Google, Apple, Microsoft Sued Over File Preview

A small Indiana company has sued tech heavyweights Microsoft, Apple, and Google, claiming that it holds the patent on a common file preview feature used by browsers and operating systems to show users small snapshots of the files before they are opened.

Cygnus Systems sued the three companies on Wednesday saying that they infringed on its patent with products such as Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 8 and Google Chrome, which allow users to view preview images of documents on the computer. Mac OS X, the iPhone and Safari also infringe, the company said in court filings. Apple uses this technology in its Finder and Cover Flow Mac OS X features, the filings state.

While Cygnus has sued three very high profile companies, there may not be the only vendors in Cygnus's sites. "They were a logical starting place for us," said Matt McAndrews, a partner with the Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro, law firm, which is representing Cygnus. "We've identified many other potentially infringing products that we're investigating," he added.

Cygnus's owner and president Gregory Swartz developed the technology laid out in the patent while working on IT consulting projects, McAndrews said. The company is looking for "a reasonable royalty" as well as a court injunction preventing further infringement, he said.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Arizona, where Swartz resides, McAndrews said.

Google, Microsoft and Apple did not return messages seeking comment on the lawsuit.

Cygnus applied for its patent (# 7346850) in 2001. It covers a "System and method for iconic software environment management" and was granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in March of this year.

Microsoft Wages War Against Fake Security Software

In the second month of a campaign against fake security software, Microsoft has booted the rogue application "Antivirus 2009" from almost 400,000 PCs, the company recently claimed.

December's version of the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT), a free utility that Microsoft pushes to Windows users as part of Patch Tuesday, targeted one of the most popular phony security app, Antivirus 2009. According to Microsoft, the MSRT erased the fake from over 394,000 PCs in the first nine days after it released this month's edition on Dec. 9.

Last month, Microsoft trumpeted a similar cleaning operation against another family of bogus security software that it said had purged nearly a million machines of programs like "Advanced Antivirus," "Ultimate Antivirus 2008" and "XPert Antivirus."

December's campaign targeted a different family -- dubbed "W32/FakeXPA" by Microsoft -- that includes fake security software going by names such as "Antivirus XP," "AntivirusXP 2008" and "Antivirus 2009."

Windows users increasingly have been plagued with worthless security software as criminals bundle the money makers with other malware or seed significant users with waves of spam touting the programs. According to one researcher, cybercrooks can pull in as much as $5 million a year by installing the rogue programs on PCs, then dunning users with infection claims and constant pop-ups until the victims pay $40 or $50 to purchase the useless applications.

Windows users can download the MSRT manually from Microsoft's Web site or via the Windows Update service.

Microsoft Extends XP Shipments Until May

Microsoft is giving system builders several more months to get Windows XP for their custom PCs, ensuring XP will be out in the marketplace until almost the scheduled release of Windows 7 in early 2010.

Microsoft confirmed Monday that it is offering a "flexible inventory program" that allows distributors and system builders to place their final orders for XP by the end of January, but have those orders delivered until May 30, 2009.

The company stressed in an e-mailed statement that the move is not "an extension of sales." Still, it gives system builders and distributors the ability to sell PCs with Windows XP preinstalled for a bit longer than they currently have.

The move marks yet another extension Microsoft has had to made to keep XP in the marketplace, which customers have demanded because of lackluster reception for Windows Vista, XP's successor, released to businesses in November 2006 and to consumers in January 2007.

If Windows 7 is released in early 2010 as planned, it means that there will only be about a six- or seven-month gap between when the last XP machines will be for sale and when Windows 7 hits the market. And some feel that Microsoft may even get Windows 7 to businesses by the end of 2009 because the company recognizes it needs to repair the Vista damage.

Acer Aspire One: Holiday Sales Deals

Acer is making a big last-minute push to get more Acer Aspire One netbooks into people's hands. First came the announcement that wireless-broadband models are for sale at Radio Shack for 99 bucks (when you sign up for a prohibitively expensive wireless-broadband plan). Now, Best Buy is selling the Aspire One (sans wireless broadband) for $299--about $50 off the regular price.

