From The Editor
By Jeff Caruso, Site Editor
- $3.4B is Cisco's final offer
- Cisco has raised its offer for videoconferencing company Tandberg to $3.4 billion, IDG News Service reports.
The previous offer was $3.0 billion, and Cisco had struggled to convince the...
- Halloween treats at Network World
- It's a full moon here at Network World, with Halloween stuff bursting forth from every page. Michael Cooney collected a dozen projects that seem to have been inspired by mad scientists. Keith Shaw...
- Where to start Patch Tuesday cleanup?
- I'm not sure there's any such thing as a small Patch Tuesday. Microsoft this week released 13 patches, many of them critical and many of them getting strong reactions among experts.
It's almost...
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NSA helped with Windows 7; H1-B bill aims at tech firms Listen now!
- Technology Lets You Command a Computer With Gestures
- What's the latest buzz among software engineers and computer geeks in Silicon Valley? Aside from the newly released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it's a video released earlier this week of Pranav Mistry talking about the next big thing--SixthSense technology.
- Qualcomm's updated 3G chipset coming to ThinkPads
- Lenovo will offer Qualcomm's latest Gobi multimode 3G (third-generation) mobile data chipset on ThinkPad laptops, allowing users to connect to the world's two major types of 3G networks and use assisted GPS for location-based services.
- Mobile wireless router from Zyxel competes with Mi-Fi
- Wireless carriers and retailers have been promising a wide array of low-priced gadgets beyond smartphones that will hit the market soon, taking advantage of faster wireless networks.
- Gameloft & other devs 'cutting' Android development
- According to Reuters, Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort revealed that his company, along with many other game publishers, would be cutting Android game development "significantly." Rochefort cited low sales as the chief problem for Google's mobile operating system.
- Sony Online Service to Challenge iTunes? Fat Chance
- For entertainment hardware companies like Sony, a thriving, all-encompassing online media store is the Holy Grail. It's a glorious balance, in which the customer buys software through the store, and therefore becomes hooked on the hardware to which it's attached. That's how brand loyalty is created.
- Gameloft to cut back on Android development
- Though you may think us to be iPhone fans all the time, we really do want to root for the underdog. Whether it's Google's Android or Palm's webOS, the smartphone industry could really use a David to the iPhone's Goliath to promote competition and better products all around.
- Microsoft launches beta tests of free Office 2010, 'streaming' delivery
- Microsoft has launched new betas for its free Office suite and for the "streaming" technology it will use to deliver some paid versions of Office 2010 next year.
- Two approaches to NFC battle for French hearts and mobiles
- Two competing approaches to equipping mobile phones with contactless communications capabilities vied for supporters at the Cartes exhibition in Paris this week. Either approach could turn phones into self-service electronic tour guides, travel tickets or secure payment terminals.
- Mac OS X 10.6.2 Hack Gets Atom Support Back
- Early last week, Apple released the 10.6.2 update to Snow Leopard loaded mostly with welcome, but unsurprising bug fixes, including a patch for the uncommon but extremely harmful user account deletion bug. However, hidden in the kernel update was dropped support for the hackintosh-friendly Intel Atom processor. The Atom is Intel's smallest chip and has the distinction of being the processor of choice for people building cheap OS X netbooks with limited hackery required. When early builds of 10.6.2 removed Atom support, speculation and
- Hurricane Electric's IPv6 network doubles
- Hurricane Electric, a Fremont, Calif., ISP, will announce on Monday that its IPv6 network has doubled in size in less than a year -- a sign of how rapidly IPv6 traffic is increasing across the Internet.
- Broadband stimulus grants delayed
- The two government agencies in charge of doling out broadband stimulus cash have pushed back the dates for when they'll start handing out grants.
- Listen up: Rock and roll artifacts under surveillance
- IP-based video surveillance technology keeps a digital eye on gear from the likes of John Lennon and Mick Jagger that's on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex in New York City.
- Fake religious trailer incites heresy for Dante's Inferno
- Does a religious video game count as heresy in this day and age? We've got religious TV networks and theme parks, so are people really getting bent out of shape about stuff like The Bible Game? The marketing team working on Dante's Inferno believes so, as a trailer revealed earlier this week for a fictitious game called Mass: We Pray turned out to be a viral ad for the upcoming action game.
