Intel’s Atom More Expensive Than Cortex A9

Software Issues Plague ARM Servers

PC World is reporting software issues are hurting the ARM Processors and may inhibit it from being a serious contender to x86 Processors.  Dell Computer started testing some of the processors in low-end servers to appease some of their larger clients.  It appears that these companies were interested in the low power and density in data centers.

Dell’s General Manager of Server Platforms stated “he had major concerns about the weak software ecosystem surrounding ARM. He said that there are lots of advantages from the architecture even if it means  porting your code over to that new instruction set and maintaining two different software stacks. But he said that there are time and cost issues associated with porting software from x86 to ARM.”  Read More….

Intel B3 Sandy Bridge On Sales

Hackers Go After WordPress

Hacker Writes Trojan For Apple’s Mac

As Apple’s popularity continues to increase, so too does the malicious interest of hackers in their famed products. Researchers at Sophos say they’ve uncovered a new Trojan horse program written for the Mac.

It’s called the BlackHole RAT (the RAT part is for “remote access Trojan”) and it’s pretty easy to find online in hacking forums, according to Chet Wisniewski a researcher with antivirus vendor Sophos. There’s even a YouTube video demo of the program that details what its capable of doing.

Sophos hasn’t seen the Trojan used in any online attacks -it’s more a bare-bones, proof-of-concept beta program right now – but the software is pretty easy to use, and if a criminal could find a way to get a Mac user to install it, or write attack code that would silently install it on the Mac, it would give him remote control of the hacked machine. Read More….

Samsung Gains On Intel

Globally semiconductor revenue is expected to increase this year, with Samsung gaining noticeable ground on top semiconductor company Intel in market share, Gartner said in a study released Wednesday.

Revenue is expected to reach a “landmark” US$300.3 billion in 2010, up 31.5% from 2009, according to preliminary results released by Gartner. The semiconductor market has been rebounding after the worldwide recession curtailed chip revenue in 2009, when year-over-year revenue declined by 10%.

As the economy stabilized this year, semiconductors manufacturers quickly added capacity to meet the growing demand of parts from system makers. But semiconductor demand started weakening again starting in the third quarter this year, Gartner said.  Read More……

Apple Previews New Operating System

Apple today released a preview version of Mac OS X 10.7, also known as  Lion, to developers, who can download the new operating system from the Mac App Store.

The preview is developers’ first look at the upgrade scheduled to reach consumers sometime this summer.

Included in the preview, and to be bundled with the operating system when it ships, is Lion Server, Apple’s new server software. One analyst saw that move as an admission by Apple that it hasn’t been able to make inroads into the corporate server market.

“They’ve recognized they’re not going to break into the data center,” said Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research. “They’re admitting that what server sales they’ve made in the past have been to very small businesses.”

Currently, Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server is sold separately from the general-purpose edition for $499.

Late last year, Apple killed its Xserve line of rack servers, halting sales of the hardware on Jan. 31, 2011. Instead, Apple now steers customers toward Mac Pro and Mac Mini systems with Leopard Server pre-installed.  The bundling of Lion Server with Mac OS X 10.7 will save customers hundreds of dollars, said Gottheil, assuming Apple sticks to its traditional $129 price point for Lion next summer.

“A very small server should cost about $700 [this summer], not the $1,000 [a server-equipped Mac Mini] costs now,” said Gottheil.

Read more…..

Windows 7 SP 1 Released Into The Wild

As we have stated in the past, Microsoft officially rolled out the final release of Windows 7 yesterday to the general public. 

Microsoft says Windows 7 SP1 includes all the previous security, performance and stability updates, as well as some major improvements to features and services to make Windows 7 perform even better. Microsoft advised users to use the regular Windows update process, although manual download will probably be the faster way to go.  Read More……

Acer Returning To Server Market In U.S.

Acer, the No. 4 PC maker in this country, has released a line of servers and storage products for the United States market.

The launch marks the company’s return, or reinvestment, in the U.S. as a server vendor. Acer sells consumer PCs and related devices under its own name, as well under Gateway, eMachines, and Packard Bell brands.

It had previously sold servers in the U.S., but it let that business dwindle over the last few years. The company said it has made a major investment in this market.

It said it has expanded its support and service capabilities, and will manufacturer its server products in the U.S. through third-party makers.

“I want to make sure that we can we build very, very quickly and deliver much faster than everyone else,” said Todd Mottershead, senior manager for servers and storage at Acer.

IDC ranked Acer No. 3 worldwide PC shipments in the fourth quarter of 2010, following Hewlett Packard and Dell. In the U.S., Acer is the fourth largest vendor; HP has 28.6% of the U.S. market; Dell about 22%; Toshiba, about 10%; and Acer 9%.

Acer has been selling servers outside the U.S.

For its U.S. reintroduction, Acer has released a tower rack, blade system, and systems especially designed for cloud computing, all with a number of configurations, as well as network attached storage products. Prices range from $721 for a tower to $10,499, for storage. Acer will be selling through channel partners. Read More…..

Support Calls To Help Desks Are On The Rise

At a time when technology is supposed to be getting simpler, less complex and easier to manage, more people are calling help desks for assistance than ever before, according to a new report. That’s one of the findings that HDI, formerly known as the Help Desk Institute, revealed in its recently released 2010 study of help desk trends.

What HDI found is that the number of incidents reported to help desks via chat, e-mail, telephone, self-help systems, social media, the Web and walk-ins is rising, with 67% of all help desk operations experiencing increases in 2010. That’s roughly the same percentage who reported an increase in 2009.

In recent years, many organizations have moved to centralize their help desk operations and establish a single point of contact for workers, said Roy Atkinson, an analyst at HDI, whose members represent a help desk community of about 50,000 people.

Those centralization efforts have improved incident data collection, which helps to explain the spike in reports. Moreover, creating a single point of contact, and offering multiple ways for people to reach the help desk, encourages users to seek assistance, Atkinson said.

While centralization and better record-keeping may explain much of the increase in reported calls, it doesn’t completely explain it. Atkinson said another part of the explanation could be the fact that IT complexity is actually increasing, especially as users seek to connect multiple devices, including mobile phones, tablets and laptops to corporate networks. Read More…….

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