Podcast: Windows Mobile 6, virtualization, SOA for the masses and more… by ZDNet's Dan Farber -- This week on the Dan & David Show, David checks out Microsoft's Windows Mobile version 6 platform. We also discuss how competition in the virtualization space in heating up (always good for buyers), what Microsoft means by Vista "Ready" and Vista "Capable," and how SOA methods (mashups, assemblers, widgets, etc.) are becoming more usable by [...]
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Windows Mobile 6
Windows Vista isn't the only operating system making its debut this year, as Microsoft also revamped its OS for mobile devices and formally introduced Windows Mobile 6 at 3GSM World Congress. Taking the reins from Windows Mobile 5, Windows Mobile 6 isn't a complete overhaul of the OS; instead, it offers a number of useful enhancements that makes performing tasks easier and puts more powerful tools into the hands of mobile professionals. We were particularly impressed with the new e-mail search function, Mobile Office additions, and Windows Live integration, but we think Microsoft could have done a lot more. For example, multimedia improvements are practically nonexistent and the user interface is still kludgey, requiring numerous steps to complete a simple task. Also, some of the enhanced functionality to Outlook and calendaring require that you use Exchange Server 2007. Despite these flaws, the new improvements make Windows Mobile 6 worth the upgrade.
The best news, of course, is that new OS means there will be a number of new devices coming out. There will be three editions again, but they've been renamed as Classic (formerly known as Pocket PC Edition), Standard (Smartphone Edition), and Professional (Pocket PC Phone Edition), so you can look forward to a variety of form factors. In fact, we've already seen a number of product announcements from 3GSM, including the Motorola Q q9 and the HTC Vox. For Windows Mobile 5 users, Microsoft said it will be up to carriers and device manufacturers whether they will offer upgrades, but T-Mobile has already announced that it will offer updates to current T-Mobile Dash owners and future Dash devices will ship with Windows Mobile 6.
For our review, we checked out Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition using the HP iPaq 510 Voice Messenger, though we will continue to evaluate the OS and its variations as more devices start to arrive on the scene.
Interface
Windows Mobile 5 users won't be in for any major surprises when they see Windows Mobile 6, as the interface largely remains the same as before. Windows Mobile 6 does have more of a Vista look with its similar color scheme and bubbly, eye-pleasing icons. Along the top of the Today screen, you still get shortcuts to your most recently used apps, but the icons are slightly larger. Below that, you'll find such important information as time, date, upcoming appointments, messages, and so forth. Of course, you can customize the background image, color scheme, and backlight time.
One of the biggest complaints about Windows Mobile devices, especially when compared to Palm, is the number of steps it takes to perform a simple task, such as closing out of a program. This is still pretty much true of Windows Mobile 6, but Microsoft has taken some steps to ease the pain. For example, the company has added nine new e-mail shortcuts so you can easily reply, delete, move messages, and more. While this is a step in the right direction, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Features
Window Mobile 6 really doesn't offer any mind-blowing new features, but rather, it includes some nice refinements that make the devices easier to use as well as act more like your PC. However, we should warn you that a number of the enhanced PIM capabilities require Exchange Server 2007, so unfortunately, if you or your company have no plans to upgrade, you're left in the cold. We'll note such exceptions as we go through the features.
Contacts and Calendar
Starting with some of the basics, call history is now sorted to the appropriate contact page. Though you may think this isn't a big deal, it's actually quite convenient as you can easily see when you received and made calls to that specific person, the time of the call, the duration, and so forth. Also, the new OS provides a quick Send Text Message shortcut, so you can be on your way to text message heaven with just one click, rather than having to go through several steps.
The Calendar app is also more user friendly, as the upgrade provides a better view of your schedule at a glance. First, there's a new Calendar Ribbon that lines the top of the screen and shows you which times you are free and which are booked. In addition, you get a week view, and while it gives you a good overview of your schedule--complete with colored blocks for appointments--you can also get details of the event, such as meeting location, right along the bottom of your screen so you don't have to open each one. The calendaring capabilities are also more robust if you are using Exchange Server 2007. With that integration, you have the ability to not only see who is attending a meeting, but you can forward and reply to meeting requests as well. While we couldn't test this feature, we got a working demo, and we can see how it would really come in handy for the mobile professional, bringing more of that PC experience to your smart phone.
E-mail is a lot smarter on Windows Mobile 6. First, all devices will ship with Microsoft's Direct Push technology so you get real-time e-mail delivery and automatic synchronization with your Outlook calendar, tasks, and contacts via Exchange Server. Microsoft has also added nine new one-click shortcuts, as we noted above; plus, you get more of the true Outlook experience as your In-box view shows messages that are flagged, marked as high importance, and so forth. Once again, with Exchange Server 2007, you can do even more with Outlook Mobile, such as set up an Out of Office reply.
Searching for e-mails is no longer an unpleasant task, thanks to a new search function. Similar to the Smart Dial feature on Windows Mobile 5 devices, where you input a couple of letters to pull up associated contact, you can simply start typing in a word while in your Inbox, and it will automatically pull up messages with that term in the subject or contact field. It worked great for us, and it's truly a timesaver.
There is, of course, continued support for POP3 and IMAP accounts, but now you can also view e-mails in their original HTML format, regardless of account type. If there happens to be a hyperlink within a message, you can select to go to that page or if a phone number is listed, you can dial out directly from that message as well.
Windows Live for Mobile and Web browsing
If you have a Hotmail/Windows Live e-mail account, you can easily access those messages with Windows Live for Mobile. It's a simple matter of inputting your user ID and password, then you can choose to synchronize your e-mail and contacts, which integrates nicely into your phone's address book. As far as instant messenger, you get Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger), which boasts some improvements in its own right. Now, you can have multiperson chats and send images and voice clips via IM. While we appreciate these new capabilities, we're disappointed that there's not a more universal app included that supports other popular IM clients such as AIM and Yahoo.
Another aspect of Windows Live for Mobile is the Live Search, giving you a quick and easy way to search the Web. When you first access Windows Live, you are given the option of adding a Live Search bar, as well as Windows Live services, to the Today screen, and we recommend doing so. It's truly handy just to turn on your phone, enter a search term in the field, press OK, and instantly get results. The Live Search bar is also now part of the Internet Explorer Mobile home page, as well as new expandable Favorites and History menus.
Finally, there is also a new Internet Sharing utility, courtesy of Windows Mobile 6, that allows you to easily set up your phone as a wireless modem for your laptop via Bluetooth, or you can use a USB connection as well.
Work and play
The big news here is that Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition (formerly Smartphone Edition) now has the full Microsoft Office Mobile Suite. Whereas Windows Mobile 5 smart phones typically came installed with the Picsel Viewer Suite for opening and viewing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, Windows Mobile 6 brings the real deal so you can not only see said files but also edit them. We should note, however, that the editing capabilities are pretty light. In Word, you're pretty much restricted to adding and deleting text and formatting type (such as bold, italic, underline, and highlight); while in Excel, you can insert rows and columns, sort, perform basic functions, and so forth. PowerPoint remains pretty much view-only, although you can change playback options. For now, you can't create new documents on Standard Edition devices. It is possible with OneNote 2007, but this isn't part of the standard Windows Mobile 6 package, so you'll have to shell out $79.95 for the app. That said, we were able to transfer all three document types using a beta version of ActiveSync 4.5 and had no problems viewing or editing them. Admittedly, trying to edit manuscripts and spreadsheets without a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard was a bit challenging on the HP iPaq 510.
Sadly, there were no notable improvements to Windows Media Player Mobile.
Service and support
Microsoft has maintained an informative and helpful support site for Windows Mobile 5 users; we hope and suspect that this will continue with Windows Mobile 6 as more devices become available. As it stands now, you can search through a number of help and how-to articles to get you through the basics, such as setting up your device, then delve into more advanced capabilities. As we noted in the beginning, it'll be up to carriers and device manufacturers to determine if they will offer Windows Mobile 6 upgrades.
The DVD-R media that destroyed my SuperDrive (photos)
The DVD-R media that destroyed my SuperDrive (photos) by ZDNet's Jason D. O'Grady -- Yesterday I inserted a blank DVD-R disc into my MacBook Pro (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo) like I've done dozens of times before. But this time was different. This time it destroyed my SuperDrive.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Price of cybercrime tools shrinks
It's becoming cheaper and easier to get hold of the tools needed to launch a cybercrime attack, according to security company RSA.
