- Daily news beat for April 22, 2008
- 100 VoIP flaws
- Daily news beat for March 26, 2008
- Dumbing down smart- phones
- Daily news beat for March 21, 2008
- Daily news beat for March 20, 2008
- iPhone raises enterprise questions
- iPhone as a platform?
- iPhone in the enterprise?
- Obama is to WiMax as Clinton is to LTE
April 22, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Daily news beat for April 22, 2008
With new evidence that ISPs are widely throttling legal peer-to-peer file sharing, a U.S. Senate committee is holding a Net neutrality hearing on Tuesday that may signal that lawmakers are ready to debate Internet bills long languishing in Congress. The FCC chairman, in fact, says that Comcast's blocking was widespread, so much so that it happened even when there was no network congestion.
Cryptography expert Bruce Schneier says that lots of security software is 'snake oil' and that antivirus products are not sufficient, even though they are necessary, in this Q&A.
A patent filing shows that Apple is working on methods for IM, such as sending, receiving, and viewing ongoing conversations.
NetSuite and SugarCRM align with BT in deals that some analysts see as a boon to open source, while one suggests that BT could "break out as the first real net-savvy telco. That is, the first telco of the 21st century. It's beginning to look like it."
And Microsoft says that XP SP3 is available. The service pack has been a long time coming, but Microsoft deemed it released to manufacturing and XP SP3 is working its way toward OEMs and corporate customers. The public version will become available April 29.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on April 22, 2008 09:49 AM
April 03, 2008 | Comments: (0)
VoIP technologies require far more scrutiny by business users and security experts than they’re currently getting.
That's according to VoIPshield, which issued a report on and hosts a database of VoIP security threats.
"Among the flaws listed in the firm's new database of VoIP security threats are those that could be used for unauthorized access, code execution, denial of service or information harvesting attacks," Matt Hines reports in Research uncovers 100 VoIP vulnerabilities.
The report unearths flaws in some of the most popular VoIP software packages, made by companies including Avaya, Cisco and Nortel.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on April 3, 2008 04:33 AM
March 26, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Daily news beat for March 26, 2008
In a move not altogether surprising, Motorola says it will split into two companies. One will focus on mobile phones, the other on networking infrastructure. Analysts contend that the company "had to do something," and that a healthy Motorola phone unit is "needed to provide some balance with Nokia. A Nokia-Samsung duopoly isn't good for anyone."
IBM partners with the Georgia Institute of Technology and Ohio State University to push cloud computing in hopes of bolstering the autonomic capabilities of physical and virtual servers in broad-scale computing. Related: Cloud computing begins to emerge from the haze.
Oracle breaks the Linux clusterting component out of RAC and offers it to customers of Unbreakable Linux.
Hackers seize on Excel vulnerability. Researchers at Symantec spot a Web site hosting a malicious file that, if downloaded, can infect PC and redirect victim to the site.
And Cringe continues the discussion about Smoking guns and broken voting machines. "Once again, rather than open itself up to public scrutiny, Sequoia shops for friendly test firms who answer only to them," Cringe reports on the e-voting company and its comically crippled machines.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on March 26, 2008 09:44 AM
March 25, 2008 | Comments: (0)
The mobile platform industry is already confusing enough and Ephraim Schwartz has had enough -- particularly in light of the IBM-Sprint Nextel news that the latter will adopt the former’s Lotus Expeditor.
"If IT does detect some kind of business benefit from mobility, my advice is to wait until we see who wins out among all the providers of these discrete, siloed mobile technologies," Schwartz explains in Take the smarts out of smartphones.
"One way to approach untangling this industry, from an IT perspective, would be to declare a companywide edict deciding on one of the above and establishing a policy that supports nothing else."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on March 25, 2008 10:24 AM
March 21, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Daily news beat for March 21, 2008
Earlier this week the U.S. FCC officially closed its auction for wireless spectrum and has since announced the winners and ... Verizon garnered a large chunk of the 700MHz spectrum, including band that covers nearly all of the United States.
Details are emerging about the future OpenOffice open source productivity suite, with some saying that OpenOffice 3.0 promises to bash Microsoft's Office, when it becomes available.
A project leader within Eclipse contends that cutting some of the IDE's functionality will enable Eclipse to deliver greater value. Eclipse IDE: Due for a trim?
India rejects Microsoft's OOXML again; the latest comes ahead of a March 29 deadline for ISO members to reconsider their votes if they see fit.
Contract employees working for the U.S. Department of State breached Barack Obama's passport records during the past three months -- a violation flagged by the department's in-house IT system.
And in Geek week in review, the venerable Robert X. Cringely shares a story sure to chill the heart of many geeks, his take on spectrum analysis, and insights regarding Microsoft's pretzel logic to satisfy Intel.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on March 21, 2008 09:55 AM
March 20, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Daily news beat for March 20, 2008
Sprint Nextel says that later this year it will have a unified architecture for networks that will include a common optical backbone, IP networks, cell-site infrastructure, and Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem.
High Tech Computer might be the first to market with a phone called "Dream" that runs Google's Android platform and features a keypad for e-mail and note-taking.
