IM attacks are already exploding, up a whopping 2,000% since last year. The bigger, combined Microsoft-Yahoo network will let attacks spread even further and faster.
The deal struck Wednesday by Yahoo and Microsoft to make their instant messaging (IM) networks work together in 2006 may sound great at first glance, but security experts say that the merger will make IM an even bigger target for hackers and hucksters.
"Ninety-eight percent of the stories about Yahoo and Microsoft will be about the benefits of interoperability, how the deal will eliminate the traditional hurdles in IM," said Jon Sakoda, the chief technology officer for IMlogic, an Internet security firm that specializes in defending against IM and file-sharing threats.
Instead of those silver linings, Sakoda sees some possible gray clouds on the horizon. "IM worms have generally targeted individual networks, say, only Yahoo or MSN. That's why you haven't seen a global worm that propagates to millions," he said.
"There hasn't any interoperability, but this deal changes that."
Christopher Dean, the senior vice president of business development at rival FaceTime, agreed. "As you increase the size of network, there's a greater chance that [malicious] things can spread. It's a bigger network effect."
Although the speed with which IM attacks spread -- very very fast, compared to e-mailed attacks -- the size of the attacks will, said Dean. "The malware writers discovered IM networks for the first time this year, and once they discovered it, they're focusing on it. And yes, [the Yahoo-Microsoft announcement] will increase the spread of IM worms."
Security vendors such as IMlogic have reported a massive surge in IM threats during 2005. Year-to-date, IMlogic said in a recently published third quarter threat report, IM threats are up a whopping 2,083 percent over 2004.
"Attackers are comfortable in using e-mail and the Web," said IMlogic's Sakoda. "And they've now added IM."
The larger attack surface of an interoperable Yahoo-MSN IM network -- estimated at 49.2 million users, only slightly fewer than AOL's 51.5 million -- means that Yahoo and MSN users should expect more attacks.
"We really haven't seen [IM worms] propagate because networks have been closed and non-interoperable," said Sakoda. "Historically, AIM and MSN have received the lion's share of attacks, because malware writers know where the users are, just like bank robbers know where the money is."
Attacks across IM networks -- whether delivering worms, spim, or adware/spyware -- are notorious for arriving like a whirlwind, and disappearing just as fast. That's due, said FaceTime's Dean, to IM users' habit of clicking on links within messages, the fact that all messages seem to come from trusted sources (i.e., IM buddies), and because IM is, unlike e-mail, a real-time communication mode. That trio, he said, conspire to make IM attacks fast acting.
So fast, said Sakoda, that defenses have a hard time keeping up.
"The speed with which attacks hit is measured in minutes, and their worms spread faster than either the IM or security industry can respond. That's why they're becoming such a popular method of attack."
Even so, argued Dean, the benefit of Wednesday's cooperation is a good thing. "Having interoperability makes a great deal of sense," he said, "and I think it far outweighs any possible increase in attacks."
Sakoda's not so sure. "SMTP and open e-mail standards created a lot of benefits, but they opened a lot of security holes, too," he cautioned. "I see similar types of trends in the IM world."
Written by Gregg Keizer TechWeb News
Friday, October 14, 2005
Microsoft, Nigeria fight email scammers
LONDON (Reuters) - Microsoft has announced an anti-fraud partnership with Nigeria, the country of origin for some of the Internet's most notorious email scams.
Microsoft, which has been working to improve security and reliability amid an onslaught of malicious software targeting weakness in Windows and other Microsoft software, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday.
The agreement is designed to foster cooperation to combat issues such as spam, phishing, spyware, viruses and counterfeiting.
The email scam, known as a 419 scheme after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code, is a computer age version of a con game that goes back hundreds of years and is sometimes called "The Spanish Prisoner."
Victims are contacted by a stranger who claims to have access to large sums of money. They are told that the money can only be accessed if they disclose the details of their bank account or put up an advance fee, but the promised funds never materialize.
The EFCC said its Advance Fee Fraud Section "is currently investigating hundreds of suspects and prosecuting over 50 cases, involving close to 100 accused persons, in courts throughout Nigeria."