- Google Chrome OS: Everything You Need to Know
- Google finally unveiled its Chrome operating system, promising a cloud-based OS that will be fast, simple and secure on netbooks. CIO.com's Shane O'Neill rounds up the latest Chrome OS reviews and news analysis stories.
- Ninjas take on pirates in new iPhone brawler
- Mika Mobila, who previously published the well-regarded Zombieville USA on the iPhone has just submitted its latest creation to the App Store in the shape of OMG Pirates! The game is now at the mercy of Apple's approval process, but you can check out the trailer to see its ninjas vs pirates goodness
- Need for Speed SHIFT gets free team racing add-on
- The core of thew new update for Need for Speed SHIFT is the "team racing" update that sees two teams of six racers challenge each other online. As with real motorsports, team tactics will be a vital part of working through this new mode, so players will need to coordinate very efficiently in order to be successful.
- Premium PSN service planned, won't affect online gaming
- Sony caused a bit of a stir when a slide from its recent investor conference alluding to a paid online PlayStation Network subscription service was unearthed by The Examiner (via Destructoid). With thoughts of a PSN equivalent of Xbox Live Gold worrying gamers, Sony quieted the uprising by assuring VG247 that if any subscription-based service was created, non-paying users would still be able to play their favorite games online for free, as the company stated that the subscription would only apply to "premium content and services."
- Google's Chrome OS hits BitTorrent
- Chrome OS, the operating system that Google released to open source yesterday, has been compiled and posted for download on several file-sharing sites, Internet searches showed.
- $100 BioShock 2 special edition announced
- Most special editions aren't all that special--they include goofy items that are destined to collect dust in gamers' closets and provide little in the way of cool content that properly accompany the games. Modern Warfare 2 night vision goggles, I'm looking at you.
- Get Chrome OS Now
- The open source version of Google Chrome OS was released on Thursday, and tech wizards didn't waste any time turning the code into a workable test version of the new operating system. If you don't want to wait until next year to see what's going on with Chrome OS, then follow this handy guide to find all the information you need to get the new system up and running on almost any computer.
- Sold-out! Grinch Steals Nook Christmas
- Barnes & Noble seemed to have it all wrapped up. Except now it will be wrapping up many fewer Nook e-readers than had been hoped.
- Some Nook e-readers won't make it for the holidays either
- Just two days after Sony said that its wireless e-reader, the Daily Edition, might not make it to buyers before the end of the year, Barnes & Noble said its Nook e-reader is sold out.
- Verizon suit a 'gamble worth taking' for AT&T, says IP lawyer
- Although AT&T's false-advertising lawsuit against Verizon is a major risk for the company, intellectual property attorney Thomas Zellerbach thinks it's a risk worth taking.
- Welcome to the Golden Age of Vaporware
- I've been in this business for 357 years, but I can't recall a time when we've had more written about products that do not actually exist. We are truly living in the golden age of vaporware.
- Toggle sidebar visibility in all open Finder windows
- When I publish hints here on Macworld, I usually try to walk through and explain how they work, so as to help you understand what's going on behind the scenes. Sometimes, though, I'll just present a solution without much of an explanation, such as with today's hint.
- Remote management solution targets IT benefits for SMEs
- Unable to avail the full IT benefits due to budgetary constraints, Asian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) may soon find support in a remote monitoring and management (RMM) software.
- Apple tablet not until second half of 2010?
- Reports indicate that the rumoured Apple tablet may not launch until the second half of 2010.
- Microsoft previews Rx for asynchronous programming
- Extensions to .Net are featured on DevLabs site
- China SaaS market to reach US$171 million in '10: Springboard
- China's software-as-a-service (SaaS) market is expected to grow at 56 per cent next year to reach US$171 million in revenues by the end of 2010, according to a report from Springboard Research.
- Gartner lays out Top 10 strategic technologies
- At this week's Gartner Symposium in Sydney, the analyst firm presented its top 10 strategic technologies for 2010.
- Ultimate iPhone/laptop protection from Dragon's Den winner
- Dragon's Den winner Tech 21 has introduced a new range of d3o cases for laptops and mobile devices.
- HP services engineers vote to strike
- HP services engineers have overwhelmingly voted to go on strike, in what has become a bitter spat over pay and benefits.