Dell, meanwhile, may be in cahoots with an electronics manufacturer to create a Windows Mobile handheld device, according to reports.
Officials at IBM and Microsoft brainstorm IDE enhancements, considering what IDEs will look like in four years -- as sculpted by trends both technological and sociological in nature.
And New Jersey calls for an investigation into e-voting, after discrepancies were noticed in machines during last month’s presidential primaries.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on March 20, 2008 11:06 AM
March 18, 2008 | Comments: (0)
iPhone raises enterprise questions
Apple's claim that IT professionals will be able to seamlessly integrate the iPhone into their enterprise environments raises "a great many questions," as Ephraim Schwartz points out.
"The problem as I see it is this: Apple has been, in essence, a 'unified experience' company (controlling the hardware and user experience with its own UI, operating system and support software) pushing out products that are basically plug-and-play within the Apple environment," Schwartz explains in Will iPhone force Apple to change course?
Posted by Tom Sullivan on March 18, 2008 06:21 AM
March 17, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Perhaps buried among the news of its interoperability with Microsoft Exchange is the fact that Apple will be treating the iPhone as a full-blown platform for development of mobile applications.
While it's not a fully open platform, it is possibly open enough to enable corporate developers and ISVs to build smartphone applications for the iPhone using JavaScript and CSS, Zack Urlocker explains in iPhone as a platform?
"The real power of the platform will be in what kind of applications are created," Urlocker writes. "One 'killer app' can make a platform successful if it solves the right problem for the right audience."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on March 17, 2008 08:33 AM
March 03, 2008 | Comments: (0)
With the highly-anticipated iPhone SDK just days away, rumors are swirling about just what Apple's intentions are for enterprise users.
IT shops, however, need not wait.
"Whatever the impending iPhone SDK accomplishes out of the gate, the fact is that most IT organizations can bring the iPhone into their operations easily and with acceptable risk," Galen Guman explains in Making the iPhone work for business.
Sure, analysts such as Forrester Research caution against doing so on grounds that the device has deficits, particularly security-wise, that ought to concern IT. Then again, a no iPhone policy might be unrealistic and could spur users to perform hacks on their own to get at corporate e-mail and calendars, making security all the more troublesome.
"IT will have to decide whether security shortfalls justify banning the iPhone from the enterprise," Guman advises. "A good way to judge that is to make an honest assessment: Are you as tough on USB thumb drives, smartphones, and work-at-home users' PCs as you want to be on the iPhone?"
Posted by Tom Sullivan on March 3, 2008 07:56 AM
February 26, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Obama is to WiMax as Clinton is to LTE
What do the two senators vying to be the Democratic presidential candidate have in common with wireless broadband?
Personally, I'd not be surprised if neither of them even knows much about LTE or WiMax.
But Ephraim Schwartz sees a parallel.
"The battle between LTE and WiMax reminds me of the current presidential Democratic primary. Only a few short months ago, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was the expected Democratic presidential candidate. Then the junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, took the mantle from her almost overnight. Obama is to WiMax as Clinton is to LTE," Schwartz writes in The looming battle over wireless broadband.
Back to broadband...
"And so the fight over standards is a race to give users the same level of performance when mobile as they have when tethered to the desk. Whoever can do that first will win the hearts and minds of customers."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 26, 2008 05:52 AM
February 25, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Comcast charging more for less
That's the assertion that readers are making over at Ed Foster's Gripe Line.
To wit, Foster begins with a question: Can a vendor with a monopoly on providing one type of service to you cripple it if you refuse to buy other services from them as well?
"Comcast's use of phony TCP reset packets against some broadband customers has spurred several lawsuits and even today's FCC hearing, as well as hopefully refocusing public attention on the whole net neutrality issue,” Foster writes in Oh, no it's Comcastic.
It's not just broadband customers feeling the squeeze, either. "Indeed Comcast's fondness for nickel and diming its cable TV customers was clearly one of the big reasons it finished so strongly in the Worst Vendor poll," Foster adds. "I suppose we can hope that the FCC will find out exactly what Comcast is up to, although I'm not going to holding my breath."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 25, 2008 10:27 AM
February 14, 2008 | Comments: (0)
The company's name alone ought to have given it away.
"With no disrespect to the smart folks at the innovative Danger, a decade-old developer of a Java-based 'hiptop' operating environment used in the T-Mobile Sidekick and other devices, Microsoft's return on the investment will probably be commensurate with what it spent: not much," Bill Snyder writes in Microsoft's mobile mistake.
Danger isn't likely to help Microsoft gain much traction in the mobile phone market against the likes of Apple and Research in Motion, Snyder continues.
"What they are doing, what the advantage is, is just not obvious," Ken Dulaney, vice president of mobile computing at Gartner said.
Snyder is irked. "Microsoft is racing to catch up with a raft of nimbler competitors as the desktop becomes less significant to the computing world. It's probably not a lot of money, but it could be a distraction -- and even chump change should be spent well."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 14, 2008 05:04 AM
February 13, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Even if you're more gaga for your iPhone than for your Valentine, the harsh reality of mobile telecommunications is that, by and large, cell phones are a drag.
