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AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, technology briefs [AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates](AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 18--CISCO LOOKING TO SELL LINKSYS: The largest maker of equipment for computer networks, Cisco Systems Inc. has hired Barclays to find a buyer for Linksys, which makes routers for home wireless access, Bloomberg has reported, citing people with knowledge of the situation. The unit may attract the interest of TV set makers seeking a recognized brand and technology, said the people. Linksys is likely to fetch much less than the $500m Cisco paid for it in 2003, because it is a mature consumer business with low margins, the people said. MIPS TECH APPROVES $100M ACQUISITION BY IMAGINATION TECH: US-based MIPS Technologies Inc. has agreed to sell itself to Imagination Technologies Group for $100m. MIPS, which is based in Sunnyvale, California, designs semiconductors used in networking and home-entertainment technologies, including digital televisions, Blu-ray players and routers. IRAN DETECTS NEW MALWARE PROGRAMME: Iran's Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (CERTCC) has said a new piece of malware that deletes entire partitions and user files from infected computers has been found in Iran. The centre described the new threat as a targeted attack, but said that it has a simple design and is not similar to other sophisticated targeted attacks previously seen in the region. "Despite its simplicity in design, the malware is efficient and can wipe disk partitions and user profile directories without being recognised by anti-virus software," the CERTCC said. SAUDI ARABIA LAUNCHES YANBU TECHNOLOGY INCUBATOR CENTRE: A new business and technology centre has been launched in the Saudi city of Yanbu by the Royal Commission in Yanbu (RCY) to care for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and encourage owners of innovative ideas to transfer their ideas into practical projects, Arab News has reported. The centre of business and technology incubators (CBTI) will support small projects based on new and applicable ideas which will meet labour market needs, head of the CBTI Hisham Ahmed Azzam said. The centre will undertake training programmes funded by the National Commercial Bank and the chamber of commerce and industry in the city as partners of the CBTI. The programmes include 14-day intensive workshops, followed by a three-month technical consultancy period, he said. MICROSOFT, MOTOROLA ASK COURT TO KEEP PATENT CASE DETAILS PRIVATE: Microsoft Corp and Google Inc.'s Motorola Mobility unit have requested a US federal judge to keep secret from the public various details from their recent trial concerning the value of technology patents and the two companies' attempts at a settlement, Reuters has reported. In addition, Motorola asked the judge to seal some documents relating to settlement negotiations between the two companies, arguing that keeping those details secret would encourage openness in future talks and make a settlement more likely. The two firms are preparing post-trial briefs to present to a judge as he decides the outcome of a week-long trial last month to establish what rates Microsoft should pay Motorola for use of standard, essential wireless technology used in its Xbox game console and other products. GOOGLE TO SHUT DOWN SYNC SERVICES: Google has said it is closing down some of its products including several that make it easier to synchronise data between devices, Cnet has reported. Google Sync, Google Calendar Sync, Google Sync for Nokia S60 and SyncML will be stopped, the company said, adding that users can use the recently developed CardDAV protocol instead. Google is also stopping appointments in Google Calendar; the Issue Tracker Data API and Punchd, a smartphone app for organising digital loyalty cards. BENTLEY SYSTEMS TO OPEN OFFICE IN QATAR: Bentley Systems Inc, an engineering software solutions provider for railway systems, has said it is to open an office in Qatar next year, aiming to support their clients in the country, the Peninsula has reported. "We hope to open an office in 2013 in Qatar, because it's where a lot of the big infrastructure projects are happening right now," said Ted Lamboo, senior vice president of Geospatial, Transportation and Local Infrastructure at Bentley. "Bentley is interested in many of the projects that are happening in Doha and Qatar Rail is one of them," said Lamboo. The company will have a few people leading the office in Doha and bring more staff when it's needed, he said. NEW MALWARE TARGETS POS SYSTEMS: A new strain of malware that steals credit card data from retailers' point-of-sale (POS) systems has been identified by security firm Seculert, Cnet has reported. The new malware, dubbed 'Dexter,' has infected hundreds of POS sale systems across 40 countries in the past two to three months, said Seculert. The malware injects itself into the file iexplore.exe in Windows servers before hijacking process lists, stays active through rewriting in the registry key, and then scrapes sensitive credit card data from the server, before transferring it through a remote command and control (C&C) system. More than 50 percent of the targeted POS systems use Windows XP and another 30 percent run a version of Windows Server, the firm noted. MINI IPAD NOW AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN UAE: Apple's new iPad Mini has been launched on Thursday across the UAE by Apple retailer iStyle, Gulf News has reported. The smaller version of the iPad has a 7.9" screen and has a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels at 162 pixels per inch with 5MP camera on back and a low-resolution camera on the front. ___ (c)2012 AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) Visit AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) at www.ameinfo.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |