F-Secure Patches Critical AntiVirus Flaw
Security firm F-Secure has issued patches for critical flaws in 18 of its antivirus products that fix a vulnerability in the scanning of RAR and ZIP archives for malicious code. Both Windows and Linux based tools are affected, and F-Secure recommends installing the fix immediately.
"It is possible to create specially crafted ZIP archives that cause a buffer overflow. This allows an attacker to execute code of his choice on affected systems," the company said in an advisory. "It is in addition possible to create malformed RAR- and ZIP-archives that cannot be scanned properly. This can lead to a false negative scan result."
Yahoo Joins with Verizon for FiOS Offer
Verizon and Yahoo announced the availability of a co-branded service for users of Verizon FiOS' ultra-high speed network on Thursday. FiOS subscribers would receive premium news and entertainment video content, broadband radio stations, a customized Yahoo Mail account, 100MB of online file storage, anti-virus and anti-spyware protection, and access to other Yahoo services.
FiOS can support connection speeds of up to 30 megabits per second, some four to five times faster than the offerings from cable Internet providers. Service charges range from $34.95 USD per month for 5Mbps downstream to $179.95 USD per month for the 30Mbps plan.
Samsung Completes Blu-ray Drives
Samsung said on Thursday it had completed development of its Blu-ray disc drives, paving the way for the company to begin manufacture of a line of players compatible with the format. However, Samsung was mum as to prices and a specific date for launch, only saying that drives would appear in 2006.
The company was notably format-agnostic in its announcement, extolling the virtues of both HD DVD and Blu-ray over traditional DVD in statements to the press. Samsung is a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, however it has hinted that it may produce a dual-technology player compatible with both formats.
HP to Ship Linux PCs in Latin America
Computer maker Hewlett-Packard plans to sell PCs running Linux across 37 countries in Latin America, and has selected Mandriva to provide the open source operating system. Mandriva says it will work with HP on sales, support and marketing in all Latin American territories, including Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.
The first HP systems running Mandriva Linux 2006 have already begun to ship in Brazil, the companies said. While Linux has struggled to gain a foothold in North America and Europe, the low-cost operating system has proven popular in developing nations where such technology is not available to most citizens. Technical support will be offered in both Spanish and Portuguese.
Apple Macintosh Sales Up 20 Percent
Apple on Wednesday reported the most profitable quarter in the company's history, posting revenues of $5.75 billion and a net quarterly profit of $565 million. The numbers are up from $3.49 billion and $295 million a year ago. Sales of Mac computers and iPods also shot up 20 percent and 207 percent, respectively.
During the quarter, Apple shipped 1,254,000 Macs and 14,043,000 iPods. "We are thrilled to report the best quarter in Apple’s history," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "Two highlights of an incredible quarter were selling 14 million iPods and getting ready to launch our new Macs with Intel processors five to six months ahead of expectations."
Netflix Hires ex-Postmaster General
William Henderson has found out that working for the U.S. Postal Service may not be so bad after all. The 58-year-old former Postmaster General is now the Chief Operating Officer of Netflix, replacing Tom Dillion, who plans to retire in April. The company cited Henderson's experience with large amounts of mail as one of the primary reasons for his hiring.
Henderson was the Chief Operating Officer of the USPS from 1994 to 1998, and was promoted to CEO and Postmaster General in 1998. He held both positions up until his retirement in 2001. "Bill Henderson is about the only person on the planet who looks at our volume of mail as a trickle," Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in a statement.
Apple Addresses Privacy Concerns
Apple on Wednesday addressed privacy concerns over its iTunes Mini-Store, adding a dialogue that allows users to opt out of the service. The Mini-Store feature came with the launch of iTunes 6.0.2, but was quickly criticized for not explicitly saying it was sending data back to Apple through a third party.
The data collected by the application was being sent to 2o7.net when the Mini-Store was open. The domain is registered to Omniture, a Utah-based company that uses cookies to "generally improve the user experience on the Web." As part of the changes, the Mini-Store must now be activated manually by the user in order to function. A message will now greet the user at first launch, saying "Apple does not keep any information related to the contents of your music Library."
Opera for Windows Mobile 5.0 Ships
Just in time for the Treo 700w and Cingular 2125, Opera Software has made available a beta version of Opera 8.5 for Windows based smartphones running Windows Mobile 2003 and the latest version 5.0. The Web browser supports all major Web standards, including CSS2, DOM 2 and JavaScript.
