August 2008 News
Skeptics Arise as Windows TV Ads Close In
Doubts are hurled on Microsoft's decision to feature comedian Jerry Seinfield on its $300-million "Windows, not Walls" campaign airing on Sept 4. Experts say Seinf... More »
Supermarkets Go High-Tech to Catch Shoplifters
Supermarkets have developed a new electronic tag on items most often targeted by shoplifters. The Source Tagging Alliance is urging suppliers to use radio frequency identification... More »
TelstraClear Enters Telecommunication Market
A new name in the telecommunication industry has emerged hoping to crumble the monopoly of Telecom and Vodafone. TelstraClear will be introducing its own mobile network which assu... More »
Microsoft Says Windows Live Mail works in IE8 Beta 2
Microsoft admitted it made a mistake in identifying Windows Live Mail as incompatible with Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2. The company said there was an inaccuracy on their part and c... More »
Cellular Networks Prepare for Gustav
Major cellular companies are preparing for Tropical Storm Gustav as it is expected to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast. They all have learned their lessons wth Katrina which cost them mill... More »
Internet Leak Caused US Author to Stop Writing
Stephenie Meyer, an American author famous for Twilight and The Host, has decided to cease writing a book series following the leak of its final installment. An unfinished version... More »
FAA Breakdown Calls for Modernization
The chaos caused by the Federal Aviation Administration outage uncovered the agency's need for high-tech equipment. Several travelers were left disappointed as they had to experie... More »
Hyundai Raided by German Police
German customs police raided Hyundai IT Corp.s booth at IFA and took away some flat-screen TVs. Norbert Scheithauer, a spokesman for Berlin-area customs investigators, said ... More »
Malaysia Blocks Access to Anti-Government Website
Malaysia has blocked access to a popular news website that often criticizes the government, inciting protests against cyberspace black out. The Malaysian Communications and Mul... More »
UK Taxpayer Data Compromised on eBay Auction
The Leicestershire police in the U.K made an arrest over a sale on eBay that featured a computer full of personal information of thousands of council taxpayers. There is an ongoin... More »
Malware Attacks Peak in July
Scansafe, a security provider, has disclosed that the number of malware it blocked in July 2008 was 34 per cent more than in the whole of 2007. The first two weeks of July r... More »
Hitman Scammer Strikes Again
FBI has warned internet users to disregard any email which threatens to kill recipients if they do not pay thousands of dollars to the sender. The emails are said to be from the i... More »
UK Bans iPhone Ad
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), UK's self regulatory organization of the advertising industry, has restrained Apple from advertising iPhones due to misleading claims. The a... More »
Facebook to Conquer Hollywood
Facebook is soon to hit the big screen. A film about how Facebook started and rose to success will be written by Aaron Sorkin, popularly known for writing West Wing and A Few Good... More »
Wireless Routers Prone to Hijacking
There is quite an alarming number of people who admitted to piggybacking on their neighbor or someone else's wireless router to have internet access. Wireless routers are oft... More »
UK Landmarks Missing in Internet Maps
There have been increasing concerns on internet maps such as Google Earth and Multimap ingnoring UK landmarks. British Cartographic Society president Mary Spence said, ... More »
Global Surnames Profiler Initiated
A team of geographers from the University College London has developed a website which allows users to trace family origin through their surnames. The site covers a billion ... More »
Ofcom Examines Mobile Telephone Charges
Ofcom, the regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom, is starting to probe on the mobile phone industry to transform mobile call c... More »
Mozilla Refurbishes Agreement with Google
Mozilla has decided to extend its agreement with Google to be Firefox's default search engine until November 2011. Mozilla and Google previously had a two-year deal which is suppo... More »
Microsoft Acquires Greenfield Online
Microsoft' has acquired Grreenfield online for $486 million in its drive to expand its web advertising and social networking services. Also part of the agreement is Ciao.com, a Eu... More »
Yahoo Closes Mash