Under terms of the pact, "Microsoft and the EFCC will work together to combat the problem of internet crime through information sharing and training on Microsoft's technical expertise in this area," the parties said.
Article found in Reuters.
Microsoft, which has been working to improve security and reliability amid an onslaught of malicious software targeting weakness in Windows and other Microsoft software, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday.
The agreement is designed to foster cooperation to combat issues such as spam, phishing, spyware, viruses and counterfeiting.
The email scam, known as a 419 scheme after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code, is a computer age version of a con game that goes back hundreds of years and is sometimes called "The Spanish Prisoner."
Victims are contacted by a stranger who claims to have access to large sums of money. They are told that the money can only be accessed if they disclose the details of their bank account or put up an advance fee, but the promised funds never materialize.
The EFCC said its Advance Fee Fraud Section "is currently investigating hundreds of suspects and prosecuting over 50 cases, involving close to 100 accused persons, in courts throughout Nigeria."
Under terms of the pact, "Microsoft and the EFCC will work together to combat the problem of internet crime through information sharing and training on Microsoft's technical expertise in this area," the parties said.
Article found in Reuters.
Windows Media Center Edition Gets Big Update
Microsoft is expected to issue a major update Friday to its
Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system. The update, called Windows XP Media Center Edition Rollup Update Version 2, will add support for sending high-definition video over a home network to Microsoft's upcoming Xbox 360 game console and will include more than 500 bug fixes.
Tom Laemmel, product manager of the Windows Client Division, says the fixes don't address anything really major, "just lots of little things." He adds that the update will provide greater stability, but you won't see any performance difference over Rollup Version 1 (which came out last December).
Version 2 will also allow a Media Center PC to run two ATSC television cards (versus one for the previous version). Each card can carry two tuners, so theoretically you could play and/or record up to four TV programs (two high-definition and two standard-definition) at once. You can stream HD or SD programming from the PC to a Media Center Extender or to the Xbox 360, which is supposed to go on sale in November. The old version of the OS would stream only standard-definition content.
However, you'll still be limited to accessing only over-the-air high-definition programming: While Media Center PCs usually come with infrared blasters for use with cable-television set-top boxes, they will allow access only to standard-definition broadcasts. Furthermore, even if you can access over-the-air HD programs, if you try to burn one to a DVD, Media Center Edition will downcode it to standard resolution.
No CableCard Support
Laemmel says Media Center Edition does not support the CableCard standard, but that "there's a lot work going on by Microsoft and others in this area." A CableCard is a PC Card-like device that you insert into a slot in a compatible television to decrypt digital television broadcasts; the main advantage is that you don't have to use a cable set-top box. If you could insert such a card into a PC, you could then bring in HD cable broadcasts, not just over-the-air ones.
Media Center Edition Rollup Version 2 will also add support for PCs with Away Mode, a new power-management feature that cuts off the speakers and display, and perhaps lowers CPU power, but still allows the computer to perform unattended tasks (such as streaming video to an Extender). Laemmel cites having a babysitter over as an example of the mode's usefulness: You don't have to show how to start up or shut down the PC; just pressing the off button on the remote control will put the PC into Away Mode.
A big complaint about the Media Center OS is that it hasn't been as reliable as the consumer electronics devices it's supposed to compete with, mainly because it is, after all, a Windows OS. Laemmel admits that, with any version of Windows, periodically "it's best just to restart the darn thing." To this end, a new setting prompts the PC to restart Media Center-specific services. The default is for it to perform that task at 4 a.m.; but you can change the time, and the PC will skip the restart if it's busy.
Windows Vista Takes the Stage
Laemmel reveals that the majority of the Windows development team has moved to work on Microsoft's Vista operating system, expected out next year, and its media-specific features, so some Media Center elements--for example, music playback--were deliberately left alone. Vista will have all of the new features in Rollup 2, yet Media Center Edition will live on after Vista appears.
Microsoft recently introduced the Remote Keyboard for Windows Media Center Edition, which will sell for about $90. The wireless keyboard will have a built-in scrolling device (not quite a trackpad, because it has only up/down/left/right, with an OK button in the middle), plus dedicated buttons for Media Center functions. Your Media Center PC will need at least Rollup Update Version 1 for it to work.
