Computer World Today

Hackers hit Scientology with online attack

2008-01-28T01:25:00.001-08:00

A group of hackers calling itself "Anonymous" has hit the Church of Scientology's Web site with an online attack.

The attack was launched Jan. 19 by Anonymous, which is seeking media attention to help "save people from Scientology by reversing the brainwashing," according to a Web page maintained by Anonymous.

Anonymous claims to have knocked the Church's Web site offline with a distributed denial-of-service attack, in which many computers bombard the victim's server with requests, overwhelming it with data in the hope of ultimately knocking the system offline. True to its name, Anonymous does not disclose the true identities of its members.

The attacks were spurred by the Church's efforts to remove video of movie star Tom Cruise professing his admiration for the religion, according to an Anonymous video manifesto posted to Youtube.

"For the good of your followers, for the good of mankind and for our own enjoyment, we shall proceed to expel you from the Internet and systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form," a creepy computerized voice states in the video. Anonymous followed up this dispatch with a second video blasting the media for failing to completely report the group's criticisms of the church. This video was taken down Friday by Youtube, citing a "terms of use violation."

Anonymous has managed to generate a measurable attack against the Scientology.org Web site. Over the past few days, the site was hit with several DDOS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks, which flooded it with as much as 220M bps of traffic, according to Jose Nazario, a senior security engineer with Arbor Networks, whose company compiles data on Internet attacks.

The Anonymous campaign shows some level of organization. "220M bps is probably about in the middle of attack sizes," Nazario said. "It's not just one or two guys hanging out in the university dorms doing this."

On average, the attacks lasted about 30 minutes and used up 168M bps of bandwidth. In the past year, Arbor has seen attacks on other sites hit 40G bps, or 200 times the strength of the Anonymous event.

Shortly after it was hit with the DDOS flood, the Scientology.org Web site was moved to a server hosted by Prolexic Technologies, according to data compiled by Netcraft, an Internet monitoring company. Prolexic specializes in protecting companies from DDOS attacks.

A Prolexic spokeswoman confirmed that the Church of Scientology is one of the company's clients, but declined to offer more details on the matter. The Church of Scientology did not return a phone call and e-mail seeking comment.

The secretive Church of Scientology's practices, including its efforts to use copyright law to restrict the dissemination of information about the church, have engendered a lot of criticism within the Internet community. But one Web site set up to criticize Scientology -- called Operation Clambake -- called the DDOS attacks a bad idea. "Attacking Scientology like that will just make them play the religious persecution card," wrote Andreas Heldal-Lund, the Web site's owner. "They will use it to defend their own counter actions when they try to shatter criticism and crush critics without mercy."

If publicity was Anonymous' ultimate goal, the group has had some success. Late in the day Friday, seven of the top 10 stories on the Digg.com news-linking site related to Scientology or to Anonymous' communiques.

Palm to close retail stores

2008-01-28T01:22:00.000-08:00

Palm plans to close its retail stores in an effort to focus on fewer programs and better compete, the company said on Thursday.

All of Palm's eight branded retail stores, as well as its 26 stores within Airport Wireless shops, will close.

The move may stem from increased competition from Research In Motion's BlackBerry products. Prior to about a year ago, BlackBerry dominated the enterprise market and Palm was popular among prosumers, who typically buy devices in retail outlets, said Bill Hughes, an analyst at In-Stat. But since then, BlackBerry has grown more successful at selling its handhelds at retail, encroaching on Palm's traditional prosumer market, he said.

The stores didn't make much sense for Palm from the beginning, according to Hughes. "This doesn't really surprise me," he said. Usually, manufacturers open their own stores when their retail distribution strategy isn't working, he said. But Palm has reported a string of quarterly losses and may have decided to close the stores and boost its efforts to sell through other retail outlets as a way to cut costs.

Palm said the store closings come as the company continues to focus on core business initiatives, consolidating resources behind fewer programs. For a similar reason, it cancelled its controversial smartphone companion product, the Foleo, that was scheduled for release in the middle of 2007.

Palm has struggled over the past couple of years as the smartphone market grows increasingly crowded, and as it tries to phase out its PDA (personal digital assistant) business. The company is building a new Linux-based operating system that is scheduled to be released at the end of this year, with commercial products hitting the market shortly after. The software, which many thought would hit the market at the end of last year, will compete with Google's Android Linux-based smartphone operating system. Phones based on Android are expected to ship starting in the second half of this year.

Windows Home Server vulnerable to critical bug, too

2008-01-28T01:20:00.000-08:00

Microsoft revises January security bulletin again to add WHS to risk list

For the second time in three days, Microsoft Corp. added another product to the list of those vulnerable to a critical bug patched nearly three weeks ago.

Windows Home Server, the company's newest operating system, is also at risk to the vulnerabilities spelled out by the MS08-001 security bulletin, according to a Friday update. The advisory, first issued Jan. 8 -- and fingered then by researchers as the month's most pressing -- was revised Wednesday, when Microsoft announced that Windows Small Business Server was at risk. Neither Windows Home Server or Small Business Server had been among the versions called out by the original bulletin.

"Supported editions of Windows Small Business Server 2003 and Windows Home Server contain the same affected code as Windows Server 2003," Microsoft said in the revised notice. "[However] Windows Small Business Server and Windows Home Server configurations have IGMP [(Internet Group Management Protocol] enabled by default and will result in a greater exposure to the same vulnerability."

The initial bulletin had pegged the threat to Windows Server 2003 as "Important," the second highest rating in Microsoft's four-step scoring system. But it was later rated as "Critical" for Windows Home Server and Small Business Server.

According to Microsoft, the vulnerability can be exploited by sending malicious data packets to unsuspecting users, who could find their PCs infected with malware or under the control of others. Within 10 days of Microsoft posting its first patches, researchers had produced proof-of-concept exploits, claiming that the company had overestimated the difficulty in crafting attack code.

"It's apparently possible to create a reliable exploit for this issue," agreed Symantec Corp. on Jan. 18.

Windows Home Server owners have been offered the patch via the software's update mechanism, Microsoft said in the revised bulletin. "Customers should apply the update to remain secure," it urged.

Microsoft did not say why it had not identified Windows Home Server or Small Business Server as vulnerable and requiring repair when it first issued updates earlier this month.

Apple's MacBook Air Laptop: First Lab Tests

2008-01-28T01:17:00.000-08:00

Apple's new laptop is thin and light, but not particularly fast in Macworld's preliminary testing.

It was clear from the moment the MacBook Air was unveiled at Macworld Expo that it was a Mac laptop unlike any we've seen recently, if ever.

In exchange for dramatically lighter weight and an extremely thin profile, Apple has definitely compromised when it comes to the MacBook Air's tech specs. And the results of Macworld Lab's preliminary tests of the MacBook Air reflect those compromises.

For this first set of tests, we used a default-configuration MacBook Air powered by a 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with a 4200 rpm, 1.8-inch 80GB parallel ATA hard drive. The MacBook Air's processor clock speed lags well behind current MacBook (2.0GHz or 2.2GHz) and MacBook Pro (2.2GHz, 2.4GHz, and 2.6GHz) models, and its hard drive is also slower than those used in the other models.

Slower

Our tests reveal that the slower processor and disk make the MacBook Air quite a bit slower than the other portables in Apple's product line. The MacBook Air was also outpaced in our tests by the its closest desktop cousin, the ultra-compact 1.83GHz Mac mini Core 2 Duo.

Although none of our test results seem horribly out of whack with what one might expect from the MacBook Air given its modest specs, it's necessary to provide some caution for these preliminary numbers. Testing a brand-new piece of Apple hardware is always a challenge, usually introducing wrinkles into our test procedures that require us to carefully plot out the best way to test a system.

In the case of the MacBook Air, we discovered that one of our base assumptions--a series of tests involving startup and data loading over an ethernet network--might be an issue with this system, which can connect to wired ethernet networks only via a $29 add-on USB adapter.

We've tested the system with and without the adapter, and will continue to investigate any effects the MacBook Air's unique networking characteristics might have on our tests.

Similarly, one of our base tests-encoding an H.264 movie from DVD using HandBrake--requires the use of an optical drive. For this test, we used Apple's optional $99 USB SuperDrive. And now that a Mac exists with no built-in ethernet or optical drive, we'll have to re-evaluate our use of those tests when we build the next update to our Speedmark test suite.

More Testing

In the meantime, keep in mind that we will continue to test the MacBook Air as well as reference systems, and as a result future test scores for these systems may vary from what's reported here.

Speaking of Speedmark, the MacBook Air's score of 123 is the lowest score we've recorded for any Intel-based Mac laptop, but it does handily beat our PowerPC laptop reference system, the 1.67Ghz 15-inch PowerBook G4.

Of course, the MacBook Air's appeal is not about blazing speeds, but about small size and weight. However, these tests do give some indication about what level of performance users will have to give up if they've decided to forego a MacBook or MacBook Pro for the thin embrace of the MacBook Air.

There's a whole lot more MacBook Air coverage coming from Macworld.com. Stay tuned in the coming days for more hands-on commentary, lab testing, and a full review of both the base model and--when it arrives in our Lab--the high-end 1.8GHz model powered by the 64GB solid-state drive.

OneCare upgrade brings headaches

2008-01-12T02:25:00.001-08:00

Since November, Microsoft has been slowly rolling out an update to its Windows Live OneCare security software. Although the update was designed to bring in new features, such as the ability to monitor the health of multiple PCs, some say the new version has brought only headaches.
Robert Webb of North Carolina said he started having problems from the moment his software was upgraded in early December.
"My main problem has been that OneCare does not always start when the computer is booted," Webb said in an e-mail interview. "It has to be manually started."
Microsoft's online forums are buzzing with a host of complaints about the new version, with many people unable to get the software to work.
Microsoft confirmed that it is working on that problem.
"We are aware that some users are experiencing an issue with Windows Live OneCare when they start up the service after installing (version) 2.0," Microsoft said in a statement to CNET News.com. "The issue is being worked on and currently affects a very limited number of customers (about 1 percent of the install base), each of whom we thank for their patience."
In an interview Thursday, Microsoft lead product manager Larry Brennan said that, in total, the problems aren't causing a significant disparity compared with users' experience with the older version.
"We do monitor the overall status of the service," he said. "We can see that the servicing statistics for 2.0 are comparable to the servicing statistics for (version) 1.6."
Brennan touted the new features, such as automated printer sharing and centralized backup, as key improvements and said that with any upgrade, there are bound too be some people who have problems. Brennan said Microsoft is about halfway through migrating OneCare users to version 2.0 and that the company is continuing to automatically upgrade customers, despite the complaints.
OneCare, which was introduced in May 2006, is Microsoft's first entry in the consumer antivirus software business and competes with consumer software from Symantec, McAfee, and others.
Stephen Boots, the Microsoft Most Valued Professional who moderates the OneCare forum, has been trying to address many of the issues online, but has been suggesting those with other issues contact Microsoft's customer care.
"There were too many problems with the v2 upgrade and too many remain now," Boots wrote in a post on Friday.
For Webb, the problems have shifted his OneCare experience from positive to negative.
"I liked OneCare before these problems appeared because it was hassle free and not a resource hog," said Webb, who has been using the program for a year and a half and renewed his paid subscription last July.
Update: A Microsoft representative said on Friday that the company is planning to push out an update to version 2.0 on January 31 that it hopes will fix many of the problems that users have been encountering.

Head over heels for tomorrow's personal robots

2008-01-12T02:22:00.000-08:00

If you never thought you could own a companion robot--one that could chat with you, snuggle when you're glum, rub up against you for attention, and coo when you stroke it--think again.

The recent launch of Pleo, a dinosaur "life form" from Emeryville, Calif.-based Ugobe is one of the more high-profile releases of a companion robot to date. And its $350 price may be just low enough to lure a mainstream audience.
But this is just the beginning.
In fact, suggests a group of industry insiders, Pleo is likely to be a jumping-off point for ubiquitous, inexpensive robots with capabilities far beyond what is possible today, including offering people a level of empathetic companionship that has so far been strictly the province of science fiction.
And while robots like Pleo may be seen--in spite of their makers' marketing plans--as toys, the very meaning of the term "toys" could be up for a major reinterpretation.
"Pretty soon, they're not going to be called 'toys' anymore, or they'll redefine what 'toys' mean," said David Hanson, the founder and chief scientist of Hanson Robotics. His Richardson, Texas-based company specializes in what it calls "conversation character robots," and its Zeno robot-boy can recognize, understand, and respond to human facial features.
"These devices are changing toys into a much more flexible information-processing medium…a revolutionary character medium (that is) becoming increasingly aware of humans," Hanson said.
Personal robotics is a wide-open field, and one that ABI Research analyst Philip Solis recently estimated will be worth $15 billion annually by 2015. But the term "personal robotics," as Solis defines it, encompasses and is currently dominated by devices like iRobot's Roomba vacuum cleaners. Roombas, while extremely handy, are hardly companions.
If you watch someone play with the Pleo, however, you can quickly see why an empathetic robot--one that responds to human input, makes pet-like noises, and appears to be eager to interact--is desirable and has a vast amount of room to evolve.
That's the territory where companies like Hanson Robotics, WowWee, and Ugobe are planting their flags. They are hoping to capture significant portions of the business by bringing to market the types of robot toys and companions that haven't been seen before.
"Pretty soon, they're not going to be called 'toys' anymore, or they'll redefine what 'toys' mean."
--David Hanson,chief scientist,Hanson Robotics
A much bigger name, Sony, attempted to do the same back in 1999 with the release of its famed Aibo robot dog. Sony made great strides in advancing the concept of realistic pet-like companions. But Aibo's price was steep--$2,000--and it was never a commercial hit.
The much-smaller robotics companies like Hanson, WowWee, and Ugobe are hoping that by releasing products in the $200 and $300 range they can win over previously interested but uncommitted customers.
One of the biggest driving forces behind the market's expansion--which will likely take at least a few more years to bear truly impressive fruit--will be the tumbling of component prices that will lead to lower price tags on the products, a number of industry insiders said.
That's especially true when it comes to the processors--such as the ARM7 and ARM9 used in many of these devices--and the cameras that enable these robots to be both intelligent and interactive.
The prices of camera controllers and other components are dropping quickly, said Hanson. "I would say definitely by 2010, 2011, 2012, we'll see these kinds of robots go below the $200 price range."
Others agree.
"It's beginning to really take off right now," said Bob Christopher, Ugobe's CEO. "2008 is going to be a big catalyst for robotics...So you have this kind of convergence happening in the market demand and the ability to meet that."
By 2010, Christopher said, the market will likely be rife with robots with more highly advanced feedback systems that can more readily react to people.
"Applications that draw us in emotionally will be more evident in personal robotics," Christopher said. "And the price points will be more affordable in (building-block) technologies that will allow these robots to be more feature rich."
Of course, not everyone buys the argument that the price tags will tumble in the next few years.
In fact, said, Davin Sufer, chief technology officer of San Diego-based WowWee, the overall cost of materials is actually going up.
"If you look at the costs of metals and plastics, (they're going up) because of the cost of petroleum," Sufer said. "Overall, I don't see that downward trend."
Sufer acknowledged that the cost of electronic components is likely to drop but that this will be offset by the higher costs of the metals and plastics. He predicted that prices will stay in the range they are today, with high-end personal robots--albeit ones much more technologically advanced than today--still costing in the $300 range

Bug Labs: Build your own dream gadget

2008-01-10T02:53:00.000-08:00

Snap up to four modules onto the BugBase, and you've got your own custom gadget.(Credit: Bug Labs)
It's the rare product that excites CNET editors across all categories. The Bug Labs platform, which has been the subject of several conversations around the CNET booth, is one such rarity.
Described as "the Lego of gadgets" by Webware's Rafe Needleman, the Bug Labs platform starts with a minicomputer, the Bug Base, onto which you can snap multiple modules, such as a digital camera or an LCD screen. You can then program your own software to run your custom gadget or download software others have written from the Bug Labs site. Need a GPS-enabled digital camera that will automatically upload your images to Flickr? With the Bug Labs platform, you can build one.
Aside from being eager to tinker with the product, we're thrilled to see such an innovative approach to consumer electronics. The Bug Platform is totally open source, highly configurable, and designed to go wherever consumers' imaginations take them. Plus, the company has a unique "early adopter" pricing scheme, in which the price is lower during the first 60 days; this is a great way to encourage people to start developing software to share.

Apple unleashes new Xserve, Mac Pro

2008-01-09T03:23:00.000-08:00

Just a week before Macworld, Apple has unveiled a Mac Pro with eight processor cores and a new system architecture. Apple said its two Intel 45-nanometer Quad-Core Xeon processors running up to 3.2GHz will double the power of its predecessor.

The new Mac will possess a 1600MHz front-side bus and up to 32GB of 800MHz memory. It comes with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card with 256MB of video memory.

The standard 8-core Mac Pro will cost $2,799.

Credit: Apple

Microsoft admits Office 2003 'mistake'

2008-01-09T03:22:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has acknowledged it made a mistake over a security advisory it released concerning Office 2003.

The advisory, posted in December, told users that dozens of file formats had been blocked in the latest service pack for Office 2003--Service Pack 3 (SP3)--because they were insecure.

It provided a workaround for users who wanted to unblock the formats, but made the process complicated, requiring changes to the registry which could have made users' PCs inoperable if they were applied incorrectly.

On Friday, Microsoft admitted that the information it had provided was wrong, and that it had underestimated how many users had been affected. It now says that, instead of the file formats themselves being insecure, it is the parsing code that Office 2003 uses to open and save the file types that is less secure.

Speaking to ZDNet.co.uk on Friday, Reed Shaffner, worldwide product manager for Microsoft Office, confirmed that the advisory provided by Microsoft was incorrect, and that manual registry fix which Microsoft had provided had been difficult to implement by end users.

Asked why Microsoft had not made the fix easier to implement, Shaffner said: "We thought it would not impact many users. And the messages we have been receiving are that it hasn't affected many users. But it was a mistake on our part."

Microsoft updated the advisory on Friday evening and included links to four downloadable updates that would unblock the file formats. One update was provided for each of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and CorelDraw file types.

The downloadable updates should prove to be much easier to implement than a manual registry fix, details of which were retained in the updated advisory.

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The software giant also provided four downloadable updates to reblock the file formats.

Shaffner said: "For IT administrators, we recommend that they use the (registry) fix that was there before. For end users, if they frequently use the older formats, this (the downloadable update) is the way." He suggested that if users did not frequently use the older formats, they should apply the update.

David LeBlanc, a senior software development engineer in the Microsoft Office group, added further details to Microsoft's change of direction.

He wrote on Friday in his blog: "We noticed that attackers seemed to be preferentially hitting the parsers for the older formats, and if the great majority of you don't need the older format, it's risk without reward. This was the thinking behind disabling the older formats by default in Office 2007 and eventually Office 2003 SP3. We'll try harder to make enabling older formats much more user-friendly in the future."

It's all about software, says Gates

2008-01-09T03:21:00.000-08:00

newsmaker LAS VEGAS--For years, Bill Gates has been trumpeting software's ascent from the lowly PC to everything from cell phones to home entertainment.

No doubt, that move is already taking place. But it's unclear whether Microsoft's dominance in the computer industry will carry over to new consumer-oriented markets, or whether rivals such as Google and Apple will ultimately gain the upper hand.

In an interview just ahead of his farewell speech Sunday at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Gates spoke to CNET News.com about competitors, the future of DVD, and why all of those seamless connections between digital devices exist only in keynote speeches.

Q: One of the themes, this year and every year, is about how consumers want access to their media wherever they are and on whatever device, seamlessly. It always seems that the seamless piece is what's really hard and where the experience tends to fall short of what we see in demos and keynotes.
Bill Gates: I'd say the most important step is that you use the cloud so that if you have licensed a piece of music, if you buy a new phone, it's there. If you buy a new PC, it's there.

Making the user move things between devices has been one of the downfalls. If we just allow them to be in the cloud, then any time you said who you are, you are connecting up to all of the content, no matter where it came from.

In five years, where will Microsoft need to be in order to have met the challenges from companies like Apple and Google?
Gates: Apple is a competitor and partner we've had for a long time. It was only three years after I started Microsoft that I went over to Apple and did Applesoft Basic for the Apple II and Office for the Mac as a product.

Video: Gates' keynote at CES
Microsoft's chairman discusses the outgoing and incoming digital decades.

But there were a couple of years in there where they were less of a competitor than they are today.
Gates: Well, they were almost dead for a couple of years in there. Yeah, it's a very competitive space. We've got to advance our platform. Windows really succeeded because we had a greater breadth of software available on Windows.

Now, when we think Windows, we think Windows Live, Windows on the phone. We have to keep it as the leading platform. We obviously have a lot of strengths with our development tools and our strengths in the business area. We're doing some breakthrough work in the cloud and with natural user interface.

I love the fact that it is so competitive. Google is ahead in advertising. Apple is ahead in music devices. There's room for us to be successful.

Are there specific things that need to change about the company's products or culture?
Gates: Remember, it's all about software. So why are we talking about those companies? There are very few companies that understand software. The phone is becoming about software, the TV experience is becoming about software. Our bet goes back to the founding of the company--that software is going to be at the center (of things). It really is coming true.

I think the core of who we are and what we do (is) believing in a platform. We're better positioned than anyone. Do we have to continue to work on our advertising scale and our search and some usability things in our music products? You bet. But that all comes off the core of being a company with the best research group, by far, of any software company, and a breadth of talent that everyone is envious of.

Gates: Curtain call for crystal ball

2008-01-09T03:19:00.000-08:00

LAS VEGAS--Bill Gates may be stepping away from full-time work later this year, but he still has a few things he wants to show off.

In his annual Consumer Electronics Show address, the Microsoft chairman demonstrated a slew of fashionable PCs, and touted the role of computing interfaces like speech and touch, as well as announced a partnership with NBC to jointly run the site for the Olympics.

"This is my last (CES) keynote," Gates told the audience, noting that this is the first time since he was 17 that he doesn't have a full-time job at Microsoft. "What do you do on your last day?" he asked.

Gates, who is shifting to part-time work at Microsoft later this year, also used the speech to note that his software company has now shipped 100 million copies of Windows Vista.

He said that getting so many Vista PCs out will make the platform more attractive. "That's a very significant milestone for application development and specialized hardware work."

In a deal finalized just before the keynote, meanwhile, Microsoft has signed on BT Group as the first company to use the Xbox 360 as an IPTV set-top box. Gates announced plans for the game console to act as a set-top box at last year's CES.

BT Vision, which combines gaming and Microsoft's Mediaroom IPTV service, will be available to customers in the middle of 2008, Microsoft said.

Gates' CES address has become an annual tradition, a sort of tech industry State of the Union, though this may well be his last year for some time.

The annual event is Microsoft's opportunity to lay out its vision of where technology is headed and make the case for its approach, as contrasted with that of rivals such as Apple and Sony.

Not all of the products touted by Gates, however, have become smash hits. Past keynote addresses have introduced Tablet PCs and various digital household objects that have yet to become mainstream.

Last year, Gates used his appearance to show, among other things, Windows Home Server.

This year, Gates' most notable gadget is a "mobile navigator" that can be used to point at a person or place, and get more information. The software powering the technology exists within Microsoft's research labs, but Gates doesn't see this device coming to market as a standalone product. Rather, some of these capabilities are likely to find their way into other gadgets, such as cameras and phones.

In the more near-term realm, Microsoft said Samsung will start offering an adapter that lets its flat-screen TVs act as Media Center extenders. That lets the TVs show videos, pictures, and music stored on a Vista PC in another room.

As for PCs, Microsoft plans to show off a new Lamborghini laptop from Asus, as well as Lenovo's new IdeaPad consumer laptop line, which includes a model that uses flash memory rather than a hard drive for storage.

Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET News.com

Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash plays the part
of Gates' Guitar Hero ringer.

Gates also showed off the role that speech and touch will play in the future. Microsoft has a new concept application for its Surface computer that shows how the product can tie into Windows Live services and other devices.

Gates used the tabletop Surface PC to design a custom snowboard and then send the design to his Windows mobile phone. His design included "Bill!" on the underside.

"I've got something that looks pretty good," Gates said.

Ever the fan of speech recognition technology, Gates demonstrated how mobile search can be improved by combining GPS (Global Positioning System) data with Tellme's speech recognition technology.

Entertainment and Devices unit head Robbie Bach joined Gates on stage to talk Xbox and Zune, among other things. On the Xbox front, Microsoft touted a number of statistics, including the fact that it has sold more than 17.7 million consoles, as well as the fact that the Xbox 360 has generated far more sales of games and accessories than rival consoles. Microsoft also has 10 million subscribers to its Xbox Live service.

Microsoft is also touting sales of two recent game releases. Its blockbuster, Halo 3, has sold more than 8.1 million copies since its September launch, while Mass Effect has sold 1.6 million copies in the six weeks since its launch.

2008 CES: More Tech Than You Can Handle

2008-01-05T02:39:00.000-08:00

Las Vegas this week becomes the tech capital of the world as the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show and an estimated 140,000 conventioneers take over Sin City.

This giant tech confab features an estimated 27,000 gadgets that range from a cell-phone-sized projector from Microvision and sleek OLED displays from Samsung, to dueling wireless technologies (WirelessHD and Wireless USB) that aim to eliminate all those wires behind your HDTV.

Pre-show events start tomorrow. The show floor opens Monday.

What's new this year? For one this year's CES is billed as the greenest ever with vendors touting power-saving hard-disk drives to other gadget firms showing off green-designed gear built with a reduced amount of nasty toxins like lead.

Also new will be a strong showing of in-car gadgets that go beyond GPS navigation systems. CES representatives say this year's show will have 250,000 square feet of in-car gadgets.

Goodbye to Bill Gates

It will also be the last time Microsoft's Bill Gates delivers his annual CES keynote addresses. But don't get to teary-eyed. There will be plenty of cool technologies on display to distract anyone from worrying about what Gates' post-CES plans are.

This year's CES will cover nearly 1.85 million square feet of exhibition space that spans across the huge Las Vegas Convention Center, as well as the Sands Expo and Convention Center, as well as the Las Vegas Hilton and Venetian hotels.

Gadget World

There's going to be lots to see at CES. For one, we are interested in Pinnacle Systems' Pinnacle Transfer Video gizmo and whether it lives up to its promise of allowing you to record analog video onto your iPod sans the need for a PC. Pinnacle announced its video capture device early and will be showing it for the first time at CES.

Another pre-announced CES gadget we're interested in seeing in Vegas is Sling Media's SlingPlayer Mobile software for the BlackBerry. The software is supposed to allow you to watch live TV streamed from any Slingbox model to a 3G wireless or Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerry smartphone.

Motorola also pre-announced one of its CES gadgets as well. It will show its Motorola DH01 portable television that allows you to watch broadcast TV on a 4.3-inch screen and also functions as a digital video recorder. Eat your heart out TiVo.

Notebooks Get Flashy for Vegas

CES will feature laptops with more pizzazz and entertainment features. Bill Gates at his Sunday night keynote kicking off CES will reportedly be holding a PC "fashion show" with celebrity judge Nigel Barker of "America's Next Top Model" to see which notebook maker has the snazziest design.

Expect to see a slew of other notebooks featured at CES outfitted with high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) ports. These ports help turn notebooks into quasi-home theater components allowing you to connect say a notebook's Blu-ray disc drive to a HDTV.

On the other end of the notebook spectrum, look for ultraportables and UMPCs (ultra-mobile PCs) to have a significant presence CES as well. Vendors will show off tiny new notebooks that are faster and cheaper, and able to eke out better battery life.

The Wide World of Monitors

2007-12-31T23:13:00.001-08:00

Everyone needs a good monitor (or two) to get the most out of a PC. But finding the right model depends on several factors: what applications you use, how much room you have on your desk, the amount of on-screen real estate you need, and, of course, how much you can afford to spend. For many people, the wide-screen display wins, and bigger is better.

But that's not the whole story. Though our discussion covers such critical factors in the purchase decision as screen size and native resolution, it's still very important to consider a monitor's ability (or lack thereof) to render sharp text and vibrant images, as well as—for ergonomics--the range of physical adjustments that it lets you make, from basic tilt-and-swivel maneuverability to height and pivot options (some higher-end displays rotate 90 degrees to portrait orientation).

We tested 17 new midrange-priced wide-screen LCDs in three size categories that are growing in popularity: 19 inches, 20 or 22 inches, and 25.5 to 28 inches. The Top 5 charts you'll find here represent the best in each category. We've also updated our Best Buy charts for other popular flat-panel sizes, including standard-aspect 19-inch models plus 23- to 24-inch and 30-inch wide-screen units.

As always, we subjected the new monitors to the PC World Test Center's barrage of viewing tests. A panel of six judges rates how well each monitor displays 11 text and graphics images at its native resolution. Some of the test images are from DisplayMate for Windows, an industry-standard display evaluation and diagnostics program. We also assess motion using a scripted demo from the game Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and DVD video playback of Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace. See "How We Test Monitors" for full details of how we test and rank LCDs in key areas such as features, performance, and design.

Malware Evolving Too Fast for Antivirus Apps

2007-12-31T23:12:00.001-08:00

Bad guys use sophisticated testing to create malware that can evade even the best security programs.

If you think that the latest security suites afford complete protection
against malware attacks, think again. Today's for-profit malware
pushers use dedicated test labs and other increasingly professional
techniques to improve their chances of infecting your computer. And the
techniques they employ to outpace security software makers appear to be
working.

Make no mistake--a good security program can go a long way toward keeping you in control of your system. But PC World's recent tests of security suites found that new malware easily evaded the applications. In our tests of how well security software blocks unknown malicious programs, the best performer detected only one in four new malware samples. In contrast, February 2007 results from similar heuristics testing showed that the best utilities caught about half of new samples.

Window of Opportunity Open

"In this industry, unlike others, we have an antagonist we have to deal
with, someone we're constantly battling back and forth with," says Hiep
Dang, director of antimalware research with McAfee's Avert Labs. "The bad guys have the element of surprise."

Even just a 12-hour head start can translate into thousands of infected PCs,
and malware authors have long tested their programs against antivirus
applications to make sure they get that critical jump on the
opposition. VirusTotal.com and similar Web sites, which allow security researchers and consumers to submit a questionable file and have it scanned by more than 30 different antivirus engines, have unfortunately made the testing easier for malware writers: Crooks can continue to tweak their new malware projects until VirusTotal or one of the other new multilanguage sites shows that the rogue application can slip past the majority of
antivirus programs.

Minimize Your Vista-Related Hardware Hassles

2007-12-28T01:11:00.001-08:00

Ease your move to the new OS with these tips; a fan to help your PC beat the summer heat.

When windows XP launched, some PCs and peripherals wouldn't work
with the new OS because device drivers had not yet been written. The
same is true for Vista.
Whether you plan to install Vista on your current PC, or to buy a
Vista-equipped system to use with your existing peripherals, these tips
will help smooth the transition.

Study up beforehand:
To run the bare-bones Vista Home Basic, Microsoft recommends a CPU
running at 1 GHz or faster, plus 512MB of RAM and 15GB of hard-drive
space. Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate editions with the new Aero
environment require at least 1GB of RAM, and for systems without
integrated graphics, a DirectX 9-capable graphics processor with 128MB
of its own RAM, DirectX 9, and a few other features. Read Microsoft's Vista System Requirements.

Microsoft's Vista Upgrade Advisor
scans your PC to determine which editions of Vista will run on it, and
which of its hardware components are incompatible with Vista. When I
ran Upgrade Advisor on my year-old machine, the program found no
compatibility problems--but it did list ten components for which it had
no data, including the PC's USB port. You can also check Microsoft's Hardware Compatibility List, or the Vista hardware list on IeXwiki. Need to identify what components are in your system? The free Belarc Advisor utility will quickly scan your PC and identify all its hardware.

If
Vista doesn't support one of your PC's components, look for updated
Vista drivers on the vendor's Web site. If you can't find them, the
drivers may still be in development--so ask the company about it. RadarSync, a device driver update service, has created a list of links to Vista drivers.

After
you have identified which drivers lack Vista equivalents, copy the XP
versions to a CD or anyplace you can easily access them once you've
installed Vista. Make sure you have your network drivers handy so you
can go online and download other device drivers and updates.

Be prepared for trouble:
Back up your old XP installation to a second hard drive or to a
different partition on your main drive so you can revert to XP if
something goes wrong with Vista. (What can go wrong? One possibility: A
PC World editor found that, after installing Vista on his home
PC, he could no longer log in to the office network because no Vista
version of the Cisco VPN client existed.) As an alternative to doing a
complete backup on a separate hard drive, use a drive-image program
such as the $40 Acronis True Image 10 to burn an image of your XP installation onto recordable DVDs.

Or set up your PC to dual-boot. Find instructions
on installing both XP and Vista on a dual-boot PC.

Once you've installed Vista, open Device Manager to check for problems: Right-click the Computer icon and choose Manage, Device Manager.
Nonfunctioning devices are flagged with an exclamation point in a
yellow triangle (click on thumbnail image at left to see an example).
If Windows can't find a driver, it may list the device as 'Unknown
Device' under 'Other devices'. HunterSoft's free Unknown Device Identifier utility helps you find the name of the mystery hardware.

Apple to offer Fox movie rentals

2007-12-27T21:53:00.001-08:00

Apple and News Corp. have signed an agreement to offer Twentieth Century Fox movies for rent through the iTunes Music Store,
the Financial Times reported Thursday.

Users would be able to download the latest Twentieth Century Fox movies from iTunes and view them for a limited time, the
Financial Times reported, citing "a person familiar with the situation."

As
part of the agreement, Twentieth Century Fox will use Apple's FairPlay
digital rights management technology in future DVD releases, marking
the first time someone other than Apple has used the technology, the
report said. Using this technology would allow users to copy movies
from a DVD onto an iPod, it said.

The deal between Apple and Twentieth Century Fox will "likely" be announced on January 14 at the Macworld conference, the
Financial Times said.

Besides
Twentieth Century Fox, Apple is holding similar talks about online
movie rentals and FairPlay with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount
and Warner Bros., the Financial Times said.

Apple, which saw its share price top $200 for the first time on Wednesday, currently offers some movies from Walt Disney and
other studios on iTunes, but these are only available for purchase, not for rent.

Offbeat Laptop Bags

2007-12-18T19:50:00.000-08:00

A bullet-resistant backpack? But of course. Here's a guide to some offbeat laptop bags.

Laptop bags may seem boring to some. But the reality is, some new and veteran models are anything but. This week: a look at some of the more interesting laptop bags.

The Bullet-Resistant Backpack

Yes, you read that right: a bullet-resistant backpack. From MJ Safety Solutions, the backpack is undoubtedly the most unusual bag I've seen recently.

After the tragedies of Columbine and other school shootings, the $195 backpack's inventors came up with this product, designed for students and anyone who fears gun or knife violence. There are two models, both with padded computer compartments. The makers claim that the bullet and knife protection panel adds only 20 ounces to the backpack's weight. Go to Traveler 2.0 for a video demonstration.

The Solar-Powered Bag

Here's something for the Al Gore on your holiday list: a backpack with solar panels that can charge handheld devices (but not laptops).

The Voltaic solar bags include several backpack models ($199 to $249) and a messenger-style bag ($229). Each contains three waterproof solar panels and delivers 4 watts of solar power. One hour in direct sun will power over three hours of iPod play time, the company claims.

The bags also include a lithium-ion battery pack, which stores surplus power so it's there when you need it. You can also charge the battery pack using an AC adaptor. Each bag comes with 11 adaptors for popular cell phones and other devices. And the company says the bags are primarily made of--Al Gore, are you sitting down?--recycled soda bottles. The three panels add a total of 12 ounces to each bag.

The Pulp Fiction Bag

For the ladies, MobileEdge sells something cloyingly called the Cutebug laptop bag ($90). The cool thing about these messenger-style bags: They feature vintage pulp fiction-inspired designs. The "Bright Promises" bag holds laptops with up to a 15.4-inch screen, while the "Kisses and More Kisses" bag holds laptops with up to a 14.1-inch screen.

Other Options

Interested in more-conventional laptop bags? I can recommend the following:

CODi Sling-Pak ($148). Stylish, single-strap backpack features a built-in padded sleeve. The company says the bag protects laptops with up to 15.4-inch screens--but laptops of that size protrude outside the protected compartment, so I'd recommend this for owners of 14-inch and smaller models instead.
Briggs & Riley 20" Carry-On Computer Upright ($325). I love Briggs & Riley bags for their durability and lifetime guarantees. This wheeled bag, which I've used and recommend, includes a laptop compartment plus space for one or two days' worth of clothing and toiletries.
Waterfield Design's Cargo Bag ($169 to $249; prices vary based on design choices). For years, I've been a fan of this San Francisco-based company's messenger-style bag, which you can configure with an airplane seatbelt closure. Padded laptop sleeves cost $38 to $55 extra.

Desktops: Penryn PC Takes Power Prize

2007-12-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

The first desktop we've tested with Intel's new Penryn CPU tops our chart.

Richard Jantz

Friday, November 30, 2007 2:00 PM PST

The first computer we've tested that features Intel's new high-end Penryn processor and a well-designed small-form-factor PC from HP are the highlights of this month's batch of power systems.

CyberPower's Power Infinity Pro, which leads our Top 5 Power Desktops chart, is equipped with Intel's recently released 3-GHz QX9650 Core 2 Extreme CPU, code-named Penryn. Unlike existing Core 2 chips that the company produces using a 65-nanometer manufacturing process, Penryn CPUs such as the QX9650 are fabricated in a 45nm process that packs more transistors--in effect, more processing power--into the same amount of space on a chip.

We pitted the Power Infinity Pro against power desktops that use Intel's previous high-end CPU, the 3-GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6850: HP's Blackbird 002 LCi, the third-ranked CyberPower Infinity Pro, Polywell's P3503-3DT, and War Machine's M1 Elite. Running our WorldBench 6 Beta 2 and graphics tests, we compared the Power Infinity Pro's scores against the scores that these other systems earned in imaging, 3D rendering, video encoding, and gaming.

The results showed an average performance gain of just 8.5 percent in imaging, 12.5 percent in 3D rendering, 8.5 percent in video encoding, and 12.5 percent in gaming. Granted, those aren't quite the percentages that Intel claims, but they still show a definite performance boost.

One possible explanation for these results is that the applications in our WorldBench test suite are not yet optimized to take advantage of Penryn's new instruction set, called Streaming Single Instruction, Multiple Data Extensions 4 (SSE4), which can greatly speed up tasks such as some key operations in video encoding in an SSE4-enabled app. (Intel's in-house benchmarks, and the demonstrations that we saw at last fall's Intel Developer Forum, back up those claims for SSE4.)

Microsoft Lets Everyone Try Windows XP SP3

2007-12-18T19:39:00.000-08:00

Microsoft says it will post the release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 3 to its download site tonight.

Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

Tuesday, December 18, 2007 4:00 PM PST

Microsoft Corp. said today that it would post the release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 3 to its download site tonight.

The move marks the first opportunity for all users of the six-year-old operating system to try out its final upgrade. Previously, several thousand users were given access to test builds of SP3 only by Microsoft's invitation.