Yes, the advantages of freedom they bring are indisputable. But after a recent outing with his wife to purchase each of them a new one, Zack Urlocker got to wondering: why do cell phones suck so much?
"My thesis is that they suck because they've been designed by committee ... If you want a good product, have a small team that cares deeply about the experience. It's worth sweating the details."
That said, Urlocker does give credit to the iPhone because "it works the way you would expect."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 13, 2008 11:14 AM
February 13, 2008 | Comments: (0)
iPhone love at first sight gives way in the end
Done with phone technology enhancements, Peter Bruzzese would have been happy with one of those phones for geriatrics -- until he laid eyes upon Apple's iPhone. The iPhone slayed this Windows geek.
Love at first sight, indeed, though as is almost always the case, practicality wins out in the end. From an IT perspective, that means Bruzzese still prefers Windows Mobile devices when it comes to e-mail, largely because that's what fuels the business world.
Then again, Elizabeth Montalbano of the IDG News Service, assuming the side of end-users rather than IT professionals, seems to have found love of the longer-lasting fashion, she fesses up after taking on the device. "Four months later, I'm still smitten," Montalbano wrote in iPhone and me: a love story, an account she penned in December, 2007. Unlike a certain ex-boyfriend, "iPhone has never disappointed me, and has so far been an unfailingly loyal and faithful companion."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 13, 2008 09:24 AM
February 11, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Internet following cable TV's footsteps
"The Internet is free. Applications are free. The people have won! Baloney. The Internet is about as free as cable TV," Ephraim Schwartz kickstarts Internet will go the way of pay TV, a.k.a. cable. Why, the Internet actually costs users money, of course, and none too little at that.
Schwartz asserts that there are two roads the Net can go down. Thus far, it has followed the same business model as network TV in that the shows are paid for by advertising and therefore free to viewers.
On the second road, you pay for cable service, then pay again to watch really good movies. Think HBO On-Demand. "Wait a second, subscribing to hosted, Internet applications? Isn't that happening? I think it's called SaaS [software-as-a-service]."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 11, 2008 11:24 AM
February 11, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Outfitting the iPhone for business
Apple's iPhone "pits security concerns, vendor intentions, and gadget affinities against caution-minded enterprise IT," in Leon Urlanger's words. And IT shops are nervous, very nervous. The thing is, while CEO's fall in love with the device and essentailly demand that IT rework existing applications and infrastructure to accommodate it, when it comes to managing the phone, "Apple offers nothing even remotely similar to the centralized capabilities offered by RIM or Microsoft. There are no tools for monitoring mobile assets or enforcing corporate software policies, and the iPhone's reliance on iTunes for activation and software updates just doesn't sit well with IT, nor does the need to send the iPhone back to Apple for a battery change." Outfitting the iPhone for business. As the industry awaits an SDK, several outstanding usability issues remain, such that "the iPhone has a long way to go before moving beyond an executive luxury to becoming a true enterprise player."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 11, 2008 05:54 AM
January 31, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Telecom: Waxing poetic, Paul Venezia puts a new, modern-day tech spin on Elizabeth Barrett Browning's similarly-titled poem in Sonnets from the Portugese. Only Venezia isn't counting up the ways he loves his DSL provider, no, something quite different. "Why must this be so difficult, so painful?" he begins O Verizon, how I loathe thee. "Why must you spurn me at every opportunity, causing me to rend my clothing and speak in tongues? This hold you have over me is distressing."
Sustainable IT: The latest IT product fray to turn green is workplace and resource management, thanks to PeopleCube's Resource Scheduler, Ted Samson reports. Green features bloom in unexpected places. The company seeded Resource Scheduler with the capability to remotely monitor and control lighting and HVAC for facilities a customer oversees and, for instance, to turn off the air conditioning and lights in an empty conference room.
Show of the week: Demo 08, now in video. See the best of 77 startups pitching their idea to VCs and investors. Watch them here.
The news beat: In reaction to Autonomy's white paper claiming Google's Search Appliance does not index all of a customer's critical data, Google slams Autonomy, but Autonomy was not alone in its criticisms. Phishers are using DNS tricks to lure Web surfers to malicious sites at an increasing rate. At least two PC makers, other than Apple, will use the Core 2 Duo chip Intel built for the MacBook Air in systems that, one source says, will be announced shortly. And Forrester Research predicts that the days of super-size software consolidations are largely over.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 31, 2008 10:04 AM
December 21, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Six months later: A hard look at the iPhone
Video: Half-a-year after the most over-hyped product release in history, the time has come to take a look at what's good, and not so good, about Apple's iPhone. Kevin Railsback and Eric Hill do just that in the series Two geeks and iPhone. Is it really worth the price, and having to deal with Apple's restrictions? Part 1 looks at what they've actually used the phone for during the last six months. Safari is a gimme, but these two have different practices with the device. In Part 2, they share some of the tips and tricks they've picked up along the way for e-mail and browsing, neither of which is ideal on the iPhone. Tackling one of the thornier issues with the device, they show how to add third-party apps and work around some Apple-imposed limitations in Part 3.