Windows XP Media Center Edition Rollup Update Version 2 will be available via Windows Update or Microsoft Update; the download is about 30MB.
Written by: PCWORLD
Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system. The update, called Windows XP Media Center Edition Rollup Update Version 2, will add support for sending high-definition video over a home network to Microsoft's upcoming Xbox 360 game console and will include more than 500 bug fixes.
Tom Laemmel, product manager of the Windows Client Division, says the fixes don't address anything really major, "just lots of little things." He adds that the update will provide greater stability, but you won't see any performance difference over Rollup Version 1 (which came out last December).
Version 2 will also allow a Media Center PC to run two ATSC television cards (versus one for the previous version). Each card can carry two tuners, so theoretically you could play and/or record up to four TV programs (two high-definition and two standard-definition) at once. You can stream HD or SD programming from the PC to a Media Center Extender or to the Xbox 360, which is supposed to go on sale in November. The old version of the OS would stream only standard-definition content.
However, you'll still be limited to accessing only over-the-air high-definition programming: While Media Center PCs usually come with infrared blasters for use with cable-television set-top boxes, they will allow access only to standard-definition broadcasts. Furthermore, even if you can access over-the-air HD programs, if you try to burn one to a DVD, Media Center Edition will downcode it to standard resolution.
No CableCard Support
Laemmel says Media Center Edition does not support the CableCard standard, but that "there's a lot work going on by Microsoft and others in this area." A CableCard is a PC Card-like device that you insert into a slot in a compatible television to decrypt digital television broadcasts; the main advantage is that you don't have to use a cable set-top box. If you could insert such a card into a PC, you could then bring in HD cable broadcasts, not just over-the-air ones.
Media Center Edition Rollup Version 2 will also add support for PCs with Away Mode, a new power-management feature that cuts off the speakers and display, and perhaps lowers CPU power, but still allows the computer to perform unattended tasks (such as streaming video to an Extender). Laemmel cites having a babysitter over as an example of the mode's usefulness: You don't have to show how to start up or shut down the PC; just pressing the off button on the remote control will put the PC into Away Mode.
A big complaint about the Media Center OS is that it hasn't been as reliable as the consumer electronics devices it's supposed to compete with, mainly because it is, after all, a Windows OS. Laemmel admits that, with any version of Windows, periodically "it's best just to restart the darn thing." To this end, a new setting prompts the PC to restart Media Center-specific services. The default is for it to perform that task at 4 a.m.; but you can change the time, and the PC will skip the restart if it's busy.
Windows Vista Takes the Stage
Laemmel reveals that the majority of the Windows development team has moved to work on Microsoft's Vista operating system, expected out next year, and its media-specific features, so some Media Center elements--for example, music playback--were deliberately left alone. Vista will have all of the new features in Rollup 2, yet Media Center Edition will live on after Vista appears.
Microsoft recently introduced the Remote Keyboard for Windows Media Center Edition, which will sell for about $90. The wireless keyboard will have a built-in scrolling device (not quite a trackpad, because it has only up/down/left/right, with an OK button in the middle), plus dedicated buttons for Media Center functions. Your Media Center PC will need at least Rollup Update Version 1 for it to work.
Windows XP Media Center Edition Rollup Update Version 2 will be available via Windows Update or Microsoft Update; the download is about 30MB.
Written by: PCWORLD
HP Recalls 135,000 Laptop Battery Packs
Hewlett Packard is recalling about 135,000 battery packs for some HP and Compaq laptop computers because of reports they overheated and melted, the Palo Alto, Calif., company announced Friday.
The lithium ion rechargeable battery packs are used with HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, HP Compaq and Compaq Evo laptop computers.
The company has received 16 reports of the batteries' overheating; four cases occurred in the United States.
The recalled packs bear a barcode label starting with GC, IA, L0 or L1.
The battery packs were sold internationally from March 2004 through May 20005 by national and regional electronics stores and on Internet sites such as http://www.hp.com and http://www.hpshopping.com
Consumers should stop using the products and contact the company for a free replacement. For more information, call Hewlett-Packard at 888-404-7398 or visit http://www.hp.com/support/ or http://www.cpsc.gov.
