8 February 2006 Technology News
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Coming soon: The 8-terabyte desktop
You can never be too rich, be too thin or have too much hard drive capacity, according to VoodooPC.
The gamer PC specialist later this year will launch a desktop PC with 16 hard drives, according to Raul Sood, VoodooPC president.
In all, the system will be capable of holding eight terabytes of data. That's the same amount of information you could store on the paper from 400,000 trees, according to a UC Berkeley research study. Academic research libraries typically contain about 2TB of data. -
Oracle Database XE hits market
Oracle on Tuesday announced the release of Oracle Database 10g Express Edition, a free version of its database software. Oracle Database XE, which was launched as a beta version last fall, is now generally available on 32-bit Windows and a range of Linux operating systems.
Oracle Database XE comes at a time when the company is facing greater competition from other providers of low-cost or free databases. Oracle noted that "hundreds of thousands" of programmers have already downloaded the free database since its beta version became available. -
Virus makes leap from PC to PDA
A group of security researchers claims to have found the first virus that can jump to a mobile device after infecting a PC.
The malicious software, dubbed "Crossover," was sent anonymously to the Mobile Antivirus Researchers Association, the group said in a statement released on Monday. The virus is a proof-of-concept bug and was not released in the wild, meaning that it doesn't pose an actual risk for PC and device users.
"Crossover is the first malware to be able to infect both a Windows desktop computer as well as a PDA running Windows Mobile for Pocket PC," the research group said. -
Russian phone Trojan tries to ring up charges
Antivirus companies are warning of new malicious software that can infect any cell phone capable of running Java applications, not just feature-rich smart phones.
The Trojan horse was first spotted by Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab, which calls it RedBrowser. The malicious code poses as an application that promises people the ability to visit mobile Internet sites using text messages instead of an actual Net connection, Kaspersky said in a statement Tuesday.
Instead, the Trojan sends messages to certain premium rate numbers that charge between $5 and $6 per message, Kaspersky said. That could drive up the text message bill for mobile phone users in Russia on the Beeline, MTS and Megafon networks. -
U.K. military to trial enhanced RFID tracking tags
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense later this year will test enhanced radio frequency identification tags readable from more than 100 feet to improve tracking of military supplies.
These "active" RFID tags will contain a small battery capable of emitting signals that increase the range from which they can be read and the amount of data that can be stored on the chip. Special readers can track these tags from more than 200 feet.
These differ from "passive" RFID chips, which track individual items from readers at a closer range, such as those used in grocery store products. -
Soon everyone will have those RFID chips implanted on themOriginally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:U.K. military to trial enhanced RFID tracking tags
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense later this year will test enhanced radio frequency identification tags readable from more than 100 feet to improve tracking of military supplies.
These "active" RFID tags will contain a small battery capable of emitting signals that increase the range from which they can be read and the amount of data that can be stored on the chip. Special readers can track these tags from more than 200 feet.
These differ from "passive" RFID chips, which track individual items from readers at a closer range, such as those used in grocery store products.
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Oracle patches 11i security flaws
Oracle has issued an upgrade to its E-Business Suite 11i diagnostics module containing a number of the security fixes, according to applications security firm Integrigy.
In releasing the upgrade, Oracle made an usual move by alerting its users about the security patches, according to Integrigy's advisory. Historically, the software maker has released product upgrades but not disclosed whether they included security fixes, Integrigy noted.
The "Diagnostics Support Pack February 2006 with Oracle Diagnostics 2.3 RUP A" aims to address security flaws in Oracle diagnostics Web pages and Java classes, according to Integrigy. Oracle diagnostics, a troubleshooting module of Oracle E-Business Suite 11i, is designed to allow IT administrators to conduct tests when configuring and setting up applications. -
AOL sues alleged phishing rings
America Online has filed lawsuits against three alleged identity-theft gangs, using a new antiphishing law to seek combined damages of $18 million.
The online division of Time Warner said Tuesday it had filed three civil suits in Alexandria's U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, charging the three groups with tricking AOL members with fake Web sites of legitimate companies to fool them into giving up personal information.
The suits were filed under Virginia's new antiphishing statute, a federal trademark law called the Lanham Act, and a federal antispam law called the Federal Computer Fraud & Abuse Act. -
Symantec keeps weather eye out for Net threats
Symantec on Tuesday plans to launch the Symantec Internet Threat Meter, a free service meant to inform consumers about the state of Net security.
