO Steve Jobs today introduced a smaller and less expensive Apple TV, laid out a completely revamped iPod music player lineup, talked up a pair of upgrades to its iOS mobile operating system and touted changes to the company's iTunes music software and store.
- Oracle giving student coders free access to JavaOne
- Oracle is hoping to entice a younger generation of Java programmers into its fold by offering students complimentary admission to the upcoming JavaOne and Oracle Develop conferences.
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- FCC strikes down free broadband plan
- The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has closed the door on a controversial proposal for a way to use a chunk of wireless spectrum, but continues to consider how best to deploy the valuable spectrum.
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- Apple unveils new iPod touch, with high-res screen
- Apple announced its new iPod touch, which is almost identical to the iPhone 4, but lacks a cellular radio. Users can make use of its 802.11n Wi-Fi chipset for connectivity.
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- Oracle lawsuit unlikely to prompt Java forking
- Spring Framework founder Rod Johnson says fragmentation probably won't happen, though Oracle's behavior isn't helping
- How to Save U.S. IT Jobs
- While popular in the halls of Congress, the additional H-1 B visa fees tacked on to the most recent immigration appropriations bill drew mostly criticism outside of Washington. Some critics say it went too far; others say it didn't go far enough. Most agreed that the move would do little to protect or create U.S. IT jobs.
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- VMworld 2010: Virtualization, The Matrix, and the VMware/Microsoft rivalry
- Ten highlights from VMworld, the massive virtualization conference.
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- PlayStation 3 will be ready for 3D by October
- PlayStation 3 owners will finally be able to watch movies in 3D by October, Sony CEO Howard Stringer promised during his speech Wednesday at the Internationale Funkaustellung (IFA) trade show in Berlin.
- Updated Apple TV takes center stage at event
- Apple announced its second-generation Apple TV during a press event Wednesday, showing off the updated device, which streams movies from the Internet or mobile devices directly to TV sets.
- Cisco, Itron to jointly design smart energy grid communications
- Cisco and utility metering company Itron have agreed to jointly develop a standards-based IP-based communications platform for smart energy grids.
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- Microsoft's IE loses momentum, drops market share
- The browser battle returned to what passes for normalcy in August as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which had a two-month run of usage share gains, lost ground to the usual suspect: Google's Chrome.
- FCC asks for more feedback on net neutrality
- The U.S. Federal Communications Commission, in the midst of a long and often contentious debate over whether it should enact formal rules prohibiting broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing Web content, is asking the public for more comments about network neutrality.
- 6 useful Wi-Fi tools for Windows
- We live in a mobile world; if you have a laptop (and who doesn't?), that means constantly connecting to the Internet via Wi-Fi. You most likely use Wi-Fi not just when you're on the road at cafés, airports or hotels, but to connect to your home network too. You might even connect to a wireless network at the office.
- 3 Cloud Storage Use Cases Ready For Prime Time: Forrester
- Despite the confusion surrounding what cloud storage really means and how it might be used, few advances in storage have been hyped as much as "cloud storage." Understandably, IT professionals are intrigued by the prospect of reducing their reliance on internal capabilities, eliminating capital spending, and improving the overall cost structure of specific parts of their storage environment by moving workloads to the cloud. At the same time, every vendor in the space is painting its products and message with a cloud veneer. To cut through the hype, Forrester defines cloud storage as:
- Sony introduces three light, bright touch-screen e-readers
- The e-reader market is constantly moving, with new models being introduced (and prices dropping) on almost a weekly rate. The latest additions are from Sony, which has revamped its line of Sony Reader e-book readers. While two out of the three new models don't have wireless connections to a bookstore -- and are therefore missing the instant gratification that Amazon's Kindle offers -- the new devices are sleek and good-looking, with a lot of interesting features.
- HP, Hynix to jointly bring next-gen memory to market
- Hewlett-Packard announced an agreement with chip fabricator Hynix to bring a new form of non-volatile memory out of research and into the commercial marketplace. The technology, which will be called ReRAM, is faster and denser than today's flash memory.
- Beyond the games: Apple to add wireless printing in iOS 4.2
- For businesses and IT, Apple's fixing some iPhone bugs this month, but the bigger iPad upgrade is due in November
- Russian Trojan blamed for credit card losses at US diner
- Hundreds of lunchtime customers of a diner in the US city of Memphis are believed to have had funds stolen from their debit and credit cards after PCs at the venue became infected with malware.