By The Associated Press Fri Oct 14, 6:59 AM ET
The lithium ion rechargeable battery packs are used with HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, HP Compaq and Compaq Evo laptop computers.
The company has received 16 reports of the batteries' overheating; four cases occurred in the United States.
The recalled packs bear a barcode label starting with GC, IA, L0 or L1.
The battery packs were sold internationally from March 2004 through May 20005 by national and regional electronics stores and on Internet sites such as http://www.hp.com and http://www.hpshopping.com
Consumers should stop using the products and contact the company for a free replacement. For more information, call Hewlett-Packard at 888-404-7398 or visit http://www.hp.com/support/ or http://www.cpsc.gov.
By The Associated Press Fri Oct 14, 6:59 AM ET
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Adobe Acquisition of Macromedia Gets OK
SAN FRANCISCO - Adobe Systems Inc. said Thursday the Justice Department has approved its $3.4 billion acquisition of Macromedia Inc.
Adobe and Macromedia, two of the largest providers of graphic design software, must wait for several European jurisdictions to sanction the deal before it can close.
Adobe's Illustrator and Macromedia's Freehand are two of the leading products for vector graphics illustration, a term for drawings that are stored as collections of points and objects instead of pixels.
A combined company would also own a huge chunk of the market for Web site-building tools: Macromedia makes Dreamweaver while Adobe sells GoLive.
Analysts have said that teaming Adobe with Macromedia would also create a formidable competitor for Microsoft Corp., which announced last month that it will launch Web and graphic designer tools next year.
Last April, Adobe announced an agreement to acquire Macromedia in an all-stock transaction. Adobe said in a statement that it continues to expect the transaction will close sometime this fall.
Article found in the Associate Press.
Adobe and Macromedia, two of the largest providers of graphic design software, must wait for several European jurisdictions to sanction the deal before it can close.
Adobe's Illustrator and Macromedia's Freehand are two of the leading products for vector graphics illustration, a term for drawings that are stored as collections of points and objects instead of pixels.
A combined company would also own a huge chunk of the market for Web site-building tools: Macromedia makes Dreamweaver while Adobe sells GoLive.
Analysts have said that teaming Adobe with Macromedia would also create a formidable competitor for Microsoft Corp., which announced last month that it will launch Web and graphic designer tools next year.
Last April, Adobe announced an agreement to acquire Macromedia in an all-stock transaction. Adobe said in a statement that it continues to expect the transaction will close sometime this fall.
Article found in the Associate Press.
Comcast, Google May Acquire Part of AOL
PHILADELPHIA - Comcast Corp., the country's largest cable TV company, is teaming up with Internet search leader Google Inc. in talks about taking a stake in Time Warner Inc.'s AOL Web portal, a person familiar with the discussions said.
Comcast, Google and Time Warner are discussing a possible deal under which the three companies would form a new entity through which they would jointly own the Web portal, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because release of the information was not authorized.
The potential deal could derail separate talks that have been reported between AOL and Microsoft Corp., which is believed to be interested in an alliance between AOL and Microsoft's MSN, another major Internet portal.
Any deal between AOL and MSN could threaten Google, since AOL is major contributor to Google's thriving Internet ad business, accounting for 11 percent of Google's $2.6 billion in revenue during the first half of this year.
AOL was long considered a drag on Time Warner due to the rapid exodus of its core dial-up Internet users, but recently AOL has been revamping its business model, opening up its content to all Internet users in order to tap into the booming market for Internet advertising.
AOL's original online content now makes it an attractive target for companies like Google and Comcast, which are eager to build up their audiences of Internet users.
The three companies plan to leverage their content and consumer reach to create a Web portal powerhouse, the person said. Google, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., is the nation's most popular search engine, while Comcast and Time Warner are the top two cable operators. Time Warner also owns many media properties including Warner Bros., CNN and HBO.
Google contacted Comcast last week to gauge the cable giant's interest in such a deal, the person said. Philadelphia-based Comcast had been on the prowl for content to avoid the commoditization of its cable lines.
Reports of the talks among Google, Time Warner and Comcast sent Time Warner's stock up 10 cents to close at $17.59 Thursday on the
New York Stock Exchange' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> New York Stock Exchange.
