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The InformationWeek February 2007 Archive « January 2007 | Main | March 2007 » |
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Sybase To Launch Secure Mobile IM And Presence For The Enterprise
Sybase subsidiary iAnywhere today announced a solution that will add secure mobile instant messaging (IM) and presence to its Information Anywhere mobile e-mail platform. IAnywhere's new mobile IM system will ship by the second quarter and will also be available as a standalone offering. Get ready for some mobile IM on your BlackBerry.
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Spectrum, Here! Get Yer Spectrum, Heeeere!
According to an analyst over at Pyramid Research, 3G spectrum has been highly overpriced, while WiMax spectrum is undervalued. Though companies aren't exactly snapping up WiMax licenses like CrackerJacks, with the looming build-out of WiMax networks, the days of (relatively) cheap WiMax spectrum are at an end.
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T-Mobile, Nokia Launch New Music-Themed Cell Phone, Yo
Last night at the midtown Manhattan club Arena, T-Mobile hosted members of the tech press, socialites and other sparkling members of NYC's digerati to an ear-shattering launch party for its newest handset. The Teddybears and Twista were in da house. Oh, and so was the Nokia 5300.
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Something Will Be Lost When Second Life Gets Voice
I have to admit I'm not 100% looking forward to the addition of voice into Second Life. I agree that it's inevitable and will make the service easier to use. But the text-based chat currently in use in Second Life adds to its charm, and, paradoxically, makes the service seem more real.
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The Importance Of Presence: Taming The Wild And Woolly IM
"Presence" is one of the hottest ideas in software these days. Being able to see who's online and how they're connected is a necessary piece of functionality for enterprise networks as "real-time collaboration" (what we used to call "instant messaging" before it went corporate) has become the way to be productive. And for big companies, providing presence has been a security and compliance headache. The latest company to offer help is Sybase iAnywhere. Today it announced mobile instant messaging (IM) and presence capabilities for its Information Anywhere suite that supports email and applications across a variety of mobile devices and platforms.
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Google Holds Two-Day Government Sales Fest In Washington
According to The Washington Post, Google this week held a two-day-long pitch fest with nearly 200 federal contractors, engineers, agency employees, and military members eager to learn more about its products. Google has beefed up its sales operations in the Washington, D.C., area in the last year in hopes of capturing more business from military, intelligence, and civil agencies. Several government agencies already use an enhanced version of Google Earth. That's right: Google is going deep into the verticals.
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Quick Look: Remember The Milk
It's not the organized people who need to keep task lists -- it's those of us who are so disorganized that we need some sort of written reminder to keep us on track (and to keep our bosses happy). As a past Outlook user, my inclination is to pair my task list with my calendar. As a current user of Google Calendar, I've been a bit peeved because, with all its advantages, it doesn't have a To Do feature. I'm a lot happier now -- because I found a site with the absurd name of Remember The Milk.
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AOL May Buy Mobile Advertising Firm Third Screen Media
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, AOL is in talks to buy mobile phone advertising provider Third Screen Media. Does that mean mobile advertising is about to take off?
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Three Intriguing Web 2.0 Companies: Jellyfish, Ning, And Dandelife
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s fundamentally impossible to predict which Web 2.0 ideas will take over the Internet. That lifts an incredible burden from my shoulders — I used to think it was my job to predict those things. Now I know it’s not my job — and, moreover, it’s an impossible task. So I can just sit back and marvel at the creativity that goes into coming up with various business models. Here’s three we discovered recently, two of them in today’s news:
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Wireless Apps Galore At New York Mobile Monday
Last night I had the pleasure of attending Demo Night at the monthly meeting of the New York City chapter of Mobile Monday (or MoMo for those of you in the know). Mobile Monday is an informal social club of mobile enthusiasts -- everyone from industry insiders to developers to aspiring entrepreneurs to mobile geeks -- who meet once a month to talk about all things wireless. Meetings range from highly technical discussions of obscure wireless topics (like developing new applications in BREW or how to address device fragmentation) to all-out social mixers and parties. Last night's meeting was a non-stop demo fest with eight companies showing off their latest products. Let's look at some mobile apps.
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Verizon Wireless to Launch Mobile TV Service March 1
Some keen-eyed spies have found coverage maps and other information on Verizon Wireless's Web site that confirm a March 1 launch for its V CAST Mobile TV service. Too bad most major markets are left off first round of cities to receive the service.
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Cingular and Motorola Offer Gold RAZR
While the new gold color sure is purty and would tempt Bond villain Auric Goldfinger himself (and probably Lindsay Lohan), Motorola and its carrier partners should be working on new, innovative handsets and stop with the endless parade of facelifts to a has-been device.
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dodd/methvin test
dodd methvin test
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Microsoft's Ballmer To India: Cut Piracy, Create 50,000 Jobs
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says software piracy in India is so bad that it's holding back the country's economy. But if India can reduce piracy by just 10% it would create 50,000 new jobs, says Ballmer. Question: Where will those jobs come from?
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Join Us For Our Regular SL Kaffeeklatsch
Jon us for our Second Life kaffeeklatsch Tuesday 7 am Second Life Time, at Notre Dame de Caffeine. The subject: Using Second Life for collaboration in SL and real life. For more on Web 2.0 collaboration tools, see this week's cover story, "Most Business Tech Pros Wary About Web 2.0 Tools In Business.".
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Google's Call For Better Health Info Answered by Microsoft
Microsoft said Monday that it planned to acquire Medstory, a privately held California company with a health information search site.
Microsoft said the company will become part of its recently formed Health Solutions Group. Financial terms were not disclosed.
In a statement, Peter Neupert, Microsoft's corporate VP for health strategy, said Microsoft was impressed with Medstory.com's ability to find relevant health-related information.
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DoCoMo And McDonald's To Allow Mobile Payments For Big Macs
Japan's leading wireless carrier, NTT DoCoMo, signed a deal with fast food company McDonald's that will let DoCoMo subscribers buy food at the restaurant chain by using their mobile phones. Do you want fries with that mobile payment?
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One Third Of Americans On The Web Have Used Wireless Internet
According to a new poll from the Pew Internet Project, one-third of U.S. Internet users have connected to the Web using a wireless network. The survey found that 20% of U.S. Internet users now have wireless networks in their homes. Just more signposts that wireless data, and not just voice, is going mainstream.
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Quick Look: The Playaway
It may come as a shock to those technophiles who wouldn't be seen in public without their earbuds firmly attached, but there are folks out there who do not own an iPod (or alternate MP3 player). There are even people out there who don't know (or don't want to learn) how to download MP3 files. Most of us would simply leave those benighted souls to their AM radios and clunky CD players -- but at least one company sees them as a possible source of income.
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Free At Last
I just bought my daughter a laptop. Well, to tell the truth, although I purchased it for her to use, it was actually for my benefit: I was tired of being kicked off my own computer because she had homework that required word processing or access to the Internet. Shuddering at the thought of shelling out hundreds of dollars for Microsoft Office -- because though only in fifth grade, she needs PowerPoint as well as Word -- I downloaded the free office suite OpenOffice, which has proven to work just fine.