Jens Hinrichsen, the company's product marketing manager for fraud auction, said Thursday that RSA has been monitoring the Web sites and ICQ channels where malicious hackers and cybercriminals interact. These sites allow participants to share feedback and even review one another's products.
Addressing an audience at the RSA Conference 2007 here, Hinrichsen showed several screengrabs to illustrate that the prices being asked for hacking tools have been dropping, with many participants embracing volume discounts and other incentives.
One example was a post offering a "Super Trojan," which could be used to install malicious code on a victim's PC, for $600.
"What's interesting is that this is actually a reviewed vendor, who actually had a lot of good transactions. He's offering this custom piece of crimeware for only $600," said Hinrichsen, who added that he "loved the term 'Super Trojan.'"
"So, when we talk about the ever-increasing ramp-up of more sophisticated tools," he said, "the prices are coming down."
Another example was someone selling e-mail address lists and log-in details for sites such as eBay.
"For one to 10 accounts, this guy would charge you five bucks per account. But they've got discounted rates--just like any other institution would offer their customers. So if you buy 10 to 50 accounts, he'll give it to you for $4.50 each. Fifty more accounts would be $3.50 each," Hinrichsen said.
Other examples shown included a list of 15,000 e-mail addresses, which had all apparently been verified as genuine, for sale for $1,500, a hacked root server for $100 to $150, and someone offering to host a financial scam on his Web site for $20 per day, or $80 for a week.
Jens Hinrichsen, the company's product marketing manager for fraud auction, said Thursday that RSA has been monitoring the Web sites and ICQ channels where malicious hackers and cybercriminals interact. These sites allow participants to share feedback and even review one another's products.
Addressing an audience at the RSA Conference 2007 here, Hinrichsen showed several screengrabs to illustrate that the prices being asked for hacking tools have been dropping, with many participants embracing volume discounts and other incentives.
One example was a post offering a "Super Trojan," which could be used to install malicious code on a victim's PC, for $600.
"What's interesting is that this is actually a reviewed vendor, who actually had a lot of good transactions. He's offering this custom piece of crimeware for only $600," said Hinrichsen, who added that he "loved the term 'Super Trojan.'"
"So, when we talk about the ever-increasing ramp-up of more sophisticated tools," he said, "the prices are coming down."
Another example was someone selling e-mail address lists and log-in details for sites such as eBay.
"For one to 10 accounts, this guy would charge you five bucks per account. But they've got discounted rates--just like any other institution would offer their customers. So if you buy 10 to 50 accounts, he'll give it to you for $4.50 each. Fifty more accounts would be $3.50 each," Hinrichsen said.
Other examples shown included a list of 15,000 e-mail addresses, which had all apparently been verified as genuine, for sale for $1,500, a hacked root server for $100 to $150, and someone offering to host a financial scam on his Web site for $20 per day, or $80 for a week.
768 cores ought to be enough for anybody
768 cores ought to be enough for anybody by ZDNet's Ed Burnette -- While Intel struggles to get their 80-core processor to work, a company you've probably never heard of has been quietly shipping systems with hundreds of cores. Last year at JavaOne I attended a presentation by Cliff Click of Azul Systems on scaling up an application that used to take weeks to run so that it could finish in minutes. After the Intel announcement, I tracked down Cliff to get his thoughts on multicore hardware and software.
Friday, February 16, 2007
U.S. 'threatened' alleged NASA hacker, defense says
The fate of Gary McKinnon, the alleged NASA hacker, is hanging in balance after his appeal against extradition to the U.S. was adjourned at the Court of Appeal in London on Wednesday evening.
Over two days in court, McKinnon's defense team presented new evidence that it said meant the judges should reject his extradition to face charges of breaking into and damaging U.S. government computers.
The Court of Appeal is the court of last resort under U.K. law, and usually it will only find for or against the appellant. But the defense argued on Tuesday and Wednesday that evidence brought to light by the McKinnon case raised serious questions about the U.S. government's case.
The defense has urged the Court of Appeal to consider referring McKinnon's case back to the U.K. government, or to allow a further appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, if it will not reject the extradition outright.
