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Symantec and McAfee in �arms race' in PC security market

Kevin Weiner — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:07:03 +0000

Both Symantec and McAfee are in an 'Arms Race' in the PC security market according to a report by The New York Times. McAfee has been trying to dethrone Symantec, which currently holds 52% of the consumer market share compared to McAfee's 18% market share. This market share varies when you include corporate and business use. Unfortunately, for McAfee, they've been facing a decade of legal and accounting problems that left it in poor competitive shape, and employee morale low. Things aren't any better in the revenue department. Symantec made $1.8 billion in revenue last year, compared to $624 million in revenue for McAfee. However, McAfee is fighting back.

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Nokia denies plans to run Google's Android

Elliot Harrison — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:40:05 +0000

In perhaps an unsurprising turn of events the telecommunications giant Nokia have squashed rumours regarding their rumoured move to the Android platform. An article published on tech informer website Engadget earlier this month, stated Nokia were looking to Android for future handsets. Quoting from the newspaper The Guardian this Monday last, the article states that according to "industry insiders" the world's largest phone manufacturer will reveal an Android-powered touch screen handset at its Nokia World event this September.

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NASA: it snows on Mars

Brad Sams — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:04:38 +0000

When NASA sent two rovers to Mars they were not quite sure what all they would find. What they ended up finding far exceeded expectations and has proven that the possible foundations for life do exist on other planets. The scientists were eventually able to conclude that cloud formations do form on the planet and they can, in fact, make it snow on Mars. Scientists were able to observe this phenomenon using the LIDAR instrument (Light Detection and Ranging). "But the really amazing data came from the LIDAR instrument, which was able to track the formation of the clouds at the atmosphere's boundary layer.

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iPods to get cameras in September?

Brad Sams — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:26:33 +0000

Based on recent actions by Apple it would appear that the next generation of iPods will be getting cameras. Rumors from around the web are citing independent verification that the iPod will receive a camera which only makes sense as an evolutionary step. The iPod Touch seems like the most likely candidate to receive the camera as it is currently the top of the line iPod for Apple. Even more so is that the software to take pictures, record video, and edit the film is already written as the software for the iPhone.

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iPhone 3GS gets jailbroken and unlocked

Andrew Lyle — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:34:46 +0000

Purplera1n, unrelated to the Dev Team, has announced a solution to jailbreak the iPhone 3GS for both Windows and Intel Mac computers. The jailbreak allows users to download Cydia on their iPhone to install unofficial applications on their device. The jailbreaking solution provided by purplera1n still does not allow Winterboard to be used as of yet. The method installs an application called Freeze onto the device; this installs and unpacks Cydia. Users who install Cydia onto their device can then proceed to install UltraSn0w which was recently released to unlock the iPhone 3G, now unlocks the iPhone 3GS. Users can freely use any service provider using a SIM card on their iPhone without being locked to selected service providers.

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Buy some followers for yourself on Twitter

Elliot Harrison — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:55:30 +0000

I always think that its all very well and good having an opinion about something, or a subject you wish to talk about, but without anyone to listen to you, you may easily go unheard. A hefty part of a journalist's success derives from the potential size of the readership one can access. Simply, if nobody is there to listen then you may go unheard. To this end, another part of a news reporter's job is to actively access the maximum readership possible, basically anything short of going cold war, flying a microlight whilst dropping copies of the article.

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Going green in the IT world

Elliot Harrison — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:08:12 +0000

Perhaps as controversial as any topic can get. Today I'm talking about going 'green' with reference to the difficulty (or not) this idea presents within the IT industry. 'Green' has become a bit of a buzz word since issues of climate change became widely publicly addressed during Thatcher's stint in office. Now we live in a world of sustainable energy sources, hydrogen power, receding icecaps and global warming. There is also a giant hole in the ozone layer. Treaties have also been signed by various countries in an effort to adhere to the planet's needs rather than our own and documentaries on television have shown that becoming completely eco-friendly is a battle in itself.

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Bing Travel knocked out in Seattle data center fire

Sam Symons — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:53:42 +0000

A fire in Seattle has severed the power supply to a group of servers, which included Microsoft's Bing Travel section, according to a report by Tech Flash. Not only was that part of Bing knocked out, but also Authorize.net and various other sites, as a transformer was blown at the Fisher Plaza data center, where the servers were running. A message has been posted on the AdHost site, stating the following: "Beginning at approximately 11:18 PM on July 2nd and continuing through the present time Fisher Plaza experienced a significant power event that required all power systems including street power, UPS, and Generator power to be completely shut down in Plaza East.

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IE's market share falls below 60%, Firefox surpasses 30%

Kevin Weiner — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:52:03 +0000

With Firefox 3.5 being recently released, and hitting five million downloads in 24 hours, Firefox appears to be gaining more market share, and Internet Explorer's market share is slipping according to Favbrowser, and a graph by statcounter shown below. Internet Explorer fell from 62.09% to 59.49%, while Firefox rose from 28.75% to 30.33%. But Firefox isn't the only browser that's gaining market share. Opera, recently released the beta version of version 10 of its browser, rose from 3.23% to 3.36%, Safari, recently released version 4 of its browser and hitting 11 million downloads in three days, rose from 2.65% to 2.93%, and Chrome rose from 2.42% to 2.82%.

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Microsoft patents: Linux to become VFAT-free?

James Hall — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:42:02 +0000

In light of the recent Microsoft-TomTom VFAT lawsuit and its subsequent settlement, Linux users have been wondering what Microsoft's intentions with regard to the presence of VFAT functionality in the Linux kernel might be. The Linux Foundation continues to maintain that Microsoft's VFAT patents are not valid. And of course the United States is one of only a small handful of countries that even recognise software patents. However, according to CNet, the Linux community has recently been taking steps to work around the entire VFAT patent issue. But what is the nature of the VFAT patents, and how can Linux bypass them?

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