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Motion Computing Intros New Tablet For Health Care
The new Microsoft Windows Vista-based C5 Tablet PC for health care workers from Motion Computing is the epitome of mobile computing. It even has a handle to help docs and nurses on the go carry it around. Its bevy of wireless features is missing one spicy ingredient, though.
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When The Walls Came Tumblin' Down At Intel
Intel has finally gotten rid of an eyesore that has been a major blight on its operation since 2001, and, no, it's not Itanium.
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Rest In Peace, BenQ Mobile
The former Siemens mobile phone division, once one of the top global makers of handsets, has completely and utterly imploded. All its remaining employees will need to look for other employment and its assets will be sold off in pieces to appease creditors, to which it owes $1.16 billion.
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My FABULOUS Second Life
I've discovered that Ziggy Figaro, my alter ego in Second Life, is vain. In Second Life, I spend a good deal of time shopping, fussing over my appearance, and figuring out what to wear. In real life, I devote exactly as much effort on my appearance as I need to, and no more.
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Vigilante Hacker –- Hero Or Menace? Your Call…
The jury's out on a controversial hack job. Oh, one man is already going to jail in this tale. The question is whether the hacker who helped put the bad guy away was the hero of the story or just another bad guy. What's your take on this one?
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Fakeyourspace.com: The Web Gets More Like Real Life
Fakeyourspace.com is a Web service with a truly brilliant business plan: for 99 cents each per month you can buy all the friends you can afford to leave comments on your MySpace, Friendster, or Facebook page – really hot-looking friends, too, judging from the examples on the sites home page. It's just another example of how a disruptive Web technology can affect economics
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Vista Still Seems Buffeted By Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) 'False Positives'
Hello, my name is Alex and I'm apparently running a bogus copy of Windows Vista. At least that's what my computer told me earlier today after I booted up. Funny thing is, I got my copy of Vista directly from. . . Microsoft. Apparently, I'm not the only one with this problem. If you troll Microsoft's Windows Vista Activation Forum, you'll find numerous posts along the same lines.
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Keeping Junk E-Mail Out Of Your Inbox
Spam volume is at its highest peak ever, Marshal's Threat Research and Content Engineering Team notes in their latest report. Spam has increased 280% since just last October. If the surge continues apace, 90% of all e-mail will be junk. That's a whole lot of unwanted e-mail.
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Ex-Apple Employee's Firing Makes For Great YouTube Video
Some say that revenge is best when it is served cold, but for former Apple Inc. call center employee Erik Ott, revenge may be best served about a million times a day on YouTube.
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Older Is Better, But Is It Legal?
For reasons that are far too complex to go into here (and that make me look far too stupid) I needed a copy of Paint Shop Pro 8 today. I know I've got my install CD around here somewhere, but it's hiding. So naturally I went hunting in Google, and somehow (I'm not exactly sure how, exactly) ran across the trail of www.oldversion.com. It had it and I downloaded it. I was ecstatic. But I also was suspicious.
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1983 Datsun Sports Car TV Commercial Features Apple's Steve Wozniak
This 1983 TV commercial features Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak plugging Datsun sports cars. The TV commercial hasn't aged well -- the music, announcer's voice, Woz's beard, and his clothes are all goofy. The car looks great, though.
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With Google Apps Premier Edition, Who Needs Microsoft?
The software-as-a-service notion took a big step forward today with Google's announcement of its online productivity software. Such hosted solutions--available anywhere there's an Internet connection--are exactly what the mobile enterprise needs.
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Smartphone Users Have Longer Workdays, Make More Money, And Want More Time Off
According to new findings from researcher Digital Life America, smartphone users work longer and earn more money than those who don't use such devices. The study found that 19% of smartphone users work more than 50 hours a week and that their average household income is $94,000 a year, roughly 50% higher than the U.S. national average.
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Study: iPhone Too Darned Expensive
The results of an online survey conducted by market research firm Compete show that only 1% of people interested in the iPhone would pony up $500 for it. Drop the price, though, and 60% of respondents said they'd leave their current wireless carriers to get it.
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Does Web 2.0 Add To Information Overload?
My efforts to adopt Web 2.0 collaboration tools within InformationWeek last year were thwarted by a very simple question. I suggested we move a lot of the administrative stuff for IW.com to the Basecamp project-management tool. But a colleague put up a roadblock by asking, "Mitch, wouldn't that be just another thing I have to remember to check?"
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The Top Five Reasons BlackBerry Is Still The King Of Mobile E-Mail
Everyone from Microsoft to Nokia has tried to kill Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphone platform. But after almost four years of nonstop effort, BlackBerry is still on top. Not even a massive lawsuit from holding company NTP managed to slow down BlackBerry in the eyes of the business world. In fact, since then, BlackBerry has expanded beyond the world of the corporate enterprise into the SMB market and even to consumers. Why is BlackBerry so successful?
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What Happened To YouTube's Copyright Filter Initiative?
After almost four months of nonstop talk, it appears that YouTube has licensed copyright filtering technology from AudibleMagic. The San Jose Mercury News reports that Google will soon unveil the filtering technology as its solution to problems with copyrighted material. So, what happened to Google's internal efforts on filtering?
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Three Easy Ways To Make Sure Your Smartphone Survives The Daylight-Saving Transition
Everyone is aware that in the U.S. daylight-saving time is coming three weeks earlier this year, on March 11. But did you know your smartphone applications and operating system could be affected by the daylight-saving time bug, just as easily as desktop software programs? Here are some suggestions to keep things running smoothly.
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How I'm Making Enemies In Second Life
I've had two major interviews in Second Life go badly on me, and I'm still trying to figure out why. I handled them exactly as I do my real-life interviews, and I mostly don't have these problems in RL. It's apparent that the rules are different for SL interviews -- but how? And can the needs of RL and SL be reconciled, or should I brace myself for further conflict?
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Blogger Rails Against Nokia, Suggests It Pull Out Of U.S. Market
Ricky Cadden has many valid points in his explosive rant against Nokia and its lack of cool 3G handsets and any sort of strategy to expand in the U.S. market.
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S.D. Police Department Adds Treos To Its Arsenal Of Crime-Fighting Weapons
Unless you regularly watch "24", the word smartphone may not be the first thought that pops into your head in connection with public safety and crime-fighting tools. The San Diego Police Department, though, is making the Treo 700w standard equipment for select officers.
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Making Up For A Data Breach
Do companies really care about the security of their customers' data? Quite frankly, not as much as they should, based on what's in the news.
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We Heart Google
Google, Google, Google. Lately, it’s been all Google, all the time. And our readers can’t seem to get enough of it.
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No 3G Support For Centrino Santa Rosa
It looks like Intel has flip flopped on its earlier support for built-in 3G. Intel in September said it planned to offer support for both Wi-Fi and 3G HSDPA networks in the next-generation of the Centrino mobile notebook platform, code-named Santa Rosa. But the company has since reveresed that decision. So why no 3G?