- Torture tests: Stylus Tough 8000 camera and XP3 Quest phone
- The Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 point-and-shoot camera and the Sonim XP3 Quest rugged phone are supposed to be tough. How tough? We decided to find out.
- AT&T's Anti-Verizon Ad Is a Stinker
- For some reason, Luke Wilson is taking AT&T's side in the 3G coverage wars, appearing in a new ad that retaliates against Verizon Wireless' stinging assault.
- Keyboards buying guide
- Is there a more underappreciated part of your desktop computer system than the keyboard? It's the second-most-used component--after the display, of course--and yet many people are still using the keyboard that came with their Mac.
- Mice buying guide
- All hail the humble mouse, lowly foot soldier of the productivity wars, pint-size pointer-pushing pawn in service to mighty King Mac. Your mouse is the only peripheral you caress for hours a day (you only tickle your keyboard), but you may have never thought of replacing the limited Apple Mouse or Magic Mouse that shipped with your Mac or pondered augmenting your 'Book's touchy trackpad.
- Xbox LIVE Gold Free Today Through Monday
- Microsoft wants you on Xbox LIVE for the weekend with, of course, a view toward forever, and it's prepared to temporarily waive the cover fee to grab your attention.
- Google Adds Captions to YouTube Search
- In a step to make YouTube videos more accessible to deaf people as well as to anyone else searching for videos online, Google has launched an automatic video captioning service.
- Ballmer: Windows 7 Sales 'Fantastic'
- Excitable Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer actually had something to be excited about at yesterday's shareholder meeting, where he announced that Windows 7 sales are "fantastic."
- Happiness on Facebook Cuts Canadian Woman's Health Care
- Facebook can be a dangerous beast. As social media evolves -- and the freedom of the Internet diminishes our self-censorship -- many have run into situations where Facebook has landed them in trouble and sometimes canned from a gig. It has been established that some companies scrutinize employee and potential employee Facebook pages to ensure what it's getting isn't tarnished by bad behavior such as playing hooky or being loose-tongued about one's feelings about work. The latest example is a little trickier: a Canadian woman saw her health benefits stripped away after the insurance company saw "happy" pictures of her on Facebook.
- Five Reasons Google Chrome OS will Succeed
- Google's Chrome OS doesn't signal the apocalypse for Apple and Microsoft, but that doesn't mean the operating system won't succeed when it arrives next year. Just like the Chrome Web browser, Google's carving out a small slice of the market for people who want the company's buzzwords of speed, security and simplicity. Over time, the legion of Chrome OS fans will grow, and Google will look at its operating system as a success, not a failure, as my colleague Tony Bradley argues.
- Five Reasons the Google Chrome OS will Flop
- Yesterday Google hosted a press event at its Mountain View campus to reveal a first glimpse at the Chrome OS. The excitement around the operating system has led to rampant rumors and speculation, but I question whether the Chrome OS is really worth any of this hype.
- Got Extra USB Drives? Updated Pogoplug Puts Them to Use
- Have some extra USB hard drives you'd like to put to a good use? How using them to create an Internet storage cloud for your company, yourself, or your family?
- You don't know tech: The InfoWorld news quiz
- Apple Tablet hits a ditch; airports nailed by computer glitch
- Twitter turns on geolocation functionality
- Twitter is now allowing its externally built applications to provide geolocation features to end users, after announcing its intention to do so in August.
- Nokia cuts research staff by up to 330 people
- Mobile phone giant Nokia on Friday said it will cut up to 330 people from its research and development staff.
- BlackBerry Pearl 9100 Caught on Camera
- Here we go again; another Research In Motion (RIM) prototype device exposed on the Internetloooong before the BlackBerry-maker intended. This time around it's the upcoming BlackBerry Pearl 9100, or, as it was codenamed, the BlackBerry Striker/Stratus.
- iPhone owners demand to see Apple source code
- iPhone owners charging Apple and AT&T with breaking antitrust laws asked a federal judge this week to force Apple to hand over the iPhone source code, court documents show.
- Open-source virtualization: Who's biting?
- Virtualization is unarguably one of the biggest trends of the past few years, and open-source software has been on the IT radar for a while now. So does that make open-source virtualization twice as much of a good thing?
- Free Web apps to help organize your holidays
- It's That Time of Year again, and even if you don't celebrate The Holidays, chances are you have other people in your life who do. There's so much to get done as the end of year approaches, it can be hard to keep track of it all. And while paper might work for your own holiday wish list, these free Web apps can help organize the rest.