If you take a quick peek at our Top 5 Netbooks chart, you'll see that Acer is positioned pretty well--and the price was certainly tempting enough before, at $350. Heck, back when I last looked at the Acer Aspire One, I was pretty impressed with the small, functional netbook.

Still, I have to reiterate one point that I made last week: If you are able to hang tight for a couple of months, do so. If you missed the news about nVidia's Ion platform-based netbooks, affordable machines as tiny as the Aspire One capable of playing 3D games and encoding video could be just over the horizon. The technology may add a little more to the price ($50 max, according to nVidia).

As for the Aspire One, though, you can't really argue with a deal in this economy.

Microsoft rushes out quick fix for IE7

Microsoft is rushing out patch to fix problematic security issues with its Internet Explorer 7 browser.The security update, marked as 'critical', will be available from 6pm on 17 December.Problems due to the security flaw have affected as many as 10,000 websites, allowing cyber-criminals to take control of people's computers and steal passwords and private data.

Criminality inevitable

According to Rick Ferguson, a senior security adviser at security firm Trend Micro, told the BBC: "It is inevitable that it will be adapted by criminals. It's just a question of modifying the payload the trojan installs."

The BBC report adds that: "It is relatively unusual for Microsoft to issue what it calls an "out-of-band" security bulletin and experts are reading the decision to rush out a patch as evidence of the potential danger of the flaw."

While some security experts have suggested temporarily swopping over to alternative browsers such as Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Apple's Safari, Graham Cluley, senior consultant with security firm Sophos, reminded the BBC that:

"Firefox has issued patches and Apple has too. Whichever browser you are using you have to keep it up to date… People have to be prepared and willing to install security updates. That nagging screen asking if you want to update should not be ignored."

Firefox Issues Eight Patches for Web Browser

Mozilla has issued eight patches for its Firefox Web browser, three of which fix problems classified as critical.

The patches come after security experts have recommended using a browser other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 and older versions of IE due to a dangerous vulnerability. Microsoft is due to release an emergency patch for that problem Wednesday.

Two of the critical Firefox problems could allow an attacker execute a cross-site scripting attack, in which scripts or commands from one Web application that shouldn't run in another are successfully executed. The third problem relates to Firefox's browser engine, and could make it crash or possibly allow someone to remotely execute code on a PC, Mozilla said in its advisory.

Mozilla defines a critical vulnerability as one that could allow an attacker to run code on a machine in the course of normal Web browsing.

The patches are for Firefox version numbers 3.04 and 2.0.0.18. Mozilla has said this round of patches will be the last for Firefox 2, which it will now stop supporting. The update also removes the phishing filter in Firefox 2 because the browser uses an outdated version of a protocol used to import a blocklist of phishing sites supplied by Google. Firefox 2 users are being promoted to upgrade to Firefox 3.

Firefox's auto-update mechanism should automatically download these latest patches, and users will be prompted to restart the browser to complete the process.

Koobface Virus Spreads to Bebo

A virus that's attacking Facebook users is also infecting other social networking sites, says ScanSafe.

Koobface tricks social networkers into downloading malicious malware onto their PC. Users receive messages that look as if they're videos. Often they say something like "you look funny." When the user clicks to see the video, he is taken to a new website and asked to download special software in order to see the video.

That software is malicious and once installed on a PC, the Trojan will direct users to hoax search engines and other websites, putting them at risk of ID theft.

According to ScanSafe, Koobface has been identified on Bebo and could even spread to other social networking sites including - MySpace and Friendster. ScanSafe also claims that the virus accounts for one percent of all its blocked malware.

"Those who avoid promiscuous 'friending' on social networking sites will be least likely to encounter a Koobface type threat," said Mary Landesman, senior security researcher, at ScanSafe.

Can Microsoft Juggle Three Operating Systems?

Microsoft's tricky balancing act in 2009 will be to phase out Windows XP while boosting demand for Windows Vista and building anticipation for Windows 7.