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Apple And Cisco Make Up After Brief iPhone Fight
Yesterday Apple and Cisco Systems agreed to end their fight over the iPhone trademark. Not only did they settle, but Apple and Cisco said they plan to work together to make sure their respective iPhone products will work together for "consumer and enterprise communication."
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Using Second Life For Disaster Preparedness Training
Play2train.org built a realistic simulation of a small town in Second Life, complete with detailed restaurants and a complete hospital. Then they blew the whole village up real good, as well as inflicting pestilence such as a smallpox epidemic, in order to help train emergency personnel in disaster preparedness. View a 16-minute video overview of the tabletop simulation below.
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New Study Shows Which Wireless Network Really Has the Fewest Dropped Calls
Last summer saw a frenzy of advertisements from the wireless network operators, each one claiming that independent research verified that it had the fewest dropped calls, the largest network, the best network, the friendliest network, the hippest network and so on. You'll never believe who ranked first in this study.
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RIM's New BlackBerry 8800 Is Available On Cingular Today. Cool, But Where's The 3G?
RIM has offered 3G to customers on Verizon Wireless' EV-DO high-speed network for well over a year, but even the brand-spanking-newest GSM-based BlackBerry 8800 released today fails to add UMTS or HSDPA 3G data. What gives?
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Can Businesses Remove Carriers From Their Mobility Efforts?
Let's admit it. You've thought about it before. Is it possible to remove carriers from the mobile enterprise equation? The promise of all-IP networks and better smartphones is that the role of carriers can be eliminated, or at least greatly reduced. Will this promised day ever arrive?
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If The Stork Brings Babies, What Brings Digital Cameras? A Trade Show
Judging from the volume of press releases, more digital cameras than babies have been born in the month of February. They're popping out all over -- even General Electric is introducing a line of silicon snapshooters. The reason is the Photo Marketing Association International's upcoming annual trade show in Las Vegas March 8 to 11. And the cream of this year's crop may have been introduced yesterday -- a 10-megapixel Nikon, the new Coolpix P5000.
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Voice And Mobile E-Mail Are Driving Mobile Enterprise Growth In Asia-Pacific
Just in case you had any doubts that mobile enterprise is back and bigger than ever, check out the latest findings from Frost & Sullivan. The researcher claims that the market for mobile enterprise services in the 12 major Asia-Pacific countries (excluding Japan) will grow from $20.68 billion in 2006 to $35.51 billion by the end of 2011. That's a compound annual growth rate of 11.4%. In other words, companies in these countries are kickin' down for mobility.
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Microsoft Rattles Anti-Linux Saber
CEO Steve Ballmer rattled Microsoft's saber against Linux among Wall Street analysts last Thursday. It's clear that he means to make threatening noises, but what exactly is under threat? And doesn't talking about intellectual property but taking no action to defend it ultimately weaken your claimed rights?
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Intel Inside ... Health Care? You Should Care.
When one vein starts to whither, you gotta tap around for a healthier one. Intel's latest initiative aims to bring its PC expertise into the hospital, with lots of friends in tow.
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My Unsuccessful Quest To Replace Microsoft Office For My Mac
It looks like I'm going to be buying Microsoft Office for the Mac after all. I had hoped to avoid it -- not because I'm anti-Microsoft, which I'm not, but rather because I just wanted save the hundreds of dollars that Office costs. However, I was unable to find a suitable substitute among all the alternatives I tried.
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What Will Become Of The YouTube Universe?
If you've spent any time on YouTube, or on any of the other video sharing sites that are now so incredibly popular, you'll know that a large percentage of the clips available have at least some copyrighted material in them. In fact, a good percentage are completely copyrighted. Surprised? Of course not. Not unless you've been hiding in an art film theater for the past 10 years.
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SMS Is Being Used More And More For Important Communications...Like Breaking Up And Flirting
Rumor has it pop disaster Britney Spears gave estranged hubby K-Fed the shove via SMS. This article goes on to describe how Singaporeans use SMS for flirting with people other than their partners. Heck, this woman even got fired via SMS. Teenagers beware, looks like SMS has finally become accepted as a legit form of communication.
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Why Hasn't Dell Enabled Its Axim Handhelds With Cellular Radios?
Dell, maker of PCs and more, has offered its Axim series of Pocket PC-based handhelds for years now. HP loaded cellular radios onto its iPAQ handhelds and entered the smartphone market years ago. Palm's original product was its organizer PDA. Now it's more well-known for its Treo smartphones. And of course we all know about Apple's impending foray into smart-ish phone territory. So, where's Dell?
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Second Life Kaffeeklatsch Series Gets Off To A Brisk Start
This morning's kickoff kaffeeklatsch in Second Life was a success, with a small but high-quality group gathered to discuss doing business in-world, and drink virtual coffee (as well as a bit of absinthe). Join us Friday morning at 10 a.m. EST (7 a.m. Pacific time) when the suggested topic will be managing growth. People are signing up by the thousands -- can Second Life keep up?
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Indian Outsourcers Target U.S. Defense Contracts
The controversy over outsourcing U.S. technology and back-office jobs to India has been fairly heated. But that may pale in comparison with what's surely coming, given what some major Indian service providers are now chasing.
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The iPhone Has Very Little New Technology: So Why Does Apple Need 200 Patents?
Mike Masnick over at Techdirt picks up the old invention vs. innovation debate and how it applies to the iPhone. So, does that mean that Apple's 200 patents surrounding the iPhone are unnecessary? Or even unjustified?
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With Open XML, Microsoft Is Riding A Gift Horse
If you listened just to Microsoft, you'd get the strong impression that IBM was practically guilty of war crimes for its opposition to Microsoft's sweet, innocent Open XML document standard before international standards bodies. The truth is, as usual, something different. I have no doubt that IBM's support for the Open Document Format and objections to OpenXML bear some taint of competitive free enterprise. But, let's call a spade a spade, Microsoft's indignant protestations bear some taint of propaganda as well.
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Google: Mobile Phones Are The Future Of The Internet
The future of the Web is smaller than you think. And also much bigger, according to Google VP Vinton Cerf. Cerf, speaking in India this week, predicted that mobile phones, not PCs, are the future of the Web.
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Mobile Users In Beijing Open New Year With 400 Million SMS Messages
Mobile customers in Beijing, China, kicked off the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday with tons of SMS text messages -- 400 million to be exact. According to numbers from the two largest carriers in the city, partying Beijingers sent roughly 5,800 text messages per second on Saturday. That's a whole lot of text messages.
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Learning To Speak The Same Language Of Mobility
I have almost recovered from the insanity that was the 3GSM World Congress last week in Barcelona. Not only did my airline manage to lose my baggage on the flight home, I also caught a nasty case of the flu -- so much for constantly using hand sanitizer and taking large doses of Vitamin C. As I sat down to digest the week that was, I kept thinking about how differently the carrier and the enterprise IT worlds see mobility.
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Has Microsoft Patented A Successor To Clippy?
