The Velocity Solo offers an easy upgrade to SATA 3.0
If you're contemplating the cost of a new Windows-based computer to catch up with SATA 3.0 hard drives, you might be able to get away with just a $49 investment rather than a complete PC overhaul. Apricorn's Velocity Solo upgrade kit gives you access to SATA 3.0 hard drives and SSDs -- all you need is an x1 PCIe 2.0 slot -- and a SATA 3.0 drive, of course. (The Velocity Solo does not work with Macs.)
Out of the box
There is no real "unboxing" for the Velocity Solo; Apricorn markets it in a run-of-the-mill, hang-it-on-the-wall blister pack.
There are a couple of ways to connect the Velocity to your drive, depending on the type of drive it is. If you have a 2.5-in.SSD drive, you can mount it directly on the card by sliding it into the SATA data and power connector bank on the Velocity Solo and securing it with the screws provided. Read more...
Windows 8 app store coming soon – enterprise and developer details revealed
Microsoft has given more details on what to expect from its upcoming Windows Store for Windows 8 – the shop window for apps based on Windows 8's Metro interface.
Unlike previous Windows' interfaces, Metro is a tile-based system specifically designed for touchscreens - having already premiered as part of Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system.
According to Microsoft, enterprise IT managers have been asking about "deployment and management scenarios, such as compliance and security" around Windows 8, Ted Dworkin, partner program manager for the Store wrote in a blog post.
IT managers will be able to control what apps users can access from the Windows Store, or indeed whether they can access the store at all, Dworkin said. Read more...
Why are Android anti-virus firms so slow to react on Carrier IQ?
Some Android anti-virus firms have begun releasing Carrier IQ detection apps, but only after the controversial software became a talking point on Capitol Hill ... and a month after a security researcher first discovered it.
BitDefender released Carrier IQ Finder, an app that identifies the presence of the controversial mobile diagnostic tool, following Lookout's earlier release of a similar tool called Carrier IQ Detector. Both applications let mobile phone users know if they have Carrier IQ running on their Android phone without actually removing it. Each has been available at no charge via the official Android Market since last Saturday (3 December).
In a statement, BitDefender said that Carrier IQ's mobile network diagnostic tool is "so deeply integrated with the device’s firmware [that] Carrier IQ Finder cannot remove it". Read more...
Insurance and IT firms agree rules on sharing price details
Six insurance companies and two IT software and service providers have agreed to change the way price information for motor insurance is shared following concerns that previous practices were violating competition laws.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said that the insurers shared price details about future motor insurance price intentions with brokers who in turn used a software company, SSP Ltd, to share the data on an information exchange service. Insurers could use the information exchange, provided by Experian, to check their prices against competitors' and meant they had the potential to use the software to "prevent, restrict or distort competition" through coordinated price setting agreements, the OFT said. Read more...
Amazon: The Microsoft of the cloud
Is there a cloud market, or is there an Amazon market?
Even as the cloud market booms, it's an open question whether there is room for anyone besides Amazon to benefit. Even as Microsoft dominated desktop computing over the past two decades, Amazon seems set to own the public cloud for years to come, notwithstanding attempts to circumvent its hegemony. With the next generation of startups building on Amazon, the industry is "Amazon all the way down", and perhaps for a very long time.
So should we love or hate Amazon?
Mark Suster, an investor with GRP Partners, believes Amazon has been a godsend to the startup world, in particular. As he writes, "Where open-source computing gave us a 90 per cent reduction in our software, Amazon gave us a 90 per cent reduction in our total operating costs." This isn't just a money thing, either: Amazon has made it dramatically easier to launch a service and to scale it. Read more...
ross-site scripting flaws plague Web apps, report says
Cross-site scripting flaws are the most prevalent vulnerabilities found in Web applications, posing a risk to data and intellectual property, according to a study of thousands of applications by vendor Veracode.
Veracode, a company that specializes in finding vulnerabilities in code, analyzed more than 9,900 applications that were submitted to its cloud-based scanning service over the last 18 months.
For Web applications, 68 percent contained cross-site scripting flaws, Veracode found in its study. Cross-site scripting is an attack in which a script drawn from another website is allowed to run even though it shouldn't and it can be used to steal information or potentially cause other malicious code to run. Read more...
Yahoo awarded $610 million in spam case
Yahoo has won a lawsuit against spammers, a legal victory that also includes a default judgment of $610 million.
In the lawsuit, filed in May 2008, Yahoo targeted a variety of individuals and companies, accusing them of trying to scam people via a spam campaign that falsely informed email recipients that they had won prizes in a non-existent Yahoo-sponsored lottery.
Yahoo alleged that the defendants' goal was to trick email recipients into providing them with personal and financial information that could be used to commit fraud by raiding victims' bank accounts, using their credit cards and applying for loans on their behalf. Read more...
Symantec confirms Flash exploits targeted defense companies
Security researchers at Symantec today confirmed that exploits of an unpatched Adobe Reader vulnerability targeted defense contractors, among other businesses.
"We've seen [this targeting] people at telecommunications, manufacturing, computer hardware and chemical companies, as well as those in the defense sector," said Joshua Talbot, senior security manager in Symantec's security response group, in an interview Wednesday.
Symantec mined its global network of honeypots and security detectors -- and located email messages with attached malicious PDF documents -- to come to that conclusion.
The inclusion of defense contractors was not unexpected. Read more...
RIM renames BBX as BlackBerry 10 after trademark dispute
Research In Motion has rebranded its next generation mobile platform as BlackBerry 10, after its use of the BBX brand ran into a trademark dispute in the U.S.
RIM said in a statement on Wednesday that it had announced at its DevCon Asia conference in Singapore a new brand name for its next generation mobile platform for smartphones and tablets, which will bring the best of the BlackBerry and QNX platforms to customers and partners.
"The BlackBerry 10 name reflects the significance of the new platform and will leverage the global strength of the BlackBerry brand while also aligning perfectly with RIM's device branding," RIM said. Read more...
Microsoft, GE forming healthcare joint venture
Microsoft and General Electric's healthcare IT business are setting up a 50:50 joint venture to develop and market an open, interoperable technology platform and clinical applications for enabling better population health management, the companies said Thursday.
The new company, to be headquartered near Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington, will develop an open platform that will give healthcare providers and independent software vendors (ISVs) the ability to develop a new generation of clinical applications. It will also develop healthcare applications on the platform using in-house developers, that will connect to a wide range of healthcare IT products from various vendors, the companies said.
The joint venture, which will operate globally, is expected to launch in the first half of next year after meeting customary conditions, including regulatory approvals, the companies said. Read more...