McAfee: Social media still major security risk for businesses

Anti-virus, spam, spyware, adware specialists McAfee has unveiled the findings of a global report, looking at business perceptions of social media use by employees. The report examines the drivers for Web 2.0 and social networking use in business, and assesses their benefits and risks.

McAfee's study of 1,000 organisations highlighted major concerns regarding the security risks inherent in letting employees have easy access to popular sites and services such as Facebook and Twitter.


The study, which quizzed global business decision-makers in 17 countries found that 50 per cent of businesses were concerned about the security of Web 2.0 applications including social media, micro blogging, collaborative platforms, web mail, and content sharing tools.

Another 60 per cent expressed concerns about loss of reputation as a result of misuse, while six out of ten organisations – some 70 per cent – admitted they had already suffered losses averaging $2 million (1.3 million), for a staggering collective loss of more than $1.1 billion in security related incidents last year.

Brazil, Spain and India led in adoption of Web 2.0 technology for business according to McAfee, while adoption was lowest in Canada, Australia, US and UK.

"Web 2.0 technologies are impacting all aspects of the way businesses work," said George Kurtz, chief technology officer for McAfee.

"As Web 2.0 technologies gain popularity, organizations are faced with a choice - they can allow them to propagate unchecked, they can block them, or they can embrace them and the benefits they provide while managing them in a secure way."

The report, 'Web 2.0: A Complex Balancing Act – The First Global Study on Web 2.0 Usage, Risks and Best Practices' was commissioned by McAfee and authored by faculty affiliated with the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) at Purdue University.

Overall, the research highlights that while organisations see the potential value of Web 2.0 tools, decision makers continue to debate whether or how to allow employee usage of the technology in the workplace.

The report is available for download at www.mcafee.com.

McAfee will also be hosting a Webcast on 6 October 2010 at 2pm EDT, titled 'Bridging the Web 2.0 Security Gap,' with Chenxi Wang, Ph.D., Forrester Research.

The Webcast will cover McAfee’s recently commissioned Forrester Research Web 2.0 security trends study.

It will aim to help educate enterprise users about protecting their business while successfully using Web 2.0 technologies. To sign up to the Forrester Research Webcast click here.

Sky Internet hardcore porn users' personal details leaked online

Thousands of Sky Broadband customers that are accused of illegally downloading files from the web have had their details posted online.

The personal details of 5,3000 Sky customers, along with the names of the hardcore porn films they were thought to have obtained illegally, were being held by ACS:Law, one of a number of solicitors responsible for sending out around 50,000 letters to web users earlier this year, claiming the recipient had illegally shared files.


The letters demanded the recipients pay a 500 fine and sign a legal undertaking agreeing not to illegally file-share in the future.

It is thought the leak was the result of a DDoS attack on ACS:Law’s website by message board 4chan, due to the firm’s party in tracking illegal downloaders.

"We were the subject of a criminal attack to our systems. The business has and remains intact and is continuing to trade,” said Andrew Crossley from the legal firm.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has revealed it will be investigating the leak and ACS:Law could be fined as a result.

Sky Internet hardcore porn users personal details leaked online

"The question we will be asking is how secure was this information and how it was so easily accessed from outside. We'll be asking about the adequacy of encryption, the firewall, the training of staff and why that information was so public facing," said the Information Commissioner Christopher Graham.

"The Information Commissioner has significant power to take action and I can levy fine of up to half a million pounds on companies that flout the [Data Protection Act]."

Privacy International reported ACS:Law to the ICO.

“This data breach is likely to result in significant harm to tens of thousands of people in the form of fraud, identity theft and severe emotional distress," said Alexander Hanff from Privacy International.

Web users that have received letters from the law firm, along with those that paid the fines, are being warned to be on their guard for unsolicited calls or unusual transactions on their credit cards in case their details have fallen into the hands of cybercriminals.

ACS:Law has been referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), following a complaint by Which? over the "bullying" letters it issued to those accussed of illegal file-sharing.

Chronos releases SOHO Business Cards 3

Exchanging contact information electronically—via email or even using apps like Bump—may be the way of the future, but some still prefer an actual physical object. For those people, Chronos has released SOHO Business Cards 3, a major upgrade to its business card creation app for the Mac.

A key feature of this upgrade is Smart Templates, which is essentially an intelligent template system that makes it easier to lay out your card.


Double-click a paper area of the card, for example, and SOHO Business Cards 3 will display your paper options. But double-click a logo area, and you’ll receive a different set of graphics tools and options. Chronos included over 70 Smart Templates for the feature’s debut.

Chronos releases SOHO Business Cards 3

A new Cover Flow browser brings some style to sifting through card and paper templates, while a new Font Preview window displays your text in the actual fonts you’re trying to chose from. Other new features include support for Mac OS X’s Paste and Match Style option, six new Smart Shapes, 974 more template graphics, and a handful of new card-editing tools.

SOHO Business Cards 3 is available now for Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later. A free demo is available, while new licenses cost $40 (25) and upgrades for 1.x and 2.x users cost $25 (16).



Apple releases slew of printer driver updatesEminem releases new video

New Apple iPad patents reveal landscape docking, camera

An Apple patent focused blog has revealed new features that could appear on the second generation Apple iPad, anticipated to be released early next year.

Patently Apple highlights a patent application filed with China's Patent and Trademark Office that suggests the ability to dock in landscape mode as well as portrait.


Other new features, suggests the website, could include a smart bezel on the bottom left hand corner of the iPad and a new charging dock/external keyboard combination. Apple currently offers a 25 iPad Dock and 55 iPad Keyboard Dock.

Earlier on Saturday, Patently Apple unveiled more registered designs also filed with China's Patent and Trademark Office. Among them, an iPad Camera Connector and what seems likely to be a front facing camera, found on the iPhone 4 and new iPod touch, for FaceTime video chat and video conferencing.

Patently Apple notes most of Apple's new industrial designs come from a core team of designers, which includes Bartley Andre, Daniel Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, Evans Hankey, Richard Howarth, Jonathan Ive, Duncan Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Douglas Satzger, Christopher Stringer, Eugene Whang and Rico Zorkendorfer.

New Apple iPad patents reveal landscape docking, camera

[Via Patently Apple]

Click here for a free digital sample of Macworld’s Complete Guide to the iPad. Packed with tips and tricks, this essential guide gives you the lowdown on all the iPad’s features, plus the top 50 apps you must download



ARM shares surge after Apple bid rumourNeil Young reveals new album release date

The World's Biggest Coffee Morning? There's an app for that

A reminder, award-winning design agency KentLyons has launched Macmillan Coffee Finder for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

The Macmillan Coffee Finder was created for leading charity Macmillan Cancer Support to help promote today's annual fundraising event - the World's Biggest Coffee Morning.


The application is designed to help users find the best cup of coffee nearest to them. Starting off with over 900 cafs and coffee shops reviewed and rated around the UK, users can discover exciting, intriguing and fun places to meet up and have a coffee insists the makers.

The event today, Friday 24 September aims to encourage people to get together to have fun, make friends and raise money for to help people affected by cancer.

The Macmillan Coffee Finder key features include rating the cafs by giving them a mug rating, options to upload pictures of the caf, the pastries, the view, plus the ability to comment on them too.

The Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning? Theres an app for that

With filters, users can find coffee shops with gallery spaces, Wi-Fi, toilets, alfresco seating and organic produce.

With Augmented reality technology, users can hold up their iPhone and see a mug representing the caf floating in front of them. Users can also have a favourite coffeeshop that’s not listed they can send it to the editors.

"We wanted to come up with an interesting and fun tool for users which also helps Macmillan to spread their message whilst making it easy for people to donate, and take part in World’s Biggest Coffee Morning," said Noel Lyons, at Kent Lyons.

Available from the Apple iTunes App Store, Macmillan Coffee Finder is free and requires the iOS 3.1 Software Update or later. Alternatively, to simply make a donation to Macmillan simply text 'cafe' to 70123 and 3 - the cost of a coffee - will be donated to Macmillan.

The Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning? Theres an app for that

Formed in 2003, KentLyons is an London-based graphic design agency. The company works on a wide variety of creative projects, including branding, print, interactive and environmental design.

Clients include Channel 4, Taschen, D&AD, LV, Booktrust, The Design Council and Westfield. KentLyons were responsible for last year’s Get London Reading push that saw the massive street campaign bringing literature to the streets.

Launched earlier this year, Get London Reading for the Get London Reading Campaign, run by the Booktrust, is an free augmented reality iPhone application. Available from the Apple iTunes App Store, Get London Reading is free and requires the iOS 3.1.3 Software Update or later.



Sharon Osbourne found it a struggle fitting into English societyApple lets slip iOS 4.1 coming 8 September

SpyderCheckr, SpyderCheckr Pro help you take better photos

Datacolor has debuted a new colour reference tool that allows photographers to obtain consistent, accurate colour in their shots. Designed to work within a standard RAW processing workflow using tools such as Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom, Photoshop or Camera Raw, it helps you perform precision in-camera white balance, create custom camera calibration and record known colour references.

SpyderCheckr features 48 scientifically engineered colour patches in a wide range of spectrally neutral colours and user-friendly profiling software that enables photographers to achieve consistent, predictable colour control from capture to edit.


The high-consistency standardized colour patches and calibration software allow photographers to create custom camera profiles. Datacolor says that SpyderCheckr decreases post production time by eliminating trial and error colour adjustment.

Datacolor has also released the SpyderCheckrPro, which bundles the SpyderCheckr along with the Datacolor SpyderCube for capturing custom white balance, neutrality data from multiple light sources and correcting highlight and shadow details.

The SpyderCheckr costs 198 plus VAT, with the SpyderCheckr Pro bundles costing 120 plus VAT.



Light Blue: Photo 2.3 for photographers releasedLady Gaga compares herself to Queen, Bowie and Madonna

aTV Flash update brings Last.fm to Apple TV

aTV Flash, Fire Core's feature-full media center add-on for the Apple TV, widened its music options on Tuesday with the addition of Last.fm, CBS's music social network that predated Apple's Ping by a few years.

The major addition in aTV Flash 4.2 is a new, official app for Last.fm, the music social network and discovery service that CBS bought in 2007. aTV Flash users can now stream Last.fm radio (subscription required) and check out artist bios and artwork on their Apple TVs. Of course, all played tracks will be "scrobbled" back to users' Last.fm accounts to better inform the service's music recommendation engine--it's a vicious cycle of perpetual music enjoyment.


This new Last.fm app joins aTV Flash's myriad media features that it adds to the Apple TV, which include Boxee, support for additional media formats (AVI, WMV, and more), a Web browser, adding media from outside of iTunes, and access to even more apps and widgets built just for the Apple TV environment.

Existing aTV Flash 4 users can update from the Maintenance menu on their Apple TVs. Interested new customers can order aTV Flash for the current generation Apple TV for $50 from Fire Core's site. aTV Flash 4.2 only works on the older (hard-drive-based) Apple TV models, butIt is worth noting, however, that Fire Core has announced its plans to get aTV Flash to work on the new Apple TV, which should be shipping soon.

aTV Flash update brings Last.fm to Apple TV



Apple lets slip iOS 4.1 coming 8 SeptemberUK Soul Sensation ‘McLean’ to headline St Helier Music Crowns

Amazon UK cuts price of Apple iPad rival Samsung Galaxy Tab

Amazon.com in the U.K. has slashed the price of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Tab by 200 (US$312) for pre-orders of the device, which is aimed at taking market share from Apple's popular iPad.

But the new price for the Galaxy Tab, 599.99 ($933.31), still leaves it more expensive than the iPad, which retails in the U.K. for 429. It appears Amazon is trying to find a good price point for the Galaxy Tab. Earlier this week, it was listed with a 679.99 price. The Samsung Galaxy Tab will be released in the U.K. on November 1, Amazon U.K. says on its website.


A slew of new tablet devices will be entering the market against the iPad over the next few months. Companies hope that these devices, many of which use Google's Android mobile OS or Microsoft Windows 7, will be able to sway consumers into choosing them over the iPad. It won't be easy.

Apple has managed to popularize a product among consumers, tablet computers, that has failed miserably in the past. Sales of the iPad totaled 3.27 million at the end of Apple's third quarter, just months after its release. Companies that plan to launch tablets, including Asustek Computer in Taiwan, have said they will benefit from the trail the iPad has blazed because the iPad has stoked consumer interest in tablet devices.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab has a 7-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 by 600 pixels, a 1GHz A8 processor and 16GB of storage. It will run Android version 2.2 and can be used to surf the Web, watch movies, read e-books, navigate using GPS and even make phone calls. It has a MicroSD card slot to expand storage capacity.

Amazon UK cuts price of Apple iPad rival Samsung Galaxy Tab



Neil Young reveals new album release dateApple fixes iPad shipping delays for online buyers

iPhone pirate gets 6 months for illicit recording

A university graduate who recorded Hollywood blockbusters onto his Apple iPhone, to later upload them online, has been jailed for 6 months.

Anti-piracy group the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) called the decision 'ground breaking,' the first time anyone has been jailed for recording, then uploading, the latest cinema releases.


Emmanuel Nimley, admitted to ten charges, including recording and distributing The Bounty Hunter, The Crazies, Alice In Wonderland and Green Zone after being caught with his iPhone in a local Vue cinema.

Such recordings are known as Cam recordings, often recorded in a cinema using a digital video camera or now mobile phone, they are available online within hours of a film being released. The quality is generally thought to be poor, badly cropped and shot at an angle, with echoey audio and cinema goers often blocking the view.

"It may be suggested in some quarters especially among young people that this is harmless fun and film in the cinema is fair game," said Judge John Anderson sentencing Nimley. "It is not. Your action was a deliberate cheat on the film companies and the film industry."

iPhone pirate gets 6 months for illicit recording

"Fraudulently making and distribution of copies for whatever purpose and whatever quality has the effect of depriving the film industry of revenue. In current society it's difficult to imagine an audience wider than the internet having access to such illegal material. Your dishonesty strikes at the heart of that industry."

"This was deliberately planned and carefully executed offending which I have no doubt would have continued if you had not been caught. I accept that there has been no fraudulent gain for you and I accept your motivation was for self-glory."

Nimley, from Harrow, London, made no money from the recordings.



Neil Young reveals new album release dateGoogle Voice returns to the iPhone App Store

Apple buys Swedish company Polar Rose

Apple has acquired a small Swedish company, according toNorwegianMac site Mac1, reported by 9to5 Mac.

The company, Polar Rose, makes face recognition technology, which could likely be used in future Apple products and services.


As Fortune suggests, the technology could also nicely complement either Apple's iPhoto software or its FaceTime video calling service.

Apple or Polar Rose did not reveal details of the deal.



Apple fixes iPad shipping delays for online buyersPortico Quartet play a special two day residency at the ICA in December

Google Voice returns to the iPhone App Store

The saints be praised. After loosening and clarifying its App Store policies last week, Apple is proving that things-some of them, at least-have changed. A third-party Google Voice app called GV Connect is in the App Store, almost fourteen months after Apple removed all third-party Google Voice apps and refused to approve Google's own one. Sean Kovacs, developer of GV Mobile, one of the programs bounced last year, says that Apple has told him his app will return tomorrow.

GV Connect is $2.99/1.79 and a no-brainer for Google Voice users: It makes it nearly as easy to use Google Voice for outgoing calls as it is to make a garden-variety call, and provides easy access to Google Voice voicemail and SMSes. It's far more convenient than the Web-based stopgap that Google itself released back in January. And GV Mobile looks like it may be even better. (Me, I'll buy both.)


Just for the sake of principle, I'd like to see Google formally resubmit its own Google Voice app so that Apple has the opportunity to accept it. But as a practical matter, these third-party apps should give us Google Voice users what we need on the iPhone. Which is a big deal: Whenever someone asks me how the iPhone compares to Android, the Google Voice situation has near the top of the list of things I bring up. Looks like those days are over.

(For more smart takes on technology, visit Technologizer.com. Story copyright 2010, Technologizer. All rights reserved.)



Neil Young reveals new album release dateApple lets slip iOS 4.1 coming 8 September

Apple iOS 4.2 for iPad: What's hot and not

Several websites have tried out the iOS 4.2 beta, and while the addition of folders, wireless printing and threaded e-mail will certainly make the iPad better, other changes could make users yearn for simpler times. Here's what to like and dislike about iOS 4.2, which hits the iPad in November.

Hot: Folders


With the addition of folders in iOS 4 for iPhone, it's hard to understand why Apple held out for so long. Despite my efforts to arrange iPad apps by type, my home screens have fallen into chaos. Folders bring clarity, cleanliness and calm. This is the feature I want the most.