Remember Microsoft's Clippy, the annoying animated assistant featured in Office, until it was retired in 2004? Like most people, I found Clippy variously unnerving, obnoxious, and superfluous. Which, when you think of it, is no small feat for a nonexistent icon. It's been the subject of much speculation whether Clippy would ever return. Would he re-emerge as a staple, perhaps, or as some other antediluvian -- but anthropomorphized -- item of office detritus?
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Microsoft Shoots Self In Foot (Again, *Yawn*) Over Tool That Migrates Apps To Vista
Explain this one if you can: (a) Microsoft desperately wants to get users to abandon Windows 2000 and spend some new money updating to Windows Vista; (b) Microsoft creates a tool, Easy Transfer, that can migrate data and settings from Windows XP and Win2K PCs to Vista PCs; (c) Microsoft creates a second tool, Easy Transfer Companion, that does even better by migrating installed applications from old PCs to new PCs running Vista -- but (d) it only works if the old PC is running XP. Exactly how does this encourage me to migrate off of Win2K?
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Ranking New York's Top Information Technologies
The New York metro area has long been a center of high-tech innovation. That's easy to forget given all the software developed in Silicon Valley and Redmond, Wash., and the gadgets designed in Japan. But New York has 4,000-plus technology companies and research experience that dates back to the opening of Bell Labs in 1925. In fact, Google's expanding in New York because of the technical talent here.
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Click This To Salute The Passing of The Co-Inventor Of The TV Remote
Couch potatoes everywhere - get up and stand at attention. Robert Adler, the co-inventor of one of the most beloved and fought over pieces of technology known to modern man, has died. He was 93. While not really what he wanted to be remembered for, Adler probably knew there was no denying the impact of the lowly television remote control device, nor did he feel one twinge of guilt over his invention, which is universally blamed for enabling couch potatoes.
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Would You Use A Virus Writer's Antivirus Patch?
The Chinese hacker who was recently arrested for writing and selling the Fujacks worm could be writing code to run on your corporate network. Now what do you think of that?
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Book Vs. Scanner
I like to think that I'm an organized person, but I'm really not. My basement is nearly drowned in piles and piles of books that are in great need of organization. However, every time I go down there to start, I'm overwhelmed by the prospect. So when I got to review the Flic Scanner Media Organizer -- a package containing a small, handheld scanner and three applications from Collectorz.com for tracking music, books, and DVDs -- I was ecstatic. This was it. Order out of chaos. We were finally going to get those shelves upon shelves of volumes accounted for and organized so that we could actually find a book when we wanted to.
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A Frustrating Couple Of Days For A New Mac User
Lately, I've been gnashing my teeth and swearing at my new best friend, the Mac. It's been behaving in a decidedly un-Mac-like manner. I've been having trouble getting it to do what I want it to do.
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Google Goes One For Two This Week, But We May Be The Big Losers
Google is clearly a big winner as the result of a trial judge's decision to dismiss a suit brought to prohibit its use of trademarked words as search terms. But it also looks like a big loser as the result of a Belgian judge's ruling earlier this week that the search-engine company violated the law by publishing copyrighted content without permission on Google News. And because of the way search engines and the Internet work, each decision could make us users of the Web a loser in a different way.
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Palm Up for Grabs?
Dan Jones over at Unstrung is reporting that ailing Treo-maker Palm could be wooing suitors and that Motorola, Nokia, or a private equity firm could be potential bidders. Whoa, Nelly!
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Join Us For A Kaffeeklatsch In Second Life
Join us in Second Life Tuesday at 7 am for the first in a regular, twice-weekly series of kaffeeklatsches to discuss the top technology news and trends of the day, co-hosted by InformationWeek and Dr. Dobb's Journal.
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Your Employees Are Out to Get You
As yesterday's headlines of a massive insider security breach at DuPont make all too clear, your employees are more likely to be the ones stealing from you. And mobile technology is helping them.
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New Drive-By Attack Taking Over Home Routers
Researchers at Symantec are warning users that if they haven't changed the default password on their home wireless router, they should finally just DO IT.
Symantec's Zulfikar Ramzan issued a warning Thursday that hackers are lacing phony Web sites with malicious code that actually will log into and mess with your home broadband router. He's coined a term for it: Drive-By Pharming.
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Join The InformationWeek Group In Second Life
I've gone and created an InformationWeek group in Second Life, so if you're "in-world" (as we happenin' Second Lifers say), join up to be informed about all the exciting things that InformationWeek is doing in Second Life.
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Why Some U.S. Citizens Still Can't Get Broadband
Over the past few decades, the citizens of these United States have had to become used to the fact that, when it comes to technology, we are falling behind. Our cars, TVs, phones, PCs, and other gadgets are more likely to come from an Asian or European factory than from a U.S. facility -- and let's not even talk about who is doing the tech support for our computers. Now it looks like we can't even keep up with Internet access.
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Make Contingency Plans For Your Enterprise
Scientists estimate the chances of a catastrophic earthquake jolting Southern California in the next 30 years could be nearly 70%. An AT&T study asked L.A.'s IT execs if they were prepared for such an eventuality. Is your enterprise?
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NFC Makes Strides
The idea of making payments with your mobile phone has its appeal, to be sure. With all sorts of trials under way, near field communications seems to be the answer for the cash-challenged.
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Why My Deep-Seated Moral Principles Prevent Me From Putting Microsoft Office On My Mac
I decided the other day that I'm going to strive to avoid putting Microsoft Office on my new Mac. Like many users, I have a deep-seated moral principle preventing me from deploying this Microsoft product. The principle is: I don't want to spend $300 if I don't have to, especially since I only use Office once or twice a day.
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Visa Summit To Explore Payment Security
I guess I am not the only one who sees the loss of consumer trust as a major byproduct of the hemorrhaging of personal data through hacks, scams and lost or stolen equipment. Visa is concerned enough about it to co-host a security summit with Harvard Business School Publishing on the issue of "Maintaining Trust in Payments."
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Visual C++ Flaw Leads To Y3K -- Seriously
Think the software industry learned its lesson with the whole Y2K debacle? Of course not.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning this week that there's a flaw in Microsoft's Visual C++ programming environment that could actually cause programs written with it to crash when we pass the Year 3000. Of course, unless today's programs are around in another 993 years, it won't be a drastic issue.
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Paying Even More For Your Cell
According to an article in the New York Times, marketers have their eyes on our cell phones. Apparently, they say, it won't be long before we will have to wait through a 15-second advertisement before we get to check our email or send a message. (So far, nobody is talking about having to listen to ads before making a voice call -- yet.)
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Microsoft Shows Off New DRM Technology
PlayReady, Microsoft's new, broad-reaching digital rights management technology, promises to meet the needs of mobile operators and handset manufacturers for digital entertainment. It will support multiple content types in a way that's flexible for everyone as consumer interest in mobile digital media increases rapidly.
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Barcelona: He De Dir Adéu!
Day three is winding to a close tonight as the attendees run off to the last round of parties. Before I pack up and head off, it's time for a wrap-up of this year's 3GSM World Congress.
