Aberration: iPhone 5 wide pricing scheme, iPhone 4 axing change course
Apple’s position in the smartphone market at the top of the iPhone 5 era is an aberration. Despite nearly owning the MP3 player, tablet, and music download markets, Apple finds itself opening the iPhone 5 era with a minority marketshare in the smartphone arena thanks to a mistake it made with the original iPhone before it was even unveiled. While tablets based on the competing Android platform have barely made a dent against the iPad’s marketshare dominance, phones based on Android are fractionally outselling the iPhone thanks to the fact that Apple tied the iPhone to a single carrier per nation for the first several years of its existence. And while the iPhone 4 was originally freed from AT&T’s clutches earlier this year, Read more...
Pentagon loses 24,000 classified files in massive hacking breach
The Pentagon has been taking cybersecurity a good deal more seriously lately — but a new breach could mean it's too little, too late. The news that 24,000 sensitive files had been leaked was ironically — or perhaps appropriately — revealed during a cyber strategy speech in which the military unveiled more about its aggressive new strategy for dealing with threats that aren't quite as cut and dry as those on the battlefield.
According to Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III, the documents were lifted from a defense contractor during a single hack perpetrated by "foreign intruders" in March of this year. Read more...
Over 36,000 businesses may have already signed up for Google+
Google’s open invitation for businesses, brands, organisations and education establishments to apply for a dedicated Google+ business profile, may have already attracted over 36,000 signups in one week, The Next Web can reveal.
Last week, Google said it was planning to introduce Google+ for businesses before the year is out, allowing brands to create profiles on the site without using workarounds. Businesses were told to hold off on creating consumer profiles as the search giant would begin testing “non-user entities” soon. Read more...
Microsoft patches ‘sexy’ Bluetooth bug in Vista, Windows 7
Microsoft today patched 22 vulnerabilities in Windows and Office, including a bug in the Bluetooth technology within Vista and Windows 7 that could be used to hijack a nearby PC.
Of Tuesday's four updates, called "bulletins" by Microsoft, only one was labeled "critical" -- the most-serious rating in the company's four-step scoring system -- while the other three were marked "important," the next-most-dangerous category.
The 22 individual bugs patched today were more than in most odd-numbered months, which are typically light months for Microsoft. July's total was bested only by April's 64 and June's 34, and was tied with February's. Read more...