Sustainable IT: If this stable of luminaries is even close to correct, 2008 will be a greener year than the last. "The flourishing world of green technology is driven by true need. Companies are running out of space and power in their datacenters, not to mention struggling with high energy costs," Ted Samson explains in IT leaders share green-tech predictions for 2008. Executives from AMD, Cisco, IBM, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Sun, SNIA, VMware and Yahoo, among others, contribute to the piece -- and to Samson's conclusion that "2008 is shaping up to be an eventful year for green IT, to say the least."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on December 21, 2007 04:38 AM
November 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Telephony: The verdict is still out on VoIP. "Sure, plenty are crowing the virtues, but just as many are hanging up," Ephraim Schwartz asserts in this week's Reality Check. Ultimately, whether to buy into VoIP right away is all up to you, Schwartz concedes. "Adopt an arguably flawed technology now or wait until they improve it?" Related: The lie that is Voice over IP.
Columnist's corner: Back in the '80's, a national fast food chain told one of its tech specialists that he could not use a camera flash to take pictures in their restaurant because it would mysteriously trigger a shut down of all the computer-operated cash registers. Worse, due to asking too many questions about it, our Off the Record author, a mere two weeks after starting, was promptly told he'd be laid off -- unless he met one demand. "Solve this flash problem, and we'll be able to justify keeping you," his boss said. And with that, he got started. No photos, please. In the end, a quarter-inch slab of black tape did the trick. "I got to keep my job and parents got to take pictures of their kids' birthday parties."
Best of the blogs: For all it's trendy glory these days social networking is far from perfect. The competition is flawed because, as New York CTO Jon Williams writes, most folks just don't have time to check pages on myriad communities. The problem with social networking. "I am still losing the argument of 'it just wastes more time' and I can't prove that it will displace email usage to improve business productivity." All that said, social networking is not going away anytime soon. Related: The great social networking swindle of 2007.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on November 7, 2007 05:14 AM
October 18, 2007 | Comments: (0)
VoIP: The lie that is Voice over IP
VoIP: What with Microsoft unveiling Office Communications Server 2007 and its unified communications strategy, and "in light of the fact that the backbone of any UC platform is VoIP, I just thought I'd inject a brief note of realism into the discussion of the future of UC and the current reality," Ephraim Schwartz explains in this Reality Check post. "VoIP is not half as good as my old AT&T service. I not only speak for myself here but friends and relatives who are using it as well." Several readers posted comments agreeing with Schwartz's assertions. "I'm fairly certain that some day it will be better. But I'm just saying it's not there yet. I don't care how many commercials they have on TV."
Unified communications: Moving right along, now that Microsoft has officially unwrapped OCS 2007 there are, not surprisingly, objections. And while OCS just might spur the rising tide that floats all unified communications boats, six concerns have manifested; some are FUD, others are legitimate. Related video: Bill Gates UC launch, in three parts.
Careers: Sometimes, there are worse places to be than in a tight spot. Take the case of one reader who seeks Bob Lewis' advice because he's weighing a job offer from one company while waiting to interview with another where he'd much rather work. The question, of course, is how to handle it. "The best approach I can think of would be to tell the folks who made you an offer that the earliest you can start with them is two weeks from Monday due to previous obligations," Lewis begins in An excellent pickle.
Open source: Hassle-free Linux box might be an oxymoron, explains Zack Urlocker, "but it's an interesting strategy by startup Zonbu." Though he confesses to not liking the requisite online storage subscription the diskless machine brings, Zonbu claims it will save electricity costs. To anyone out there who has tried it, let Zack know your thoughts. "I think this is ... a possibly disruptive idea."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on October 18, 2007 05:17 AM
August 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)
iPhone outmatched by several devices in its class
Best of the blogs: Even though the iPhone has been, albeit not easily, unshackled from AT&T Wireless Service, Tom Yager says it's still a waste of money. "Following an exhaustive comparison of alternatives, I have overwhelming backing for my early conclusion that iPhone is vastly outmatched by several devices in its price class," he writes in this Enterprise Mac post. Yager's ultimate advice: Buy a real phone.
From the feature well: Phrases such as "your boss is watching" and "you are your own worst enemy" naturally invoke those internal fear-raddled voices in most of us. "There are plenty of reasons to be, well, a little paranoid about the vulnerability of your data and the potential loss of your privacy," asserts Dan Tynan in 10 reasons to be paranoid. Data privacy, while the latest and not-so-greatest concern these days, is hardly the only one of significance. Related: When it pays to be paranoid.
Careers: In the denouement of an ongoing, and somewhat contentious, discussion Bob Lewis offers this last shot at tough CEOs. While readers, CEO-types among them, take issue with Lewis' advice, he maintains that, "any CEO who makes the working environment a grist mill is, to my way of thinking, a poor leader. I also recognize that I have to make room for exceptions," Lewis writes. "The world has a history of characters who are tough to work for but have enough other redeeming characteristics that it comes out okay in the end."