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T-Mobile Finally Jumps on The Bandwagon
T-Mobile (and T-Mobile USA, in particular) has been an interesting organization to watch over the last few years. At a CTIA trade show about 3 years ago, I had a T-Mobile representative tell me flat out, "We don't care about the enterprise." My, how times have changed. T-Mobile recently revealed a push email service for its enterprise customers, and this week in Barcelona announced it is going to push email to consumers, as well. Oh, and it's finally going to deploy 3G in the U.S.
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Warner Music CEO Warns Wireless Industry The iPhone Could Win The Mobile Music Market
Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. walked into the 3GSM World Congress today and pointed right at the pink elephant in the room: The iPhone. Bronfman warned the industry that if it cannot improve mobile music services, it could lose the market to Apple.
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Who Is Afraid Of Mobile VoIP?
Two years ago if you asked carriers about mobile VoIP -- the use of voice-over-IP services on cell phones -- they would ignore your question. There was an unwritten rule that mobile VoIP was taboo. Carriers seemed to be afraid that VoIP would disrupt their market they way it had affected the wireline telecom world. At this year's 3GSM, the carriers are finally talking about mobile VoIP, but they seem to be in denial about its potential.
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Sony Ericsson Seeks Partners For UIQ
Sony Ericsson President Miles Flint today at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona said he wants wireless carriers and other wireless companies to take an interest (and a stake) in UIQ Technology. UIQ is the Swedish company that makes the UIQ Symbian interface. Sony Ericsson acquired UIQ earlier this month.
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Google, Microsoft, And Dell Are Developing A Wireless Device?
According to a report from Bloomberg, Google is working with Microsoft, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Philips to develop a prototype wireless device. The proposed device would, supposedly, use some variant of Wi-Fi. I'm not sure if this is the Google Phone or something else.
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Day 3 At 3GSM: Can I Party On Your Dime?
We're rolling into the middle of day three here at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. There are many things that make 3GSM my favorite wireless industry trade show. There is the charming Mediterranean location (the show is in Barcelona; in years past it was located on the French Riviera in Cannes). The endless glitz and glamour of big announcements. Plush booths, swag, and a more relaxed attitude than similar shows in the U.S. But, the best thing about 3GSM is the endless stream of parties.
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India Sees Cultural Backlash Against Outsourcing
The outsourcing of tech and business work to India by U.S. multinationals has added billions to India's national income, but some in the country are now suggesting that this apparent windfall carries too high a price.
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Vodafone Stumbles On 1 Billion Potential Customers
Remember how InformationWeek reported that one of the main goals of this year's 3GSM World Congress was to bring more subscribers into the mobile fold? Well, Vodafone snagged the lion's share of potential wireless subscribers this week with its purchase of a majority stake in Hutchison Essar.
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Another Windows User Brainwashed Into The Apple Cult
You wouldn't know it from all my kvetching, but I'm actually happy about making the switch from Windows to the Mac. However, if you're thinking about making the jump yourself, you should know that it's an enormous pain in the neck at first.
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Hunting For Google At 3GSM
Be very, very quiet. We're hunting for Google at 3GSM. I have to admit, I am a little disappointed with Google at this year's show. Last year, they wowed the crowds with customer deals and announcements (I had to follow the news then online, since I wasn't here for the 2006 show). And for the last six months, they've been talking about wireless almost non-stop. So where is the Google news at 3GSM?
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Adobe Adds Video Support To Flash Lite
Don't like browsing the Web on your mobile device because you can't stand missing all the video content that doesn't work on mobile phones? Adobe is looking to change that with a new and improved version of its Flash Lite product.
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IBM Finally Has A Desktop Suite For This Century
IBM has tried repeatedly to weaken the market dominance of Microsoft's Office Suite. A decade ago it was the Lotus SmartSuite, and more recently the ill-conceived IBM Workplace. It recently killed off Workplace, which just may save the life of Lotus Notes/Domino. But now it's trying again with something called the Open Client offering. It's the wrong package for the wrong market, but with some changes it just might work.
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Symbian Is Ready For The Enterprise
Mobile software company Symbian today at 3GSM reported revenues of $87.85 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, up from 30 percent a year ago. Symbian also shipped 51.7 million units last year, making Symbian the global mobile OS market leader with 70 percent share. So, why isn't your company using Symbian-powered mobile devices?
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Is 'Voice-Over-Google' The Next Search Paradigm?
Everybody's wondering what'll be the next big thing in search-engine technology. From the looks of a patent awarded to Google, it could be speech-driven searches.
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Gimme My Push E-Mail
According to a new survey from mobile e-mail vendor Visto, up to 70% of mobile professionals could use mobile e-mail by the end of this year. Is that possible?
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Mobile Enterprise Is Back, Thanks To Push E-Mail And Smartphones
One of the big stories here at 3GSM is the return of the mobile enterprise as an industry-wide priority. I have seen more mobile enterprise devices and services at this show than at any wireless show since 2002.
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Day 2 At 3GSM: The Wireless Industry Grows Up
It is day two at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona and the crowds have swelled since yesterday. There are now 60,000 people congregated in the exhibition halls and the atmosphere is electric. Yesterday felt a little slow. The halls weren't that crowded and the pace was a little down. I half expected this show to disappoint based on yesterday's atmosphere. But, today it's a totally different story.
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Looking Beyond Vista To The Larger OS Landscape
In case you haven't yet done so, get thee to the article by longtime Dr. Dobbs Journal editor Mike Swaine on the future of operating systems. With his usual wit and technical acumen, Swaine dissects the current "identity crisis" that operating systems seem to be going through, pointing out that although--with the advent of subscription/service and hosted models--people have been predicting the end of the desktop operating system since 1999, that death has been greatly exaggerated.
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Host Of New WinMo6 Devices Unleashed
As to be expected, the whirlwind that is 3GSM deposited more than a handful of new enterprise-class smartphones on the wireless world today. Sure, there are a couple of non-Windows Mobile 6 devices, but the bulk of the handsets we saw from Spain today use Microsoft's new darling operating system.
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BlackBerry Vs. The iPhone: Who Will Claim The Prosumer?
It looks like the coming of the iPhone could revolutionize the enterprise device market by making all enterprise-focused phones just a little more consumer friendly in orientation. Or better yet, prosumer. Today, Research in Motion stepped into the arena with the iPhone here at 3GSM in Barcelona by announcing the BlackBerry 8800, a fully prosumer BlackBerry.
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Windows Expert Claims Method Of Cut-Rate Vista Installs
Don't want to plunk down $250 for a full-price edition of Windows Vista Home Premium? A blog post by a Microsoft expert claims maybe you don't have to.
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Nokia Shows The Enterprise Some Love
The Finnish cell phone maker unleashed three new enterprise-centric devices at 3GSM today in Barcelona: an updated version of the E61, a new communicator called the E90, and the brand new phone-first E65.