Yahoo has decided to shut down its social networking site, Mash, on Sepetember 29. Mash was launched during the early part of September 2007, to compete with other social networki... More »
MIT Develops Hacking Route Tracker
MIT's Lincoln Laboratory produced NetSPA (Network Security Planning Architecture), a tool that traces possible hacking routes. NetSPA is designed to make it possible for system ad... More »
Kids with Home Broadband Get Higher GCSE Results
Based on the latest UK internet access report, kids with web access at home are most likely to excel in GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education). Stats revealed tha... More »
Sony Introduces World's Thinnest LCD HDTV
Sony has introduced KDL-40ZX, a 0.39-inch thick LCD HDTV considered as today's thinnest a among its kind. It grabbed Hitachi's reign which lasted for about half a year. Sony f... More »
M2E Power Develops Motion-Powered Cell Phone Charger
M2E Power is expecting to release a charger that can harvest enough motion from walking to recharge cell phones or other small gadgets. The charger comes in pocket size and i... More »
Blogger Apprehended by FBI for Online Music Sharing
The FBI has arrested Kevin Cogill, a Los Angeles blogger, for violating federal copyright laws. Cogill is alleged to have released nine songs of Guns N'Roses online whic... More »
China to Release PetaFlop Computer in 2010
China is set to build its first petaflop-class supercomputer by 2010 using Godson microprocessors. The machine, worth $100 million, is said to be capable of working out 1,000 tril... More »
Veoh's Win Over Infringement Case Aids Google
Judge Howard Lloyd dismissed the copyright infringement case filed by Lo Group against Veoh Networks Inc involving material uploaded to its web site. Lo Group claimed that V... More »
UK Court Won't Meddle in McKinnon's Extradition
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected Gary McKinnon's appeal against his impending extradition to the United States. McKinnon faces charges of breaking into computers be... More »
Microsoft Cautions Users of IE8 lock in with XP SP3
Microsoft warned users that they won't have the option to get rid of Internet Explorer 8 once they install Windows XP Service Pack 3. Users won't be able to downgrade to... More »
Steve Job's Obit Accidentally Posted
The Bloomberg financial news service has mistakenly posted obituary of Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The news service , however, recalled it immediately. The 17-page obituary was su... More »
Microsoft, Nikon Sign Patent Cross-Licensing Agreement
Microsoft and Nikon Corporation announced that they have signed a patent cross-licensing agreenment. A Microsoft spokesperson hinted that the agreement aims to encourage fur... More »
Sandisk Introduces Fastest SD Card
SanDisk Corporation, a supplier of flash storage cards, is offering the fastest SD card to date. Extreme III 30MB/s is designed for new digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cam... More »
IT Administrators Affirm They Would Filch Data
A survey participated by 300 IT administrators concluded that 88% would steal classified company information should their employment be terminated. More than a third of thes... More »
Dell Creates Cheap Computers for Emerging Economies
Dell introduced four low-cost computers for China, India , and other emerging economies in line with the company's goal to expand globally. Vestro notebooks would only cost consum... More »
"Hijacked" Babies Used to Bait Spam Victims
Spammers have gone too far to widely spread their malicious content. According to researchers SophosLabs researchers, spammers have commenced a social engine... More »
Linux Undergoes SSH Key-Based Attacks
US-CERT has alerted Linux users of a foray against linux-based computing infrastructures using compromised SSH keys. The breach uses stolen SSH keys to obtain access to a system, ... More »
Users Discovered iPhone Password Flaw
Users of the popular iPhone have discovered a work around for its password. It only involves the use of the device's "emergency call" keypad with a couple of taps ... More »
Linux End-User Summit Arranged
The Linux Foundation is planning to launch a summit that will allow Linux users to mesh with Linux kernel community. The event, which is slated this October 13 and 14, ... More »
Weak Economy Affects Mobile-Phone Sales
Research firm, Gartner, revealed that cellphone market sales will possibly suffer due to the worlwide economic slump. Consumers face a lot of economic difficulties nowadays, that ... More »
AT&T Offers International Data Plans to iPhone Users
AT&T Inc. started offering two new international data plans for iPhone users. One of the new plans costs $119.99 a month for 100MB of data use, while the other costs $19... More »