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- Reflex extends management to the cloud
- Reflex has launched a new initiative to improve manageability of the cloud
- Sony announces music service, hints at TV service
- Sony will launch a streaming music service, "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity," by the end of the year, the company said Wednesday at the Internationale Funkaustellung (IFA) trade show in Berlin.
- Amazon Lines Up Ducks for Streaming Service
- Amazon.com has been glad-handling executives at major entertainment companies, trying to sell them on a service for streaming TV shows and movies over the Internet, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move would be a direct challenge to the 800-pound gorilla in the market, Netflix, and to Google, which recently announced plans to bake its Android operating system into a variety of TV-related devices. Apple is also rumored to be planning to get into the streaming business with 99-cent rentals of TV shows from the Fox networks and Disney-owned ABC.
- Atari 2600 Teardown: What's Inside Your Old Console?
- When the Atari 2600 came out in 1977, it revolutionized gaming by popularizing the use of game cartridges and microprocessor-based hardware. No longer were all of a console's games built into the system--you could now buy third-party games on ROM chips housed in cartridges and play more than just Pong!
- Archos unveils Android tablets from £99
- Archos has launched five new internet tablets that run Google's Android operating system, with prices starting from £99.
- Firms wasting £2,000 through excessive printing
- A quarter of office workers are wasting their employers more than £2,000 per year by excessive document printing, says 1&1 Internet.
- Sony's iTunes Rival: What I Want to See
- Sony plans to launch a new music and video subscription service later today, according to a report published in the Financial Times. The new service, which is expected to compete with Apple's iTunes, is expected to be announced at the IFA show in Berlin -- hours before Apple's own event in San Francisco, at which the company is rumored to announce updates to iTunes.
- Sony Readers' New Touchscreens: Nice, but Necessary?
- Instead of racing to the bottom with price or adding Internet connectivity, the latest generation of Sony Readers are fully invested in the touchscreen.
- Apple's Music Event Rumor Roundup: iTV, New iPods and ?
- It's down to wire when it comes to guessing what shiny new gizmo Steve Jobs might pull out of his pocket Wednesday at Apple's fall product launch. Consensus is the music-themed event will center on refreshed Apple TV hardware and 99-cent television episode rentals. But there will be surprises - so the blogosphere insists.
- How to Watch Apple's Streaming Music Event on Your PC
- Apple's music-centric event today promises to bring new iPods, an iTV update, and perhaps a new video streaming service. To capitalize on streaming online video's popularity, Apple will be broadcasting the event live to test its new server farm -- but only on Apple products. So if you have these specs:
- Wikileaks servers move to nuclear bunker under Stockholm
- The Wikileaks whistleblowing website has reportedly moved its server hosting to a Cold War bunker deep under the streets of Stockholm.
- Google technologist derides Oracle's lack of developer focus
- Google may have pulled out of JavaOne because of diminished developer focus
- Portable Hotspots are the Future of Mobile Broadband
- Clearwire and Virgin Mobile have both recently unveiled new portable Wi-Fi hotspots and contract-free unlimited mobile broadband data plans. The Clearwire Puck and the Virgin Mobile MiFi offer clear advantages over data plans offered by wireless carriers and will make bundled data plans obsolete unless wireless carriers get more competitive.
- Stephenson and Bear release 'social book'
- Best-selling authors Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear have launched The Mongoliad, the first digital novel on a so-called social book platform that will allow them to add new elements such as music, video and reader-generated content to the book.
- Microsoft revives Windows 7 Family Pack discount
- Microsoft today said it will revive last year's multi-license Windows 7 Family Pack in early October for U.S. customers.
- Gartner raises semiconductor revenue forecast for 2010
- Gartner on Wednesday raised its worldwide semiconductor revenue forecast for this year as sales of devices like smartphones and tablets gain steam.
- Blue Coat brings in new CEO
- Blue Coat Systems has brought in a new CEO, spinning the change as a way to free up outgoing boss Brian Nesmith from the daily grind of managing the company to instead work on product strategy.
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- Salesforce.com rolls out contact-data service
- Salesforce.com rolled out a new service on Wednesday that integrates business-contact information with its own CRM (customer relationship management) application and Chatter collaboration software.
- Nine million Brits have never been online
- More than 9 million UK adults have never used the web, says the Office for National Statistics.
- Why WebOS 2.0 Should Have Rivals Worried
- An early release of WebOS 2.0 for developers demonstrates that the mobile OS still has some life in it, and indicates that new WebOS devices are on the horizon. Rival platforms should be prepared for another strong player in the smartphone and tablet arenas, and avoid counting WebOS out too quickly.
