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Submission + - Security Industry Is Failing Miserably At Fixing Underlying Dangers (crn.com)

cgriffin21 writes: The security industry is adding layers of defensive technologies to protect systems rather than addressing the most substantial, underlying problems that sustain a sprawling cybercrime syndicate, according to an industry luminary who painted a bleak picture of the future of information security at a conference of hundreds of incident responders in Boston Tuesday. Eugene Spafford, a noted computer security expert and professor of computer science at Purdue University, said software makers continue to churn out products riddled with vulnerabilities, creating an incessant patching cycle for IT administrators that siphons resources from more critical areas.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Challenges Apple's App Store Trademark (crn.com)

cgriffin21 writes: Microsoft is challenging Apple’s efforts to trademark the term “app store,” arguing that the phrase is too generic for any one company to claim ownership. Apple sought to trademark “App Store” in a 2008 filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. That year Apple debuted the iPhone 3GS and launched its online App Store to provide a site for downloading applications for the smart phone.

Submission + - Military Bans Removable Media After WikiLeaks (crn.com)

cgriffin21 writes: The Pentagon is taking matters into its own hands to prevent the occurrence of another WikiLeaks breach with removable media ban, preventing soldiers from using USB sticks, CDs or DVDs on any systems or servers. The directive prohibiting removable media followed the recent publication of more than 250,000 diplomatic cables, which were leaked to whistleblower Web site WikiLeaks at the end of last month by a military insider.
Facebook

Submission + - Top Facebook Apps Violate Privacy Terms: Report (crn.com) 1

cgriffin21 writes: No stranger to privacy concerns, Facebook is one again in in the privacy spotlight following a Wall Street Journal report that some popular Facebook applications leak personal information to advertisers. "Many of the popular applications, or 'apps,' on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information — in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names — to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies," according to The Wall Street Journal, which wrote about Facebook Sunday in the latest installment of its recent "What They Know" series about advertising and the Internet.

Submission + - UAE Says RIM Played Ball, Will Maintain Service (crn.com)

cgriffin21 writes: The United Arab Emirates will not suspend services on BlackBerry smartphones next week, following an agreement reached with BlackBerry maker Research In Motion that is said to comply with UAE policy. It'll be a relief for the roughly 500,000 BlackBerry users in the UAE, a turnaround on the planned Oct. 11 service suspension. In a brief statement, the UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said that BlackBerry services "are now compliant with the UAE's telecommunications regulatory framework." A solution has been "applied," according to the TRA, which did not provide further details on what that solution entails but did indicate that RIM was cooperative.

Submission + - Verizon Tips Its Hand On 4G Network Launch Plans (crn.com)

cgriffin21 writes: Verizon plans to launch its 4G LTE network in 38 major U.S. metropolitan areas by year's end, in an ambitious rollout that will also drape high-speed mobile broadband coverage over 60 airports. In a keynote address Thursday at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications conference, Lowell McAdam, president and chief operating officer of Verizon, outlined the cities in the initial launch wave, which include: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Miami, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, New Orleans, St. Louis, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Submission + - Report: Facebook, Skype Getting Really Friendly (crn.com)

cgriffin21 writes: Facebook and Skype are reportedly in talks over a deal that would integrate Skype calling capabilities into Facebook user accounts. Such an agreement would give both Skype and Facebook not only a leg up on rival VoIP and social networking services from the likes of Google, but also the combined force of two Internet-based services beloved by consumers. The talks, which were reported by All Things Digital Wednesday, stems from Facebook's goal of merging IP communications and social networking communities more closely together. Facebook in recent weeks had also been rumored to be developing a mobile device of its own.
Apple

Submission + - Media Loves Apple And Its Army Of Fans (crn.com)

cgriffin21 writes: Apple is getting more media attention right now than any other technology company, including Google. Microsoft, meanwhile, is languishing in the shadows like Cinderella on the night of the ball. That's the upshot of a study released Monday by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, which found that Apple was the focus of 15.1 percent of media coverage between June 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Google received 11.4 percent of media coverage during the period, while Microsoft garnered just 3 percent.
Image

Segway UK Boss Dies After Driving Off Cliff 413

necro81 writes "Jimi Heselden, the British multi-millionaire defense contractor and philanthropist, who bought the Segway company last December from inventor Dean Kamen, died yesterday after an accident while riding one of the machines. While using a ruggedized X2 version of the two-wheeled balancing scooter at his estate in North Yorkshire, he apparently drove over the edge of a precipice and into the River Wharfe. He was found later by a passerby and declared dead on the scene."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Says IE9 Beta Demand Pretty Overwhelming (crn.com)

cgriffin21 writes: Microsoft expected Internet Explorer 9 to be popular, but after more than two million people downloaded the IE9 beta in the first two days after its release, the software giant is having a hard time choosing which eye-popping statistics to cite. Microsoft says its "Beauty of the Web" site, which illustrates the aesthetic advantages of IE9's support for HTML5 and hardware acceleration, has had more the 9 million visits and 26 million page views since the IE9 beta launch on Sept. 15. Microsoft's developer-oriented IE Test Drive Site has had 4 million page views during the same period.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Releases Final Windows Phone 7 Dev Tools (crn.com)

cgriffin21 writes: Microsoft on Thursday released the final Windows Phone 7 developer tools to manufacturing, giving coders a couple of weeks' lead time to get their apps ready for the launch of the Windows Phone Marketplace in early October. Microsoft released the Windows Phone 7 OS to manufacturing on Sept. 1, and its OEM partners are in the process of testing it on handsets. The Windows Phone 7 developer tools are the final piece of the puzzle for Microsoft, which is now ready to march back into a mobile market where it has fallen alarmingly behind the leaders.

Submission + - HTC Launches HD Phones, Updated Sense (crn.com)

cgriffin21 writes: HTC on Wednesday confirmed two new Android smartphones, the HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z, that include what the vendor is calling an "enhanced version" of its HTC Sense user interface that includes everything from video editing software to a mapping tool. The HTC Sense's new features include the ability to record HD videos and edit images with various camera effects. HTC Locations, another new feature, provides on-demand mapping, and there's also an integrated e-reader and an e-book store powered by Kobo.
Iphone

Apple's Developer Tools Turnaround 'Great News' For Adobe 234

cgriffin21 writes "Apple is being praised for loosening of some of the restrictions in its Application Developer Program license agreement that open the door for app developers to work in Flash for the Apple iPhone, iPad and other devices. And no one is happier about the change than Flash-maker Adobe itself. They wrote, 'This is great news for developers and we're hearing from our developer community that Packager apps are already being approved for the App Store. We do want to point out that Apple's restriction on Flash content running in the browser on iOS devices remains in place.'" Apple also received praise from Google over their reversal, which may have been prompted by an FTC probe. Reader Stoubalou adds that Apple shed more light on the app review process by publishing a list of guidelines (PDF) the violation of which may get an app rejected from the App Store.
Cellphones

T-Mobile To Begin HTC G2 Preorders 132

cgriffin21 writes "T-Mobile Thursday finally confirmed what it's been hinting at for a while: The HTC G2, T-Mobile's HSPA+ successor to the HTC G1, is on the way. It'll be an Android 2.2 phone and run on T-Mobile's HSPA+ data network, which while not a 4G network offers what T-Mobile is calling 4G-like speeds up to 21 Mbps. T-Mobile hasn't confirmed pricing or exact availability but said it would open the G2 to presales for existing customers at the end of September."

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