Compounding this challenge is that Vista has been Microsoft's most embattled operating system, and though recent reports say that Vista has improved over the past year, there are also reports of a growing indifference from users. Many are sticking with Windows XP for now (or even requesting to "downgrade" to XP with new computer purchases) with the hope that Windows 7 will be more nimble and efficient than Vista.

Recent market share numbers from Net Applications Inc. show that Microsoft's market share is slipping with both Windows and the Internet Explorer browser, while companies like Apple and Mozilla keep making incremental gains. A silver lining in the Net Applications report is that Vista grew its market share in November and cracked the 20 percent mark for the fist time as Windows XP fell 1.81 percent.

With the definite release of Internet Explorer 8 and the possible release of Windows 7 happening in 2009, plus Microsoft's aggressive push into cloud computing with the Windows Azure operating system, the coming year looks to be a pivotal one for the software giant.

Keeping the Windows 7 Hype Machine on Low

So far, the hype surrounding Windows 7 has been kept to a minimum by Microsoft, likely an effort not to repeat the over-hyping that hurt Vista's release. Playing it cool with Windows 7 will also give Vista some breathing room as Windows XP slowly becomes less prevalent.

Windows 7 Release: Sooner Is Better

Microsoft has not given an official release date for Windows 7, but has said publicly that it expects to ship it within three years of the January 2007 consumer release of Windows Vista.

Gartner Research has predicted that Microsoft will ship Windows 7 in time for the 2009 holiday season, which would require shipment to take place around August 2009.

Gartner analyst Michael Silver expects that Microsoft will try to differentiate Windows 7 from Vista by keeping ship date hype to a minimum and then delivering earlier than anticipated.

Windows 7 External NTFS Drive Update

Microsoft has released an update for Windows 7 pre-beta that resolves a problem that some testers discovered with external NTFS drives. The update improve the reliability and operation of an external NTFS drive according to Microsoft and can be downloaded from Windows Update. A reboot of the computer might be required after installation.

The Microsoft Knowledgebase article is not mentioning the cause of the problem. This is the second update that has been released for a pre-beta build of Windows 7. The first update fixed a security vulnerability that affected all Windows operating systems.

Windows 7 Build 6956 Screenshots

Microsoft is currently holding another WinHec conference in China where it is showcasing the latest Windows 7 build 6956. Several Chinese tech sites
have posted screenshots of the latest build. The latest build does not contain that many changes to previous builds. Most notably are the new Windows 7 start screen. The other notable change is an increase in the Windows Experience Index which is now ranging from 1.0 to 7.9.

Registrations Open for .tel Domain

The first round of registrations for the new TLD (top-level domain) .tel will open Wednesday.

The new TLD isn't a run of the mill domain like, for example .com or .org. It's not about Web content -- instead it will allow both individuals and companies to store all their contact information in the DNS (Domain Name System) without the need to build, host or manage a Web site, according to Telnic, which is in charge of operating .tel.

.Tel is about making it simple for people to get in touch with a domain owner, according to Justin Hayward, communications director at Telnic.

The applications have been open sourced to attract developers to do more with the domain. One developer has, for example, created a plug-in for the Wordpress blogging platform, according to Hayward.

To make searching for information easier, Telnic also plans to launch a directory service called telpages.com during next year. It will only search .tel domains for relevant information.The launch is backed up by 120 registrars worldwide spanning 29 countries, according to Telnic.

From 3 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Wednesday only trademark owners will be able to apply for a domain -- the so-called sunrise period.That period will end Feb. 2 and will be immediately followed by a period during which anyone who is willing to pay a premium price can get their hands on a domain. On March 24 registrations will be open to everyone, at a lower cost.

Three-year registrations made during the sunrise period will cost between US$300 and $400, according to Hayward.During the second period, Domainmonster.com will charge €120 (US$150) for a single domain.Generally, after March 24, Telnic expects domain registrations to cost around $15 to $25.The domain will go live on Feb. 3.

Intel cuts chip prices up to 31 percent

Intel has cut processor prices up to 31 percent, though overall cuts are limited in number and degree.

