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AMD to Discuss Rival for Intel Atom Towards Year End

Daniel Fleshbourne — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:40:55 +0000

The market of ultra low-cost personal computers (ULCPCs) is on the rise these days as many PC vendors are looking forward to add appropriate products into the lineup. Nonetheless, Advanced Micro Devices, the world’s No. 2 maker of x86 central processing units (CPUs), is not particularly enthusiastic about such systems despite of the fact that it does have a processor to address the segment.

Answering a question about AMD’s response to Intel Corp.’s Atom processor, the new chief executive officer of the company, Dirk Meyer, said that AMD was looking forward the market, but would discuss actual products only in November, 2008. The chipmaker cited the fact that it was a much smaller company compared to Intel and could not offer a competing device shortly after the rival’s product launch.

View: The full story @ Xbit-Labs

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Apple account hijacks spread to developers

Daniel Fleshbourne — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:36:43 +0000

Account hijackers have targeted Apple iTunes for months, but now they're hitting Apple developers as well.

Reg reader Andrew McAuley discovered that his iTunes account was hijacked after 150 unauthorised transactions, each valued at $42, appeared on his debit card bill. McAuley, a Brit who lives in the US, noticed the attack after he checked his bank account on 11 July. "I tried to log in to my [iTunes] account and was unable. Seems someone had changed the login to a different name completely," he explained.

When he contacted iTunes support McAuley was told his account had been taken over by an "unknown fraudster" and that this was the subject of an ongoing investigation. Apple has suspended the account.

View: The full story @ The Reg

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Intel Takes on Embedded Market With Atom Chip

Daniel Fleshbourne — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:30:16 +0000

Taking a jab at the embedded market, Intel on Wednesday said it was working on new x86 chips to use in devices ranging from consumer electronics to mobile phones. Intel is developing more than 15 system-on-chips based on the x86 core found in Intel's Atom chip, which can be found in mobile Internet devices and low-cost laptops.

By using the Atom core, the company is trying to increase performance and drop power consumption on the new chips, said Gadi Singer, vice president of Intel's mobility group, at a press event in San Francisco.

View: The full story @ PCWorld

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Microsoft Splits Platform in Two

Daniel Fleshbourne — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:28:11 +0000

In an unexpected shakeup, earlier today Microsoft split up its Platform and Services division into two groups and announced the departure of divisional president Kevin Johnson. Whoa, Microsoft loses two of three divisional presidents—the other being Jeff Raikes—in one year.

Worse, these were the two execs responsible for cash cows Office and Windows.

View: The full story @ MS-Watch

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Attack code released for new DNS attack

Daniel Fleshbourne — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:25:26 +0000

Hackers have released software that exploits a recently disclosed flaw in the Domain Name System (DNS) software used to route messages between computers on the Internet. The attack code was released Wednesday by developers of the Metasploit hacking toolkit.

Internet security experts warn that this code may give criminals a way to launch virtually undetectable phishing attacks against Internet users whose service providers have not installed the latest DNS server patches. Attackers could also use the code to silently redirect users to fake software update servers in order to install malicious software on their computers, said Zulfikar Ramizan, a technical director with security vendor Symantec. "What makes this whole thing really scary is that from an end-user perspective they may not notice anything," he said.

View: The full story @ InfoWorld

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AMD Denies Fab Sell-Off

Daniel Fleshbourne — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:23:18 +0000

AMD is denying reports that it will sell off its fabrication plants, or fabs, in Germany as part of a plan to cut expenses and refocus the chip maker’s energy of processors and graphics. Advanced Micro Devices is planning to keep its fabs for now.

AMD is denying a report that appeared in the Austin American-Statesman that contains an interview with new CEO Dirk Meyer that seemed to indicate that the chip maker was preparing to spin off its manufacturing facilities in Germany and sell its two fabrication plants, or fabs.

View: The full story @ eWeek

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Intel brings forward Nehalem launch

Daniel Fleshbourne — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:21:38 +0000

Originally scheduled to launch in November or December this year, Intel's Nehalem-based Bloomfield processors will now launch in September along with X58 chipsets, sources at motherboard makers have revealed.

However, the sources pointed out that CPUs and motherboards will not officially appear in the channel until early October.

View: The full story @ DigiTimes

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Microsoft Says Home Server Ready For Liftoff

Daniel Fleshbourne — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:19:58 +0000

Now that Microsoft has released a fix for the data corruption bug in Windows Home Server, channel partners are hoping Microsoft will embark on an advertising and marketing blitzkrieg to show consumers that having a server in the home can, in fact, make their lives easier.

Before this week's release of Power Pack 1, the first major update for Windows Home Server, Microsoft may have been reluctant to trumpet the virtues of a product whose primary function of backing up users' data was in doubt. Now that it has fixed the glitch, Microsoft can continue working on the challenge of creating demand for the brand new home server segment. Susan Bradley, a Small Business Specialist partner in Fresno, Calif., describes Home Server as a "strong" product, but says she's "honestly concerned" about the amount of marketing Microsoft has devoted to the product thus far.

View: The full story @ CRN

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Company patents wishlists, sues almost everyone

Majesticmerc — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:53:49 +0000

Florida based company "Channel Intelligence" filed for patent infringement on Tuesday against multitude of people and companies that offer "wishlists".

Specifically, the wishlists in question are lists of desired products from the defendant's websites that the user would like to purchase, which are then stored in some form or other on a database.

CI are claiming that allowing users to create these lists needs their permission as they are the owners of patent 6,917,941 - "A method for configuring a database system to store information regarding a plurality of items", which was issued in July 2005.

Strangely (or not), CI have not made claims against larger companies such as Amazon, Ebay and other large online retailers, all of whom are offering exactly what CI have patented.

Surely the USPTO needs to start reviewing it's practices for Intellectual Property if more and more frivolous 'inventions' like this are going to become weapons for taking other peoples money?

View: US Patent 6,917,941
Link: Full Story @ TechCrunch

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MagneticSoft Folder Castle 3.0 Released

Anatoliy — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:49:21 +0000

MagneticSoft today announces the release of Folder Castle 3.0, a Windows security tool for protecting computer files from snoops and thieves at home, office and on the road. In version 3.0, users will discover a new interface of the control center that enables fluid navigation through the program, letting users access any destination in a mouse click.

Of all the threats to your computer privacy, people who have a physical access to your system are the most dangerous. An up-to-date antivirus can prevent from viruses, a firewall can stop hackers but what can stop someone who knows your account login from accessing your computer and seeing a folder with the files you don't want others to see? To protect yourself from snoops, you need proactive data protection. Folder Castle gives you the confidence to keep your personal files hidden and password-protected on the computer without fear that a family member or a co-worker can view or use them when you're not around.

Folder Castle employs two methods of data protection. First, you can hide a folder so that the snoop doesn't even suspect there is something hidden away from him. Second, you can put a folder into a secure storage, which acts as a mountable virtual drive where you can drag and drop files and have them encrypted with instant 256-bit AES encryption. A valid password is required to access files in the secure storage or unhide files. Once protected, computer files cannot be seen in Windows even if it's rebooted in Safe Mode. Folder Castle itself can be hidden away without traces if you enable the Stealth mode.

Snoop proof your data for home, office and travel today - Folder Castle 3.0 makes it easy!

Download: Folder Castle 3.0 (1.79 Mb) Shareware, $29.95 per license
Screenshot: >> Click here <<
View: Product Details

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