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Windows Malware Hides In iOS App
Windows malware slipped past Apple’s eye and has been found tucked into software available on the company’s iOS App Store.
Although the malware, labeled a worm by Microsoft and tagged as “Win32/VB.CB” by the company, is harmless against Apple’s iOS and OS X operating systems, it may pose a threat to iTunes customers who download iPhone and iPad apps to their Windows PCs before syncing to their mobile devices.
A user reported Win32/VB.CB to Apple’s support forum around 10:30 a.m. ET Tuesday. The user, identified only as ”deesto,” said that his or her OS X antivirus warned that “Instaquotes-Quotes Cards for Instagram” was infected.
Dell’s Cloud Plans Falls Behind Schedule
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Dell announced an aggressive schedule last year to roll out cloud-based application services, but it appears that the schedule was a little too aggressive.
Dell said last August that it planned to launch an online analytics service in the first half of this year for small and midsized businesses, but that service isn’t due now until early next year, a Dell executive said.
“Like a lot of development projects, it can take a bit longer than you think,” Paulette Altmaier, general manager of Dell’s Cloud Business Applications group, said in an interview Thursday.
Dell also said it would launch a platform-as-a-service offering this year based on Microsoft’s Azure platform. On Friday, a Dell spokeswoman said the company no longer has a delivery date for that service.
The delays are a setback for Dell, which is trying to reduce its dependence on PCs and build more profitable businesses in services and software. But a lot of companies are moving slowly to the cloud, so the hold-up isn’t a disaster, said Peter Ffoulkes, an industry analyst with 451 Research Group.
“The move to the cloud is not a fast journey and for most people it is still largely a future. I would not expect a quarter or two to make a big difference in practical terms,” he said.
Dell has also made a string of software acquisitions in the past year that might be causing it to rethink its software-as-a-service strategy. It updated press and analysts on its software plans Thursday.
When it does arrive, the analytics service will offer “cross-app” analytics, meaning customers will be able to import data from one or more applications to a data warehouse that Dell will host for them online, and then perform analysis on that data.
Mozilla Fixes Major Security Issues
July 26, 2012 by admin
Filed under Around The Net
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Mozilla has fixed a number of security vulnerabilities in the latest versions of its internet applications, including Firefox 14, Thunderbird 14 and Seamonkey 2.11.
Following the release of its Firefox 14 browser for desktop operating systems on Tuesday, Mozilla said it has removed security holes in the Gecko rendering engine that all the applications run, some of which it rated as “critical”.
The bugs fixed included a code execution problem related to javascript URLs, a JSDependentString::undepend string conversion bug that can be exploited to cause a crash and a same-compartment Security Wrappers bypass issue.
Critical use-after-free problems, an out-of-bounds read bug, and a bad cast in the Gecko engine that could lead to memory corruption have also been addressed, Mozilla said.
These bugs were deemed “critical” due to their vulnerability to being exploited remotely by hackers that could execute arbitrary code on an unsuspecting victim’s system.
Skype Confirms Glitch
July 23, 2012 by admin
Filed under Around The Net
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Skype, a division of Microsoft, confirmed on Monday that a bug in its software has led to instant messages being shared with unintended parties.
The company said it will provide an update to fix the problem in “the next few days.”
According to user reports, the unintended recipients have been connected to just one of the two users who exchanging messages. The problem could have harmful consequences. For example, two co-workers using Skype to exchange IMs (instant messages) could, as a result of the problem, share the message with another contact in one user’s address book — potentially a third co-worker being unfavorably described in their IM exchange.
According to Skype, the problem only arises in “rare circumstances.”
The issue first came to light last week in Skype’s user forums. It seems to stem from the update issued by the voice, video and text messaging service in June.
Sprint Will Support Mozilla’s Mobile OS
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A new operating system for mobile phones, similar to the Mozilla Firefox internet browser has got the backing of several major telecom companies, turning up the heat on Google and Apple in the smartphone market.
Mozilla said on Monday that mobile network operators Deutsche Telekom, Sprint, Smart, Telecom Italia, Telenor and Etisalat are backing the Firefox platform.
The non-profit organization which evolved from Netscape after the internet browser wars 14 years ago, said phone makers ZTE and TCL Communication Technology will roll out the first Firefox OS phones using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors in early 2013.
Mozilla, which fosters the collective development of open-source Web applications, currently generates most of its income from a contract which makes Google the default search provider for Firefox users.
Broad support from telecom companies and handset makers is crucial for any new smartphone platform to take off in a market increasingly dominated by Google’s Android software, which has a market share of around 60 percent, while Apple’s iPhones run on its proprietary iOS software.
Windows 7 Most Used OS
Windows 7 is now the leading operating system (OS) for PCs, according to figures from web traffic analysis firm Statcounter.
The report claims that in June more than half of all internet connected PCs, or 50.2 per cent, ran Microsoft’s most recent Windows 7 OS.
Statcounter’s statistics show that Windows XP was the next most popular operating system, used by 29.9 per cent of users.
This might be the first time that Windows 7 has had more market share than the other operating systems put together, but with the launch of Windows 8 looming, it’s only a matter of time before Microsoft will begin pushing Windows 7 users to make the switch to its next operating system.