Malware Spotted at the International Space Station
The International Space Station was not spared from ruthless malware attacks which usually target regular internet users . The attack code, W32.Gammima.AG, infected at least ... More »
Microsoft Updates Windows XP to Avert Piracy
Microsoft released a WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) Notifications update for Windows XP Professional that features anti-piracy check. According to the company, Window... More »
Immersion Pays $20.75M to Microsoft
Immersion and Microsoft has finally closed its legal dispute that started way back in 2003. Immersion, a vibrating controller patent holder, shelled out $20.75 mil... More »
Microsoft Introduces IE 8 Beta 2
Microsoft has released another beta version of Internet Explorer 8 for public download. The new IE features color-coded tab system, enhanced address bar, and upgraded privac... More »
WirelessHD Gets Hollywood Approval
Wireless HD technology was finally approved by Hollywood's content czar after several months in the wait. The approval means that content from from Blu-ray discs, satellite, cable... More »
FBI Probes Hacked FEMA Phones
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing more than $12,000 in calls ot the Middle East and Asia. A few days back, a hacker broke into a Homeland Security Department te... More »
HP Acquires EDS
HP has finally closed the deal to procure Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS) for $13.9 billion, or $25.00 per share. HP expects the acquisition to more than double its serv... More »
IOGEAR Develops Wireless USB-to-VGA Kit
IOGEAR introduced the world's first Wireless USB to VGA kit that enables users to extend or clone their desktop to another monitor sans wires. The unit allows any machine with ext... More »
Tripp Lite Releases PowerAlert
Tripp Lite, a world-leading manufacturer of power protection equipment, has developed a completely open-source UPS software called PowerAlert. The software is designed to help ind... More »
Clone-Maker Open Tech Up for Sale
Open Tech, a company who sells Intel-based computers that can run Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X, has decided to put itself up for sale. Open Tech President, Elijah Samaroo, revealed the c... More »
Psystar Plans to Countersue Apple
Psystar, a popular Mac clone maker, plans to fight back and countersue Apple Inc. using Antitrust Acts. The company accuses Apple of anticompetitive business practices by restrict... More »
Adobe Systems Releases Photoshop Elements Update
Adobe Systems has introduced its Photoshop Elements update which includes online sharing and mobile phone options. The software is expected to be commercially released in early Oc... More »
IT Outsourcing: A Big No for Some Companies
In today's staggering worldwide economy, many companies have resorted to IT outsourcing hoping to cut their expenses down to half. However, there are still some firms who never co... More »
National Geographic to Broaden Widget Program
National Geographic Digital Media is expanding its widget roster by allowing third parties co-brand the publisher's widgets and add the code to their own website. According to Rob... More »
Google Omits Comprehensive Bluetooth API from Android 1.0
Google decided to drop Bluetooth and GTalkService APIs from the initial version of Android 1.0. However, the company verified that handsets using Android will still work wit... More »
Javascript 2 Takes a Different Turn
The creators of Javascript 2 have made several significant changes in the web scripting technology's direction. The biggest change yet is eliminating ECMAScript 4 project from the... More »
Microsoft Finally Develops Small Business Server 2008
Microsoft has finalized the latest version of its Windows Small Business Server which is now ready for distribution. The long awaited server is slated to be released on November 1... More »
HP and Acer Cut Netbook Prices Due to Steep Competition
Back-to-school sales season kicks off in the U.S, and computer manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard and Acer have dropped their netbook prices to charm larger market. This may al... More »
Mozilla Pushes Firefox 3.0 Update
Firefox 2.0.0.16 users will be prompted with an automatic update to Firefox 3.0. Starting today, about 70% of users with the latest version of the browser will be asked to g... More »
Google Redesigns Search Page
The world's leading search engine is set for restructuring to further enhance its user customization and personalization features. Google is expending the idea of allowing its use... More »