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Microsoft Targets The Enterprise With Windows Mobile 6
Microsoft today finally unveiled its newest mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6, at 3GSM in Barcelona. Details of the new operating system broke last week after a site in France broke its nondisclosure agreement with Microsoft.
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Thin Is In With The New Slvr At 3GSM
Last night it was the Sony Ericsson W880i and this morning it's the new Motorola Slvr L9. Ultra-thin handsets are the chic new design for 2007 (unless you're the iPhone).
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Vodafone Expands Presence In India
Global carrier Vodafone expanded its presence in India, acquiring Hutchison's stake in Indian carrier Hutch. Vodafone outbid rivals Reliance and the Hinduja group to win the stake. The deal will give Vodafone a larger presence in one of the world's leading wireless growth markets.
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Live From 3GSM: Industry Stresses Mobile Search, Disses Mobile TV
The news is flying fast and furious at the 3GSM World Congress today in Barcelona. The wireless industry is hot-to-trot for mobile search, while mobile TV has fallen off the industry's radar screen as initial deployments have failed to excite consumers.
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Security Podcast: Microsoft Patch Tuesday, Internet Root Server Attack, And More
Listen to the latest InformationWeek Podcast, with your host Mitch Wagner and security reporter Sharon Gaudin, where we'll talk about Microsoft patch Tuesday, the attack on the Internet's root servers, along with security lapses at the RSA Security conference, and continued failures to encrypt sensitive data on laptops.
Sony Ericsson Kicks Off 3GSM With Bash
Handset maker Sony Ericsson kicked off the 3GSM World Congress festivities tonight with an exclusive press bash at Barcelona's Metronom. Sony Ericsson President Miles Flint was on hand to help kick off the show's first big party of the week.
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Second Life's Linden Lab Punctures Its Own Hype
Linden Lab appears to be taking steps to puncture the hype bubble surrounding its creation, Second Life, providing realistic statistics on how many people are actually using the service, and debunking claims that the Linden Dollar tokens used in SL are a kind of real currency.
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Combating The Black Market In Personal Data
Be afraid, be very afraid - but read today's cover story on the hacker economy anyway. It will both fascinate and scare the pants off you at the same time, as it details how our personal identities and financial histories are harvested, dissected in online chop shops and sold in multi-pack bundles to anyone willing to fork over a small investment in cash in return for making a big score in hours or days. (If you read nothing else, check out the price list for your personal data.)
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Second Life Crashes My Mac
There are few things more frustrating than getting a new computer and finding out that it might need to go back to the shop right away. My six-day-old Mac runs flawlessly except for one thing: After I've been running Second Life a while, the Mac crashes hard, locks up, and throws up an error message that says it needs to be re-started.
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Vodafone Adds YouTube To Live Lineup
Vodafone has been busy as it prepares to head into the 3GSM World Congress next week. Earlier this week, it announced a deal to offer MySpace to its subscribers. Then the rumor mill was abuzz with news that Vodafone was in talks with other carriers to launch a new mobile search service. Then Vodafone announced a partnership with eBay. And now we get news that Vodafone is about to launch YouTube. What a week.
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Tech Execs Tee Off With The Pros
Which of these Internet luminaries has the best golf handicap: Chief Yahoo Jerry Yang, Sun Microsystems Chairman Scott McNealy, or software entrepreneur Tom Siebel?
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3GSM A-Go-Go
Next week all the wireless industry's luminaries will gather in the fair city of Barcelona. The goal? To further the agenda of growing the overall number of people on the planet using mobile phones.
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WiMax Not The Chosen One?
Hot on the heels of Sprint's announcement that Washington, D.C., and Baltimore will be the first U.S. metro areas to get WiMax networks, a new report says HSPA will be much more widely deployed across the globe.
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Astronaut-Gone-Wild Incident Highlights 'Sex on Mars' Issue
There are taboos and there are taboos, but there are no bigger taboos in technology reporting than writing frankly about either politics or sex. Yet the latter, as spotlighted in this week's astronaut-gone-wild case involving Lisa Nowak, has clear implications for the arena which is this country's crowning technological achievement: Space flight.
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Tests Predict Your Old PC's Future: Vista Or Vanished?
In "Which PC Is A Vista PC?" I write about the pitfalls of picking PC hardware that will run all the features of Vista you expect. For new-out-of-the-box PCs that shouldn't be as hard as it seems to be, as that article points out. But what about old PCs you might want to upgrade? Actually, that might be a little easier, because there are some tests you can run to help you decide whether an existing PC is up to running Vista.
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VoIP: Coming To A Smartphone Near You
After years of speculation, it looks like VoIP is finally about to hit the wireless market. Let's take a look at the intersection of VoIP and mobile phones and see what it means for you.
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Buy This Shampoo Or You'll Never See Your Data Again
While researching the hacker economy for Monday's InformationWeek lead feature story, I came across a lot of clever and devious tricks that cybercriminals use to lie, cheat, and steal their way through life. But none was as bizarre as a cyberransom scam I came across in my reporting. If you haven't had your daily dose of weird today, keep reading.
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Bring Your Own Hotspot!
A new set of routers from D-Link claim to be instant hotspot creators. Simply plug in an EV-DO or HSDPA 3G data card and away you go.
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Google New York: Metro Geek Shangri-La?
Google has approximately 30 technology job openings at its new office in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. Google has more than 250,000 square feet in a humongous Eighth Avenue building that, when it was built in 1932, was the headquarters of the Port Authority of New York. That location is key because it puts Google smack in the middle of one of Manhattan's most thriving areas, not miles away in the burbs of New Jersey or Westchester County.
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Bopping To The Music Of Screeching Brakes
Occasionally, when driving in NYC, I play a game that works this way: If I have to do a quick maneuver to avoid hitting some fool who isn't paying attention, I award myself a number of points, depending on the danger level of the pedestrian's behavior. That guy strolling out between two parked cars without looking? Six points. That woman who doesn't feel the need to check the traffic light? Eight points. The music-lover bopping out into Times Square traffic oblivious to anything but his iPod? Game over.
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Using Second Life For Meetings And Collaborations
I admit I was skeptical, at first, about whether it made any sense to hold meetings in Second Life. Getting together a bunch of avatars to discuss real-life business issues seemed to me to be just plain silly. I would have said adding Second Life to a meeting added distractions and brought nothing useful. However, recent conversations with IBM and with an executive at a SL consulting firm have given me some things to think about with regard to the value of meeting in virtual reality.
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Lose Something?
How many times have you typed yourself a note on your mobile device and then lost it somewhere in the crazy file structure of that device? (You know that redhead's e-mail address is in there somewhere!) With the announcement earlier this week that a handful of carriers are going to band together to create their own mobile search engine, I think it's safe to say that mobile search is officially a big item. Hopping on the bandwagon is Nokia, which launched its own device-centric search application today (so now you can find that missing e-mail address).
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Vista v. Mac OS X: Round 2
Bought a new computer lately? My colleague Mitch Wagner and I have both done just that. Mitch made the leap from PC to Mac, while I -- under a time crunch due to the "expiration" of my existing notebook -- bought an XP-loaded, Vista-capable PC in the days leading up to the late-January Vista launch.