Time Warner's CEO Dick Parsons said recently that revving up AOL's turnaround is a top priority for the company and the greatest opportunity for creating value. Activist investor Carl Icahn, meanwhile, has been pressuring the company to boost its share buyback program and spin off its cable TV unit.
No price for any deal has yet been discussed, as the talks remain at an early stage, the person said. Reports Thursday in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times said the deal would focus on AOL's Web portal business, not on its still-profitable but declining dial-up Internet access business.
Google has been seeking a closer relationship with cable operators because of their close ties with content programmers.
Asked about the talks, a Google spokesman said: "Google and AOL have a healthy global partnership, and AOL remains a valued partner. Your inquiry is about rumored conversations and we're not able to respond to questions of this type."
An AOL spokeswoman declined to comment. AOL was the fifth most-popular Web brand in September, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, while Google came in fourth.
___
Business Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report
news link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051013/ap_on_hi_te/aol_comcast_google;_ylt=AkR36b6bH0LDXRxRgbd5b2f6VbIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--
Comcast, Google and Time Warner are discussing a possible deal under which the three companies would form a new entity through which they would jointly own the Web portal, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because release of the information was not authorized.
The potential deal could derail separate talks that have been reported between AOL and Microsoft Corp., which is believed to be interested in an alliance between AOL and Microsoft's MSN, another major Internet portal.
Any deal between AOL and MSN could threaten Google, since AOL is major contributor to Google's thriving Internet ad business, accounting for 11 percent of Google's $2.6 billion in revenue during the first half of this year.
AOL was long considered a drag on Time Warner due to the rapid exodus of its core dial-up Internet users, but recently AOL has been revamping its business model, opening up its content to all Internet users in order to tap into the booming market for Internet advertising.
AOL's original online content now makes it an attractive target for companies like Google and Comcast, which are eager to build up their audiences of Internet users.
The three companies plan to leverage their content and consumer reach to create a Web portal powerhouse, the person said. Google, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., is the nation's most popular search engine, while Comcast and Time Warner are the top two cable operators. Time Warner also owns many media properties including Warner Bros., CNN and HBO.
Google contacted Comcast last week to gauge the cable giant's interest in such a deal, the person said. Philadelphia-based Comcast had been on the prowl for content to avoid the commoditization of its cable lines.
Reports of the talks among Google, Time Warner and Comcast sent Time Warner's stock up 10 cents to close at $17.59 Thursday on the
New York Stock Exchange' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> New York Stock Exchange.
Time Warner's CEO Dick Parsons said recently that revving up AOL's turnaround is a top priority for the company and the greatest opportunity for creating value. Activist investor Carl Icahn, meanwhile, has been pressuring the company to boost its share buyback program and spin off its cable TV unit.
No price for any deal has yet been discussed, as the talks remain at an early stage, the person said. Reports Thursday in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times said the deal would focus on AOL's Web portal business, not on its still-profitable but declining dial-up Internet access business.
Google has been seeking a closer relationship with cable operators because of their close ties with content programmers.
Asked about the talks, a Google spokesman said: "Google and AOL have a healthy global partnership, and AOL remains a valued partner. Your inquiry is about rumored conversations and we're not able to respond to questions of this type."
An AOL spokeswoman declined to comment. AOL was the fifth most-popular Web brand in September, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, while Google came in fourth.
___
Business Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report
news link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051013/ap_on_hi_te/aol_comcast_google;_ylt=AkR36b6bH0LDXRxRgbd5b2f6VbIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--
OpenOffice.org 2.0 Release Delayed
OpenOffice.org had hoped to celebrate its fifth birthday today by launching the next generation of its office software suite, but a glitch has delayed release of the product for one week.
According to a blog posting by OpenSource.org community member Stefan Taxhet, "a serious showstopper" apparently related to graphics was detected at the last moment, and developers agreed to postpone the release until the problem has been fixed.
The delay also allows developers to apply patches for other problems with OpenOffice.org 2.0 related to the printing of text and two issues related to Mac OS X.
OpenDocument Support Is Key
The OpenOffice.org suite, backed by a group of developers organized by Sun Microsystems includes word processing and spreadsheet applications. It offers default support for the new XML-based OpenDocument format, approved by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS).