SafeNet Provides Encryption Solution for Mainframes
SafeNet has released a mainframe solution which gives Ingrian Network, a data privacy solutions provider, capabilities to enable customers to protect sensitive information in z/OS... More »
Verizon Releases New Blitz Phone
Verizon Wireless has recently launched its new Blitz phone designed for the youth demographic. The Blitz sports a QWERTY keyboard and a slider form factor. It also ... More »
Mexico to Impose the Use of Cell Phones for Payments
Mexicans will soon be using their cell phones for small purchases such as restaurant meals and taxi rides. The move will be initiated by the country's leading telephone operators,... More »
Apple's iPod to Undergo Restructuring
Apple's entire iPod line is reported to be reshaping by the end of next month. According to Kevin Rose, founder of the website Digg, changes will include both small cosmetic... More »
Netflix Glitch Blamed on Hardware
Netflix had shipping delays earlier this month which disgruntled many users. According to a blog post by the company, the outage was triggered by faulty hardware. Netf... More »
Intuit Delivers Quickbooks to Blackberry and iPhone
Intuit announced it's move to desegregate iPhone and Blackberry with Quickbooks. QuickBooks is a line of business accounting software developed and marketed by the company.&... More »
Swedish Engineers Found iPhone3G Reception NOrmal
Swedish engineers who tested iPhone claim that the unit is providing normal reception. According to the test results, the iPhone's 3G transmission and receiving results were... More »
AMD Sells Digital TV Group to Broadcom
Advance Micro Devices has decided to sell out its TV-chip unit to Broadcom for $192.8 million. Broadcom is getting 530 AMD employees out of the deal and AMD's considerable e... More »
New Firefox Add-on Released to Deter Wi-fi Hackers
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have released an add-on for Firefox 3 which vows to dissuade wi-fi hackers. Internet users have become weary of the neverending feat of h... More »
Microsoft Teams Up with Move Networks
Microsoft took another strategic step to expand its reach to video streaming technology. The company invested an undisclosed sum roughly five months after announcing it woul... More »
Habbo Hotel Preyed by Phishers
Habbo Hotel is reported to have been attacked by phishers through stealing their user account names and details. What's deeply troubling is that the attackers were able to l... More »
Phishers Retaliate with Malware Strike
Securityworks reported yet another form of malware attack initiated by the people behind Asprox botnet. The botnet, now at least 50,000-strong with bots, is spamming message... More »
Hackers Steal Best Western Data
Best Western, popularly known as the world's largest hotel chain, has been attacked by Indian hackers who stole names, addresses and credit card information of every customer sinc... More »
Tesco's Chip-and-PIN Delay Invites Fraudsters
Britain's biggest supermarket retailer, Tesco, has not yet adopted the chip-and-PIN technology which may possibly attract drive-in frauds at many petrol outlets. The company has f... More »
Microsoft Affirms Releasing Flawed Update
MIcrosoft admitted releasing an incomplete version of MS08-051 update to its download center. This the third time in the last two months that the company had to re-issue a s... More »
Acer Retrenches After Merger
Taiwan-based PC maker, Acer, has retrenched 30 and 40 jobs after the merger of its enterprise and client computing groups into one product division. Acer head of business pr... More »
ABC News Denies Dumping Webcast
ABC News recently announced that Webcast will still be up and running amidst rumors of a revamp. Webcast is one of the top video newscast on iTunes, with about 600,000 daily downl... More »
Windows XP still Opted by New PC Buyers
According to data from the exo.performance.network, about 33% of new pc buyers consider downgrading to Windows XP as they find it more reliable than Microsoft's latest Windows Vis... More »
China and India: The World's Broadband Leaders
Analyst and consulting firm, Ovum, foresees China and India to overtake Western Europe in terms of the number of broadband connections. Ovum noted that broadband services in the s... More »
Beware of "Verizon Scam"
Verizon, American broadband and telecommunications company, has announced that it is being used in a scam that offers $750,000 to consumers. The nature of the scam is q... More »
Olympics Spam Leads to Malware
Secure Computing, an enterprise security firm, has warned internet users of another malware outbreak through email spams. Emails containing Olympics headlines as a subject could p... More »