Not: Multitasking

Maybe I'm a stick in the mud, but multitasking on the iPhone strikes me as equal parts burden and boon. It's invaluable for music apps like Pandora and MOG, but it also requires you to stay vigilant with the task bar, swatting unused apps through a clunky deletion process. Switching from an iPhone to an iPad, there's something nice about exiting an app with the home button and knowing that it's closed for good. I'll miss that.

Hot: Networked Stuff

Properly known as AirPlay and AirPrint, these features allow streaming music and video to the iPad from a networked computer, storage device or Apple TV, and printing from the iPad to a networked printer. It'll be nice to have these features without paying for third-party apps.

Whats hot and not

Not: Software Screen Lock

iOS 4.2 delegates the switch on the iPad's side to volume mute, instead of screen orientation lock. But the iPad already had a fast mute function -- holding the volume rocker down for a moment skips automatically to zero volume -- and now orientation lock will be buried next to the iTunes control widget, as it is on the iPhone. That's three steps instead of one to lock the iPad in place.

Hot: New Fonts in Notes

For such an elegant operating system, iOS has a strange taste in fonts, using Marker Tip in the default Notes app. (It looks a lot like the dreaded Comic Sans.) Fortunately, iOS 4.2 includes a choice of three fonts, including Helvetica and Chalkboard. Can we get Courier New in iOS 5?

Not (For Now): Game Center

Perhaps Game Center will become a social gaming powerhouse come November, but it got off to a weak start on the iPhone, with a tiny selection of games -- most of which don't support multiplayer matchmaking -- and no deals to get the ball rolling. For now, I'll still be using OpenFeint as my main source of game discovery and achievement addiction. Game Center is just another app that can't be deleted.



Neil Young reveals new album release dateReport: HD, large format Apple TV apps unlikely for now

ReaddleDocs updated with new PDF viewer, VGA output

Readdle has released an update for its all-in-one document reader for iPad, ReaddleDocs. Version 1.6 of the app introduces an entirely new PDF reader that features smooth horizontal scrolling and complete support for highlighting and notes annotations, as well as the ability to download and upload files from FTP and SFTP servers.

ReaddleDocs’s new PDF viewer can open documents of almost any size, features fluid horizontal page flipping, and lets users highlight text and make annotations in the form of notes. Annotations are saved within the document and can be transferred to Apple Preview or Adobe Acrobat Reader on your Mac.


The update also extends ReaddleDocs’s network connectivity options with support for FTP and SFTP servers, allowing users to view files stored remotely and even edit them right from the app. It can also let Mac users wirelessly browse documents on their computers from their iPads.

Last but not least is the addition of VGA adapter output support for PDF, Microsoft Office, and iWork documents. This should be especially useful to business people and lecturers on the go, as they can now easily show their documents to a group using just an iPad and a small projector.

ReaddleDocs 1.6 costs 2.99 and runs on iOS 3.2 or higher.

ReaddleDocs updated with new PDF viewer, VGA output



GoodReader for iPad adds VGA output, performance boostBob Dylan bootlegging continues

BBC, ITV, Channel 4 & Five launch YouView digital TV

Project Canvas, the BBC-led subscription free digital TV service, has been formally announced as 'YouView'. YouView will comprise seven days worth of catchup TV similar to the BBC's existing BBC iPlayer service, as well as a website offering free TV on demand, apps and widgets. TV providers signed up to take part include the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five.

YouView will launch with a seven day EPG (electronic programming guide) that goes both backwards and forward, allowing viewers to watch or record any programme from the whole week. The service should launch in the first half of 2011.


Set-top boxes will be designed for the Freeview DTT platform and include a PVR (personal video recorder) similar to the Sky+ and Virgin TV boxes. There's no word on who will build the set-top-boxes.

Once viewers have bought a set-top-box, there will be no further subscription fees, although YouView requires a broadband connection to work.

Richard Halton, formerly project director, has been appointed as CEO of the newly formed YouView TV Ltd. He will work alongside Kip Meek, the company chairman, appointed in August.

BBC, ITV, Channel 4 & Five launch YouView digital TV

"YouView is a brilliant new subscription-free TV service which combines the best TV with on demand services and internet content. I am delighted to be leading the team who will make it a reality and think it will change the way we watch TV forever," said Halton.

However, not everyone is happy with today's news. Sky has previously expressed its displeasure, and a Virgin Media spokesperson told Broadband TV News: "There's a pressing need for a thorough and independent examination of this closed, anti-competitive platform as it will restrict consumer choice and stifle innovation."

"We're all already paying for this through the licence fee, whether we want it or not, so we urge Ofcom to bring some much needed transparency to the whole collaboration."

YouView is owned and operated by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva.



Skobbler offers free Sat Nav iPhone appEminem releases new video

Sandy Bridge chips to take notebooks into the future, says Intel

When Intel engineers began thinking about designing a new chip architecture, they first decided to reconsider the way they think about laptops .

Intel executives have been rolling out demos and specs of Sandy Bridge, the company's new microprocessor architecture, at the company's annual Intel Developer Forum (IDF) conference in San Francisco on Monday.


The chip maker is expected to begin producing the new family of chips later this year, and computer makers are expected to begin announcing their new Sandy Bridge-powered machines in the first quarter of 2011.

Sandy Bridge chips to take notebooks into the future, says Intel

The first of the new chips, which officially will be named Second Generation Intel Core chips, will be for laptops and desktops. Server and workstation chips are set to be released in the second half of next year, said Intel's vice president and director of PC Client Operations and Enabling, Stephen Smith.

"Before we started in on Sandy Bridge, we looked at where clients are going," Smith told Computerworld. "It's about this transition from desktop to mobile as the predominant form factor. Right now there are more notebooks being sold than desktops. When we optimized Sandy Bridge, we optimized it for the notebook form factor. We wanted the highest performance and the best power efficiency."

And to do that, Smith said engineers decided that the graphics chip needed to be brought onto a 32 nanometer design and buily into the processor.

With Intel's Core i Series , which is the current family of Intel chips, the graphics and processor are in a multi-chip package. In Sandy Bridge, however, the processor core and the graphics will all be on the same die.

That means that Intel Turbo Boost technology, which was introduced in the Core i Series, will now work on graphics, as well as the processor.

Turbo Boost is a feature designed to automatically turn cores on and off as needed. Now, the feature only affects the processing cores. With Sandy Bridge, that will change and graphics will get a significant boost.

"If you're in the middle of playing a game and the machine is drawing, it will send more power to the graphics portion," Smith said. "But if you're rendering a 3D drawing before it throws the image on the screen, more power will go to the processor..."

"Clearly, the most dramatic difference is pulling the graphics and media onto 32nm. That gives us much higher performance in the same processor package and thermal envelope," Smith said.

Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group, said building the graphics into the processor should give Sandy Bridge chips a solid performance improvement over the current Core i Series.

"Combining the CPU and GPU into a single package also will save power and cut the amount of heat generated as compared to having discrete packaging -- not to mention the overall cost to notebook vendors," said Olds. "This might herald a change in thinking for Intel."

"It used to be that integrated graphics were synonymous with cheap and low-quality graphics. But now I think that Intel gets it, and understands that today's workloads are much more graphically intense and require better graphics performance," Olds said.

While Smith would not release any performance metrics for Sandy Bridge, he did say that the new chips will be quite a bit faster than nearly all of the Core i Series chips. However, the new dual-core and quad-core chips will not be able to compete with the Core i7 Extreme chip that is available now.

Smith said Sandy Bridge will have an extreme version of its own at some point, but would not even specify if it will come out next year.

He also would not say how many cores that extreme Sandy Bridge chip might have.

"They will need all the speed they can muster in order to satisfy customer demand for editing, posting, and viewing video files," Olds said. "The notebook market is large and is growing much faster than the desktop segment so it's exactly the right place for Intel to focus."

"The lessons they learn here will help them scale the technology down to fit into other devices like slates and smartphones down the road," Olds said.




LCD Soundsystem & Hot Chip announce autumn co-headline showsDetails about Intel’s upcoming smartphone chip emerge

Blurb: Judith Stenneken awarded Photography Book Now $25,000 Grand Prize

Blurb, a creative publishing and marketing platform for self-published work, has announced the winners of the annual Photography Book Now competition.

Blurb, which allows anyone to design, publish, market, and sell professional-quality books, celebrates self-published photography books and the photographers behind them with these awards.


Judith Stenneken, a professional photographer from Berlin, Germany, scooped the $25,000 Grand Prize, worth over 16,000, for her photography book, 'Last Call.'