That format got a boost recently when Massachusetts' I.T. department announced that OpenDocument would be the preferred program for state documents starting in January 2007. Also, Sun and Google have agreed to collaborate on several initiatives, including promotion of the OpenOffice.org software suite.
OpenOffice.org community development manager Louis Suarez-Potts said that the group has recorded some 47 million downloads since the inception of OpenOffice.org. With the release of version 2.0, that number is expected to reach 100 million in short order, he said.
Suarez-Potts suggested that, in light of the Google partnership with Sun, the profiles of OpenOffice.org and the Open Document Format (ODF) have been raised to a new level.
No Cause for Concern
Because the earlier iteration of OpenOffice.org is still functional, the delay should pose no problems for the organization, said IDC analyst Dan Kusnetzky. While use of OpenOffice.org software on Windows-based hardware remains limited, he said, it is making headway among
Linux and Unix users.
Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio noted that launch delays are common in the software industry, and that as long as the delay is relatively short it is not cause for concern. "It's better to fix the glitches before the release than after," she said.
As for the popularity of OpenOffice.org, DiDio said Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) Office suite dominates the market by a large margin. She did point out, though, that Sun's StarOffice open-source offering has attained a 19 percent market share among small to midsize businesses.
Written by: Jay Wrolstad, newsfactor.com
According to a blog posting by OpenSource.org community member Stefan Taxhet, "a serious showstopper" apparently related to graphics was detected at the last moment, and developers agreed to postpone the release until the problem has been fixed.
The delay also allows developers to apply patches for other problems with OpenOffice.org 2.0 related to the printing of text and two issues related to Mac OS X.
OpenDocument Support Is Key
The OpenOffice.org suite, backed by a group of developers organized by Sun Microsystems includes word processing and spreadsheet applications. It offers default support for the new XML-based OpenDocument format, approved by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS).
That format got a boost recently when Massachusetts' I.T. department announced that OpenDocument would be the preferred program for state documents starting in January 2007. Also, Sun and Google have agreed to collaborate on several initiatives, including promotion of the OpenOffice.org software suite.
OpenOffice.org community development manager Louis Suarez-Potts said that the group has recorded some 47 million downloads since the inception of OpenOffice.org. With the release of version 2.0, that number is expected to reach 100 million in short order, he said.
Suarez-Potts suggested that, in light of the Google partnership with Sun, the profiles of OpenOffice.org and the Open Document Format (ODF) have been raised to a new level.
No Cause for Concern
Because the earlier iteration of OpenOffice.org is still functional, the delay should pose no problems for the organization, said IDC analyst Dan Kusnetzky. While use of OpenOffice.org software on Windows-based hardware remains limited, he said, it is making headway among
Linux and Unix users.
Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio noted that launch delays are common in the software industry, and that as long as the delay is relatively short it is not cause for concern. "It's better to fix the glitches before the release than after," she said.
As for the popularity of OpenOffice.org, DiDio said Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) Office suite dominates the market by a large margin. She did point out, though, that Sun's StarOffice open-source offering has attained a 19 percent market share among small to midsize businesses.
Written by: Jay Wrolstad, newsfactor.com
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
QuickTime 7.0.3 updated for iPod video creation
Apple on Wednesday released QuickTime 7.0.3, an update to their core multimedia software. The 34MB update can be downloaded from Apple’s Web site and is also available from the Software Update system preference panel.
The new update “delivers several important bug fixes, primarily in the areas of streaming and H.264 video,” according to Apple, which recommends it highly for all QuickTime 7 users.
What’s more, users who have installed QuickTime 7 Pro — the US$29 upgrade to QuickTime that adds authoring capabilities — will gain the ability to create video and audio files that can be played back on compatible iPods. Apple on Wednesday introduced new color iPods that can play MPEG-4 and H.264 video.
An important caveat, if you have not yet updated to QuickTime 7 — the update disables QuickTime Pro functionality in versions prior to QuickTime 7. You need to purchase a new QuickTime 7 Pro key in order to restore that capability.
Click here for all of today's news at MacCentral.