Video: Sony has created a so-called bio-battery that breaks down sugar to generate enough electricity to power a Walkman. "Sugar is naturally occurring so the technology could be the basis for an ecologically friendly energy source," Martyn Williams reports. Watch it here.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on August 28, 2007 04:49 AM
August 21, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Outages happen to just about every service provider out there from time-to-time. But as is the case with any company facing a crisis, it's the handling of it that ultimately matters most. "The lackadaisical way that Skype has approached correcting the problem has me fuming," Randall Kennedy writes in Burned by Skype!. "The moment they started charging my credit card for things like a Skype-In number and Skype-Credit, the nature of the relationship changed ... nothing about Skype's behavior to date seems to indicate an appreciation of how the user dynamic has evolved."
Columnist's corner: In a similar vein, glad that Netflix has put folks on the phone for a competitive advantage, Ephraim Schwartz bemoans customer service in general -- for those in need as well as the providers. Customer service gets human again. "Netflix's solution runs counter to every high-tech business strategy I have ever heard," Schwartz asserts. What's more, the company decided not to outsource. "Someday technology will evolve to offer reliable customer service, but until then it might not be a bad idea for companies to turn their backs on hype from customer service technology vendors and just follow Netflix's lead."
The news beat: Apple takes a bite out of Dell as sales of its laptops are surging all the way up to 17 percent market share, according to one firm. Business Objects partners with Thomson Financial in a pact that an industry analyst refers to as "the convergence of SaaS solutions along with industry-specific applications." And IBM says it will turn its Sametime enterprise IM software into a family products that fits into the unified communications realm.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on August 21, 2007 11:16 AM
August 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
VoIP: So many, so mad and not even at Microsoft
Notes from the field: The horror, the horror of VoIP. "It's not just TeleBlend. Packet8, Allo.com, and Comcast also get dinged by customers who can't get them to provide decent VoIP or customer service," Cringe reports in Eat packets, VoIP boy. Sure, it can save customers a few bucks, but VoIP is turning out to be the mainfestation of lousy communications. "I've never seen so many Cringesters so p**sed off at a company whose name isn't Microsoft."
Columnist's corner: Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1, in the words of Olvier Rist, "adds a bunch of new goodies to your Exchange setup." Such as security and Outlook Web Access enhancements. Then there's the new fail-over options, and tighter control over mobile devices. "Microsoft has taken yet more steps to make OWA as Outlook-like as possible," Rist writes. Related review: The Great Office Server Smorgasbord: SharePoint 2007.
Careers: Don't stop moonlighting. That's Nick Corcodilos' advice to one reader wondering how to go about telling prospective employers that he not only has an ancillary e-commerce business but also intends to keep it alive after accepting a new gig. "I don't think all employers will look askance at your side business. If you think that’s happening, why not just confront it head on?" Corcodilos writes. "I say, better you find out now whether they can live with it. Freedom's just another word, until you stand up for it with action."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on August 16, 2007 04:40 AM
April 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Smoothing waters for the iPhone
Notes from the field: The excitable Robert X. Cringely explains that "everybody gets something out of the Apple EMI deal." Indeed, the pact under which EMI drops DRM via iTunes. That's everybody as in the record company and Apple. "Don't be fooled," Cringe writes in DRM a little DRM of me. "This isn't about freeing up iPod owners."
Podcasts: This latest episode of InfoWorld Live focuses on the future of cell phones and the timely topic of whether, or not, newspapers are dead. "No," is the answer. Onto mobiles. "Not everyone is going to have a smartphone tomorrow," says Stephane Marceau, CEO of MobiVOX. "Even smartphones today offer a limited experience." Other guests include Vivek Khuller, the founder and CEO of DiVitas, and none other than our own chief technologist Tom Yager. Tune in here.
Best of the blogs: Continuing on with his second post concerning Windows Vista experiences Bob Lewis highlights the latest headache, which comes in the form of software accompanying Hewlett-Packard's 2840-series all-in-one color laserjet devices. "That's right -- the software isn't Vista-compatible, and there are no updates available that would make it so," he writes. Universal printer driver? I think not. Part 1: Whole new Vistas.
Security: How much wireless security is enough? Out-of-the-box routers, for instance, might seem alright if you don't mind friends and neighbors tapping you for 'Net access. "It's not really fine, though, because the courts have not been kind to the owners of open wireless routers that have been used for illegal purposes," Martin Heller explains. Naturally, he reconfigured to secure his own, but is left wondering if there are other practical measures that make sense.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on April 5, 2007 04:47 AM
March 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
First-time VoIP buyers' most common mistakes
Podcasts: Episode 7 of InfoWorld Live is now featuring not just Oliver Rist but also a character he calls Sasquatch Venezia, otherwise known as Paul over at his Deep End blog. If you're anywhere cold, forgive the host for boasting of Florida weather and golf before he cuts to the tech chase. Once they get there, though, the topic is VoIP and related business services. So it only follows that this installment includes guests from Linksys and Packet 8. Oh yes, and they do get to those newbie blunders. Tune in right here.
