Summer security: 4 warm-weather worries
Think summer means emptier offices and less to worry about in the security department? Not anymore.
According to the security experts we spoke with, more mobile devices, and folks using their own smartphones to access corporate networks, means summer vacations pose a new kind of risk these days. And while the financially-motivated criminals may be on vacation, the politically-motivated "hacktivists" actually view summer as a prime time to strike.
Read on for the four security threats you should be on guard for during these warm months. Read more...
Government slates meetings on mobile privacy standards
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is set to host the first of several meetings seeking input for its effort to develop new codes of conduct for handling private consumer date on the Internet and mobile networks.
The meeting, scheduled for July 12 at the U.S. Department of Commerce building in Washington D.C., is open to all and will focus primarily on mobile application privacy.
NTIA expects that the initial meeting will attract industry stakeholders, rights groups and Internet marketers looking to offer views on privacy issues related to the use, consumption and sharing of consumer data stored on mobile devices and shared by mobile applications. Read more...
Chrome for iOS snatches top spot on App Store
Google Chrome, released yesterday for the iPhone and iPad, has already snatched the top spot in Apple's App Store.As of 11 a.m. ET Friday, Chrome held the No. 1 position on both the iPhone and iPad free app download lists.
Google launched Chrome for iOS on Thursday, first announcing the browser at its Google I/O developers conference early in the day, with the app showing up several hours later on Apple's App Store.
Reviews for Chrome have been overwhelmingly positive, with 80% of the more than 3,700 posted so far giving the browser a five-star rating, the highest possible. The average rating is four-and-a-half stars. Read more...
RIM stock plunges after $518M loss and BlackBerry 10 delay
Research in Motion's stock price plunged 19% early Friday following RIM's announcement late yesterday of a $518 million first quarter loss and that its BlackBerry 10 smartphone has been further delayed.
At 11 a.m. EDT today, RIM's share price had dropped to $7.39 as investors reacted to Thursday's financial results that showed sharply lower revenue and a $518 million loss in the quarter ending in May.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported overnight that RIM may be considering a switch from its proprietary mobile operating system to the Windows Phone OS for future smartphones. Read more...
Apple patent may foretell an end to iPhone autocorrect Tourette’s
An Apple patent application just published by the US Patent Office shows that the masterminds of Cupertino have figured out (or hope to figure out) a cunning way to work out what words you're going to tap into your little Jesus mobe before you type it.
The US Patent Office has not yet granted the patent, but in accordance with its policy of publishing patents after a certain amount of time has elapsed since their submission (this dates from Dec 2010), it has unveiled the Cupertino application titled: "Combining timing and geometry information for typing correction" . Read more...
Android Jelly Bean won’t get Flash Player
As part of the slow death of Adobe's Flash Player, the company has announced it won't be making a certified version for Android's new 4.1 OS – aka Jelly Bean.
Adobe said on its blog that it won't be developing Flash for Android 4.1. The software company said it will also start taking steps to phase the player out of the Google Play Store by limiting access to updates to just those folks who already have it on their mobes. Read more...
6 ways to make mobile networks perform better
To achieve higher download and upload speeds, vendors and operators are planning to use a number of different technologies over the coming years in both HSPA and LTE networks.
At their core, many of these technologies are related to better coordination among base stations, and the introduction of smaller base stations to help networks keep up with an increasing volume of data.
However, many of these technologies will put even more strain on smartphone and tablet batteries. Another area where some smart thinking will be needed to ensure devices keep up with networks is antenna design.
"We have to trust that the technology will be improved" in these areas as well said Jan Färjh, vice president and head of research at Ericsson. Read more...
Full upgrades to Windows 8 only from Windows 7
Microsoft will support full upgrades to Windows 8 only from the three-year old Windows 7, according to a report Thursday.
Yesterday, ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley, citing unnamed sources, said that Microsoft has informed select partners of the upgrade paths to Windows 8.
Microsoft has not yet set a release date for Windows 8, but most analysts expect it to go on sale this fall, most likely in October.