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Windows Mobile 6 Details Revealed
I was eating dinner when my colleague, Eric Zeman, pinged me with a text message: Get to a PC and post something about Windows Mobile 6. The news just broke.
As an always-on tech blogger, I ran from my plate of tacos to my laptop to check it out. Lo and behold, he was right. The curtain has finally opened on Microsoft's newest mobile OS. Let's check out the upgrades.
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Bill, Thanks For The RSA Memories... And Laughs
I've had the pleasure of witnessing all four of Bill Gate's keynotes at the annual RSA Security Conference and now that he passing the torch on to Craig Mundie, I gotta say Bill, I'm gonna miss ya.
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Digital You, Meet Nanny Government and Terrorism Fears
Uh-oh. Better stash those TV-equipped glasses. According to Reuters, the state of New York is mulling legislation that would ban the use of iPods, Blackberries, video games and other electronic gadgets while crossing the street. Scofflaws would face a $100 fine, assuming any cops were around to ticket them. Why the fuss? Two or three (depending on your news source) traffic deaths in Brooklyn - all attributed to the victims' use of - and distraction by - electronic devices.
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Windows To Mac: A Frustrating Transition So Far
My first couple of days as a Mac user, after a quarter-century using Windows and DOS, have been pretty frustrating. But it's not the Mac's fault. When you're used to working on one platform, you get used to doing things a certain way, and it's maddening to go to another platform that has different ways of doing the same things.
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Do New Mobile Phones Scare You?
Daniel Taylor over at the Mobile Enterprise Blog asks an interesting question: Why are few people in enterprise IT departments excited about mobile devices? Is it because device freaks see opportunity where IT managers see risk?
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UMTS Moto Q Next Week with WinMo6?
A bit of analysis over on Unstrung is talking up the probability that Motorola will announce a UMTS version of its semi-popular Q smartphone. I say don't bother unless it comes with Windows Mobile 6.
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Vodafone To Offer MySpace On Cell Phones
Vodafone agreed to offer MySpace to its European subscribers. Get ready for hyper-personalization on your cell phone.
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Steve Jobs On DRM-Free Media: Right Idea, Whatever His Reasons
Has Steve Jobs been cloned? The Apple Inc. chief is being so smart, making so much sense and so many right moves lately that there must be more than one of him. His "Thoughts on Music" think piece published yesterday on the Apple Web site builds on the dazzle of the iPhone launch. It's an announcement that is the beginning of the end of digital rights management systems (DRMs). Jobs is absolutely right. DRMs haven't worked any better than Prohibition did 80 years ago, and they should be scrapped. His call for an end to protected media files may be mostly an effort to keep Apple a couple of steps ahead of the shredder. But that doesn't make him any less visionary.
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Developers for the World's Most-Used Smartphone OS, Rejoice!
Not Windows, Palm or RIM developers, but developers for Symbian Series 60 now have the brand new Feature Pack 2 to help them enhance mobile applications for the S60 3rd Edition smartphone platform. Too bad most U.S. smartphone users won't benefit from it.
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Carriers Join Forces For Mobile Search
A group of international carriers including Vodafone, France Telecom, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Hutchison Whampoa, Telecom Italia and U.S. wireless carrier Cingular Wireless this weekend said they would work together to develop a mobile search engine they hope will keep Google and Yahoo from dominating the emerging mobile search market. That's all great, but does anyone actually use search on their cell phones?
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Steve Jobs Takes A Sledgehammer To His Own Monopoly
Apple CEO Steve Jobs struck a blow against his own company's monopoly Tuesday, by issuing a public challenge to media companies to start selling their wares without any Digital Rights Management (DRM) at all.
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Kodak Pictures Inexpensive Ink
I've been following the printer/scanner market for some years now, and one of the industry's dirty little secrets -- well, it's really not that secret -- is the fact that vendors make their money not on the printers themselves, but on the cartridges, paper, and other consumables. Have you added up what you pay in toner and/or ink cartridges a year? Scary, isn't it?
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Outsourcing May Not Be Popular, But Letter Bombs?
Somebody is sending letter bombs to businesses in the U.K. The two attacks to date were both directed toward outsourcing companies. Just a coincidence?
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One Digit to Rule Them All
A recent study found that 69% of consumers are so frightened about the security of their ID and financial information that they want their banking companies, health care providers and governments to employ biometrics to protect them. Will the good old fingerprint swipe really get the job done? And should enterprises be as worried?
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Free Wi-Fi Hotspots for The Roaming Road Warrior
Let's face it, we don't all have mega expense accounts to which we can charge Wi-Fi access, especially with it costing as much as $20 a day in hotels and airports, among other places. That doesn't leave a lot of options for road warriors on a budget. But what about free Wi-Fi? Here are some pointers to lead the way to wireless bliss.
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What Sprint's 3G Upgrade Means For You
It's no secret: Sprint, the No. 3 cellular carrier in the United States, has gone through some major changes over the past year or so, which includes the acquisition of Nextel, an upgrade to next-generation technology, and a huge WiMax project. If you're a subscriber, the changes likely have affected you in some way, whether it's network performance or customer support. But based on my conversations with Sprint last week, it sounds like good things are to come.
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What Happens When Your Mobile E-Mail Goes Down?
OK, you spent tons of money and hundreds of hours equipping your workforce with mobile e-mail. Now they're always on and you can squeeze more hours of productivity from them. Everyone is happy, right? Until the mobile e-mail system goes down.
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Apple To iPod Users: Stay Away From Vista
Apple is warning iPod users to stay clear of Microsoft's new operating system, Vista, warning that the new OS could damage their iPods.
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First Impression: Switching From A PC To The Mac
Do I look different to you? More genteel? More elegant? Maybe even taller? I just made the switch from using a PC as my primary machine to using a Mac. As a matter of fact, I've spent more time on the Mac in the last day and a half than I've done in the preceding 24 years of using personal computers.
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Demo Class of 2006: Where Are They Now?
Having just returned from the Demo 07 Conference in Palm Springs, I noticed last year's Demo 06 Conference booklet on my shelf. Flipping through it, I am reminded just how hard it is to start a successful business.
Aside from the ringers at the show -- already successful companies such as AOL, CNET, IronPort, and Yahoo -- none of the 69 companies that presented at last year's show has become a household name.
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Amadeus Capitalizes On Airline Services With Open Source
Adoption of open source code is a key competitive factor, InformationWeek says in this week's issue. If you don't agree, then consider the case of Amadeus, the big European travel technology company, which competes -- successfully -- with Sabre Holdings, Galileo, and Worldspan.
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Second Life TV Promo Appears In Super Bowl Pre-Game Show
People watching the Super Bowl pre-game show on CBS got a look inside Second Life, in the form of a short promotion for the sitcom Two and a Half Men that was filmed inside the virtual world using a technique called "machinima."
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Our Own Worst Enemy
There's an article on InformationWeek today highlighting how office workers blithely ignore rules and regulations put in place to safeguard their employers and their employers' assets. Is there really that much at risk?