- Open-source CloudMade takes on Google Maps
- CloudMade is gearing up to release a set of tools that will enable people to quickly and easily contribute to the OpenStreetMap project.
- First Look: Super Monkey Ball 2
- The original Super Monkey Ball was an App Store launch game and sold like gangbusters. Taking advantage of the iPhone's accelerometer controls and already possessing a huge following thanks to its console success, Super Monkey Ball was one of the most highly anticipated apps on the iPhone.
- IBM software launch shows there's life in the mainframe
- IBM has released a range of software to show the strengths of its System Z mainframe
- Twitter Geotagging: What You Need to Know
- Lost amid Thursday's Chrome OS hype was the official launch of Twitter's geotagging feature. Twitter's newest feature allows you to embed your location in the 140-character messages you send out to the world. Whenever you send a tweet with your location information, users will see a map pin at the bottom of your message. Clicking on the pin reveals a Google Map with your location.
- YouTube UK gets full-length TV shows
- YouTube is now showing full-length TV programmes such as Peep Show, Derren Brown and Gordon Ramsay's F Word in the UK after its Shows section when live today.
- California Bans Power-Hog TVs: Death Knell for Plasma?
- Sales of plasma HDTVs have been on the decline for some time now. Although plasmas are generally cheaper than comparably-sized LCD models, their picture isn't as bright; as a result, their images often appear dark and washed out under the bright, fluorescent glare of the local big box store. However, plasmas are often favored by home theater buffs, who savor the display technology's fast refresh rates and often superior reproduction of black and dark tones.
- CloudMade pushing open-source alternative to Google Maps
- Macworld caught up with Nick Black, founder of CloudMade to talk about the upcoming Mapzen product and how open source mapping may be better for both customers and developers.
- Judge sets schedule for Google book search case
- The judge in the copyright infringement case pitting the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers against Google and its book search program has set a date for the final hearing on the parties' controversial settlement proposal.
- Cloud Engines updates Pogoplug media sharing device
- On Friday, Cloud Engines introduced the second generation of its Pogoplug multimedia sharing device. The Pogoplug is designed to plug into your home or small office network and let you access and share content of USB hard drives over the Internet using a standard Web browser.
- FCC: Internet program for deaf cheated out of millions
- In court the Federal Communications Commission has charged 26 people with defrauding the agency of “tens of millions of dollars” from its program that lets people with hearing disabilities to communicate with hearing individuals through the use of interpreters and Web cameras.
- Google adding IPv6 to YouTube
- Google plans to upgrade its YouTube video streaming Web site to provide support for IPv6, a long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol.
- EU gives Oracle extra time to respond to Sun inquiry
- Oracle and Sun Microsystems have been granted an extra week to defend their planned US$7 billion merger in front of European regulators, the European Commission said Friday.
- EU security agency highlights cloud computing risks
- Cloud computing users face problems including loss of control over data, difficulties proving compliance, and additional legal risks as data moves from one legal jurisdiction to another, according to a assessement of cloud computing risks from the European Network and Information Security Agency.
- Banks on watch after suspected card breach
- An apparent data breach in Spain has caused Visa and MasterCard to warn banks of possible fraudulent credit card transactions.
- Palm Pixi smartphones now just $25
- You can now buy the brand-spanking-new Palm Pixi smartphone for just $25. Onlie reports say Amazon and Wal-Mart have slashed the original retail of $100 by 75%, less than a week after Palm's second webOS phone went on sale at Sprint, which still holds to the original price.
- Atlantis astronauts get rude awakening
- Talk about a nightmare. The Atlantis space shuttle crew and other astronauts onboard the International Space Station were awoken this morning by a system depressurization alarm.
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- Cyberattacks on U.S. military jump sharply in 2009
- Cyberattacks on the U.S. Department of Defense -- many of them coming from China -- have jumped sharply in 2009, a U.S. congressional committee reported Thursday.
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- New H-1B hiring bill takes aim at tech firms
- Two U.S. Senators have proposed legislation that would bar any firm which lays off 50 or more workers from hiring guest workers holding H-1B visas.
