iPhone 5 imitator 'hiPhone 5' emerges in China

A fake iPhone 5, based on leaked images of the next-generation iPhone and called the hiPhone 5, has been spotted for sale in China.

Reuters reports that the items are for sale on e-commerce platform Taobao for as little at 200 yuan (around £19 or $31).

However, the quality of the hiPhone 5s varies, and to get a top-of-the-range fake you'll need to part with 800 yuan (£76) or more. According to the Shanghai-based daily newspaper Metro Express the hiPhone 5 is thinner than the iPhone 4 with less rounded edges.

It's based on images that have supposedly leaked from supply chain sources and is said to be extremely lightweight, feeling almost like a plastic toy, the reports state.

Fake Apple products are hardly new in the far east, though more recently entirely fake Apple Stores have been springing up, as Macworld reported last month.

Meanwhile, more iPhone 5 fakery has been exposed this week when a video purporting to show the next-generation iPhone was found to be a hoax.

Sony London optical disc warehouse destroyed in fire

Sony's main optical disc distribution warehouse for the UK was hit by a large fire on Tuesday morning that has apparently destroyed most or all of the building.

Television images showed fire consuming the facility in Enfield, which is just to the north of London. The warehouse is one of six Sony has in Europe. It is operated by subsidiary Sony DADC and handles distribution of Sony Blu-ray Disc, DVD and CD blank media, and movies and games for the UK.

The fire will almost certainly have an impact on supply of Sony entertainment products in the UK and Ireland, but the extent of the impact will depend on the damage caused.

Sony in Tokyo said no staff had been injured in the blaze, but other information including the cause of the fire was unknown. "We are trying to confirm the facts," said George Boyd, a spokesman for Sony in Tokyo.

It came as London endured a third night of rioting and looting with numerous fires being set across the capital. An eye witness told BBC Radio that he saw youths carrying petrol bombs shortly before the distribution center was looted and set ablaze.

Journalists on the scene of the Sony fire reported seeing people walking away from the warehouse with consumer electronics goods.

The warehouse is not a major consumer electronics distribution point for Sony so the number of products inside was likely low.

The Metropolitan Police said at least 334 people were arrested in disturbances in several areas of the city. More than 1,700 additional police officers were deployed onto the streets of London with extras being drafted in from nine police forces in areas around London. The trouble first began on Saturday evening in the Tottenham district and has spread over subsequent nights.

Police planning major switchover to cloud computing

Police across the UK are considering a major move to cloud computing, dumping on-premise IT in an aggressive bid to cut costs, ComputerworldUK.com can reveal.

In a move likely to be seen as controversial given the sensitivity of police data, the Metropolitan Police is planning how to run a variety of front-end systems - for managing patrols, operations, incidents and investigations, managing evidence and forensics, and collating information - in the cloud. It is understood that if the project goes ahead, the Metropolitan Police would be the lead customer, with other forces buying services through a framework deal.

Under the Strategic Cloud Programme the systems would be supported by to collaboration, knowledge management, risk management, information sharing and business intelligence analytics tools. The aim is for them to be standards-based and scalable, with strong security, consumption based pricing and high service level agreements.

On 27 July, London's Metropolitan Police held an event with suppliers and 50 police forces across the country, with a view to discussing the key requirements.

It plans to sign a seven to 10 year deal with a lead supplier or a consortium of suppliers, possibly splitting suppliers between those providing infrastructure and those supplying the connected software.

It hopes to replace 30 crucial systems and around 600 legacy applications, mainly based on Sun servers and a Microsoft Windows/Intel architecture.

The force insisted that security would be strong, with federated identity, a thorough audit trail, and a common assurance model across user forces and suppliers.

The Metropolitan Police last month created a specialist cloud computing team to deliver the early requirements. While the project is likely to go ahead, it is not yet definite.

The force said in a statement that it was "constantly looking at its future systems and IT infrastructure requirements and how they may best be delivered". Cloud computing was "one potential ser of options", it said. "We are working with both the Home Office and other policing colleagues, and the supplier market, on how these can be delivered in the most efficient, effective and collaborative manner."

The move is being motivated by the Metropolitan Police's view that many of its key systems are too complex and costly, and are reaching the end of their lifespan.

Any replacement would need to be agile, meet government and police standards, and exist in the context of operational cost cutting. The police are weighing up cloud computing as a potential solution to meet these challenges.

"We cannot afford not to simplify," the force told IT suppliers present at the event.

