Global Payments breach raises questions
Payment processing vendor Global Payments Inc. held a conference call Monday to explain a computer intrusion that exposed data on at least 1.5 million credit and debit card holders, but many questions about the breach were left unanswered.
The Atlanta-based company, which processes payment card transactions for thousands of merchants, first reported the compromise Friday when it issued a brief statement saying that intruders had gained access to a portion of its processing system. It later updated the statement to say that data belonging to about 1.5 million card holders, had been "exported" from its systems. Read more...
Ice Cream Sandwich gives Android mobes brainfreeze – Sony
Sony says its customers should avoid upgrading their Android devices to Ice Cream Sandwich, adding that many of them won't get the option anyway.
In a blog posting on Sony's Developer World the company explains why the latest version of Google's mobile OS uses a lot more memory and is slower than its predecessor, not to mention being less stable on underpowered kit. Sony leaves it up to customers to decide if the bling-laden interface is worthwhile. Read more...
Coders’ ‘lives sucked out’ by black-and-white Visual Studio 11
Windows software developers have given a thumbs down to the black-and-white Metro-style Visual Studio 2011 and sent Microsoft back to the drawing board - preferably one with coloured pencils.
More than 4,000 Visual Studio users have so-far voted on Microsoft’s UserVoice poll to say the code development suite's black-and-white icons are offensive and they don’t work. The poll, used by Redmond to gather feedback on the beta release, was flagged up by Reg regular Tim Anderson. Read more...
European Commission opens antitrust investigation of Motorola Mobility
Europe's top competition regulator has launched two antitrust investigations into Motorola Mobility.
Following complaints by Apple and Microsoft, the European Commission will assess whether Motorola Mobility has failed to license standards-essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms as required by both the Commission and standard setting organizations.
Standards-essential patents are those that must be licensed in order for products to operate according to developed industry standards such as 3G, GSM or the video standard H.264. Because the patents are crucial for all market players, standards bodies often require that patent holders such as Motorola Mobility that are party to the development of the standards must license their patents on FRAND terms. Read more...
ARM joint venture seeks common security standard for connected devices
ARM is setting up a joint venture with security technology companies Gemalto and Giesecke & Devrient to arrive at a common security standard for connected devices such as tablets, smart-TVs, games consoles, and smartphones, the company said Tuesday.
The Cambridge, U.K. company, which holds a dominant share of processors that go into smartphones, said it will hold 40 percent of the joint venture with the other partners holding 30 percent each.
Security is critical for companies that wish to do business over connected devices, ARM said in a statement. Read more...
Citrix abandons OpenStack, takes CloudStack to Apache
Citrix has abandoned its Olympus OpenStack distribution and will focus instead on its open-source CloudStack operating system, which it has contributed as a project under the Apache Software Foundation.
As part of the announcement, Citrix said CloudStack will continue to support Amazon's APIs (application programming interfaces) and believes such support is crucial to the success of cloud platforms. It implied it has Amazon's blessing.
The announcement could be seen as a blow to OpenStack, which has faced some criticism after strategic moves that alienated some users, although experts were quick to say the Citrix move might not have a significant impact on OpenStack.
Citrix is releasing Citrix CloudStack 3.0 under the Apache 2.0 license on Tuesday and also plans to offer a commercially supported distribution of Apache CloudStack. CloudStack is the open-source cloud operating system Citrix acquired along with Cloud.com last year. Read more...
Grade school teacher’s aide fired for refusing to hand over Facebook password
Kimberly Hester, a grade school teacher's aide in Michigan, was fired for refusing to hand over her Facebook password to her supervisors. Hester posted a picture of a co-workers' shoes and pants bunched around her ankles on Facebook in April 2011 with the caption, "Thinking of you." She posted the picture in jest, but a parent who's on her Facebook friend list saw the image and reported it to Frank Squires Elementary where Hester was employed, prompting the investigation. Read more...
Hungry Hungry Hippos for The iPad: An April Fools’ gag that everybody wants to be real
Every year, ThinkGeek comes up with some of the most far-out (fake) products for April Fools' Day. In the past, several of these fictional items would be met with great enthusiasm by the masses that the retailer of odd devices would actually make them. And that's what a lot of people hope to happen with this year's runaway favorite April Fools' product: the iPad version of Hungry Hungry Hippos. Read more...
Scientists recreate the sounds of Mars and Venus
Ever dream of visiting Mars or Venus? The actual trip may be outside your power for most of your body (and outside the government's willingness to fund), but thanks to the work of some English researchers, at least your ears can take the journey.
Using the laws of physics, scientists at the University of Southampton's Institute for Sound and Vibration Research have been able to determine exactly how sound travels on other planets, and how those sounds would be interpreted by human ears. The scientists then used software to recreate the sounds of distant planets, from the dust storms of Mars to the sound of a methane fall on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Read more...
Dutch consumer group unsatisfied with Apple’s updated warranty policy, may sue
About 10 months ago, Apple found itself under scrutiny from Italian “antitrust authority” AGCM over its warranty policy.
Apple was selling products like the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and iPod devices with a one-year warranty, but was actually required under EU law to protect buyers with a minimum of two years protection (this goes for all consumer electronics). Read more...