Stenneken’s work was chosen by an esteemed panel of judges who reviewed more than 2,300 books from 40 countries to select the most creative, most innovative and finest self-published photography books entered into the competition.

'Last Call' features photographs captured at the historic Tempelhof Airport in Berlin between February and October 2008. The airport, which was an important lifeline for residents of West Berlin during the Cold War, shut its doors for the last time on 31 October, 2008.

"I am honoured that 'Last Call' was selected by the judges to receive this prestigious award," said Stenneken.

"Although the Tempelhof Airport was still operating in 2008, it felt as if the building was deserted, and the only people who were there acted like extras in a movie. It seemed as if time had lost its meaning. ‘Last Call’ is focused on the transitory condition of this place, where desertion had been taking place for a long time."

Judith Stenneken awarded Photography Book Now $25,000 Grand Prize

Judith Stenneken was awarded the Photography Book Now $25,000 Grand Prize.

"Ms. Stenneken’s work stood apart as this year’s Grand Prize winner," said Darius Himes, lead judge, for the Photography Book Now.

"Her photographs combine a rigorous, large-format camera aesthetic with a quieter sensibility. She edited and sequenced the work intelligently, creating an intimate view of a grand space within the pages of her book. She then brilliantly took a ‘readymade’ trim size offered by print-on-demand and made some crucial alterations to the pre-existing format: added endpapers that complimented the feel of the book, a gold-debossed detail on the cover of the book, and a hand-made fold-out midway through the sequence of the book all enhanced the experience of the book as an object. The end result is both elegant and compelling."

The top prize winners of the third annual Photography Book Now competition include:

- Grand Prize: Judith Stenneken, “Last Call” (Germany)
- Category Winner, Fine Art: Arthur Tress, “Barcelona Unfolds” (United States)
- Category Winner, Editorial: Anton Kusters, “893 Magazine - The Yakuza in Tokyo” (Belgium)
- Category Winner, Portfolio: Wassink Lundgren, “Portfolio” (Netherlands)
- First Runner-up, Fine Art: Justin Schmitz, “MOSH” (United States)
- First Runner-up, Editorial: Alexey Vanushkin, “Merry-Go-Round” (Russia)
- First Runner-up, Portfolio: Emily Shur, “The Woods” (United States)
- Second Runner-up, Fine Art: Elizabeth Tonnard, “In This Dark Wood” (United States)
- Second Runner-up, Editorial: Carl Bower, “CHICA BARBIE” (United States)
- Second Runner-up, Portfolio: Lauren Orchowski, “ROCKET SCIENCE” (United States)
- People’s Choice, Fine Art: David Beach, “FETZER’S TALE” (United States)
- People’s Choice, Editorial: Matt Eich, “Carry Me Ohio” (United States)
- People’s Choice, Portfolio: Barry Homes, “Entertain” (United States)

According to Blurb, the books created by the top prize winners will become part of the permanent collections at the International Centre for Photography, the Annenberg Space for Photography and the George Eastman House.

The winning books, including 30 titles that received an Honourable Mention, will be acknowledged later today on the Photography Book Now website and in the Photography Book Now bookstore. Most of the books submitted into the competition are available for purchase in the bookstore.

Photography Book Now is hosting gatherings around the world for the photographic community to celebrate the winning books and mingle with the judges, sponsors, gallery owners, publishers and peers.

Meet-ups will be held in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Brighton, London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Breda, Sydney and Toronto. For more information on the meet-ups, and to RSVP, visit http://photographybooknow.blurb.com/events. The Brighton event is held on Friday 1 October 2010.

"Hosting the Photography Book Now competition is one of the most rewarding and fun things we get to do each year. More than any other single event, this competition speaks to the heart of Blurb: inviting artists from around the world to submit their finest work," said Eileen Gittins, founder and CEO, Blurb.

"In particular, we were thrilled to see so many international submissions - nearly half came from countries outside of the United States. Congratulations to Ms. Stenneken, who herself hails from Germany, and all the other winners and honourable mentions. Their books are an inspiration and we look forward to celebrating their fine achievements at our PBN meet-up parties all over the world."



BBC staff lose £240,000-worth of laptops and mobilesEminem had to learn to rap again after overcoming drug addiction

Microsoft helps Adobe block PDF zero-day exploit

Microsoft last Friday urged Windows users to block ongoing attacks against Adobe's popular PDF viewer by deploying one of Microsoft's enterprise tools.

Adobe echoed Microsoft's advice , saying the Enhanced Migration Experience Toolkit (EMET) would stymie attacks targeting Reader and Acrobat.


Called "scary" and "clever," the in-the-wild exploit went public last week when security researcher Mila Parkour reported it to Adobe after analyzing a rogue PDF document attached to spam. Adobe first warned users Wednesday of the threat, but at the time gave users no advice on how to protect themselves until a patch was ready.

Microsoft stepped in on Friday.

"The good news is that if you have EMET enabled ... it blocks this exploit," said Fermin Serna and Andrew Roths, two engineers with the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) in an entry on the group's blog.

EMET, which Microsoft upgraded to version 2.0 earlier this month, is a stop-gap designed to keep older applications secure until companies upgrade to up-to-date, and theoretically safer, versions of those programs.

The tool lets IT administrators, and consumers willing to take the plunge, switch on several Windows defenses -- including ASLR (address-space layout randomization) and DEP (data execution prevention) -- for applications whose developers didn't turn them on by default.

The newest PDF exploit defeated Windows' DEP by leveraging a dynamic link library, or DLL, used by Adobe in both programs. Usually, ASLR prevents DEP bypassing, but according to researchers and Microsoft, the "icucnv36.dll" library doesn't have ASLR enabled. That gave attackers a way to sidestep both defenses.

Microsoft's Serna and Roths showed how to use EMET to switch on ASLR for Reader and Acrobat in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2, blocking the current exploit. A different tactic is needed to protect Windows XP and Server 2003 systems, which don't support what Microsoft called "mandatory ASLR."

Microsoft and Adobe

Both Microsoft and Adobe admitted that they had had little time to test the impact of the EMET-based workaround. "Due to the time-sensitive nature of this issue, we have only been able to perform a cursory look at the functional compatibility of this mitigation," said Serna and Roths. "We recommend that you also test the mitigation in your environment to minimize any impact on your workflows."

Some researchers have blasted Adobe for poor programming practices, saying that its mistakes left Reader and Acrobat users at risk.

"This time Adobe gives a hand to the attacker," said Prevx researcher Marco Giuliani , talking about the failure to enable ASLR in icucnv36.dll. "Adobe could have easily prevented this type of exploit."

For others, the moment when Adobe launches its next version of Reader, which will include "sandboxing" technology to isolate application processes from one another and from the rest of the machine, won't come too soon.

"New stack overflow in Adobe Reader," said vulnerability researcher Charlie Miller on Twitter last week. "Dear Adobe, when you patch out of band every month, you don't have a patch cycle. Hurry with the sandbox."

Sandboxing is designed to stop malicious code from escaping an application to wreak havoc or infect the computer, or at least make it much more difficult for hackers to do so.

Adobe has not set a patch date for the Reader/Acrobat bug. The programs' next regularly-scheduled security update is slated for Oct. 12, but Adobe has pushed out emergency, or out-of-band, updates several times this year to fix flaws being actively exploited by attackers.

The last time Adobe released a rush patch was Aug. 19, three weeks after Miller talked about a Reader bug at the Black Hat security conference. Google security engineer Tavis Ormandy had privately reported the vulnerability to Adobe before Black Hat.

Microsoft's EMET 2.0 can be downloaded from the company's site .



Merc Mix It Up with In store live Summer SessionsApple had two months to fix critical QuickTime bug, says researcher

Reminder: Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

London and Cambridge wedding photographer Tom Catchesides will visit the flagship Apple Street, Regent Street tonight to talk about his acclaimed work.

Join Tom as he discusses the fundamentals of setting up a photography business and running it on the Mac.


The free event starts at 7pm tonight, Monday 13 September, 2010, all are welcome. Tom's also running an intensive one-day course on 8 November, entitled 'Delivering the goods: post-production for wedding & portrait photographers'. It's taking place in Cambridge and you can find out more about it on his blog (http://www.catchesides.co.uk/blog/seminars/).

Macworld recently caught up with Tom to discover more about his work.

Q) How difficult was it to turn an interest in photography into a business?
It came naturally for me. I started taking my photography seriously when I went to university and started taking pictures for the student newspaper. I started out photographing live music, which led onto submitting pictures to an agency and eventually onto taking private commissions.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

However, as many photographers soon discover, earning beer money from occasional jobs is easy but turning that into a full-time career is much harder.