The evidence centered on what was or was not said to McKinnon when he was being offered a plea bargain. More well-known in the U.S., and now also used on an informal basis in the U.K., a plea bargain is when the prosecution offers a reduced sentence or other incentive, in return for a defendant's agreement to cooperate.
In this case, if McKinnon agreed to cooperate with them, the U.S. authorities said they would agree to a reduced sentence of three years or less. They would also let him serve the sentence in a U.K. prison and not in an American "super high-security prison," as Edmund Lawson, a lawyer appearing for McKinnon's defense, put it.
All parties appear to agree on that part of the description of what happened. But what was said next became the main source of controversy in court. According to McKinnon and his counsel, a U.S. member of the prosecution team then "threatened" McKinnon that if he did not agree to the bargain, they would push for the highest possible penalties and that he would be "turned over to New Jersey authorities to see him fry."
And the defense further alleged that the U.S. said that if McKinnon did not agree to the deal, there would be no chance of his serving his sentence in the U.K. near his friends and family.
This quickly became known as the "fry" statement. The defense said it could be taken to mean a threat on McKinnon's life, should he be handed over to New Jersey rather than Virginia, the two states where McKinnon was alleged to have damaged IT systems.
In fact, if it was a threat, it may be something of an idle one. Although both states have the death penalty, New Jersey has not executed anyone in 20 years, while Virginia is still active in executions. In any case, under European law, McKinnon cannot be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. if there is a risk of execution.
Despite this, Lawson argued that the overt nature of the threat was an infringement on McKinnon's human rights. If so, it could be a matter for the European Court of Human Rights, as could be the threat to withdraw the possibility of serving his sentence in the U.K.
The prosecution lawyer, Max Summers, dismissed the points immediately. None of the evidence on the "frying" allegation could be allowed into court since any words spoken during the alleged offer were only done so in confidence, he said.
There is no automatic right for an extradited prisoner to serve a sentence back in his own country and the majority do not, especially those extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. As it was, the U.S. was in no position to refute the allegations over "frying," since none of the relevant American staff involved are currently in the U.K., let alone in court this week.
If this evidence was to be considered at all, Summers argued, then the U.S. government would need notice and time to get witnesses organized, and so a recess would be required.
The defense and prosecution teams and the two judges hearing the appeal discussed the legal consequences of taking the McKinnon case into new legal territory for an extradition hearing for an hour. The court was adjourned at 4:20 p.m. on Wednesday for the Appeal Court judges to consider the options.
They could find in favor of the U.S. authorities, meaning McKinnon would soon travel to the U.S., or they could uphold the appeal and allow McKinnon to go free. Alternatively, they could refer the case back to British Home Secretary John Reid, who decided in July 2006 that the extradition should go ahead, or reject McKinnon's appeal but allow a further appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. A decision is expected next week.
McKinnon himself did not attend the appeal, and saw a doctor on Wednesday following heart palpitations.
Over two days in court, McKinnon's defense team presented new evidence that it said meant the judges should reject his extradition to face charges of breaking into and damaging U.S. government computers.
The Court of Appeal is the court of last resort under U.K. law, and usually it will only find for or against the appellant. But the defense argued on Tuesday and Wednesday that evidence brought to light by the McKinnon case raised serious questions about the U.S. government's case.
The defense has urged the Court of Appeal to consider referring McKinnon's case back to the U.K. government, or to allow a further appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, if it will not reject the extradition outright.
The evidence centered on what was or was not said to McKinnon when he was being offered a plea bargain. More well-known in the U.S., and now also used on an informal basis in the U.K., a plea bargain is when the prosecution offers a reduced sentence or other incentive, in return for a defendant's agreement to cooperate.
In this case, if McKinnon agreed to cooperate with them, the U.S. authorities said they would agree to a reduced sentence of three years or less. They would also let him serve the sentence in a U.K. prison and not in an American "super high-security prison," as Edmund Lawson, a lawyer appearing for McKinnon's defense, put it.
All parties appear to agree on that part of the description of what happened. But what was said next became the main source of controversy in court. According to McKinnon and his counsel, a U.S. member of the prosecution team then "threatened" McKinnon that if he did not agree to the bargain, they would push for the highest possible penalties and that he would be "turned over to New Jersey authorities to see him fry."
And the defense further alleged that the U.S. said that if McKinnon did not agree to the deal, there would be no chance of his serving his sentence in the U.K. near his friends and family.