The desktop Core 2 Duo E8500 (3.16GHz) got the largest cut, from $266 to $183 (31 percent) on the new pricing list, dated July 20.

The next biggest price reduction was the desktop Core 2 Duo E7200 (2.53GHz), reduced 15 percent, from $133 to $113.

Other price cuts include the popular quad-core Q6600 (2.4GHz). It drops 14 percent, from $224 to $193. The desktop Core 2 Duo E8400 (3GHz) falls 11 percent, from $183 to $163.

Xeon server processors also saw price cuts. The X3220 (2.40GHz) was cut 12 percent, from $224 to $198. The X3210 (2.13GHz) saw an identical cut, while the E3110 (3GHz) was reduced 11 percent, from $188 to $167.

The pricing for QX "Extreme" processors, such as the QX9775 (3.2GHz, $1,499), remains unchanged from the pricing list published on July 15, when the Centrino 2 mobile processors were introduced.

Google Earth Used by Terrorists in India Attacks

The terrorists that attacked various locations in south Mumbai last week used digital maps
from Google Earth to learn their way around, according to officials investigating the attacks.

Investigations by the Mumbai police, including the interrogation of one nabbed terrorist, suggest that the terrorists were highly trained and used technologies such as satellite phones, and global positioning systems (GPS), according to police.

Google Earth has previously come in for criticism in India, including from the country's former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Kalam warned in a 2005 lecture that the easy availability online of detailed maps of countries from services such as Google Earth could be misused by terrorists.

A Google spokeswoman said in an e-mail Monday that Google Earth's imagery is already available through commercial and public sources. Google Earth has also been used by aid agencies for relief operations, which outweighs abusive uses, she said.

Indian security agencies have complained that Google Earth exposed Indian defense and other sensitive installations. Other nations, including China, have made similar complaints regarding military locations.

However the places attacked by terrorists last week did not come under the category of defense or sensitive installations. The information available to the terrorists on Google Earth about the locations they attacked is also available on printed tourism maps of Mumbai. The locations included two hotels, a restaurant, a residential complex and a railway station.

EADS Chooses IBM and Dassault Systèmes for Collaborative 3D Design and Manufacturing to Help Reshape the Future of Aerospace and Defense Products

IBM and Dassault Systèmes today announced EADS’ commitment to IBM and Dassault Systèmes’ product lifecycle management (PLM), for 3D collaborative design and manufacturing applications and services. EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defense and related services, is streamlining product design and manufacturing processes through the use of collaboration tools to make key product information more easily accessible to suppliers and partners worldwide.

Intel Launches Fastest Processor on the Planet

• The news -- Intel Corporation introduced its most advanced desktop processor ever, the Intel® Core™ i7 processor. The Core i7 processor is the first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built, with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximize data throughput. The Core i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular Internet and computer activities by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption.
• A smarter way to work and play -- With faster, intelligent multi-core technology that applies processing power dynamically when needed most, the new Intel® Core™ i7 processors deliver an incredible breakthrough in PC performance. They’re the best desktop processors on the planet.
  Multitask applications faster and unleash incredible digital media creation. Experience maximum performance for everything you do, thanks to the combination of Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology, which maximizes performance to match your workload.
• Shatter your limits -- It’s time for digital content creation that’s limited only by your imagination. Experience total creative freedom with the power to encode video up to 40% faster. And enjoy incredible performance on other multimedia tasks like image rendering, photo retouching, and editing.

In Mumbai, Bloggers and Twitter Offer Help to Relatives

Bloggers pitched in offering information and other help to people worldwide as Indian police and commandos battled it out Thursday with armed terrorists in two top hotels and a residential complex in south Mumbai.

On "Mumbai Help", bloggers offered to help users get through to their family and friends in the city, or to get information on them.

Mobile and fixed line circuits to Mumbai were clogged by the large number of people trying to get in touch with people in Mumbai after the crisis. A significant number of the people trapped in the hotels are foreigners, according to media reports.

More people are likely to use mobile phones and technologies like SMS (Short Message Service) to get in touch with relatives than go online, because the number of mobile users outstrips that of online users in Mumbai. But when the phone lines are clogged, some people are realizing that going online may be a good alternative.

