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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) July 24--VULNERABILITY FOUND IN APPLE MACBOOKS WHICH COULD RUIN BATTERIES: Charlie Miller, a renowned white-hat hacker who works for security firm Accuvant, has discovered a vulnerability in the batteries of Apple's MacBook line of portable computers that could allow hackers to ruin the batteries or install malware on them that could corrupt a Mac, Forbes has reported. Miller plans to reveal and offer a fix next month for the battery vulnerability. Apple and other laptop makers use embedded chips in their lithium ion laptop batteries to monitor its power level, stop and start charging and regulate heat. INTEL FORECAST EXCEEDS ESTIMATES OF ANALYSTS: Intel has forecast third-quarter sales that have exceeded some analysts' estimates, bolstered by corporate computer upgrades and first-time purchases by consumers in emerging markets, Bloomberg has reported. Revenue is projected to reach $14bn, plus or minus $500m, compared with the average of analysts' projections of $13.5bn. NEW APPLE MACBOOK AIR SET TO BE TWICE AS FAST: Apple has unveiled the newest version of its popular lightweight MacBook Air computer, the Christian Science Monitor has reported. The new MacBook features the Lion OS, the Intel Core i5 and Core i7 dual-core processors - which Apple says make the Air twice as fast as the previous generation, Intel HD graphics, FaceTime capability, back-lit keyboard, and the Thunderbolt ports. KASPERSKY LAB SELECTS OBM AS OMAN PARTNER: Oman-based IT integrated solutions company Overseas Business Machines (OBM) has been selected by Kaspersky Lab as its enterprise partner in the Sultanate, Muscat Daily has reported. Under the agreement, the firm is to work closely with Kaspersky Lab Middle East to develop the enterprise business by presenting Kaspersky's corporate solutions directly to the corporate customers with networks larger than 500 nodes. ADOBE BUYS ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE PROVIDER: Adobe has announced it has acquired EchoSign--a provider of electronic signature and signature automation tools, PC World has reported. EchoSign is an established player in the field with over 35,000 paid subscribers, and more than 3 million users. EchoSign customers include Groupon, Facebook, Dell, Pandora, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Aetna, BT, and many other globally recognised names. 30 SCHOOLS ADOPT AMRICON'S SMART DOCUMENT ATTESTATION SOLUTION: Dubai-headquartered smart chips solutions provider Amricon has received the backing from 30 universities and educational institutions in the UAE, by adopting its Smart Document Attestation Solution that protects certificates against fraud. The solution is based on an RFID label that is placed on university certificates once issued to students. It stores information in the labels, allowing the attestation department at the higher education ministry to verify using the Smart Document Reader without communicating with the issuing university. APPLE FIXES SECURITY FLAW IN IPHONE SOFTWARE: Apple has issued a patch for vulnerability in the software that runs iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch music players that could potentially allow hackers to take remote control of those devices, Reuters has reported. The security flaw came to light nine days ago as a website released code that Apple customers can use to modify the iOS operating system that runs those devices through a process known as "jail breaking." HUAWEI: GCC GROUPS TURNING TO CLOUD: Ron Raffensperger, director of cloud computing marketing at Huawei Technologies has said financial gains are luring companies across the GCC to rely on the platform, Reuters has reported. In the UAE, the cloud has been used in e-health and e-government initiatives - projects that are both interesting and promising considering the country's high broadband connectivity, he said. AMAZON BUILDING TABLET TO RIVAL IPAD: Amazon.com Inc is set to unveil a tablet computer before next October, a move seen to heighten the online retailer's rivalry with Apple Inc, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The tablet will have a roughly nine-inch screen, people familiar with the product said, and will run on Google's Android operating system. The tablet will allow Amazon customers to easily watch videos, read electronic books and listen to digital music they purchase or rent from the online retailer. IBM REVEALS LOWER COST SERVER AIMED AT EMERGING MARKETS: IBM has announced a mainframe server for mid-sized organisations that costs up to 25 percent less and offers up to 25 percent more performance than its predecessor, Dow Jones has reported. The zEnterprise 114, which starts at under $75,000, will be an attractive option for emerging markets, the company said. The zEnterprise System is available with additional features to integrate and manage workloads on additional platforms. MICROSOFT BEGINS COUNTDOWN ON WINDOWS XP: Microsoft has said it has so far sold 400 million Windows 7 licenses and urged users to start migrating from Windows XP to its more advanced operating system, PC Magazine has reported. The software giant said customers now have 1,000 days until the company stops supporting Windows XP. "Windows XP served us well, but in the ten years since it