This quickly became known as the "fry" statement. The defense said it could be taken to mean a threat on McKinnon's life, should he be handed over to New Jersey rather than Virginia, the two states where McKinnon was alleged to have damaged IT systems.
In fact, if it was a threat, it may be something of an idle one. Although both states have the death penalty, New Jersey has not executed anyone in 20 years, while Virginia is still active in executions. In any case, under European law, McKinnon cannot be extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. if there is a risk of execution.
Despite this, Lawson argued that the overt nature of the threat was an infringement on McKinnon's human rights. If so, it could be a matter for the European Court of Human Rights, as could be the threat to withdraw the possibility of serving his sentence in the U.K.
The prosecution lawyer, Max Summers, dismissed the points immediately. None of the evidence on the "frying" allegation could be allowed into court since any words spoken during the alleged offer were only done so in confidence, he said.
There is no automatic right for an extradited prisoner to serve a sentence back in his own country and the majority do not, especially those extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. As it was, the U.S. was in no position to refute the allegations over "frying," since none of the relevant American staff involved are currently in the U.K., let alone in court this week.
If this evidence was to be considered at all, Summers argued, then the U.S. government would need notice and time to get witnesses organized, and so a recess would be required.
The defense and prosecution teams and the two judges hearing the appeal discussed the legal consequences of taking the McKinnon case into new legal territory for an extradition hearing for an hour. The court was adjourned at 4:20 p.m. on Wednesday for the Appeal Court judges to consider the options.
They could find in favor of the U.S. authorities, meaning McKinnon would soon travel to the U.S., or they could uphold the appeal and allow McKinnon to go free. Alternatively, they could refer the case back to British Home Secretary John Reid, who decided in July 2006 that the extradition should go ahead, or reject McKinnon's appeal but allow a further appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. A decision is expected next week.
McKinnon himself did not attend the appeal, and saw a doctor on Wednesday following heart palpitations.
Gadget owners beware: Daylight-saving time has changed
Daylight-saving time is springing forward three weeks earlier than usual this year, but consumers may be unaware that some of their gadgets won't automatically be making the transition.
Daylight-saving time (DST) will begin at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 11, and will end a week later than usual, on Sunday, November 4. The change, thanks to a massive federal energy bill passed in 2005 (click for PDF of energy bill) adds extra hours of daylight with the hope of decreasing national energy consumption.
This small change could have big implications for a range of gadget users, from employees of multinationals relying on their devices to remind them of appointments in different time zones to average consumers who count on their smart phones to be, well, smart, and tell the time correctly.
First, the good news: don't worry, your TiVo is fine. TiVo says it sent an automatic software update to its digital video recorder customers last month that included a patch for the DST switch.
But smart-phone customers should take heed: if they don't update both the mobile device and the computer software it synchronizes information from, scheduled items will be off by an hour.
"The way to think about it is to consider any deadline requirements an application has that are more specific than midnight or close of business," Pete Lindstrom, an analyst with the Burton Group, said in an e-mail. "Of course, financial transactions are of the most obvious concern, since minutes and even seconds can matter there. In a smaller way, other deadlines (like the end of the quarter) may be affected, but remember, (it)is only a four-week period...where the impact is felt."
The problem with DST and smart phones can be fixed with a software update that will adjust the date tables that are preprogrammed to tell the device when to move the clock forward or backward by an hour.
Consumers carrying a mobile phone running on any version of Windows Mobile except the recently released Windows Mobile 6 will have to download software updates from the Microsoft Web site to the devices themselves.
Microsoft says there are several ways to perform the update--for instance, downloading the software to a PC and syncing via a cable or downloading the update directly onto the device from Microsoft's Web site. Alternatively, IT department managers can issue an e-mail containing the update, which individuals have to install themselves.
But there are already signs DST won't be a perfectly smooth transition for gadget holders. Susan Bradley, a network administrator for an accounting firm in Fresno, Calif., reported having difficulty doing automatic updates for Windows Mobile phone users.
"I've had to manually update them and I don't know how larger firms will handle this," she said. "In my early tests, one phone is syncing to the mailbox with the right time, one isn't, and I haven't a clue as to why one is working and one isn't when they have all the same patches."