The Opera 8.5 beta works on all Pocket PC devices as well, and employs the company's rendering technology that dynamically reformats a Web page to fit the screen size. The mobile browser has begun shipping on the Sharp W-ZERO3 device in Japan, and is available for download now.
Seagate Ships Perpendicular Drive
Seagate on Tuesday began shipping its first notebook drive using perpendicular recording, which was first announced last June. By standing bits of data on end, rather than flat on the drive's surface, Seagate has achieved 160GB of storage in a 2.5-inch form factor.
Seagate's Momentus 5400.3 is not cheap, however, with a retail price of $325 USD. A 120GB model runs $240 USD, and a 7,200-RPM version is slated to follow later this year. Hard drives using parallel recording can store about 100 to 120 gigabits per square inch. With the new perpendicular method, drives can store 230 gigabits in the same space.
Google Ads Coming to Radio
Google expanded into the radio advertising business Tuesday with the purchase of DMarc Broadcasting, a company that deals with the sales, delivery and reporting of radio ads. The deal is reportedly worth $102 million dollars and will give AdWords subscribers a radio ad distribution channel for their advertisements.
Rumors have swirled in recent months that Google may expand into more traditional methods of advertising. The company has already branched into print ads, and was rumored to be looking into the television market as well. "Google is committed to exploring new ways to extend targeted, measurable advertising to other forms of media," said Google vice president of advertsing Tim Armstrong.
Report: Cisco to Target Consumers
In a move that will expand the company's market reach, Cisco Systems has plans to start selling a line of consumer products including phones, radios and home theater devices, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Cisco believes it can define itself by adding Internet connectivity to these devices, thus creating a new market.
Cisco is commonly known for its networking products, and owns Linksys, a maker of consumer network devices. Chief development officer Charles Giancarlo told the paper he believes Cisco's ties with Google and Yahoo will also give it an advantage over competitors. A release date for any new consumer products from the company was not given.
FCC Sets Airline Wireless Auction Date
The FCC said Thursday that it had set May 10 as the date it would begin to sell airwaves that communications providers could use to provide advanced services to airline passengers. The frequencies would come from the phones in the back of airline seats, currently operated by Verizon. The airline industry says cheaper on-board telephones could result from the auction, or other wireless services could make use of the bandwidth.
Verizon plans to bid for the frequencies in the auction, which it says would take approximately one year to convert for use in wireless broadband. Other carriers, such as Cingular, have not commented whether they plan to bid. Also being considered by the FCC are plans to allow wireless phone use on planes. However, FAA approval would also be needed, and the agency has remained against such a change in policy.
Google Takes Personal Pages Mobile
Not long after making available a mobile version of Gmail, Google has launched a version of its personalized homepage for cell phones. Users can customize the page with content they select and view it wherever they go. The interface will automatically adjust depending on the screen size.
"We've designed a way for you to view the things that you really care about, from your Gmail inbox to news headlines, weather, stock quotes, and feeds (Atom or RSS)," said Google software engineer Abhijit Kalamkar. The mobile Web browser or phone must support XHTML in order to access the homepage.
CES, Macworld to Overlap in 2007
Normally held on separate weeks to allow interested parties to attend both conferences, Macworld and the Consumer Electronics Show will start on January 8, 2007 and run for the better part of the week. Both CES and IDG, which runs Macworld, say the overlap is a result of a lack of available open dates at the venues where the events are held.
Both halls host dozens of conventions each year, and organizers must account for the amount of time it takes to assemble and tear down each convention, as well as holding the actual event itself. "The Las Vegas Convention Center and Moscone Center in San Francisco have busy schedules and available dates are determined by hall demand," the Dow Jones NewsWire reported Thursday.
Cell Processor Development to Continue
IBM, Toshiba and Sony on Wednesday announced that they had struck a five-year deal to continue developing the Cell microprocessor. The three had spent about $400 million over the past five years to build the first chip, which was used in the PlayStation 3, due out later this year. Plans are to look into ways of using the technology in televisions, audio equipment and in other video game consoles.
The next phase of the partnership will focus on technology to produce the Cell chip at 32 nanometers and smaller, the companies said. "By extending this relationship to the next-generation of process technologies and deepening our partnership at the research level, we expect to increase the pace of development for major technology advances," IBM semiconductor research vice president Lisa Su said in a statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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