Web Tech Clash Arises in Olympics
Olympics might be the stage for the world's best athletes, but it has also become an unprecedented venue for the clash of two technological giants. Microsoft Corp. and Adobe... More »
Mozilla Releases Firefox TraceMonkey
Firefox recently released TraceMonkey, a project that adds native code compilation to SpiderMonkey, to compete with Microsoft's Silverlight and Adobe Flash. Tracemonkey is f... More »
Red Hat Verified Fedora Server Breach
Red Hat just confirmed that intruders breached a Fedora server last August 14, 2008. Linux software vendor described the incident as "an issue in the infrastructure systems&q... More »
Vista SP1 Demand Goes Up; XP SP3 Sales Continue to Lag
More and more Windows Vista users have opted to upgrade to SP1. This may be attributed to the operating system's serious flaws which prompted users to clamor for any available upd... More »
Three Men Charged for Selling Pirated Software Online
Thomas C. Rushing III, Brian C. Rue, and William Lance Partridge pleaded guilty for violating criminal copyright infringement laws in the U.S. The three operated several web sites... More »
Japan Entices Global Mobile Tech Users
Japan will be outlining a new tack to expand its mobile technology globally with the help of Japanese carriers and manufacturers. Although the country has some of the most sophist... More »
Wireless Manufacturers Oppose Google's Plan
wireless manufacturers went ballistic when Google came up with "Free the Airwaves" campaign and decided to file a petition asking the FCC to open up the "whit... More »
Cyber Crooks Find New Form of Malware Attack
Cyber criminals have thought of an unprecedented way to attack internet users. Panda Security's anti-malware laboratory found two mock P2P application installers, BitRoll-5.0.0.0 ... More »
Intel Flaunts "Programmable Matter" in IDF
In the last keynote of the Intel Development Forum (IDF), Justin Rattner, Intel's chief technology officer, wowed the audience with how "programmable matter" works. ... More »
DNSSEC: Eyed to be DNS Bug Fix
Secure64 Software is pushing for DNSSEC (domain name server security extensions) as a fix for DNS security. Dan Kaminsky's discovery of the DNS bug has relived the interst in DNSS... More »
Asustek Admits Atom Shortages in Eee PC
An Asustek executive source revealed that the popular Eee PC is in a serious shortage of Atom microprocessors which explains why the older Celerons are appearing in its new models... More »
Botnet Herder Facing Five Years in Jail
A Federal Grand Jury in New Orleans has charged a Brazilian with trying to damage and infect over 100,000 computers with a malicious botnet program that could have launched denial... More »
China ISP Server Attacked Using DNS Flaw
China Netcom, China's largest internet service provider, has become a target of a malicious onset. The ISP's DNS cache on the default DNS server has been ruthlessly poisoned... More »
New Browsers Combat Malware
New browsers such as Firefox 3, and Opera 9.5 are battling against the endless malicious attacks plaguing them for quite some time. They have added a new security that ... More »
Security Researcher to Release Gmail Hacking Tool
Mike Perry, the security researcher who presented information at the DEFCON security conference about a vulnerability that affects many SSL-secured Web sites, plans to release a t... More »
McAffee Retains Security in Intel MIDS and Laptops
McAfee has opted to extend its security products to Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and Intel-based laptops. The security vendor said it will provide mobile content security ... More »
Man Commits Suicide Online
A man from Utah, Brent MacMillan, streamed his suicide on his webcam with his ex-girlfriend watching the horrible incident on the other end. Reports say that police were tipped of... More »
Microsoft Unveils Photosynth
Microsoft Live Labs recently unveiled Photosynth, a new application that allows users to build 3D worlds using photos. It analyzes digital photographs to build a three-dimensional... More »
Glassdoor Website Reveals Company Salaries
Glassdoor.com started with displaying the payments to thousands of empoyees in leading companies in the United States two months ago. The site has already published more than 50,0... More »
Intel Develops Wireless Power
Intel is working on a new technology that would help eliminate the use of spaghetti cables on electronic devices such as PCs and mobile phones. The company said it had succe... More »
Mexicans Use Sattelites to Combat Kidnapping
