News

IT provides an economic bright spot

Bellwether IT companies helped push positive tech sector market reports, providing good news in the midst of skittishness about the housing market

Feds raid video-game ‘modders’ in 16 states

U.S. ICE agents raided 32 homes and businesses to confiscate mod chips that can be used to play pirated software on video-game consoles

Nokia maintains top spot in mobile phone market

Samsung unseats Motorola for second place among cell phone vendors, but analysts say iPhone will ultimately have bigger impact on industry

Competitiveness bill advances in Congress

Tech trade groups praise the bill, which allocates $43.3 billion for new science and math education programs meant to keep the U.S.'s tech sector competitive

McCain calls for more government R&D

The presidential candidate says that government should fund tech R&D and also provide a tax credit to companies for their R&D efforts

IE: Most influential product of past 25 years?

Microsoft delays Mac Office 2008

Release date of Office 2008 for Mac is pushed back until mid-January

CA files $200 million copyright lawsuit against Rocket

CA alleges its rival hired away developers and stole source code

Report: Google shows phone prototype to manufacturers

Unlike with the iPhone, Google reportedly plans to rely on ad revenues to offer consumers free subscriptions

Massachusetts adds Open XML to standards list

Microsoft scores a win in quest to have its XML-based file format accepted as a technology standard

Update: Nokia posts big Q2 profit on one-time gain from Siemens venture

Nokia Siemens Networks has not performed well, despite the one-time gain from its launch

Portrait of a Linux iPhone-killer wannabe

FIC's Neo 1973 phone, based on the company's new OpenMoko platform, sports an iPhone-like touchscreen

Google’s Associated Press licensing deal short on results

AP licensing deal passes the one-year mark but promised offerings have yet to be delivered

Project WOMBAT looks to manage online threats

European project will serve as early warning system by keeping an eye on malware and computer attacks around the world

Lenovo sees Q1 profits soar on higher PC shipments

Lenovo reports double-digit shipment growth for the first time since its 2005 acquisition of IBM's PC Division

Far EasTone lays out plan for Taiwan WiMax

Mobile Taiwan initiative aims to ensure Internet access using wireless LAN technology, WiMax, and mobile phone networks

D’oh! Homer Simpson photo exposes Chinese media piracy

Chinese state-run online and print media routinely use photos without proper attribution or copyright permission

Adobe axes link to Kinkos in Acrobat, Reader

Other printing companies complain about a feature in Acrobat and Reader that lets users send documents over the Internet to FedEx Kinkos

Dell buys software asset management company ASAP Software

Purchase of ASAP Software will help Dell meet demand from large customers for tools and services to manage their software assets

W32.Deletemusic worm hunts down and deletes MP3 files

Low-risk worm spreads via removable flash drives and copies itself to all drives on a PC

Web browser attack skirts corporate firewall

Problems in the way browsers work with the DNS can be exploited to give attackers access to other resources on the user's network

The other iPhone

Introduction to scripting in Java, Part 2

Find out what else you need to know about scripting in this second half of the JavaWorld excerpt from Dejan Bosanac's Scripting in Java: Languages, Frameworks, and Patterns (Addison Wesley Professional, August 2007)

Black Hat: Security researchers show how corporate intranets are ripe for emerging attacks

Experts claim that many companies are unknowingly leaving the door open for outsiders to infiltrate and attack their corporate intranets using new hacking techniques such as cross-site request forgery 

Black Hat: Security researchers exercise AJAX attacks

Experts say attacks are made easy by a lack of expertise among developers working with the AJAX language

HP mum on talk of Bull SA acquisition

Rumors persist, though head of the French IT firm denies contact between the two companies

Vendors say patent system needs work

At AlwaysOn Stanford Summit, panelists from Apple, Google, and IBM cite huge legal settlements as sign of patent abuse

Warning: Laser printers could be a health hazard

Your laser printer could be spewing toner over your home or office, according to an Australian air quality researcher

NSA guru lauds security intelligence sharing

Efforts to share security data are helping to foster community approach necessary to improve IT practices, said an NSA expert presenting at Black Hat

U.S. spying raises new privacy fears

Vague admissions of broader domestic spying leave business to wonder exactly what data is being mined

Bust nets sellers of chips that enable pirated games

Federal agents raid establishments suspected of trafficking in modified equipment that allows use of illegally acquired software on PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii

Google Analytics problems irritate users

With four major problems in the month of July alone, the stability of the service is increasingly in question among users

Eminem’s publisher sues Apple over downloads

Rapper's reps spar with company for the second time, now claiming that profits from artist's iTunes sales have not reached them

Bay Area Web host explains cause of power failure

Incorrect setting on controller for backup generators led to 365 Main's clients, including sites such as Craigslist, Yelp, and Technorati, going dark for 45 minutes

Getting the business side to support IT

Lufthansa seeks to restore in-flight Internet

German airline in talks with potential partners to bring back onboard Wi-Fi access for passengers

BPM vendor Metastorm buys Proforma

The companies' products will be combined into a suite that lets customers get their BPM and BPA products under one roof

AT&T, IBM among winners of $50B federal deal

U.S. government picks 29 companies, but Verizon Business is shut out of Alliant 10-year IT services program

Brocade sets up R&D center in India

Indian center may do hardware design as well as development of infrastructure software and software for storage and data mobility apps

Update: Tech group files complaint against sports leagues

CCIA says professional sports leagues and companies trample on fair-use rights that let consumers copy portions of copyright works

UnWired Nation surmounts mobile data hurdles using voice

UnWired Nation service lets companies contact their customers, conduct business using voice commands over mobile phones

Researchers: Web apps over Wi-Fi puts data at risk

Security experts warn that packet sniffers can collect cookie information while a user is accessing rich Web apps over Wi-Fi

Nokia opens design studio in India

Nokia plans to set up other satellite studios to collaborate with local designers on the cultural nuances relevant to mobile phone design

EarthLink’s caution reflects shift in muni Wi-Fi

Dark clouds at EarthLink don't spell doom for municipal wireless, but cities may have to look at alternative business models, analysts say

Sony to show Cell-based computing board

Prototype computer board is based on the same high-power chip used in the PlayStation 3

Adware company is accused of violating FTC pact

Zango continues to omit the warning screen required by its FTC settlement, as well as showing ads without proper labeling

Acer installing Linux on notebooks, but not Ubuntu

Dealer in Singapore is attracting interest by installing the Ubuntu version of Linux on Aspire 5107Z notebooks

Payment card regulations get mixed reviews

Data security standard has pushed the industry to significantly improve defenses, but some users are crying foul

Boost productivity without stifling creativity

Apple security update may stifle unlocking of iPhone

Update fixes critical flaws ahead of Black Hat demo, but also erases modifications made to firmware, which could limit moves to unlock the iPhone