- Why Chrome OS will fail -- big time
- A lack of flexibility will doom Google's latest ego trip to the dustbin of history
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- Alibaba site with own search engine may outshine Yahoo China
- The launch of a new search engine for a booming online retail site run by Alibaba Group, the owner of Yahoo China, is just one more sign that Taobao.com is taking over roles formerly filled at the group by Yahoo.
- Sony's Hirai hopes for quick start to online content service
- Sony is hoping to launch its planned online content service early next year and expects it will give the company an advantage in the increasingly competitive consumer electronics market, the executive heading up the project said Friday.
- Windows 7 sparked surge in business demand for PCs
- A senior Dell executive is bullish about a recovery in PC demand from businesses, saying the Oct. 22 release of Windows 7 sparked a surge in PC sales for the company.
- Japan, South Korea may soon test TD-SCDMA networks
- China Mobile is working with partners in Japan and South Korea to set up trials of TD-SCDMA networks as part of a bid to promote use of the Chinese-developed 3G mobile technology outside China.
- China Mobile says Mobile Market sales going well
- The sale of games, mobile apps, e-books and more have been brisk on China Mobile's app store, Mobile Market, since billing started this month, executives from the company say.
- Foxconn to build JIL handset for China Mobile
- Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn will make a handset for China Mobile next year that supports software developed by the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) joint venture, according to the head of China Mobile.
- Security pro says new SSL attack can hit many sites
- A Seattle computer security consultant says he's developed a new way to exploit a recently disclosed bug in the SSL protocol, used to secure communications on the Internet. The attack, while difficult to execute, could give attackers a very powerful phishing attack.
- China Unicom 3G growth seven times faster than China Mobile
- China Unicom's next-generation mobile service won more than 1 million users in its first month, a number that took rival China Mobile seven months to reach with its homegrown 3G standard.
- Microsoft, other rivals slam Google Chrome OS
- Microsoft was, predictably, not all that impressed by Google's demonstration of its upcoming Chrome OS today, while other potential rivals were split.
- What Chrome OS Means for Business
- Today in Mountain View, Google held a press event to announce details of its upcoming Chrome OS. What it unveiled is an exciting new platform for Web computing that is aimed squarely at consumer netbooks, and has little relevance to businesses today.
- Three indicted for Comcast hack last year
- Three hackers have been indicted for redirecting the Comcast.net Web site to a page of their own making in 2008.
- Telstra, NSW education department sign $280m broadband deal
- The NSW government has signed a $280 million deal with Telstra for the rollout of an optic fibre network to public schools and TAFE institutes.
- Google's Chrome OS: A Web appliance, not a PC
- Expected for Christmas 2010, these browser-based netbooks will run only Web apps
- Oracle Financial Keeps Fiscally Fit
- Oracle Financial Services Software(OFSS) caters to banking and capital market companies across the world. Part of what it offers its customers is the ability to cut costs and respond rapidly. But it was having a hard time practicing what it was preaching.
- Cisco's free iPhone app grabs security feeds
- Cisco has made available a free iPhone app that can be used to receive over a dozen security-related information feeds in customizable form related both to Cisco products and to general security topics, such as newly detected threats.
- Microsoft Windows chief decries standards grandstanding
- Microsoft is in the early stages of IE9 development but they are already focusing on standards and the performance gains they can realize by taking advantage of modern PC hardware.
- Al Gore: Supercomputers can reverse climate change
- Supercomputing technology, according to Al Gore, will aid the expansion of renewable energy use and create models that help people understand the severity of global warming.
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- BMC takes service desk to the cloud via Salesforce.com
- BMC and Salesforce.com partner to deliver BMC's Service Desk Express on Force.com platform.
- 10G in data centers driving Ethernet switch market
- The Ethernet switch market grew for the second consecutive quarter, driven by continued strength in data center deployments, Dell’Oro Group reports.
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- Furnish Your Office for Cheap on Craigslist
- If you're starting a new business, hiring on a shoestring budget, or simply sprucing up your home office, you'll need some new office gear, and you probably won't want to spend much. Believe it or not, Craigslist isn't just for used couches and one-night stands; it's also exceptionally good for finding standard office furniture (cubicles, desks, chairs, and so on) at unusually low prices. However, Craigslisting is an art in itself, so we've got some tricks that will help you seal the deal on whatever used gear your new office needs.
- Global video news recap, World Tech Update Nov. 19
- Click here to watch this week’s World Tech Update.
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