An agreement would see the provision of cloud computing services and applications, maintenance services and the appropriate middleware, it is understood.

"By 2014 to 2015, the Metropolitan Police Service needs to reduce spending by £600 million, compared to 2010 to 2011. To assist in this reduction, a number of change programmes are underway, focusing on reducing costs," the Metropolitan Police told suppliers.

"The Strategic Cloud Programme is looking to deliver a Next-Generation Cloud based replacement for current legacy MPS applications, focusing particularly on the high volume front end operational policing systems."

Microsoft former exec VanRoekel confirmed as US CIO

Longtime Microsoft executive Steven VanRoekel is set to become the nation's second federal CIO, replacing outgoing federal CIO Vivek Kundra.

The White House announced that President Barack Obama intends to appoint VanRoekel, who left his post as senior director of Microsoft's Windows Server and Tools Division in 2009 after 15 years at the firm to become managing director of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to the nation's top tech post.

Among VanRoekel's roles at the FCC was overseeing a redesign of the the commission's Web site. (The before and after looks of the FCC site). The new FCC site added a comment page , as shown here.

In April VanRoekel blogged about the FCC's Web site changes, which included an intuitive design and layout "optimized for the everyday citizen."

He added that the new FCC site was "built in the cloud, and developed with open source software, and that the new FCC.gov lowers barriers to future development as part of a long-term IT cost-cutting strategy."

After serving as federal CIO for two and half years, Kundra recently announced his intent to leave the White House in mid-August to take a fellowship at Harvard.

Kundra, who had previously been CTO of the District of Columbia, shaped the federal CIO post into a highly visible role , and used his position as a bully pulpit to advocate an agenda of opposition to big government IT contracts, along with support for cloud computing and for IT consolidation.

Most of all, Kundra stressed visibility as a means to accountability in managing $80 billion in federal IT spending. For instance, he created the Federal IT Dashboard , where IT projects were rated agency by agency and photos of the CIOs were on display.

Kundra believes he has set the federal IT operation on a path toward lower costs and improved efficiency.

The White House announcement gave no hint about whether VanRoekel will make any changes in IT direction or steer away from Kundra's 25 point plan for IT, which includes the closing 800 federal data centers by 2015.

Just prior to Obama's appointment, VanRoekel had left the FCC to become the executive director of Citizen and Organizational Engagement at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

VanRoekel donated $50,000 to Obama's 2009 inauguration festivities, the donation cap set by the then-incoming administration.

Other Microsoft executives who also donated up to the inauguration limit were Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie Ballmer, as well as Bill and Melinda Gates, who each made donations, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Obama has fostered ties with some tech's most recognized figures.

Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, advised Obama's transition team and is now serving on the White House Office and Technology Policy board along with Craig Mundie, the chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft.

Ballmer and Gates have both been to White House meetings.

Ray Bjorklund, an analyst at FedSources, said VanRoekel "has obviously been well positioned in industry" and combined with his government experience, could be helpful.

But Microsoft competitors for federal contracts may feel a little apprehensive, noted Bjorklund.

"You can't take on major government positions like that and play favorites - that's not the right thing to do," said Bjorklund. "Industry may have suspicions, but they may not be well founded suspicions," he said.

Steve Jobs' speech ripped off by Ukrainian bureaucrat

The former republics of the Soviet Union are infamous for their callous attitude toward the intellectual property of other nations. That attitude apparently extends to the highest levels of government, as a recent incident in the Ukraine suggests.

That country's Secretary of National Security and Defense Raisa Bogatyreva gave a speech to students at Konvokatsii Kiev-Mohyla Academy that sounded familiar to reporters at the Ukrainian Truth. That's because it was. After some digging and translating, they discovered that the oration bore a remarkable resemblance to a speech given to Stanford University graduates by Steve Jobs in 2005.

Although the key points in Bogatyreva's speech appear fractured when translated into English, Russian publications and a translator for The Next Web agreed that the address bears more than just a passing resemblance to the one given by Apple's top dog.

According to a Google translation of a comparison of the two speeches appearing in Focus Ukraine, Bogatyreva said: "I am honored to be here with you today, the day when the graduates receive diplomas. In one of the best higher educational institutions of our country ... I want to share with you today the findings of [my] own life and [my] own political experience. There are three conclusions. Nothing is absolutely tremendous. There are three conclusions."

That, the publication noted, closely compares to Jobs' remarks: "I'm honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.... Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories."