Wealthy individuals in Mexico resort to using satellites to battle against the uncontrolled kidnapping in the country. These people spend thousands of dollars to implant tra... More »
AT&T Launches ConnecTech
AT&T has decided to form its own Geek Squad, named ConnecTech, to further promote customer satisfaction. ConnecTech is an in-home support team that deals with setup and repair... More »
UK Law Firm Targets File Sharers
Davenports Lyons have been working with the music industry to prosecute file sharers. Now, it will ask the UK courts to compel ISPs to reveal information to pinpoint those who are... More »
Nintendo Facing Another Lawsuit
The Japanese video game maker, Nintendo, is facing yet another legal battle for infringement. A Maryland company has sued Nintendo claiming that the Wii's controller breache... More »
Corel on Shaky Grounds
Corel announced that its majority investor, Vector Capital, had withdrawn its March buyout offer that valued the company at nearly $280 million. The move was due to Corel's ... More »
Germany Alarmed by Sale of Bank Data
Data protection officials in Germany have called for much tighter privacy restrictions following the scandal over illegal sales of personal data. The officials say they were able ... More »
Sony Introduces New PSP
Sony Computer Entertainment will be launching PSP-3000 which features advanced LCD for high resolution display. The new PSP will be on commercial release in Japan, Asia, North Ame... More »
China Bans iTunes
China's internet police banned the Apple iTunes Store because of offering an album that supports those who are fighting for Tibet's freedom.The album, The Songs for Tibet, is clim... More »
Opera Fixes 7 Bugs
Opera Software patched seven vulnerabilities in its web browser. An update to Opera 9.52 was released to fix numerous bugs that ranges from "extremely severe" to "n... More »
Palm Sells Unlocked Treo Pro
Palm's decision to sell Treo Pro without a U.S operator partner may very well be a breakthrough for the company or a sign of tougher times to come. Palm decided to release unlocke... More »
WSUS Embedded with Windows 7 Client
Microsoft has seeded the Windows Server Update Services with windows 7 reference, the forthcoming replacement of Windows Vista. WSUS provides a software update service for Microso... More »
Intel Teams Up with Yahoo to Link Web and TV
Intel revealed its decision to collaborate with Yahoo to provide a way to tie television to the Internet. The application which Intel names “Widget Channel” will allow... More »
Promisec Releases Free Online Encyclopedia on Network Security Threats
Promisec, a network security provider, released a free online encyclopedia listing internal network security issues. It includes lists and dates of a number of potential threats a... More »
MobileMe Users Discover Key Security Frailty
Apple's MobileMe has been in the spotlight recently due to some complaints of slow and unreliable performance. Now, users found yet another weakness in MobileMe's key security. ... More »
Internet Explorer to Have Private Browsing Feature
Internet Explorer users will have a new and different browsing experience as Microsoft plans to add the private browsing feature. In a June blog posting, Microsoft stated that it ... More »
Cox Plans to Venture in Wireless Market
Some telecommunication companies rule the wireless market and now Cox Communications is planning to follow the same lead. Cox president, Patrick Esser, uncovered in the Freed... More »
Apple Admits Poor iPhone Reception
After several complaints regarding iPhone 3G reception, Apple finally admitted that the phone indeed has reception problems. Customers around the world have been whining over iPho... More »
Ericsson Joins Forces with STMicro
Ericsson has made an agreement with STMicroelectronics to join their wireless chip and software business. Their main goal is to supply four of the world's top five cellphone makers... More »
Guardian Analytics Battles Against Identity Theft
Security vendor Guardian Analytics is fighting online identity theft through behavioral modeling. It detects fraud by producing authentication technologies and building models base... More »
Intel Awards $100 Worth of Prizes for Innovative Ideas
Intel offered developers $100,000 Prizes for contributing the most creative and winning ideas for using technology in refining education, health care, economic development, or the ... More »
Microsoft Introduces Email Prioritizer of Outlook
Microsoft unveiled a new Outlook 2007 plugin which automatically prioritizes emails and allows users to lull email delivery. Named Email Prioritizer, the plugin affixes email with ... More »