Google Updates Street View

Google Maps' Street View underwent some small but interesting changes just in time for your Thanksgiving commute.

When you log onto Google Maps, the first thing you'll notice is that the navigational tools look similar to those of Google Earth. Added to the tools in the top left-hand corner is the Pegman, the mascot of Google Street View.

Drag the Pegman to your desired location to

launch Street View. Streets that have been mapped with Street View will glow with a blue outline, and a small picture icon sprouts from the Pegman's head, previewing the scene below.

When the Pegman lands, the screen opens into a wider, higher resolution image of your surroundings. A rotating compass replaces the old four-way directional pad for easier spinning. You can now also launch Street View by zooming into a location as far as it can go, or double-clicking on the Pegman.

Street View is now shown as a split screen, with the bottom half devoted to the original Google Map. The bottom half can be reduced and enlarged by clicking the icon in the upper left-hand corner; it allows you to shrink the Map to a small box in the corner. This makes it easier to maintain perspective as you're navigating the photographed streets.

Windows 7 Beta on Hold Until 2009

Sometimes I don't know my own strength. After several painful weeks of poking holes in the Windows 7 bubble (and being poked right back by the legions of Windows zealots), it seems my message about Microsoft not doing enough to satisfy IT is finally getting through: The company has now officially delayed the release of the first public Windows 7 beta until "early 2009" -- per the company's PR firm, Waggener Edstrom.

A delay of this magnitude, hot on the heels of our scathing rebuke of the PDC pre-beta, can mean only one thing: It's running scared. Microsoft is so concerned by the overwhelming response to our groundbreaking expose, "Windows 7 unmasked," that it's pulling back on the delivery reins so that it can retool the product to address the myriad performance and compatibility issues we identified.

I, for one, applaud their honesty. Microsoft knows it's dropped the ball with Windows 7; the initial PDC build was woefully inadequate and demonstrated none of the claimed improvements in performance or resource consumption. Delaying the public beta program -- which was generally accepted to be slated for the mid-December 2008 timeframe -- is a smart move. It'll give the company a chance to take another pass at the kernel code base and maybe, just maybe, reconsider dropping some of that consumer-focused baggage.

Linux: World's Fastest Computers

There are fast computers, and then there are Linux fast computers. Every six months, the Top 500 organization announces "its ranked list of general purpose systems that are in common use for high end applications." In other words, supercomputers. And, as has been the case for years now, the fastest of the fast are Linux computers.

As Jay Lyman, an analyst at The 451 Group points out, Linux is only growing stronger in supercomputing. "When considered as the primary OS or part of a mixed-OS supersystem, Linux is now present in 469 of the supercomputer sites, 93.8% of the Top500 list. This represents about 10 more sites than in November 2007, when Linux had presence in 91.8% of the systems. In fact, Linux is the only operating system that managed gains in the November 2008 list. A year ago, Linux was the OS for 84.6% of the top supercomputers. In November 2008, the open source OS was used in 87.8% of the systems. Compare this to Unix, which dropped from 6% to 4.6%, mixed-OS use which dropped from 7.2% to 6.2% and other operating systems, including BSD, Mac OS X and Windows, which were all down this year from the November 2007 list."

Microsoft is proud that a system running Windows HPC Server 2008 took 10th place... behind nine supercomputers running Linux. Even then, this was really more of a stunt than a demonstration that the HPC Server system is ready to compete with the big boys.

Microsoft Study Supports ‘Cyberchondria’

Could the Internet make you sicker? That’s what a study by Ryen White and Eric Horvitz from Microsoft Research says.White and Horvitz studied the Web browsing of 515 Internet users and found that eight in 10 American adults have searched for healthcare information on the Internet, reports NewsOXY.com. The authors found: The Web has the potential […]

Microsoft Search Searching for a New Name

Microsoft plans to relaunch its Windows Live Search next year, if you believe the buzz in the blogosphere, and its new name might be Kumo, reports LiveSide.