Q) How did you get the message out that you were available for hire?
I started getting into 'social photography' (i.e. portraits, weddings, etc) the year after I graduated. It frustrated me that the only graduation photos available in Cambridge were taken in a studio and could have been taken pretty much anywhere. So, the following year I set up a small company with a friend, hired locations in several Cambridge colleges and started photographing students in the places they'd lived and studied in for three or more years. That got the word of mouth going and led onto other jobs and, eventually, wedding photography.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Q) Once you start getting commissions, is it word of mouth that drives new business?
Word of mouth is very important to my business, but there aren't any magic marketing bullets that are guaranteed to work for every photography business. I know a lot of photographers, some are friends I've known for years, some have come to my courses ( http://www.catchesides.co.uk/blog/seminars/ ) and others are users of Light Blue: Photo ( http://www.lightbluesoftware.com ), but all of them find work in different ways. Some do very well out of wedding fairs, others have built up strong businesses through local print advertising, others do very well out of online directories, but it all depends on where they are in their careers and what type of clients they are trying to reach.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Q) You take a lot of wedding photos, how do you avoid the cliches?
I specialise in photographing weddings, and over the years I've established a clear style that's all about documenting my clients' wedding day without imposing what I think a wedding should look like upon them. That creates an amazingly strong emotional bond to my work for my clients as well as avoiding the cliches!

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Q) Looking at your blog, your work seems to be about capturing the moment. Is that something see through the lens, or it is something you are only aware of later?
My approach to wedding photography is very much about seeing the moment and capturing it. If you take the "if I take enough shots, some of them are bound to be good" approach to photographing weddings, you miss opportunities to anticipate great pictures, compose them in your head and capture the action as it happens. I shoot more images than I present to my clients because I'm not setting up shots and need to allow for blinks and missed expressions, but I wouldn't be able to consistently produce the work I do if I was taking the "spray and pray" approach - everything that I shoot at weddings is very deliberate.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Q) And do people generally want a traditional wedding album or something a bit more adventurous?
Part of establishing a distinct style is making sure that your work is always consistent. I spend a lot of effort ensuring that clients who get in touch with me already know how I go about photographing weddings, but if a couple who want something very different to my style slip through the net then I'll recommend a photographer who would be more suitable for them and their tastes. Photography isn't just a business for me, it's a very personal thing, so it's important to me that I work with clients who share my vision.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Q) Despite the recession do you think people are still willing to spend good money on a professional wedding album?
Definitely. 2009 was my best year so far, and 2010 looks set to be even busier. Couples aren't necessarily spending their money on albums (I sell beautifully designed and crafted albums, but most of my clients also choose to purchase a licenced set of high resolution digital files from me as well) but there's definitely a market for wedding photographers who can make their work stand out from the crowd.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Q) Is it difficult to convince people that black and white photography should be part of the package?
Not at all in my case, because it's a key part of my style. Understanding how and when to use black and white can be an important part of any photographer's style and I've chosen to make it a big part of mine.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Q) How much of your work is in camera and how much is done in the 'digital darkroom' with Photoshop?
My images are created in camera but polished in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Post-production is very important to me because it allows me to present the image that I saw to my clients, but with documentary wedding photography you need to get as much as you can right when you shoot the image.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

I've always used Macs in my business because I grew up with them and love the tools that Apple provide to improve my productivity. I'd be lost without my AppleScripts or if I had to spend all of my time worrying about viruses and security.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Q) Finally what advice would you give to anyone looking to start a photography career?
First, be clear about what you're aiming for. Are you building a full-time career for yourself, or are you happy with occasionally making a bit of extra money to supplement your full-time job?If you decide that you want to build a career, do whatever you need to do to get your work and your business there as quickly as you can. If your portfolio is full of budget jobs, it's going to be hard to attract the clients you need to sustain a full-time business.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

There's much more to running a photography business than taking pictures. You need to be comfortable with admin, sales, marketing, post-production… you name it, you'll be taking care of it unless you decide to hire staff. Get yourself into good practices and invest in a business management system like Light Blue: Photo to let you concentrate on taking pictures and building your career.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Finally, do no evil. The wedding photography industry is a small one and competition is fierce, but other photographers can and will be amazingly supportive if you've got integrity. Don't take shortcuts, don't abuse copyright and don't treat your competitors as things that need to be climbed over on your way to the top.

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

Tom Catchesides talks photography, Apple Store, Regent Street, tonight

---

Tom Catchesides - photography

web: www.catchesides.co.uk
photoblog: www.catchesides.co.uk/blog/
email: tom@catchesides.co.uk
mobile: 07881 952510



Fire reported near Hanover Street, Apple HQ (Updated)Slash talks about Donningtion gig

Apple releases slew of printer driver updates

Apple has released over half a dozen printer and scanner driver updates for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard users. These updates are focused primarily on brands that cater to business and enterprise users.

Included in this round of update are drivers for printers from vendors likeBrother, Infotec, Lanier, Gestetner, Ricoh, Savin, and NRG. The updates range in sizes from about 20MB to 105MB.


You can download these updates from the linked pages above at Apple’s site, but any relevant updates for your Mac(s) should also appear in Software Update.



Eminem releases new video13-inch MacBook Pro receives Boot Camp updates

Russian hackers extort cash with Android trojan attack

Kaspersky Labs first announced its detection of what appeared to be the first of several SMS Trojans on Google's Android operating system on 9 August. The application released in Russian markets outside of Google's Android Market, was disguised as a media player. Once installed, the code would send 3 premium SMS messages, effectively transferring the US equivalent of ~$18 from the user to the recipient company.

On Wednesday, Kaspersky Labs expert Denis Maslennikov revealed a new Trojan very similar to the first. Again targeting Russian users, this app is disguised as a pornographic media player. What is interesting is not the recurrence of the premium SMS dialling (sending an SMS to a pay service, such as donation codes for the Red Cross, or ringtone services advertised on television), but the method in which installing the app is brought to users attention.


Russian hackers extort cash with Android trojan attack

The authors of this particular trojan use a tactic known as search engine poisoning to spread the malware. That is, they crafted websites specifically to appear near the top of search results for certain search queries. By placing malicious websites at the top of search results, mobile users who are by nature looking for fast easy results are more likely to click through without due diligence of ensuring the top hits are safe. This has been a common theme of PC-based malware and is now a lucrative trend in the mobile domain for an increasingly popular platform.

When the trojan is installed, it'll ask you to access Android's messaging system. If you deny it, the malicious portion of the code will not be allowed to function. It's a lesson in both trusting your application sources, and paying attention to mandatory security prompts for sure.

Remember that once you have given permission to an application, it rarely if ever will need to request permission again. The simple media browser in this case can wantonly send SMS messages whenever it is active, and you will be none the wiser, till you see the bill.



Win global festival tickets with Trident’s Perpetual FestivalApple to fix iPhone web based jailbreak vulnerability with update

Light Blue: Photo 2.3 for photographers released

Light Blue Software has released version 2.3 of Light Blue: Photo, their award-winning business management software for photographers.

Light Blue: Photo is billed as a flexible business management system that lets professional photographers keep on top of shoots, contacts, orders, payments and purchases. Light Blue: Photo also makes it easy to manage images files, publish them on the web and profit from them.


The latest version of the Light Blue: Photo based on Apple's FileMaker database software, comes with a range of new features and enhancements. Among the list of improvements are new reports for analysing the profitability of shoots, improvements to the existing mail-merge features and tighter integration with Google Calendar.

According to the company, Light Blue: Photo has proved very popular with photographers wanting to improve their productivity, and received a 5 out of 5 rating in the March 2010 edition of Photo Pro magazine, who commented that "Light Blue: Photo is the most important piece of software I own after Photoshop... every photographer should give it a try".

Light Blue: Photo 2.3 is available now as a free update for existing version 2 users, while for new users the software costs 325 or $365. Existing version 1 users can upgrade to version 2.2 for 85 or $105. UK pricing includes VAT.

A free, fully functioning 30-day trial of Light Blue: Photo is also available to downloaded from the Light Blue website. Minimum Mac system requirements are: PowerPC, G4, G5 or Intel-based Mac, 512MB of RAM, 1GHz procesor. Minimum PC system requirements are: Pentium 500MHz, 128MB of RAM, Hard disk drive with 160MB space, 1024x768 resolution screen or higher, Windows XP (Service Pack 2), Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Light Blue: Photo won the 'Best Private Sector Solution' award at the prestigious FileMaker CubeAwards last year, with FileMaker commenting that Light Blue: Photo was: "...one of the slickest vertical market solutions [they’d] ever had the pleasure of picking apart, wide in scope with innovative, clever, features built to high standards, demonstrating an exemplary user experience."