Bogatyreva also said: "Death approached me very closely. Closer than it is now, at my age.... Having lived through that moment, I can tell you-nobody wants to die."

That is close to Jobs' observations about the mortal coil: "This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept. No one wants to die."

As Jobs did in his speech, Bogatyreva apologized for being dramatic: "Sorry for the drama, but it's true. Time [for] a person is very limited. And so the conclusion from [my] own experience suggest[s] the following-do not live someone else's life, do not waste your time. Do not fall into the trap of dogma, which advises live other people's thoughts. Do not let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. Have the courage to follow your heart and...your intuition. They miraculously know what you want in life."

The original address by Jobs went something like this: "Sorry to be so dramatic, but it's quite true. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."

For its part, the Ukrainian Security Council appears to be a bit abashed by the incident. The Next Web reported that the council said that Bogatyreva "decides what she will say," although it acknowledged that the secretary "reads a lot" and may have been inspired by Jobs' speech.

Apple updates QuickTime security for Leopard, Windows

With much of the focus on Mac OS X Lion these days, it's easy to forget that some Mac users still run older versions of the Mac operating system--older as in Mac OS X 10.5.

But Apple hasn't forgotten: On Wednesday, the company released a software update for QuickTime aimed squarely at people still running Leopard on their Macs.

QuickTime 7.7 for Leopard is solely a security update. Apple provides few details about specific issues addressed by the 68.85MB download in its release notes, but it promises information "on the security content of this update" for users who want to dig into this support document.

As for Windows users, there's a QuickTime update for your operating system, too. QuickTime 7.7 for Windows promises security improvements for anyone running Windows XP (SP2 or later), Vista, or Windows 7.

Experts disagree on Android call recording 'Trojan'

According to some headlines, the sky is falling on Android. No, I am not referring to the headlines predicting that the iPhone 5 will double Apple's smartphone market share and leave Android in its dust. I am referring to reports that a new Trojan has infiltrated the Android ecosystem. Some experts, however, suggest this may not be malware, but simply an app working as intended.

A CA blog describes Android malware capable of recording entire phone calls. It also logs call and text activity, and possibly GPS location data. It sounds insidious if you are unaware that the activity is taking place. It also sounds a lot like perfectly legitimate apps like eBlaster Mobile.

So, is this app a malicious Trojan intent on tracking your Android activity, or is it just an app that tracks Android activity?

Irfan Asrar, an analyst with Symantec Security Response, explains, "Despite the fact there have been multiple reports of the app uploading the recorded voice conversations to a remote sever, our analysis has found no such functionality. It can record calls; however, physical access to the device is required in order to retrieve them."

The behavior of the app suggests that it's not malware. It clearly states what it's going to do and requests the appropriate permissions. Once installed, the icon shows up just like any other app. If it is malware, it does a very poor job of trying to hide. It seems like an app that a suspicious spouse or lover would install--intentionally--on a partner's Android smartphone.

Asrar acknowledges that the app has the ability to send GPS data, and call and SMS logs to a remote server--a server hosted by the app author. However, that data is then offered for a fee--ostensibly to the husband, wife, or lover who installed the app.

Armando Orozco, Webroot threat research analyst, sits somewhere in between malware and legitimate app. He points out that the app uses tools available in Android--a Java class called MediaRecorder--and that it is far from the only app that does so. Whether it is "malware" or just an app, its behavior is essentially indistinguishable from apps designed for spying on or monitoring Android smartphone activity.

Orozco says that an app like this blends into the background and may be easily missed by the Android smartphone owner. "Easily overlooked with 50+ apps installed, I don't think many users are aware of these surveillance apps; all it takes is an untrusting partner."

David Harley, Senior Research fellow for ESET, puts the "threat" in a even more tempered perspective. "It's an interesting item: perhaps more of a proof of concept than an epidemic in its own right, but nevertheless both technically interesting and significant. I see this as an indication that the bad guys are putting real research and development resources into exploiting the Android market."

Troy Gill, a security analyst with AppRiver, sums up the Android malware issue with this thought: "This is not the first and will certainly not be the last. Malicious apps are fast becoming the easiest way to infect a mobile device and the Android market has been the platform of choice as of late."

Harley agrees, "This may or may not be the "year of mobile malware" but I think the time has long gone when the concept of smartphone malware could be dismissed as security vendor hype around a few hobbyist Trojans."

Yes, the app exists. No, the Android malware sky is not falling--at least not yet.