Available on the Symantec Web site, the new threat meter will provide information on the current risk level associated with specific online activities: e-mail, Web surfing, instant messaging and file-sharing.
"There are other threat indicators on the Web," Dave Cole, a director at Symantec Security Response, said. "But what was missing was a place for consumers that breaks it down in plain English and gives actionable advice. This is like a weather report and telling users to grab the umbrella, instead of how much precipitation there is." -
Senators back new broadband taxes
WASHINGTON--New broadband taxes may be on the horizon, if an influential senator and his like-minded colleagues get their way.
At a Tuesday hearing convened by the Senate Commerce Committee, several senators from largely rural states called for expansion of the Universal Service Fund (USF), a multibillion-dollar pool of money that's currently used to subsidize telecommunications services in rural and other high-cost areas, schools and libraries.
Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican who counts himself among the fund's staunch supporters, said Tuesday that "without Universal Service, just having a dial tone would average about $200 per month" for many residents in his home state. -
Sony Ericsson teams with Google
Bloggers on the go will soon have a new tool to help them keep their blogs up to date.
On Tuesday, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications announced a deal with Google to integrate the search company's Blogger and Web search features into Sony Ericsson mobile phones.
Using software preloaded on the phones, subscribers of Blogger.com will be able to update their personal blogs from their cell phones. Sony Ericsson claims it is the first company to offer an integrated blogging tool on its phones. -
Sony Ericsson adds Cyber-shot to photo phones
Sony Ericsson unveiled six new mobile phones on Tuesday and said that two of them have cameras good enough to carry Sony's Cyber-shot digital camera brand.
It is the second brand transfer by Japanese consumer electronics parent Sony to its mobile phone joint venture with Sweden's Ericsson. A year ago Sony Ericsson, the world's number five handset maker, adopted the Walkman brand for its music phones.
"These phones deliver the same digital still camera experience as Cyber-shot. It is only now that we felt we could adopt the reputable Cyber-shot brand," said the venture's head of global product marketing, Steve Walker. -
Time running out on the big carriers
Some have described the Regional Bell Operating Companies as "glaciers" because they are slow to innovate, but once started, nearly impossible to stop.
Five years ago these RBOC companies lived up to that appellation by grinding to dust the dozens of so-called Competitive Local Exchange Carriers that emerged after the 1996 Telecommunications Act to challenge their hegemony.
But now they face another entrepreneurial challenge from companies that want to lop off the RBOCs' most reliable source of profitability: traditional voice traffic. -
IBM says big business is readying for change
NEW YORK--CEOs are preparing for big changes in their companies in the next two years, according to a new study released by IBM on Wednesday.
Based on face-to-face interviews with about 750 CEOs and business unit heads of large global companies, the survey showed that 65 percent of the world's corporate chief executives are planning for radical change in their companies in the next two years, due to pressures from competition and market forces.
IBM's Business Consulting Services performed the survey, called the Global CEO Study 2006, last year. Big Blue executives shared the results at a press event here on Wednesday. -
Hynix execs to do time for memory price-fixing
Four executives with Hynix Semiconductor in South Korea have agreed to plead guilty for price fixing and serve five to eight months in jail.
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged four companies with attempting to fix prices in the memory market from April 1999 to June 2002. Samsung, Hynix, Elpida and Infineon have all agreed, as corporations, to plead guilty and agreed to pay more than $731 million in collective fines.
The Justice Department, however, is also prosecuting individuals. D.S. Kim, Hynix's general manager for worldwide sales and marketing will serve eight months while C.K. Chung, Hynix's director of global strategic accounts will serve seven months. Two other executives will serve six and five months. Each of the individuals will pay a $250,000 fine. -
Gateway and HP settle patent dispute
Gateway has agreed to pay Hewlett-Packard $47 million to settle a long-standing patent dispute between the parties, Gateway announced Wednesday.
As part of the settlement, the computer makers also made a seven-year cross-licensing agreement and dropped all legal claims against each other.
The legal wrangling between the companies began in March 2004, when Hewlett-Packard filed a lawsuit against Gateway, alleging six patent infringements relating to its PCs. -
Microsoft opens out Exchange 12 preview
Microsoft said Wednesday it plans to send out an early version of Exchange Server 12 to more than 200,000 customers and partners worldwide. The private Community Technology Preview of the planned e-mail server update is being expanded to tap TechNet and MSDN subscribers. MSDN members will be able to download it Wednesday, and the software will be sent to TechNet people this week, Microsoft said. The preview includes new features for round-the-clock access to e-mail and for mitigating data loss if a server fails.