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Can 3G Save The Ultra Mobile PC?
PC maker and innovator OQO seems to think so, and included EV-DO broadband capabilities in its newly available model 02 ultra-mobile PC (UMPC). Still, other UMPCs, such as this one from Samsung, have not exactly taken the market by storm.
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Incisive Insight into Vista
Preston Gralla has been around the technological block more than a few times. An amazingly prolific author, he has written more than 35 books that explore, explain, and enlighten--using plain-spoken and easily accessible prose--the intricacies of a broad range of technologies.
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Friends Turn To Satellite Photos And Mechanical Turk In Search For James Gray
While the Coast Guard may have ended its search for missing Microsoft researcher James Gray, friends and other concerned parties have turned to satellite photos and the Web to help in the search.
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Are Mobile Devices Suited For Exploration?
This week CIOs and senior IT managers are heading off to the Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit to learn if their businesses can afford to pony up for a new mobile deployment.
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An iPhone By Any Other Name? Surely Not
Thursday's New York Times Business section included a full-page ad for the iPhone -- but not the iPhone you're thinking of. This page showed three Cisco/Linksys VoIP phones, and it looked suspiciously like Cisco marking its territory in the battle with Apple for the right to use the name "iPhone."
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Driving RFID, A 'Mini' Future
Add the Mini Cooper automobile to the list of Ministries governed by George Orwell's Big Brother. In the classic dystopia 1984, the nation of Oceania had four main divisions: Minipax, Miniplenty, Minitrue, Miniluv -- short for the Ministries of Peace, Plenty, Truth, and Love, respectively. Let's consider the Mini Cooper as Ministry No. 5.
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A Walk Through Cybercrime's Underworld
What's a piece of data worth? It's not too hard to find out. Just go to one of the dozens of online marketplaces where stolen credit card numbers, PINs, and Social Security numbers can be purchased--individually or in bundles--starting at just a few dollars. A few dollars is all that's needed to ruin someone's credit rating, drive up their debt, and make them question whether to trust you with their information next time.
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Windows Vista Booty: Microsoft's Largesse Is More Than I Can Take
Microsoft spared little expense in this week's consumer launch of Windows Vista. In New York, it started with 16 dancers, dangling from ropes, unveiling the Vista logo on the side of a building, and ended with ear-piercing music, hors d'oeuvres, and a ceremonial pushing of "The Wow Starts Now" button. Then the real goodies came out -- duffel bags stuffed with more than $600 of software, games, devices, and more.
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It’s Smackdown Time On Data Breaches
Is the tide beginning to turn on data security breaches? If so, IT can expect to be at the forefront of catching the brunt of any backlash, at least internally, if not externally.
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Hate Your Local Blogger, It's The Hip Thing To Do
Blogger backlash is emerging as the hot trend for early 2007. Texas and Tennessee both have anti-blogger initiatives in their state legislatures. But red state populists aren't the only ones out to get those pesky bloggers.
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Top 5 Things You Need to Know About Wi-Fi Phones
Interested in learning everything there is to learn about Wi-Fi-enabled phones? Here's the complete scoop. If you want the down and dirty details for some quick decision making, here they are.
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A Nation Of European-American Porn Stars And Village People
I've succumbed to the anonymity trend in Second Life, and got myself a second avatar for most of my future explorations. I'll keep using Ziggy Figaro when I'm in there representing InformationWeek, but most of the time I'll just use this other avatar, so I can do what I want, without having to worry about making my employers look bad.
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GrandCentral: One (Telephone) Ring To Rule Them All
GrandCentral is a service which, if it lives up to first impressions, will solve the biggest annoyance of life here in the 21st century. It's a unified messaging system that gives you a single phone number, which rings at least three phones -- your work phone, home phone, and cell phone -- simultaneously, whenever someone calls. GrandCentral also has nifty voicemail-management and call-screening features.
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Google Keeps Talking Mobile
Google CEO Eric Schmidt yesterday spoke about Google's mobile plans during the company's fourth quarter earnings report. Schmidt highlighted Google's wireless deals with China Mobile (the world's biggest wireless carrier), Apple and its mapping app for the iPhone, cell phone maker Samsung, and Korean carrier SK Telecom. It's clear that Google is betting big on mobile.
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How We Could Protect Pre-Teens Online
Are you familiar with COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act? It's a worthy bill, aimed at preventing the online collection of personal information from children under 13 years of age. What most people don't know is, it's turned out to be rather cumbersome for companies to comply with. The result has been that there are few social networking sites which provide a safe place from pre-teens to hang out and chat.
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Dell Takes the One-Two Punch
Just days after ex-CEO Kevin Rollins stepped down amid performance complaints and Michael Dell resumed leadership of his company, it was hit with a class-action shareholder lawsuit. Ouch.
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Search Renewed One More Day For Microsoft's Jim Gray
The U. S. Coast Guard Thursday renewed its search a fourth day for Jim Gray, 63, one of the original relational database System R researchers, combing more than 40,000 square miles of ocean. So far, no sign of the frequently honored computer scientist can be found.
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Microsoft Launches SSL VPN
Does anyone else giggle when Microsoft announces security products? The words "Microsoft" and "security" just seem to be opposites sometimes. This product, though, looks like it will get the job done.
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Oops, Google Entered Another Market Again
I was surfing around the Web looking for some information about Google when I stumbled across Google's Mobile Enterprise play. That's right, Google has a mobile service designed specifically for the enterprise. Who knew?
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Enterprise Patent Protection Takes Its Share
There's an article on InformationWeek about how copyright protection contributes to a large portion of the US GDP. While a lot of it stems from protecting the copyrights of music, movies, TV shows and so on, the enterprise takes its fair share. Remember that $612 million settlement RIM paid to patent hound NTP?
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Sybase Sent 25B Mobile Messages In 2006
Mobile message enabler Sybase 365 today said it delivered a jaw-dropping 25 billion SMS and MMS messages in 2006. That's almost double from 2005. And I thought I sent a lot of text messages.
What's driving all this SMS growth?
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Seagate To Give More Mobile Storage
Hard drive maker Seagate Technology today at DEMO showed off what it has dubbed DAVE (digital audio/video experience), a wireless storage platform. DAVE gives users 10 GB to 20 GB of wireless storage in a form-factor smaller than most cell phones. Sign me up.
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Verizon Wireless (Finally) Launches Revision A
For business customers looking to enhance their wireless wide-area Internet access, EV-DO Rev. A shows significant speed improvements over Rev. 0. Not to be outdone, Sprint issued salvos from its side of the fence today, as well.
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Let Mikey Do It: Here's How Dell Can Reinvent His Company
The news that Michael Dell has stepped back into the CEO spot at the PC company that bears his name is about the best Wall Street could hope for, but what does it mean for Dell's customers, exactly? If Dell the man is going to save Dell the company, he's got to reinvent it. He had one great idea -- mail-order PCs at commodity prices. Can he have another one? I'll give him one for free: Linux.
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