Best of the blogs: Sometimes, I suppose, the best way to teach folks how to do something they're unaccustomed to is to make it the only way they can work. That's one Machiavellian means to settle a dispute about the virtues of keyboard shortcuts, as Sean McCown learned after thieving all the mouse balls from hundreds of co-workers. "The next day, I sat back and watched as an entire floor of tech support people were rendered completely helpless because they never bothered learning the simplest of keyboard shortcuts," he writes in My confession. "Oddly enough, that's the first time I've ever told anyone that story."
The news beat: Speaking at the CDC's annual gala dinner Microsoft chairman Bill Gates called on U.S. Congress to pass a privacy law that would enable consumers to control their personal data, provide transparency about how that data is used, and ensure that they're notified in the event of a breach. 3M slaps Lenovo, Sony, and others with a lawsuit alleging that they violated patents related to lithium-ion batteries. And Avaya unwraps new software, phones and a gateway for IP telephony systems.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on March 8, 2007 10:48 AM
January 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Not everyone, it seems, is instantly enamored with the iPhone that Apple introduced this week -- and I'm not just referring to Cisco, either. "I'm sure lots of people will buy them, but I doubt many business users will be happy," writes Matt Asay in Skip the Apple-only iPhone. "What really chafes me is that there will be no third-party applications on the iPhone ... Apple has just cut off its ecosystem at the knees." Of course, there are quite a few reader comments strongly disagreeing with Mr. Asay.
Columnists' corner: It sounds like a horror flick, only this one is all too true. When vendors refuse to patch. "I can't believe my eyes," Roger Grimes begins this tale from the security crypt. "Eudora WorldMail Mail Management Server has an open exploit hole and Qualcomm says they have no plans to patch." Qualcomm, of course, is not the only guilty party, but it did win the leading role in Grimes' column. "The next time Qualcomm pitches your company a software product, don't expect them to support it for even two years."
Notes from the field: The question atop the curious Robert X. Cringely's brain this week, for something of a change, is not directly technology-related. 'When will Steve Jobs lose those black turtlenecks? And what of the blue jeans?' But the big offenders are Disney and Lenovo. Something about the law firm Goofy, Grumpy, McDuck, and a lack of support for IE7. Apple goes mobile, Disney's less than noble.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 12, 2007 10:56 AM
September 20, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Quote of the day: Ma Bell lingers on and on
They have our phone numbers held hostage if we try to switch service providers without settling up. Ma Bell didn't really go away, she just split into many little Bells that still behave the same and wring just as shrilly." -- a reader writing into Ed Foster's Gripe Line. XO'ed by double billing.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on September 20, 2006 04:07 AM
May 18, 2006 | Comments: (0)
A PBX appliance, MacBook price parity, and SOA 2.0
SOA: Oracle and Gartner foreshadowed what they expect to be the next-generation of service-oriented architecture, and gave it a name: SOA 2.0. Oracle is using the term to describe the combination of SOA and event-driven architecture, terminology that a Gartner analyst nearly echoed, explaining that event-driven architecture distinguishes SOA 2.0 from the initial, client-server driven fashion of SOA.
Test Center review: Fonality's Asterisk PBXtra is a feature-rich PBX appliance that carries an ASP management tool. "A smaller-sized company can be up and running quickly and at a very reasonable price. Yes, you could get a server and download Asterisk for less money, but you'd have to do the work yourself, and that may not be easy," explains Wayne Rash. Not to say it won't cut it in larger shops, just that it would require plenty of PBX hardware.
Hardware: "Apple's new 13-inch widescreen MacBook in black has road warrior written all over it. But perhaps more interesting is that it will, for the first time, put a Mac notebook at near price parity with closely equipped Wintel laptops," writes Mike Barton, in MacBook: price parity a first?
Applications: SAP unwrapped a new on-demand, on-premise version of its CRM suite, which will include new sales and marketing applications, and upgraded its ERP with more than 300 enhancements.
The news beat: VeriSign drops $125 million to purchase SSL vendor GeoTrust and its extensive reseller channel. Yahoo executives say it will focus on social search, user content and reaching beyond the PC. And Samsung shows a prototype hard-disk drive that improves notebook computer perofrmance by reducing disk activity, which, in turn, also extends battery life.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on May 18, 2006 04:28 AM
April 27, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Net neutrality amendment shot down
Telecom: The U.S. House of Representatives voted down an amendment that would have required broadband providers to set aside connections for high-speed services. "This will stifle openness, endanger our global competitiveness, and warp the Web into a tiered Internet of bandwidth haves and have-nots," says Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who offered the provision.
Browsers: In what some are calling the first time Google has hawked third-party products on its homepage, the search engine is actively pushing the open source Firefox browser.
Security: Phishers are now dialing into VoIP, and have begun luring victims to fake call centers to verify account information on a phony customers support number. Bugs, meanwhile, are crawling around the Internet Software Consortium's BIND software, but are not considered critical.