The new update “delivers several important bug fixes, primarily in the areas of streaming and H.264 video,” according to Apple, which recommends it highly for all QuickTime 7 users.
What’s more, users who have installed QuickTime 7 Pro — the US$29 upgrade to QuickTime that adds authoring capabilities — will gain the ability to create video and audio files that can be played back on compatible iPods. Apple on Wednesday introduced new color iPods that can play MPEG-4 and H.264 video.
An important caveat, if you have not yet updated to QuickTime 7 — the update disables QuickTime Pro functionality in versions prior to QuickTime 7. You need to purchase a new QuickTime 7 Pro key in order to restore that capability.
Click here for all of today's news at MacCentral.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Vendors Rally for Fast New Wi-Fi
More than two dozen leading manufacturers of wireless LAN equipment have formed an industry coalition aimed at breaking a deadlock in efforts to establish a new, faster Wi-Fi standard.
The Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC), announced Monday, hopes to speed ratification of an IEEE 802.11n standard by introducing its own specification with widespread industry support. The industry coalition consists of 27 companies, including Atheros Communications, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, and Intel.
"These members represent a good cross-section of the two groups that were unable to agree to an 802.11n standard as part of the IEEE standardization process," said Gwen Carlson, a spokesperson at Conexant Systems, which is an EWC member.
Warring Sides
For the past several months, the two camps had argued bitterly over a standard, failing to achieve the majority support required by IEEE.
In the one camp was the World-Side Spectrum Efficiency (WWiSE) group, and in the other was TGnSync.
The members will continue to work within the IEEE Task Group "N" in an effort to agree on an 802.11n standard, according to Carlson.
The EWC specification will benefit users by, among other things, ensuring interoperability of next-generation wireless producers across a range of brands and platforms, such as PCs, handheld devices and networking systems, Carlson said.
Faster Wi-Fi
Written by: John Blau, IDG News Service
The planned 802.11n standard will significantly boost throughput on Wi-Fi systems. The EWC specification aims to support speeds of up to 600 megabits per second. That compares to today's 802.11a and 802.11g throughput of 20mbps to 24mbps.
The EWC specification includes a number of other technical elements, including mixed-mode interoperability with 802.11a, b and g networks; use of 2.4GHz and/or 5GHz unlicensed bands (thus matching the frequency plan of existing 802.11 devices); 20MHz and/or 40MHz channel support; and spatial multiplexing modes for simultaneous transmission using one to four antennas.
The specification will also support 4 x 4 MIMO (multiple-input/multiple-output) technology, according to Carlson.
The Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC), announced Monday, hopes to speed ratification of an IEEE 802.11n standard by introducing its own specification with widespread industry support. The industry coalition consists of 27 companies, including Atheros Communications, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, and Intel.
"These members represent a good cross-section of the two groups that were unable to agree to an 802.11n standard as part of the IEEE standardization process," said Gwen Carlson, a spokesperson at Conexant Systems, which is an EWC member.
Warring Sides
For the past several months, the two camps had argued bitterly over a standard, failing to achieve the majority support required by IEEE.
In the one camp was the World-Side Spectrum Efficiency (WWiSE) group, and in the other was TGnSync.
The members will continue to work within the IEEE Task Group "N" in an effort to agree on an 802.11n standard, according to Carlson.
The EWC specification will benefit users by, among other things, ensuring interoperability of next-generation wireless producers across a range of brands and platforms, such as PCs, handheld devices and networking systems, Carlson said.
Faster Wi-Fi
Written by: John Blau, IDG News Service
The planned 802.11n standard will significantly boost throughput on Wi-Fi systems. The EWC specification aims to support speeds of up to 600 megabits per second. That compares to today's 802.11a and 802.11g throughput of 20mbps to 24mbps.
The EWC specification includes a number of other technical elements, including mixed-mode interoperability with 802.11a, b and g networks; use of 2.4GHz and/or 5GHz unlicensed bands (thus matching the frequency plan of existing 802.11 devices); 20MHz and/or 40MHz channel support; and spatial multiplexing modes for simultaneous transmission using one to four antennas.
The specification will also support 4 x 4 MIMO (multiple-input/multiple-output) technology, according to Carlson.
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