The upgrade paths that Foley's sources spelled out were the same that Microsoft revealed in February when it released Windows 8 Consumer Preview, the first public beta. Read more...
Where Google Computing Engine fits in
InfoWorld described yesterday how Compute Engine is Google's first unabashed IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service) product, a cloud that allows users to spin up enormous numbers of virtual Linux machines that run on the same infrastructure that powers Google.
But how will customers decide whether to use Google Compute Engine, Rackspace Cloud, Windows Azure, HP Cloud, or another IaaS provider? For an informed answer that question, InfoWorld turned to Michael Crandell, CEO and founder of RightScale, the cloud-management services company that helps customers work with everything from Amazon EC2 to Microsoft Azure. Read more...
Google sharpening Analytics’ tracking of mobile applications
Google is readying a new set of Analytics usage reports designed specifically for mobile applications, the company plans to announce at its I/O developer conference on Friday.
So far, Google Analytics has approached mobile application tracking from a perspective that's more tailored to conventional websites, said JiaJing Wang, a Google product manager.
With these new reports, Google Analytics will provide results for iOS and Android applications that include deeper, broader and more specific metrics, he said. Read more...
Nokia releases Windows Phone update for Lumia 800 and 710
Nokia has started rolling out a Windows Phone software update for the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710, which includes Wi-Fi tethering and a feature that silences incoming calls and messages when the phone is turned face down, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday.
Owners of the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710 may not be getting Windows Phone 8, but that doesn't mean new features won't be added to the smartphones.
Just like on other smartphone operating systems, Wi-Fi tethering -- or Internet sharing as Nokia calls it -- turns the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710 into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. Users can share their mobile Internet connection over Wi-Fi with up to five other mobile devices or computers, according to Nokia. Read more...
GOP Senators revise cybersecurity bill
A group of Republican senators on Wednesday introduced a revised version of a previously proposed bill that seeks to enhance cybersecurrity by improving the sharing of information between private industry and government.
The new Strengthening and Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information and Technology Act (SECURE IT) is being put forth as a less regulatory alternative to another Senate bill, the Cybersecurity Act, which was introduced earlier this year by Senate Democrats.
The main difference between the two bills is that, unlike the Democratic version, the Republican version does not give any new regulatory authority to the federal government to set cybersecurity standards. The new version of SECURE IT also restricts the purposes for which government can retain and use information about cyberthreats. Read more...
Silicon Valley’s top threat is China, survey finds
A significant number of high-level technology executives appear to believe Silicon Valley's days as the world's innovation hub are numbered.
At least that's the findings of a KPMG survey of 668 technology business executives at $1 billion-plus companies, start-ups and venture capital firms around the world.
Of those surveyed by the audit, tax and advisory firm, 44% believe it's likely that the "technology innovation center of the world," now in Silicon Valley, will shift to another country in the next four years.
The most likely choice among respondents is China. Read more...
Half the team at the heart of the RBS disaster WERE in India
Cost-cutting RBS management had halved the team within which the banking group's recent data disaster happened, sources have told The Register. The sacked British employees were replaced by staff in India, and there had been concerns about the quality of the work done in India for a lengthy period prior to last week's catastrophe.
Mishandling of batch schedule data while backing out of an update to CA-7 batch processing software last week caused the disruption that led to 16.9 million customers at RBS, Natwest and Ulsterbank being frozen out of their accounts for days, and ongoing issues in some cases.
The actual CA-7 software support team is wholly based in the UK and according to our sources, RBS has not cut that team. Read more...
SImply nobody is rushing to beat the Microsoft licencing price hike
The expected hordes of customers gathering to renew Microsoft volume licensing agreements before the planned price hike next month failed to show up, say a bunch of reseller sources.
With the UK price list set to rise between 1.7 per cent to 25.9 per cent from 1 July, the software maker and partners reckoned on a mad rush from customers seeking to commit early to a renew agreements and avoid the increased costs.
Microsoft first gave resellers notice in February that it would align EU prices to the euro. In May it previewed the potential impact, which initially ranged from 7.5 per cent to 33.4 per cent before the currency weakened against sterling. Read more...