Apple updates iPod – will it be Nano, Classic or Touch?
A big Apple event in San Francisco on 9 September 2008 will undoubtedly see the update of one if not several of the iPod range, if the Cupertino-based firm’s press invite entitled ‘Let’s Rock’ is anything to go by.
Aside from the ultra-compact Shuffle, the Nano is the smallest in the iPod range. Last year, it was treated to a complete redesign with the release of the slimmer, third-generation model with video playback and Cover Flow interface.
This model earned itself the name ‘Fat Nano’ but the Nano may be returning to an updated version of its slimmer self (pictured) if rumours and photos flying around on the web are anything to go by.
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iPhone security flaw exposes private data
NEW YORK: A security flaw in Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iPhone allows unauthorised users to gain easy access to private contacts and e-mails even when the device is locked, but the company said a fix is on the way.
Popular technology blog Gizmodo and an online forum run by the Mac Rumours site showed that it took only three taps to gain access to locked iPhones, which run the latest 2.02 iPhone software. A spokeswoman said in an e-mail that Apple was aware of the problem and was readying a software update to fix it. In the meantime, she recommended users set the iPhone’s ‘Home’ button to open up the phone’s iPod music collection rather than the phone’s ‘Favourites’ menu.
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The spokeswoman did not say when the software update would be made available. The flaw could be seen as a momentary setback in Apple’s ambitious plans to compete against Research In Motion (RIM.TO), whose BlackBerry smartphone has become a standard issue device in corporate businesses around the globe.
Earlier in August, technology research firm Gartner issued a report that said iPhone’s software had met Gartner’s minimum requirements for business support, although some issues persisted. The author of the report, Ken Dulaney, was not immediately reachable.
Last week, Apple released a software update for the iPhone that reportedly helped fix problems connecting to faster third-generation (3G) wireless networks, after receiving a flurry of online complaints from customers around the world. Apple, which started selling the new 3G iPhone on July 11, has said it expected to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.
DNA News
Cisco takes service routers to the edge
Cisco has unveiled its Aggregation Services Router 1000 at the CeBIT show in Hanover designed for service provider and enterprise edge network deployment.
The networking firm said that the new router is purpose-built for edge networks and took over five years to develop at a cost of $250m.
The ASR 1000 Series is driven by the new QuantumFlow processor, an integrated and programmable router and service engine, and features software virtualisation to enable instant-on provisioning and simultaneous use of a wide range of service functionality.
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SQL Star launched learning portal
SQL Star International on Friday announced the launch of learningport.com, a portal aimed at promoting IT learning through web interface.
The company, which has IT education as one of the key focus areas, has designed this to offer a blend of offline and online education for technology sector.
Addressing a press conference here, the Chairman and Managing Director of SQL Star, N. R. Ganti, said, “The shortage of skilled manpower in the IT industry is a critical barrier for Indian economy. The only way to overcome this is by facilitating a transformation by equipping the workforce and by bridging the skill gap.”
The focus of the portal is to offer an experiential learning environment, inculcate application of knowledge and personality development.
Source :- Sify News
Apple iPhone targets RIM with corporate e-mail
(Reuters) - Apple Inc said on Thursday its iPhone soon will support corporate e-mail, targeting a new market and challenging the dominance of Research In Motion Ltd’s popular Blackberry devices.
Apple also said it will roll out tools for developers to create software for the iPhone, news that was accompanied by a pledge from legendary venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers to set up a $100 million “iFund” to back iPhone software start-ups.
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Who needs IT experts? Workers take control
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Savvy office workers frustrated that their on-the-job computer tools don’t function as smoothly as, say, an Apple iPod are taking matters into their own hands.
No longer are they relying on company technicians, or information technology (IT) administrators, to choose the software needed to get the job done. They know how to pluck tools right off the Web.
Industry observers use the term “consumerization” to describe the phenomenon whereby office workers are less likely to wait for the IT folks to equip them.
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400-odd mobile viruses doing the rounds!
Smart phones may not be smart enough to detect the 400-odd mobile viruses currently doing the rounds across all mobiles world over. And with a host of new viruses popping up everyday, all bluetooth phones seem to be in great peril!
Though most folks understand the criticality of the problem especially when there is a greater chance of loss of data, over three quarters of mobile phone users are not smart enough to take necessary precautions.
In fact, about 86 percent of the cellphone users have no security software installed though they know all about malware spreading via bluetooth. This was revealed by a recent online well-being global survey conducted by Finland-based F-Secure Corporation among 1,169 Internet users aged 20-40 in the US, Canada, UK, France and Germany.
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Price cuts don’t get to heart of Vista’s problems, says analyst
(Computerworld) If Microsoft Corp. thought a lower price for Windows Vista was what the operating system needed to kick-start sales, it should have thought twice, an analyst said early Friday.
“In some ways, it’s an attempt to remove any barriers that may be dissuading people from buying Vista,” said Michael Cherry, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, a Kirkland, Wash.-based research firm. “But the missing step here is simplifying what people need to know to buy. People are so confused about the versions and what they need on hardware that they don’t even get to the price.”
Late Thursday, Microsoft announced plans to cut Vista’s retail prices. The company did not flesh out the details — how much prices will drop or the exact timing — but it did say that customers in some developing countries will see cuts of as much as 50%. The price cuts will be synchronized with the retail release of Vista Service Pack 1 “later this year,” said a company executive.
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Pollution forces birds to sing a new tune
A new study reveals that male wild birds exposed to pollution develop more complex songs, preferred by the females, though they show reduced immunity.
Katherine Buchanan and her colleagues at Cardiff University came to this conclusion after studying male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) foraging at a sewage treatment works in southwestern Britain.
Analysing earthworms that constituted their prey, the researchers found that birds exposed to greater pollution developed longer and more complex songs compared to a control group male birds.
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Sony Introduces New Home Theatre Systems for Multi-Room Listening
Sony, one of the world leaders in electronics, has launched a new home theatre system today. These systems are cutting-edge, in that, they implement the new S-AIR™ technology. This new technology uses wireless connectivity to enable multi-room listening.
These systems will provide an easy-to-use solution for multi-room listening because they preclude the necessity of complex setups. There is no requirement for IP addresses, WEP keys and pin codes. The system takes care of this, by allowing a user to plug in an S-AIR Air Station receiver within a 164 feet radius, and the wireless audio will be transmitted.
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