Details of the FileMaker CubeAwards 2010 can be found here. Entries for the awards, which are designed to identify and celebrate the excellent and innovative work of FileMaker developers, close on 7 October 2010.

A detailed profile 'Light Blue Software - FileMaker CubeAwards' can be found here.

Photo 2.3 for photographers released



The Cars hint at reunion on Facebook13-inch MacBook Pro receives Boot Camp updates

Tesco intros its first ever shopping app for iPhone

Supermarket giant Tesco has launched a shopping app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Tesco has been working with mobile specialists Ribot, who designed and developed the new app.

Once downloaded, Tesco Groceries lets customers who have registered with tesco.com, access their home store’s product range and 'Favourites' - items purchased online or from a Tesco store using a Clubcard.


According to Tesco, customers can log into grocery accounts and add forgotten items to baskest, or start a new order from scratch, checking out securely on the phone or later online.

The updated orders then synchronises from iPhone to computer and vice versa.

"We’re always looking for ways to make life easier for customers. The iPhone app creates a fantastic new way to shop with tesco.com whenever you want, whether you’re adding last minute essentials or starting a new order," said Laura Wade-Gery, CEO for tesco.com.

Tesco intros its first ever shopping app for iPhone

Available from the Apple iTunes Apple Store, Tesco Groceries is free and requires the iOS 3.0 Software Update or later.

The Tesco Groceries app joins the family of Tesco apps, including Clubcard and the Winefinder, which together the supermarket claims has now reached over one million downloads.



Merc Mix It Up with In store live Summer SessionsApple sending out free Bumper emails

Editors Keys joins MIA, invests in UK schools, universities

Editors Keys has joined the MIA (Music Industry Association), becoming an official supply partner. Over the coming months, Editors Keys will be working to support schools, colleges and universities to help develop young creative talent.

Joining with the MIA will allow Editors Keys to take part in organised charity events, further develop business ventures as well as having a say in local and government issues regarding how the music industry is run.


Editors Keys is looking to develop is their 'creative editing in schools' scheme, which will see the company away over 250,000 worth of its dedicated editing keyboards and recording equipment to schools within the UK and US. Editors Keys will be giving away editing keyboards to help speed up the workflow of audio/video productions and recording studio equipment to allow students to record their own project inside and outside of school hours.

"I think we can really help the young people, by offering the tools which will allow children and young students to break down the boundaries set by using complex programs. If we can help just one child develop a great song or video project by offering our products, then we could steer young people into exciting new positive futures," said Mark Brown, Company Director Editors Keys.com.

The new scheme will launch within the next three months and Editors Keys is calling on the support of other media companies and training facilities to donate time and/or products to help the regions students.

Editors Keys joins MIA, invests in UK schools, universities

Editors Keys is a Manchester-based developer and producer of adhesive shortcut sticker sets for leading creative programs such as Premiere, Photoshop, Final Cut, Avid, Pro Tools, Cubase and Logic.

Along with specialist shortcut editing keyboards, Editors Keys supplies studio microphones and recording equipment, for home users, as well as production companies such as Universal, ITV and the BBC.



Neil Young reveals new album release dateThird annual Amsterdam FCPUG SuperMeet: Tickets now on sale

Apple Consultants Network seeks Mac specialists

Apple is bringing a new service in the UK called the Apple Consultants Network, and is seeking certified Mac specialists to join the scheme.

According to Apple: "The Apple Consultants Network features a community of professional service providers and consultants that specialise in Apple and third-party solutions. Members are certified professionals, fluent in multi-platform solutions, and deliver on-site technology services and support."


Set up by the Mac maker, the Apple Consultants Network is an online directory of experts, designed to enable Mac users to get the most out of Apple hardware and software.

So far, it's been hugely successful in other countries, helping thousands of businesses to maximise potential by matching Apple Certified consultants with businesses who need help.

The minimum requirement for consideration is Apple Certification as a Support Professional, Technical Coordinator or System Administrator. You should have at least one staff member with the qualification at every location you wish to register. Apple notes, the scheme has an annual fee of 329 (including VAT), if your application is successful.

As well as a listing in the Apple Consultants Network directory, Apple experts will receive other benefits, including discounts on Apple products and authorisation to use the network's logo. And, of course, customers will know that you can provide them with Apple certified advice and support.

According to Apple: "For a nominal annual subscription fee, your business will benefit from increased recognition and credibility through your affiliation with the Apple Consultants Network brand, and through your listings in the program’s online referral directory. You’ll get inside access to the latest news and information from Apple, and to a wealth of resources that include use of the program logo, products discounts, and more."

Apple Consultants Network seeks Mac specialists

A directory of UK certified consultants can be found at http://consultants.apple.com/uk/locator.php.

More details of the Apple Consultants Network can be found at www.macworld.co.uk/promotions/.



UK Soul Sensation ‘McLean’ to headline St Helier Music CrownsWhy Apple’s latest iPhone is not called ‘4G’

iPad Orchestra shows musical potential of Apple's tablet

Members of The iPad Orchestra recently performed 'Sweet Dream' by Ilya Plavunov on four iPads. The video below has been highlighted by Apple, and numerous Mac focused sites.

The orchestra used the Seline HD app by devloper Amidio, which features a new, ergonomically designed playing surface called ioGrid.


According to the makers, Seline can be used to play any melody but it does have its own character and sound. The player can choose from 20 built-in factory voices - flutes, bowed strings, reeds, synth leads and more - and nine drone voices. Drones - chorded synth pads - are generated on-the-fly based on the complex analysis of your melody line.

Available from the Apple iTunes App Store, Seline HD costs 5.49 and requires the iPhone 3.2 Software Update or later. You can see more of the orchestra at http://ipad-orchestra.com. The YouTube video can be seen here.

Click here for a free digital sample of Macworld’s Complete Guide to the iPad. Packed with tips and tricks, this essential guide gives you the lowdown on all the iPad’s features, plus the top 50 apps you must download.



Apple fixes iPad shipping delays for online buyersNeil Young reveals new album release date

Apple lets slip iOS 4.1 coming 8 September

Apple’s latest mobile OS software update is due to be released on Wednesday 8 September. Apple’s UK website briefly listed the date before reverting to: "Coming soon."

Steve Jobs announced the update last week at Apple's annual music themed event, which also saw new iPods introduced.


iOS 4.2 aimed primarily at iPad users will follow in November.

According to Apple: " iOS 4.1 Software Update is the first major update to iOS 4, bringing Game Center, new iTunes features, high dynamic range photography and more to iPhone." Ping, dubbed a new social network for music, which lets users follow favourite artists and see what friends are listening to via iTunes, will also be included in the update.

Apple's iOS 4 update works with iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G, but not all features are compatible with all devices.

Apple lets slip iOS 4.1 coming 8 September

[Via Gizmodo]



Neil Young reveals new album release dateOpinion: Five reasons I won’t be using Apple’s Ping

Opinion: Where will Apple's A4 chip go next?

Apple's internally developed A4 chip could be implemented in new devices such as low-power servers, TVs or even communications or entertainment boxes, if the company tries to expand the chip's footprint, analysts said.

It's difficult to predict Apple's future products, but variants of the A4 chip could reach media servers, entertainment gateways or network servers for cloud storage, analysts said. The low-power chip is designed for devices that do not require much horsepower, and can be tweaked to improve processing power, graphics or communication capabilities.


A remote, but unlikely, possibility is that the A4 also be included in future Macintosh computers as a co-processor alongside Intel's processors for specific network, security or instant-on applications, analysts said. However, the hybrid computers may be more expensive, and software issues may dog systems.

The A4 chip was first unveiled in January when Apple announced the iPad. The chip now powers Apple's iPhone 4 and the Apple TV device, which was introduced this week. The system-on-chip includes an Arm processor that runs at 1GHz and a graphics core capable of rendering 720p high-definition video.

If Apple decides to expand A4 to more devices, likely candidates would be low-power servers, said Jack Gold, principal analyst of J. Gold Associates.

"I suppose A4 could make its way into light 'server' devices, such as media servers where you don't really need all of the power of an [Intel Core] i3 or i5 chip. And there are companies already looking at Arm-based servers, so I would think this might be a direction for Apple to pursue," Gold said.