- Video of Puppies Thrown into River Sparks Outcry
- A disturbing YouTube video showing a young woman throwing puppies into a river has sparked cries of outrage among Internet users with many vowing to hunt her down.
- Microsoft's Xbox 360 D-Pad Update
- For gamers who've griped about the Xbox 360's leveled down d-pad, Microsoft's telling old-school controller fans 'have it your way'. In fact: Have it both ways.
- Microsoft launches adCenter for Chinese businesses
- Microsoft expanded adCenter to China on Tuesday, allowing Chinese businesses to use the advertising platform to market themselves overseas.
- CRM: What to Consider When Choosing a System
- SaaS-based CRM applications may cost less, but on-premise software is more easily integrated with other enterprise systems
- Sony Debuts Snazzy New Touchscreen E-readers
- Leave it to Sony to throw a new twist into the e-reader game: The company's refreshed lineup of e-readers and new touchscreen technology ups the ante over its competition. The E-Ink e-reader has just gotten way more interesting.
- BT hits 15 million broadband customers mark
- BT has revealed that it now provides 15 million homes and small businesses with broadband connections, via both its own ISP of other ISPs that use its network.
- Poll: One in five consider Macs 'superior to PCs'
- Just under one in five (19.8 percent) respondents to a PC Advisor poll stated that Apple Macs are "superior" to Windows PCs.
- Indian hospital adopts the cloud to increase its reach
- Max Healthcare, a large hospital chain in India, said on Wednesday that it has moved its Health Information System (HIS) to a private cloud-computing system, making it easier to treat and follow up with patients from any of its locations across the country.
- India said to seek Google, Skype call interception
- Google, Skype and other companies providing communications services in India will have to make provisions for interception of these communications by India's security agencies, Indian home secretary, G.K. Pillai, said in Delhi on Wednesday, according to reports.
- The FarmVille Almanac
- Welcome to the FarmVille Almanac, your one-stop guide to playing Zynga's wildly popular virtual farming game on Facebook. People have been farming for thousands of years, of course, but have been FarmVilling for only a little longer than one year. With so many things to plant, choosing the best crops for your needs can be an intimidating prospect. This guide will assist you throughout your entire FarmVille career.
- iOS on Apple TV Rumors: How Do you Get Touch on Your TV?
- Rumors are flying that Apple announce on Wednesday that the next Apple TV release will feature Apple's iOS, seen most prominently on the iPad and iPhone. For the last few years the iPod has been the center of this annual event, but tomorrow might bring some changes to how you interact with your TV as well as listen to music.
- UK regulator to expand supervision over online ads
- The U.K.'s advertising regulator will increase its oversight of online marketing, scrutinizing how companies advertise on their own Web sites as well as social sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
- Check Point bolsters VMware security
- Check Point's Security Gateway software is now available in a virtual edition that is compatible with VMware virtual environments.
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- China demands real names from mobile phone users
- China is now requiring people setting up new mobile phone accounts to register with their real identities as part of a new government measure to reduce anonymity among the country's 800 million mobile users.
- Mobile data traffic set to soar
- Ericsson exec expects there will be 30 times more data than voice on the network by 2015, and predicts volume-based billing will be needed
- Rape case against WikiLeaks founder Assange will be reopened
- Swedish Director of Public Prosecution Marianne Ny has decided to reopen an investigation into rape charges directed at WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, she said in a statement issued Wednesday.
- Alcatel-Lucent buys mobile apps dev-tool vendor OpenPlug
- Alcatel-Lucent has acquired OpenPlug, the creator of ELIPS Studio, a tool that allows developers write an application once, and then translate it into native code that can run on iPhones and Android-based smartphones.
- Intel aims to be a powerhouse in mobile
- Intel wants to be a force in the mobile computing world -- a fact that it made clear when it announced plans to acquire chip maker Infineon's wireless division and security software provider McAfee.
- Internet access in emerging markets to double by 2015
- The number of people with Internet access in Brazil, Russia, China, India and Indonesia will double by 2015, management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group said in a report released Wednesday.
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- Water cooling returns to IBM mainframe
- IBM next week will add water-cooling to a mainframe offering for the first time in 15 years; the company has started offering the technology fror blade servers and supercomputers in recent years.
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- HP to announce 3D laptop, fastest netbook
- Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday plans to announce new laptops, including its fastest netbook and first 3D laptop, which combines cutting-edge technologies to raise the bar in performance.
- Microsoft still mum on programs prone to DLL hijacking attacks
- Microsoft on Tuesday again abstained from naming which of its Windows programs, if any, contain bugs that could lead to widespread "DLL load hijacking" attacks.
The Connected Enterprise