It was one of the possible names ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reported in August that were floating around. LiveSide’s reporting that Microsoft has taken control of that domain name, a Japanese word that means “cloud” or “spider.” Access has been restricted to the site since LiveSide pointed readers there.

According to an unnamed source on TechCrunch, a final decision on the name has not been made.

But along with hiring search talent from Yahoo, it’s further evidence that Microsoft is beefing up its search offerings even without the acquisition.

Automatic Windows Updates Vulnerable to Exploitation, Boldewin Says

Virus writers have found a way to exploit the automatic Windows updates pushed by Microsoft to smuggle viruses onto computers, according to the BBC.

The Beeb cites a report by security expert Frank Boldewin, who wrote on his Web site reconstructer.org that he had noticed an e-mailed trojan that had exploited the Windows automatic update program to get around a user’s firewall. Last week, according to The Washington Post, Boldewin published a proof of concept program that demonstrated how that worked.

Symantec reported the conversations with Boldewin, and called the approach a clever trick. “At the moment there is no immediate workaround,” Symantec advised.

IBM Tries to Bring Brain Power to Computers

IBM Research on Thursday is expected to uncover work it is doing to bring the brain's processing power to computers, in an effort to make it easier for PCs to process vast amounts of data in real time.

The researchers want to put brain-related senses like perception and interaction into hardware and software so that computers are able to process and understand the data quicker while consuming less power, said Dharmendra Modha, a researcher at IBM. The researchers are bringing the neuroscience, nanotechnology and supercomputing fields together in an effort to create the new computing platform, he said.

The goal is to create machines that are mind-like and adapt to changes, which could allow companies to find more value in their data. Right now, a majority of information's value is lost, but relevant data can allow businesses or individuals to make rapid decisions in time to have significant impact, he said.

"If we could design computers that could be in real-world environments and sense and respond in an intelligent way, it would be a tremendous step forward," Modha said.

For the research IBM is working with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency and universities including Stanford, University of Wisconsin in Madison, Cornell, Columbia University Medical Center and University of California at Merced.

Steve Ballmer maintains Yahoo acquisition deal is over

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has said the company will not look to buy Yahoo but would still consider a search deal.Speaking at the internet company's annual general meeting Ballmer said, "We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo".Yahoo first rejected Microsoft's $47.5bn (£32bn) takeover bid in February and also turned down an offer for the search engine alone.Ballmer's comments come after speculation this week that Microsoft may re-enter talks with Yahoo following the resignation of co-founder Jerry Yang as CEO.Earlier this month Google abandoned its paid search advertising deal with Yahoo after the US Justice Department said it would seek to block the partnership.Yahoo shares dropped to $9.14 (£6.15) - its lowest in more than five years - following Ballmer's comments.

Gmail Gets Free Video Chat!

The users of Gmail service can now choose to communicate with friends not only through chat and e-mail but also through voice and video.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008: Giving a boost to its free Web-based e-mail service, Internet giant Google is now adding voice and video chat to Gmail. With this initiative, Google wants to give a tough competition to Yahoo! and Microsoft, who offer video with their instant messaging services, but have not integrated it into e-mail.

Bill Gates Opens New Company

Friday, October 24, 2008: If you are a Bill Gates, you can't sit at home after an early retirement. You will do something; Bill Gates is doing a lot more. After stepping down from his position at Microsoft and handing over the helm to Steve Ballmer, Gates is reportedly setting up a new company. The new company, called bgc3 (the website is still under construction, check out http://www.bgc3.com/), is reported to deal with broad range of topics such as 'scientific and technological services', 'industrial analysis and research' and 'design and development of computer hardware and software'.

Hackers Hit U.N. Web site

Peace activists have attacked the United Nations Web site, accusing the United States and Israel of killing children and fomenting war, according to The Register. Anti-war slogans appeared on pages with statements from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Other pages also were taken down after the unidentified hackers’ “cyberprotest.”

In other attacks, the hackers, who use the names “kerem125,” “Gsy” and “M0sted, have claimed to be from Turkey, according to BBC News.