launched, the world has changed," Erwin Visser, senior director for the Windows Commercial Product Marketing team, said. "It's time to retire Windows XP and move to Windows 7 to take advantage of the last decade of innovation in areas such as security, performance and more natural, intuitive interface." NEW FIREFOX UPDATE TO ADDRESS LION BUG: Mozilla has announced an update for its Firefox browser for the Mac platform to deal with a bug in Apple's impending Lion operating system, Computer World has reported. According to Mozilla, Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) contains a bug that causes Firefox 5 to crash when displaying websites that use downloadable fonts. "We alerted Apple to the problem before the release of 10.7 but they did not fix the problem before 10.7 went to final release," Christopher Blizzard, Mozilla's Web platform director, said on the company's blog. "We've changed the font APIs that we're using to newer versions which appear to fix the problem." COMPUTER SECURITY TO BE KEY FOCUS AT GITEX: Organisers of Gitex 2011 have said this year's exhibition will focus on computer security in the wake of cyber attacks on a host of global companies and governments, Gulf News has reported. The exhibition, taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from October 9 to 13, will feature an education section specifically targeting companies that want to make sure their systems are more secure. Other areas of focus this year include cloud computing, mobile applications and smart phone technology. APPLE TO RELEASE HACKING VULNERABILITY PATCH: Apple has said it is preparing to release a patch for a vulnerability pointed out by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) that hackers could use to break into the company's popular iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch gadgets, AFP has reported. "We are aware of this reported issue and developing a fix that will be available in an upcoming software update," Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told the news service. BSI recommended that Apple device users guard against hackers by not opening PDF documents from unfamiliar sources. IDC: 2011 TABLET SHIPMENTS TO TOP 53.5M: IDC has said Apple's iPad and Google Android will help drive 53.5 million tablet shipments in 2011. Shipments of iPad for the first quarter were below expectations, but Apple continues to hold a comfortable lead over other manufacturers, IDC said. HACKERS FIND FLAW IN IPAD, IPHONE SOFTWARE: A bug in software from Apple Inc has been disclosed by hackers that security experts said could be exploited by criminals looking to gain remote control over iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices, Reuters has reported. The security flaw in Apple's iOS operating system came to light as the website www.jailbreakme.com released code that Apple customers can use to modify the iOS operating system through a process known as "jail breaking." Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said the company was aware of the problem. "We are developing a fix that will be available to customers in an upcoming software update," Muller said. PLAYSTATION 4 PRODUCTION TO BEGIN AT END OF YEAR: The Taiwan-based partners of Sony are to begin production of PlayStation 4 (PS4) featuring body movement-based control like Kinect at the end of 2011 for launch in 2012, DigiTimes has reported. Foxconn and Pegatron Technology, assemblers of PS3, will undertake assembly of PS4 as well, component makers said. The planned shipment volume of PS4 in 2012 is at least 20 million units, they said. SONY SET TO FULLY RESTORE PLAYSTATION NETWORK SERVICES IN JAPAN: Sony has announced all its Playstation Network videogame services in Japan are to be fully restored, marking the resumption of all network services worldwide after a massive security breach forced the company to shut them down in April, Reuters has reported. PlayStation and Qriocity network services will be fully back online on July 6, after the theft of data on 77 million PlayStation accounts and an 11-week shutdown. APPLE BECOMES LATEST TARGET OF HACKER GROUPS: A group of computer hackers has released a document that allegedly contains usernames and passwords for an Apple Inc server, the latest in a string of attacks that have compromised government and corporate websites around the world, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The AntiSec group claimed they had accessed Apple's systems due to a security flaw used in software used by Apple and other companies. KKR, SILVER LAKE TO BUY GO DADDY: A private equity consortium led by KKR and Silver Lake has agreed to buy web hosting company The Go Daddy Group Inc for $2.25bn, including debt, Reuters has reported, citing people close to the situation. Founded in 1997, Go Daddy grew into the world's largest web hosting provider, serving more than 9.3 million global customers and managing more than 48 million domain names. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year and requires regulatory approvals in several jurisdictions including Europe and the United States, Tony Ling a director of Silver Lake told the news service. Category: Telecom ___ To see more of the AME Info, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.ameinfo.com. Copyright (c) 2011, AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) |