Columnists' corner: Running Windows Server 2003 and considering implementing a wiki? Then Oliver Rist has a suggestion: Use SharePoint. "I point this out not because I'm a Microsoft moonie, and I do it only partially because of this column's moniker. Mostly I'm pointing this out because if you're reading this, it's likely that you've got a series of Windows 2003 servers in your enterprise -- and if you do, you've already paid for a chunk of SharePoint, at least as far as wiki-type functionality is concerned." Read Tap SharePoint and get wiki wid it.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on April 27, 2006 04:58 AM
April 18, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Telecom: Oracle unwraps a service delivery platform intended to help providers move to SOA. Amdocs, maker of billing software for telecoms and other service providers, says it will buy Qpass for $275 million and, in so doing, obtains its e-commerce software for managing and delivering content over various networks.
Test center review: Google Sitemaps fills the gaping hole that many Web analytics programs leave open: Actually fixing problems that reduce site traffic.
Podcasts: Another episode of Storage Sprawl is available as of this afternoon. In this one you'll gain a look at Iomega's REV Loader 280, a fit for some, just not all, SMBs. Plus, the week in storage news. Find it at The Storage Network blog.
The news beat: Cisco plunks down $265 million to help Saudi Arabia become a connected kingdom. BEA and HP team up on RFID, in a partnership that will join BEA products with HP's implementation expertise. And Motorola buys Orthogon to boost its next-generation wireless technologies.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on April 18, 2006 11:23 AM
April 03, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Lucent and Alcatel agree to merge, now the hard part
Telecom: On paper, the deal looks good, notes a Gartner analyst, but "the challenge, as always, is execution." Lucent and Alcatel agreed to a merger of equals on Sunday, a move that should help them get out of competition on a deal-to-deal basis, and enable more spending on R&D.
Open source: LinuxWorld Boston kicks off with virtualization fever, and new products are coming from XenSource and Virtual Iron. Zend Technologies is porting its PHP tools to run on IBM's i servers for SMBs. And the Software Freedom Law Center is establishing a conservancy to make it easier for developers of free and open-source software to become tax-exempt corporate entities.
Security: The collapse of Check Point's bid to acquire Sourcefire raises some questions, such as where the government stands on foreign ownership of companies. Paul Roberts, meanwhile, points out that Check Point won't lay low after the smackdown.
The news beat: Mercury is focusing on SOA with its latest software quality package. EMC ramps up storage arrays for SMBs, and Google faces rivals for the San Francisco citywide Wi-Fi project but is not of the running just yet.
InfoWorld Compensation Survey 2006: It's that time of year again. We are presently collecting data for our annual salary survey. Follow this link to fill out the form. Not only will you be able to enter a drawing for cash prizes, but our results just might prove handy come performance review time, particulary if you are gunning for a raise. Here's a look at last year's compensation survey.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on April 3, 2006 05:51 AM
March 09, 2006 | Comments: (0)
A fresh perspective on Neutering the Net
Columnists' corner: The telecom and cable providers that are seeking to put the Internet on a tiered pricing model would create, if the proposed legislation goes through, an environment in which they could potentially block independent traffic in favor of their own, points out Oliver Rist, in Don't neuter the Net. "These telecom clowns are going overboard in a really nasty way," Rist begins. "We're already significantly behind the rest of the world in per capita broadband permeation, thanks to their insistence on hawking outdated technology. Now, they're looking to kill a whole second economy in a greedy grab for profits they've really done nothing to deserve."
Best of the blogs: Rumors are swirling that Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy will be out by April 1 of this year, reports Dave Rosenberg in Open Sources. It's worth noting that Rosenberg refers to the source of this information as "semi-reliable." Career guru Bob Lewis offers advice for IT folks on measuring the implementation of strategic initiatives.
Storage: There is a duel in full swing over archiving dominance, and the gladiators are optical and tape drives. In Storage Insider Mario Apicella explores three of the vendors who are touting disk drives instead of tapes for data protection. "I can assure you that other vendors are still proposing a reel for entry-level customers," Apicella explains.
Hardware: Intel and Microsoft officially demonstrate the first three Origami ultramoblies at the Cebit tradeshow in Hanover, Germany, while an Intel exec proclaims that ultramobiles need Intel's Yonah chip at the company's Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco. Intel and rival AMD, meanwhile, stumble toward your living room. And Shuttle chases the Mac Mini with a smaller PC.
The news beat: When Google accidentally posted documents to its investor relations site, it revealed more than financial information: the company is planning to offer infinite storage that could house all user files, including e-mail, Web history, pictures, bookmarks, and so on, and make that data accessible from any device. An IBM exeuctive says that Linux is branching out into new industries and smaller businesses. And vendors at IDF say that hurdles remain on the road to faster Wi-Fi.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on March 9, 2006 05:20 AM
March 06, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Telecom: For a cool $67 billion AT&T will buy BellSouth. As a new company, AT&T will more quickly develop IPTV services by combining AT&T's research and development with BellSouth's fiber-optic networks for broadband services. Business users will benefit from the local exchanges, AT&T says.
Wireless: RIM and NTP, meanwhile, settled their patent dispute and a service shutdown has been avoided; and Ephraim Schwartz looks at the real story behind the RIM and NTP battle.