Where will Apples A4 chip go next?

Low-power chips based on Arm are used in most smartphones today, and are slowly reaching servers as alternatives to power-hungry x86 server processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. Companies like Marvell and Smooth-stone have announced plans to build Arm CPUs into servers for cloud-computing environments.

Apple is essentially taking A4 in a similar direction that Intel is taking the low-power Atom processors, which are already being used in low-power servers, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research.

At a lower price than x86 chips, the A4 chip could be an attractive alternative to Atom.

"Arm's already being used in that class of products," McCarron said.

Media servers do not require much processing power and act more as network servers to store and serve multimedia, McCarron said. At the same time, the media server segment is already well-covered between the Apple TV device and the Mac Mini.

"It has a disk, has a network, and you're done." McCarron said.

The chip can also be used in TVs, or even networked media center gateways to store and distribute content across a range of Apple devices, said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at In-Stat.

Apple's product strategy revolves around bundling hardware, software and services. Apple logically could put an A4 variant in TV sets or media centers, which would then be able to seamlessly communicate and exchange content with devices like the iPhone or iPad, McGregor said.

"Consumers want all these things to work together, and Apple can very much do that," McGregor said.

Compatible software around the same architecture makes communication between devices easier, though it's not required as emulators could fill the incompatibility gap, McGregor said. However, the A4 chip across a range of devices could bring stability to software development.

The A4 chip is also highly customizable and can be tweaked for different devices, McGregor said. For example, more cores can be added for faster processing and graphics capabilities can be improved to gear A4 for gaming. Additional memory can be added to enhance application performance.

Where will Apples A4 chip go next?

Apple also has skilled staff that can design A4-type chips to fit into specialized devices, McGregor said. The company's chip development staff includes employees who came with the 2008 acquisition of chip firm PA Semi, a company involved in designing low-power chips for embedded devices.

However, A4 should not be looked at as a long-term replacement for Intel processors in Macintosh computers, analysts said. Apple recently finished moving its software, including the Mac OS X operating system, to Intel architecture, and may not want to quickly transition to Arm. Macs also require substantially larger amounts of computing power, and Intel's chips are more powerful than the A4.

The A4 could be used as a co-processor for applications like instant-boot, which could boot up Macs in a few seconds for users to quickly access Web browsers or e-mail, analysts said. Dell already offers Arm processors alongside Intel processors in laptops specifically for instant-boot capabilities.

Apple could also include A4 as a security or network co-processor in Macs, Gold said. The chip could also be used to keep computers running when the main system is asleep to continuously get e-mails and messaging, Gold said.

However, the analysts agreed that bringing A4 to Macs may not be in Apple's immediate plans.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment on the company's A4 chip plans.



LCD Soundsystem & Hot Chip announce autumn co-headline showsDetails about Intel’s upcoming smartphone chip emerge

Apple had two months to fix critical QuickTime bug, says researcher

A critical bug in QuickTime was reported to Apple two months before a second researcher independently revealed the vulnerability this week, the director of a bug bounty program said today.

The duplicate discovery was just one of an increasing number of overlapping vulnerability reports that show vendors must patch faster, said Aaron Portnoy, security team lead for HP TippingPoint's Zero Day Initiative (ZDI), the largest vulnerability payment program in the country.


"Overlapping discoveries are occurring much more often," said Portnoy. "This just reinforces the reasoning to put disclosure deadlines on vulnerabilities."

In 2007, ZDI had four sets of duplicate vulnerability reports, where more than one researcher submitted the same bug before the flaw was fixed and made public. The number of overlapping vulnerabilities fell to one set in 2008, then soared to 18 in 2009.

Through August, ZDI has logged 13 duplicate vulnerabilities, on pace to reach 20 for 2010, an 11% increase over last year.

The increase is proof, said Portnoy, that multiple researchers often find the same flaw independently, a tenant of those who believe that researchers are in the right when they take bugs public to put pressure on vendors to patch. By that line of thinking, if one researcher has found a flaw -- even if it's kept private until it's patched -- others have probably also uncovered the bug. And some of them may be ready to exploit the vulnerability in the wild long before a fix is available.

Apple had two months to fix critical QuickTime bug, says researcher

This week's QuickTime bug is a case in point, said Portnoy.

"One of our researchers submitted this, and we reported it to Apple on June 30," said Portnoy. So far, Apple has not responded to ZDI's bug report.

Portnoy blasted Apple for wasting the opportunity to patch the bug before it went public. "We gave this to Apple two months ago, and a fix requires no testing," said Portnoy. "I can't understand it. It's literally a single parameter [in QuickTime]. I could have completely solved this within a day."

On Monday, Spanish researcher Ruben Santamarta published information about the bug in the QuickTime plug-in for Microsoft 's Internet Explorer (IE), and traced the flaw to Apple's failure to clean up code after developers dropped the "_Marshaled_pUnk" function.

Hackers only need to entice users to a malicious site hosting exploit code, said Santamarta, who added that his exploit works when someone browses with IE on a machine running Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 that has QuickTime 7.x or the older QuickTime 6.x installed.

Since then, attack code has been added to Metasploit, a popular open-source hacking toolkit, and reports have surfaced that malicious sites are already hosting the exploit and using it to compromise PCs.

Last month, ZDI announced it would give vendors six months to patch a submitted bug before releasing some information about the vulnerability, a major change from earlier policy, which mandated that it keep quiet until flaws had been fixed.

"That wouldn't have helped in this instance," Portnoy acknowledged. "But if [Apple] had patched it, they could have avoided all this bad press."

Duplicate discoveries are only going to increase, said Portnoy. "Vulnerability research is appealing to a wider crowd, and there's more information than ever available to them," he said. "It should prompt [vendors] to patch quicker because it's going to happen more often."

After Santamarta published his findings, ZDI posted an advisory that credited a researcher identified as "HBelite" with submitting the vulnerability.

"We don't have any way to force vendors to patch," said Portnoy. "It's a bit of a battle between us and the vendors. But [Santamarta's disclosure] is one way to get their attention."

Apple did not immediately reply to a request seeking comment on its patch plans for QuickTime, or to questions about why it had not fixed the flaw in the two months between ZDI's report and this week's disclosure by Santamarta.



Merc Mix It Up with In store live Summer SessionsApple to fix iPhone web based jailbreak vulnerability with update

Opinion: Five reasons I won't be using Apple's Ping

Despite all the hardware Apple introduced at its press event Wednesday, the most radical news was Ping, a social network for music that's launching as a feature of iTunes 10. I've taken a brief test drive of Ping to see what it's about, but even before updating iTunes, I knew Apple's new social network was not for me. Here are five reasons I won't be using Ping:

Song Samples, Not Songs


Some people have heralded Ping as MySpace's undoing, but MySpace still does one thing extremely well: it lets you listen to a handful of the artist's best or latest songs, in their entirety. Ping does not. Apple says Ping is all about finding new music, but it's also about selling you more iTunes songs. That's a hard sell when you can only listen to 30 seconds of any track.

It Runs in iTunes

At least on my PC, iTunes is an abomination. I will avoid opening it when possible because of how long it takes to load and how chunky it feels to operate, and that's not going to change because of a social network. Also, people whose work computers don't have iTunes installed won't be able to use Ping for the great American pastime of slacking off at work.

It Doesn't Run on the Web

Social networks belong on the Web, simple as that. You click on someone's Twitter account from another Web page, and you're there. You visit an outbound link from someone's status update by popping open a new tab. One step -- pressing a bookmark button or typing a URL -- is all it takes to get to the social network of your choice. All of these actions get a lot sloppier when you add another layer of software, especially the painful iTunes. Also, the lack of Web access shuts out users of Android, BlackBerry and other non-iOS smartphones. That's lame.

Five reasons I wont be using Apples Ping

I Don't Care What You Like

Even among my best friends, there are only a few people whose musical tastes overlap my own. This presents a dilemma for using Ping: Ostensibly, it's a network for music discovery, so do I shut out the friends whose music I don't like, or follow everyone and try to filter out the awful stuff? This, of course, assumes my friends will even use Ping, which they won't.

More Versatile Social Networks Are Better

Steve Jobs once said that multipurpose devices will always win the day over single-purpose ones, because people don't want to pay for something that only has one function. I think the same is true of social networks. Even though people don't pay money to use Facebook or Twitter, they invest time in cultivating an online presence. Ping is another potential investment, but it's only meant for sharing music. I'd rather stick with social networks that offer much more.