According to a company spokeswoman, the version that debuts today, dubbed a "release candidate" to note progress from earlier betas, will be available from the Microsoft Download Center. She was unable, however, to say when the service pack would post to Windows Update so users can download and install it with the company's update service.

The final version of Windows XP SP3 remains slated for delivery sometime in the first half of 2008, the spokeswoman said. She also warned off casual users from trying the preview. "As this is a release candidate, we strongly encourage only those who are comfortable installing prerelease code to download Windows XP SP3," she said.

The Significance of SP3

Recently, Microsoft has been downplaying the significance of Windows XP SP3. In a white paper posted to its Web site last week, and also Tuesday, the company praised Windows Vista at XP's expense, reminding users that "Vista provides the most advanced security and management capabilities of any Windows operating system."

"Windows XP SP3 does not bring significant portions of Windows Vista functionality to Windows XP," the spokeswoman said.

According to the white paper, the Download Center version of XP SP3 will weigh in at about 580MB; the version downloaded and installed via Windows Update, however, will be much smaller, typically around 70MB.

Windows XP debuted in October 2001 and was last updated as SP2 in August 2004; SP3 will be the final major upgrade of the operating system.

Dell’s new range of laptops to meet user’s specific requirements

2007-12-18T03:25:00.000-08:00

Dell, along with the launch, also unveiled its new consumer marketing campaign assuring its users to deliver personalized devices offering a great digital experience, almost anywhere around the globe.
The latest PCs introduced are:
Inspiron 530, 530s and 531, 531s desktops
Inspiron 1720, 1721 (17-inch), Inspiron 1520 and 1521 (15.4-inch), Inspiron 1420 (14.1 inch) notebooks
XPS M1330 (13.3-inch) notebook
Dell SE198WFP 19-inch and Dell 2407WFP-HC 24-inch widescreen flat panel displays
“We’ve packed these new Inspiron and XPS systems with features like mobile broadband, widescreen displays and colors choices to help customers experience the high definition lifestyle they seek,” said Alex Gruzen, senior vice president for Dell Consumer Products. “Customers also tell us they want great design and performance and we have responded with the new XPS M1330, the world’s thinnest 13-inch notebook.”
According to consumer’s needs, the new desktops and notebooks features World-class widescreen displays allowing users to watch movies, sharing photos, and even shopping on the Internet. Furthermore, the dell products provide built-in optional mobile broadband that offers seamless wireless connectivity.
“Getting to know customers is what we do best,” said Zita Cassizzi, vice president of Dell’s consumer marketing. “Taking their feedback, putting it to work, and delivering the devices consumers want most is reflected in these new products. As our new campaign says: Yours is Here.”
Moreover, a new service has been announced which not only protects music, photos and other files but also can be shared with friends and family, called Dell Online Backup. This service gives 12 months of complimentary online storage space for every Inspiron (up to 3 GB) and XPS product (up to 10 GB). In addition, DataSafe internal backup, a solution that partners dual hard drive with back-up and restore software can be configured on Dell desktops. This ensures the safety and security of personal data.
Dell also offers PC TuneUp to reduce fewer maintenance hassles and ensures more time for fun and productivity. The service can automatically fix many issues or produce a report that pinpoints what needs to be done to maintain peak system performance.
A pre-installed Dell Support Center helps consumer quickly locate system information, self-help tools, FAQs and assistance from Dell by one-click. It also features Dell-developed applications that monitors and pinpoint system issues.
Dell has initiated a program ‘Plant a Tree for Me’ with the new range of products committing to environmental responsibilities as a cornerstone of its global business.

AMD Tailors Latest Chipset for Mobile Computers.

2007-12-18T03:19:00.000-08:00

AMD Tailors Latest Chipset for Mobile Computers.AMD Launches M690 Core-Logic Family

Advanced Micro Devices has unveiled a lineup of AMD M690 core-logic sets which derive from the company’s recently announced AMD 690-series chipsets. The world’s second largest manufacturer of x86 central processing units (CPUs) promises that notebooks based on the M690 will feature longer battery life amid improved graphics performance at an affordable price-point.
“AMD CPU and GPU technologies work in tandem to deliver increased battery life for mobile workers and consumers who demand a superior graphics and multimedia experience wherever the road takes them,” said Phil Eisler, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD chipset division.
Technically, AMD M690 chipsets are similar to the desktop AMD 690 core-logic family that combines that combines AMD 690 north bridge with SB600 input/output controller. Currently AMD offers three versions of the core-logic: AMD M690, AMD M690T and AMD M690V. The AMD M690 features integrated DVI/HDMI output, the M690T features DVI/HDMI and additional memory buffer (that AMD calls Display Cache). while the M690V lacks both aforementioned capabilities as well as external PCI Express x16 port. The M690-series also feature a series of power-saving mechanisms.
The AMD M690 north bridges, which are compatible with AMD Turion 64 X2 processors that use HyperTransport bus, feature built-in Radeon X1250 graphics core (Radeon X700 graphics engine with 4 pixel processors, 400MHz clock-speed, DirectX 9 shader model 2.0 support with 3Dc technology); two independent display controllers allowing to plug-in a DVI/HDMI device, a TV and a D-Sub device (e.g., CRT monitor); as well as a PCI Express x4 controller. The SB600 south bridge, which has been available on the market for nearly a year from now, supports four Serial ATA-300 ports with RAID capability, Parallel ATA, ten USB 2.0 ports, PCI interface, high definition 7.1 “Azalia” audio, and so on.
According to AMD, the Display Cache technology incorporated into AMD M690T chipset can extend battery life by up to 30 minutes over previous AMD mobile technologies since it allows the CPU to operate in low-power mode without accessing system memory.
Notebooks based upon the AMD M690 and AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core mobile technology will be available in designs from leading computer manufacturers including Asustek Computer, HP and Fujitsu Siemens Computing.