Security: "Any OS is hackable." Roger Grimes kicks off his blog entry Mac hacked in 30 seconds with that acknowledgement. And even though the contest Grimes links to doesn't mean much, "I'm pointing out that Macs have many exploits yet to be discovered and aren't mysteriously MORE SECURE than Windows," he maintains.
Special report: While voice-over-IP has countless benefits, it's by no means easy. But calling a provider can make VoIP a reality. "If you decide to go the hosted way, you're taking all the headaches off premises," points out IDC analyst William Stofega, in VoIP on demand.
Best of the blogs: Bob Garza has a video of a FedEx smartcard exploit. "The attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability can, anonymously, add value to a smartcard up to roughly $300 and then cash out that value," Garza points out. Check out the video here.
Product previews: We take a glimpse at Near-Time blogs and wikis, Symantec gateway security, Entuity's Eye of the Storm, and Optovia's SpanExpress, in this week's installment.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on March 6, 2006 05:02 AM
February 28, 2006 | Comments: (0)
What, pray tell, is a blogging phone?
Handhelds: Sony Ericsson shows off a 3.2-megapixel blogging phone. To qualify such a device as a blogging phone, the company integrated it with Google's Blogger application so that users can set up and post to a blog over the phone, including making and adding pictures. Mobile phone sales, meanwhile, reached record levels in 2005, according to Gartner.
Best of the blogs: Bob Lewis waxes on handling a backstabber. "The best defense I know of is to spend more time and energy building your own personal network in the company. People who don't know you are susceptible to what they hear; people who do, and who like and trust you, are more likely to call to let you know it's being done to you," Lewis writes.
Columnists' corner: How do you know when it's time to get your resume ready? When the boss asks you to "take it to the next level," for one. And when the new VP disappears in a cloud of speculation that he was either fired or found the next level himself, well, you just might be glad you moved on, writes our IT Off The Record author.
The news beat: Oracle makes available its low-end, free Database 10g Express Edition, or XE for short, and a company executive maintained that Oracle has no plans to open source XE. Sun releases a new version of its RFID software designed to make it easier for enterprises to deploy and administer RFID networks. And AOL slaps three lawsuits against phishing gangs, seeking $18 million.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on February 28, 2006 09:43 AM
January 20, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Is an Apple cell phone in the works?
Notes from the field: February might be right around the corner, but Robert X. Cringely is still hammering out his list of new year's resolutions. For starters, he's hoping to scheme something as clever as the Million-Dollar Home Page, if only he can find something he owns that is actually worth a dollar. Hewlett-Packard should probably put improving tech support atop its resolutions for 2006, Cringe notes. Oh yes, and Apple just might have making a cell phone somewhere on its list. HP support goes astray, Apple cell phone on the way?
Columnists' Corner: The CAN-SPAM Act is not only failing to reduce spam, the law, in effect, is actually making at least some types of unsolicited e-mail legal, maintains Security Adviser author Roger Grimes, in Time to can the CAN-SPAM Act. "It's been two years now. Who was right, the critics or the Congress?" Grimes asks. In From the Analysts, Dave Margulius continues his discussion on healthcare and IT, beginning with a confession of sorts.
Hot review: Stratus makes a two-pronged promise with its ftServer 4300 by combining two discrete servers on one backplane, writes Paul Venezia. "The upshot here is that you need only to buy a server OS license for one server and CPU licensed software for two CPUs, yet you get the redundancy benefits of two servers and four CPUs, if not the performance."
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 20, 2006 11:44 AM
January 18, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Best of the blogs: Skype skeptic Matt Asay just got his hands on the Ipevo free.1 phone and confesses that he is having a great time with it. Even though he's finally able to comfortably field an incoming call, that's not to say he's buying the idea that businesses will widely adopt the service. "I still think Skype and others that rely on someone else's network are going to get a wake-up call at some point. But for now, it's nice that it's free. By the time it's not, it may well be worth paying for," Asay maintains in My Skype repentance.
Hot review: In Guard your data against insider threats, Mike Heck reviews software from Oakley, Reconnex, Tablus and Vontu that can prevent those pesky -- and potentially disastrous -- data leaks. This crop of security products can sense data manipulation, track inappropriate use of media, send alerts and remediate problems. "Although no technology can guarantee 100 percent compliance, these four vendors show they know how to abate insider threats," Heck writes.
Columnists' Corner: Jon Udell calls for a technology that will bring order to our disparate electronic schedules. And it just might come in the form of Microsoft's proposed SSE (Simple Share Extensions) for RSS and OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language).
Search: Google and the J. Craig Venter Institute remain tight-lipped about a book claiming that the two have been in cahoots on genetics research since early last year. And Juan Carlos Perez of the IDG News Service asks What is vertical search?
The news beat: Microsoft releases Go-Live versions of Web services, workflow technologies that are currently set to be included in the forthcoming Windows Vista OS. IDC research director for systems software Al Gillen, meanwhile, wrote that Microsoft's delaying SP3 for Windows XP will not negatively impact sales of Vista once it becomes available.
Posted by Tom Sullivan on January 18, 2006 11:02 AM
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