In addition, Microsoft announced it will make the Beta 2 version of Exchange 12, planned for release in mid-2006, publicly available for testing. The completed update is expected to be delivered to manufacturing at the end of this year or early next year, the company said. -
Republicans tout high-tech agenda
WASHINGTON--Republican leaders from the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday promoted a series of policy proposals they hope will keep the nation's already-flourishing tech industry dominant in the future.
"Competitiveness" was the buzzword at a press conference in the basement of the U.S. Capitol, where House Speaker Dennis Hastert and 10 House leaders from the Republican High-Tech Working Group talked up a wide-ranging agenda tied closely to goals outlined by President Bush in his State of the Union speech last month.
"In short, America needs an education system that produces the finest students in the world, who enter an economy that is not hampered by regulatory red tape, frivolous lawsuits and an anticompetitive tax structure," Hastert said. -
Linux company rPath hires Red Hat alum
rPath said Tuesday that it has hired former Red Hat sales executive Dave Cotten to direct all of its sales operations. Cotten has a 10-year technology industry career that includes stints at Oracle, Strategic Technologies and Inforte. rPath, based in Raleigh, N.C., sells rBuilder technology to help software developers create and maintain Linux-based software appliances. It announced in January that it had picked up $6 million in first-round funding from North Bridge Venture partners and General Catalyst Partners.
rPath already has a couple of Red Hat alumni in its leadership. It was set up by Erik Troan, a veteran of the Linux distributor. Troan left embedded Linux company Specifix also home to Red Hat veterans, to set up rPath, where he is chief technology officer. Billy Marshall, once Red Hat's sales chief for North America, is CEO of rPath. -
Sun and Quantum settle patent suit
Quantum has agreed to pay Sun Microsystems $25 million to settle a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Storage Technology, a tape storage company Sun acquired in 2005.
Under the terms of the settlement, the companies agreed to cross-license a limited number of each others' patents and settle all legal claims, the companies said Tuesday. Quantum will pay Sun $20 million this quarter and $5 million over the next five quarters.
StorageTek sued Quantum in August, after Sun announced in June it planned to acquire the company for a net amount of about $3 billion but before the deal closed in August. -
Microsoft to provide special EU Vista
Microsoft will construct a special version of its new Windows Vista operating system without audio-visual software to meet a European Union decision, its European president said on Wednesday.
"Will there be a version that is specific for the European union? Yes, there has to be," said Neil Holloway, Microsoft president for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Six different standard versions of Vista will replace the current Windows XP operating system later this year. -
BEA Systems acquires Fuego
BEA Systems announced Wednesday that it bought business process management software maker Fuego for $87.5 million in cash.
BEA, which announced or closed roughly half a dozen acquisitions in 2005, is seeking to further expand its presence in the service-oriented architecture (SOA) software market with its purchase of Fuego.
"The addition of Fuego to our AquaLogic portfolio means that we (can)...offer a unified SOA-based platform to integrate business processes, applications and legacy environments," Alfred Chuang, BEA chief executive, said in a statement. -
Overstock to restate earnings
Online retailer Overstock.com said on Tuesday that it would restate financial results dating back to 2002, citing an error related to accounting for freight costs, which will cut the net loss reported for the annual periods.
In light of the accounting error, certain financial statements "should no longer be relied upon," the company said in a securities filing.
It's the latest stumbling block for the money-losing Web discounter, which in late December said its holiday sales growth had lagged previous seasons. -
Altiris sees value in utility software
Having focused on the asset lifecycle management space for the past three years, Altiris is now expanding its playing field, moving toward software virtualization and on-demand managed service, say company officials.
Tom Galantomos, Altiris' director of strategic alliance sales for the Asia-Pacific region and Japan, said the new positioning is aimed at helping companies get more value out of their IT spend.
He explained that Altiris will focus on what it describes as a service-oriented management concept, encompassing service-oriented architectures (SOAs) as the technology backbone, products that address management processes and a service-based delivery model. -
India is top target for spam
India's rapid adoption of new technology has left its PC users struggling to cope with high levels of spam, according to a report released Wednesday.
Ninety-one percent of e-mail traffic sent to Indian PC users is spam, according to e-mail security company MessageLabs, which warned that the rate of technological advancement has outstripped growth in security awareness.
"There is booming technology in India, but it has been suggested there is little thought for security, which creates a market to exploit that," said Paul Wood, security analyst at MessageLabs.