That’s already started happening with XP. Launched back in 2001, the OS was a massive hit for the software giant and for this reason it’s finding it hard to wean users away from Windows XP – especially considering how rubbish Windows Vista was. However, Microsoft has said that it’s time to move on, and it will end business support for Windows XP in the next two years.
Will More Win8 RT Hybrids Start Showing Up?
June 29, 2012 by admin
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Rumour has it that Nvidia has the best drivers and might be close to fine tuning its Windows RT platform, but we are sure Qualcomm and Texas Instruments aren’t far behind.
The Asus Transformer series has set a new trend by providing tablet users with a keyboard dock with some extra ports and an additional battery. This is definitely the way to go as you get the best of both worlds in a single package Windows 8 RT is finally bringing Microsoft in the ARM market and needless to say there will be many systems to be ready for launch.
Nvidia with Tegra, Texas Instruments with OMAP and Qualcomm with S4 are getting ready to embrace tablets as well as hybrid notebooks based on Windows 8 RT. The Asus Transformer 600 is just the first of many to come and there will be at least a few more similar designs to launch this year with Windows 8 RT, so we have no doubt that we will see quite a few convertible Windows tablets.
Qualcomm Chip Issues Should End By December
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Qualcomm said it believes TSMC’s 28nm supply issues will continue until year end.
Qualcomm, which relies solely on TSMC for its 28nm chips, said it believes the supply of chips will improve, but the firm expects its 28nm supply not to be back to normal until the end of 2012.
Previously Qualcomm had poured scorn on TSMC by telling investors it is looking at rival wafer fabs to avoid supply issues in the future. Qualcomm’s CEO Paul Jacobs told Reuters once again that the firm is looking to other foundries for extra capacity, adding, “The goal is to get enough supply for everyone.”
TSMC’s 28nm process node has been tapped by a number of big name customers including AMD, Nvidia and Qualcomm, with the chip fab unable to meet demand. Since Qualcomm made the rare public admission that it wasn’t happy with the state of TSMC’s 28nm chip supply, the smart money has been on Globalfoundries picking up the slack, however nothing specific has been announced by either firm.
Microsoft Says Windows RT Best For ARM
Microsoft has said its upcoming Windows RT will be loaded on laptops and tablets, claiming it is the “most compatible” ARM operating system.
Microsoft’s Windows 8 will be the first time the firm has launched a desktop operating system that supports the ARM architecture, albeit with the Windows RT branding. Now the firm has said that laptops and tablets will feature Windows RT and called it the most compatible ARM operating system.
Erwin Visser, senior director of Microsoft’s Windows Commercial Business Group said, “Windows RT devices in tablet and laptops will run all the apps from the Windows store. It will also include [Microsoft] Office components like Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Onenote and support a large amount of PC peripherals through in-box class drivers. Relative to other ARM offerings in the market, Windows RT will be the most compatible ARM offering on the market.”
When The INQUIRER asked Visser what he meant by “most compatible” Visser replied, “Taking into acount ARM is a completely new processor architecture and what we’re focused on is a couple of things to help enterprise customers embrace Windows RT. […] All the Windows 8 apps that run on x86 will also run on Windows RT.” Visser also cited inclusion of in-box drivers for PC hardware, something that is largely missing from both Android and IOS devices.
Visser also said users can side-load applications on Windows RT devices, meaning the Windows Store isn’t the only source of applications. When we asked whether this could be a security risk Visser said, “In the case of side-loading apps, the app will be certified through the enterprise IT organisation.”
As for why Microsoft will allow side-loading applications in Windows RT, apparently that is what big business wants. Visser said, “If you think about apps that are used internally, so not apps that are built by enterprises for their consumers or customers but apps that support internal processes, customers do not want to put those apps – because they always have some competitive advantage – in the Windows App Store, which is a public place. So they want to keep those apps within their own infrastructure and [with] side-loading they can still load them on Windows x86 and Windows RT systems.”
Qualcomm Updates The S4 Series
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 chips are proving to be quite a coup for the company. They are faster than anything the competition has to offer, more power efficient and some versions include integrated LTE. The only problem is that Qualcomm is having trouble meeting demand.
Qualcomm announced four new S4 chip series aimed at wildly different market segments, all based on the very successful Krait architecture.
Snapdragon S4 Prime chips will target smart TVs and similar applications. The first Prime part is the MPQ8054, a 1.5GHz quad-core with Adreno 320 graphics. Qualcomm promises “leading” audio/video capabilities and low power consumption, although we are not sure efficiency very important in TVs.
Meanwhile Snapdragon S4 Pro parts sound like all-rounders. They also feature Adreno 320 graphics and the S4 Pro tier includes the APQ8064 quad-core and MSM8960T, the Pro version of MSM8960. Pro parts are likely to end up in tablets, hybrids and other “ultra-thin and sleek” devices.
S4 Plus parts are geared towards the traditional mobile market, smartphones and tablets, ranging from the low-end to the high-end. Processors in the S4 Plus tier include MSM8960, APQ8060A, MSM8660A, MSM8260A, APQ8030, MSM8930, MSM8630, MSM8230, MSM8627 and MSM8227.