Steve Jobs promises fixes for iPhone flaws next week with iOS 4.1Jake Shears has a crush on Ian McKellen

Steve Jobs promises fixes for iPhone flaws next week with iOS 4.1

Apple this week laid out its plans for the next two upgrades of iOS, the mobile operating system that powers its iPhone and iPad, slating the first for release in a few days.

iOS 4.1 will ship sometime next week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said during an hour-plus introduction of a refreshed iPod lineup and a slimmer and less-expensive Apple TV. The upgrade will be available for iPhones and iPod Touches, but not for the company's iPad.


Tablet owners will have to wait until November, when Jobs said Apple will ship iOS 4.2.

Jobs promised that iOS 4.1 would fix some of the bugs that have been extensively reported and discussed on Apple's support forum since the launch two months ago of iOS 4.

"First of all, a lot of bugs have been fixed," said Jobs on Wednesday. "Proximity sensor bugs, Bluetooth bugs, iPhone 3G performance bugs. All the bugs that we've been nailed on. We think we've nailed a lot of them."

What Jobs didn't say was whether iOS 4.1 would address all the flaws customers have complained about, an omission that some noticed. On one iPhone support forum thread, someone identified as "mistabell" claimed to have the 4.1 Gold Master (GM) in hand -- GM is the term used to describe the last test release to developers before calling the update good to go -- and said that not all of the proximity sensor bugs have been fixed.

"I don't think the GM that went out today with the announcement fixes the problem all the way," said mistabell yesterday. "At least not for everyone under every condition."

According to a thread started two days after the June 21 launch of iOS 4 , customers have reported that the iPhone's proximity sensor wasn't properly deactivating the touchscreen when the smartphone was held up to their faces, causing dropped calls, muted calls and "face-dialed" numbers.

Users have also flooded the support forum with gripes about getting and keeping Bluetooth devices, such as in-ear headsets, connected with the iPhone, and even more prominently, complained about a dramatic performance hit on older iPhones, especially 2008's iPhone 3G, after upgrading to iOS 4.

Steve Jobs promises fixes for iPhone flaws next week with iOS 4.1

"Users who have diligently updated their OS as per Apple's request are now screwed, as you cannot go back without a jail break," said Computerworld reader Richard Ruda in an e-mail last month. "So there are thousands of people out there with phones that are very slow, do not load apps at times, and have to be reset daily."

Jobs also spelled out the new features in iOS 4.1 that will let users upload high-definition (HD) video over Wi-Fi, rent TV programs and begin using Apple's Game Center multi-player online network.

But most of his time was spent showing off a new feature he called HDR, for "high dynamic range," that processes three exposures of each snapped photo -- one taken with the normal automatic exposure, two others taken simultaneously as under- and over-exposed -- to produce more detail in over- and under-exposed areas of a photograph.

"For some photos, it's pretty great," Jobs said.

Another feature in iOS 4.1 adds the Ping social network to the iPhone and iPod Touch versions of iTunes, allowing users to connect with friends and artists to discuss music, track upcoming concerts and recommend tunes.

Although iOS 4.1 will be available for the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4, as well as for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 iPod Touches, Apple hasn't defined which features may not work on older hardware. (iOS 4, for example, doesn't offer multitasking on the two-year-old iPhone 3G.) The upgrade will be a free download via iTunes.

Two months from now, Apple will follow with iOS 4.2, which Jobs said was "all about the iPad."

The iPad has been stuck on iOS 3.2 since its April launch -- it was bypassed in June's iOS 4 upgrade -- and Apple had promised to deliver an update to the tablet's OS at some point this fall.

iOS 4.2 will add wireless printing to Apple's mobile devices, as well as AirPlay, a new name for the AirTunes Wi-Fi streaming technology.

AirPlay will let iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads stream content -- pages from an iPad's browser, for example -- to the Apple TV, and thus to the TV screen. Apple also licenses the technology to a small number of speaker and audio receiver makers, including Denon, Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz and JBL, to give customers a way to push content to external audio hardware via Wi-Fi.

The November update will be available for some iPhone and iPod Touch models, as well as for all iPads. The latter will then also receive all the new features that iPhone and iPod Touch owners get next week.



Griffin offers trio of Apple iPhone, iPod, iPad accessoriesNeil Young reveals new album release date

Creative Q&A: 16 year old student talks iPhone developing

Smartphone developer and creative studio ustwo™ has teamed with a 16-year old GCSE student to develop a new iPhone app called Terry Touch™

Jack McLean, a work experience placement, told us more about the app and his time working with ustwo™


Most of your school friends did work experience in banks, newsagents and supermarkets but you chose to work for a iPhone app development studio – why?
I got into programming when I was 14 and I published my first iPhone application on the App Store in 2008. I then published another simple one in 2009. By this time my interest had grown massively.

About a year ago I did compulsory work experience with school and decided to do it at a local debt management company in their programming department and it put me off programming altogether because the work was so boring and mundane.

16 year old student talks iPhone developing

I therefore decided to concentrate on the sort of development work I was interested in and off my own back I emailed ustwo™ and to my surprise was immediately contacted by the man himself, mills. ustwo™ is a company I have followed on twitter for over a year and I’ve been fascinated by their mad and beautiful applications and I’m so glad I gave it a shot and emailed them.

What is it about app developers, ustwo™ that made you want to work for a company like it?
From seeing tweets, blog posts, videos etc, ustwo™ seemed to be an amazing company to work for because it looked so fun and the people there seemed so friendly. I loved just looking at their approaches to applications, how they worked and the amazing graphics and sounds they used. They obviously focused on design and quality, which I admired and really wanted to learn from them and discover how it was all done.

Why do you love developing apps?
I love developing applications and the satisfaction of solving problems and creating software that works well and look nice.

It’s so great when you know 1000's of people have used your app – especially when you get emails and reviews from people saying how much they love it and enjoy using the app.

When developing apps, I constantly learn new things and I am experimenting with interactive design and animation with applications which I love doing.

What’s the hardest part of being an app developer is?
Personally over the couple of years that I have got into iPhone development, the hardest thing was solving problems on my own, without being able to discuss concepts and problems with other people because I had no one to contact. It was extremely hard to get around the concept of programming at the beginning, without a teacher and I still have so much more to learn.

16 year old student talks iPhone developing

It’s hard to just pinpoint one thing that is a challenging being an app developer but fixing complicated bugs and crash's will always be a problem to all developers and I personally think it is the hardest most time consuming.

Terry Touch™ is a simple type of game. Do you think it will do well?
Yes, I hope it does well because many of the applications, which are doing well on the App Store, are totally pointless but I think that’s a good thing. The Terry Touch graphics are great and anyone can pick up and play the game because the learning curve is so small. The game can be strangely addictive especially with its global leaderboard and achievements on OpenFeint. This will hopefully attract kids at school to complete and help it escalate it to the top of the charts!

I see you have supported Terry Touch™ with iAds, meaning the app is free to download, do you think free is the only way to get big downloads?
I don't think the use of iAds is the only way to get big downloads, but maybe an easier way, because Terry Touch is a quite small simple game which people would be more than happy to download for free but, due to big company’s such as EA selling their games for very low prices, customers are no longer happy to spend the same amount of money for an independent simpler smaller game. iAds keep the quality of the game really high and help bring in revenue when the game is doing well.

16 year old student talks iPhone developing

ustwo™ chose to release Terry Touch™ as part of their ongoing mission to try anything on the app store – will this work?
Most definitely because they have tried various ways of cracking into the App Store top charts such as the 'coollectable' 48hr games with their small but addictive and gorgeous games. The Granimator™ is a mad but fascinating idea of getting artists around the world to get involved with one app masterpiece, and now they have free iAd supported fun game developed by me, a student on work experience. I haven't heard of any other company who has tried so many things on the App Store whilst concentrating on creating quality applications and not just to make money.

When you leave college what do you want to be?
At the moment I really don't know because I have only experienced a very small portion of the programming industry. But I loved working at ustwo™ as an iPhone developer and would really love to work in this area as a future career. I want to see what interests me most through school and university. I am interested in user experience and interfaces, which is why I think I like developing for the iPhone because the small screen size means restrictions, which creates a challenge. So at the moment I would love to develop mobile applications and maybe even Mac software once I have finished my education.

Available from the Apple iTunes App Store, Terry Touch™ for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is currently free and requires the iOS 3.1 Software Update or later.



Slash talks about Donningtion gigOpinion: The misplaced schadenfreude of ‘antennagate’