Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

by: Elinor Mills

Qualys is set to launch on Monday a free service for Web site operators that will scan their sites for malware.

As part of the service, QualysGuard Malware Detection crawls the pages of customer sites and looks for invisible iFrames, malicious JavaScript code, and other indications of a stealth threat to visitors and provides automated alerts and reports to Web site owners.

The company has profiled Internet Explorer 6 and Adobe’s Acrobat, Reader, and Flash Player to understand exactly what happens under normal conditions so it can quickly detect deviations that occur when malware is present, said Wolfgang Kandek, chief technology officer at Qualys.

Profiles and testing on additional apps will be forthcoming, he said. “We think (those apps) are what attackers typically have in their sights right now, but we will not stop there,” he said.

Google spinoff Dasient offers a free service that alerts Web sites when they appear on malware blacklists and a paid service that detects and quarantines malware on sites.

CNet

As the four biggest record companies wait to hear more about a proposed iTunes cloud music service, word comes now that Google has kicked the tires on a start-up specializing in cloud media.

Google has showed interest in possibly acquiring Los Angeles-based Catch Media, a company that intends to help make it simple for consumers to enjoy their digital movies, music, and books across numerous different hardware and service platforms, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations. It’s unclear whether talks between Google and Catch have gone beyond informal discussions.

If Google did acquire the company, it could help the search giant keep pace with Apple’s expected efforts to take iTunes to cloud computing. Last month, CNET reported that Apple has spoken to the top labels about plans to offer a streaming music service free of charge to consumers. Before agreeing to any new licensing deals, the labels are waiting for Apple to supply more information.

A Google spokesman responded to a request for comment by writing: “While we’re always talking to various people about various things, we don’t comment on rumor or speculation.” A representative from Catch declined to comment.

Catch doesn’t offer or store content. The company wants to be to digital media what Plus, Cirrus, and ATM networks are to the banking industry. Catch has developed a technology that helps hardware companies and service providers register, track, route and clear digital media as it moves across different platforms.

If Catch has its way, consumers will one day access media from different vendors and devices as easily as people withdraw money from any available ATM.

More at CNET

The list of BlackBerry Storm features goes on with DataViz documents as standard, giving access to Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files whilst on the move, plus a comprehensive address book and calender.

The BlackBerry Storm has both SureType and QWERTY keyboard options, via a clickable soft-touch screen and with auto-screen rotation, dictated by how the phone is held. The RIM BlackBerry 9500 Storm has one of the fastest smartphone processor’s on the market (624Mhz), along with 128MB of RAM and internal storage of 1GB, plus Micro-SD expansion up to 32GB. Read the rest of this entry »

For the last 4 years I have been using my current cell phone which has given very good service especially for the purpose it was bought for – to receive and send calls and messages. But it has dawned on me that there are many other purposes a cell phone services. In these growing ages of technology I think I will have to get with it and finally I see and has fallen in love with the Window Phone 7 series.

Microsoft has finally made the official announcement about the next version of Windows Mobile – Windows Phone 7 Series – but there’s a long list of questions that Microsoft says it won’t answer until the MIX conference in March. In the meantime, here’s what we do know about the phones that will be on sale for ‘the holiday season’ (which to US companies starts in October or November). Read the rest of this entry »

BARCELONA, Spain (MarketWatch) — Nokia Corp. and Intel Corp. on Monday announced the merger of their Linux operating systems to create a new mobile platform called Meego tailored to work across a range of devices including smartphones, netbooks, tablets and connected TVs.

This is the latest step in cooperation between Nokia /quotes/comstock/13*!nok/quotes/nls/nok (NOK 12.94, -0.15, -1.15%) , the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, and Intel /quotes/comstock/15*!intc/quotes/nls/intc (INTC 20.43, +0.37, +1.84%) , the No. 1 chip maker, and will likely make them more competitive against the rapid rise of Google’s /quotes/comstock/15*!goog/quotes/nls/goog (GOOG 533.12, -3.28, -0.61%) Android.

It’s also a significant development in an industry that is finding it harder and harder to cope with the fast-growing number of mobile operating systems. On top of Android, there are the iPhone system from Apple /quotes/comstock/15*!aapl/quotes/nls/aapl (AAPL 200.38, +1.71, +0.86%) , Palm’s /quotes/comstock/15*!palm/quotes/nls/palm (PALM 9.99, +0.37, +3.85%) WebOS, Symbian, Microsoft’s /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 27.93, -0.19, -0.68%) system and Samsung’s Bada.

The fragmentation has had a serious impact on the industry, making the design of new phones and the writing of application a long and costly process. Read the rest of this entry »

Samsung i8520 Halo with Android 2.1

While Samsung was busy prepping its own Bada OS, there was another group of engineers working on Samsung’s next Android based device that would be known as the i8250 when launched. The phone has been officially showcased at the MWC and the best part about this is that it comes with a pico-projector!

The phone, which is likely to be christened Halo, (the official name as we learn now, is “Beam”) will run Android 2.1 and would be a worthy competitor to the likes of the Nexus One and the Motorola Droid. From what little is known about the phone now, the Halo comes with a 3.7-inch AMOLED screen (same size as that of the Nexus One and the Droid). It will feature a 5 megapixel camera for imaging and video capture. This is apart from the VGA front camera that would be used for video calling purposes. The Halo will also support 720p video recording (making it the third phone we heard of today to be capable of recording HD video). Read the rest of this entry »