Some Palm devices run Windows Mobile, but for those running Garnet OS, formerly known as Palm OS, the update is not yet available. Palm is "currently working on" a DST software update, which will be posted on the Palm Web site along with instructions once it's available, according to a company spokesperson.
All BlackBerry models will also need to be updated. Individuals can manually download the software patch or IT managers can do the same and automatically push the update to all phones connected to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
BlackBerry users can instead choose to manually adjust the time forward and back on the appropriate days to avoid the software update altogether.
Though Research In Motion and Microsoft are letting customers know about the problem by posting fixes on their Web sites and e-mailing some customers in advance, the update process is complex enough that many users may not know whether the problem has been fixed on their device until they've missed an appointment, said Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner.
"I expect over 90 percent of users to ignore any proactive effort on their part. If their company or operator is able to fix the problem then it gets fixed. Otherwise I think they will brute-force it and rearrange the appointments to fit the schedule," he said. "I think that many users will change their signature line on their smart phones and PDAs to say 'Please note, if I (am) an hour late or an hour early for my meeting with you, please understand, its not my fault, it's my government.'"
Daylight-saving time (DST) will begin at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 11, and will end a week later than usual, on Sunday, November 4. The change, thanks to a massive federal energy bill passed in 2005 (click for PDF of energy bill) adds extra hours of daylight with the hope of decreasing national energy consumption.
This small change could have big implications for a range of gadget users, from employees of multinationals relying on their devices to remind them of appointments in different time zones to average consumers who count on their smart phones to be, well, smart, and tell the time correctly.
First, the good news: don't worry, your TiVo is fine. TiVo says it sent an automatic software update to its digital video recorder customers last month that included a patch for the DST switch.
But smart-phone customers should take heed: if they don't update both the mobile device and the computer software it synchronizes information from, scheduled items will be off by an hour.
"The way to think about it is to consider any deadline requirements an application has that are more specific than midnight or close of business," Pete Lindstrom, an analyst with the Burton Group, said in an e-mail. "Of course, financial transactions are of the most obvious concern, since minutes and even seconds can matter there. In a smaller way, other deadlines (like the end of the quarter) may be affected, but remember, (it)is only a four-week period...where the impact is felt."
The problem with DST and smart phones can be fixed with a software update that will adjust the date tables that are preprogrammed to tell the device when to move the clock forward or backward by an hour.
Consumers carrying a mobile phone running on any version of Windows Mobile except the recently released Windows Mobile 6 will have to download software updates from the Microsoft Web site to the devices themselves.
Microsoft says there are several ways to perform the update--for instance, downloading the software to a PC and syncing via a cable or downloading the update directly onto the device from Microsoft's Web site. Alternatively, IT department managers can issue an e-mail containing the update, which individuals have to install themselves.
But there are already signs DST won't be a perfectly smooth transition for gadget holders. Susan Bradley, a network administrator for an accounting firm in Fresno, Calif., reported having difficulty doing automatic updates for Windows Mobile phone users.
"I've had to manually update them and I don't know how larger firms will handle this," she said. "In my early tests, one phone is syncing to the mailbox with the right time, one isn't, and I haven't a clue as to why one is working and one isn't when they have all the same patches."
Some Palm devices run Windows Mobile, but for those running Garnet OS, formerly known as Palm OS, the update is not yet available. Palm is "currently working on" a DST software update, which will be posted on the Palm Web site along with instructions once it's available, according to a company spokesperson.
All BlackBerry models will also need to be updated. Individuals can manually download the software patch or IT managers can do the same and automatically push the update to all phones connected to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
BlackBerry users can instead choose to manually adjust the time forward and back on the appropriate days to avoid the software update altogether.
Though Research In Motion and Microsoft are letting customers know about the problem by posting fixes on their Web sites and e-mailing some customers in advance, the update process is complex enough that many users may not know whether the problem has been fixed on their device until they've missed an appointment, said Ken Dulaney, an analyst with Gartner.
"I expect over 90 percent of users to ignore any proactive effort on their part. If their company or operator is able to fix the problem then it gets fixed. Otherwise I think they will brute-force it and rearrange the appointments to fit the schedule," he said. "I think that many users will change their signature line on their smart phones and PDAs to say 'Please note, if I (am) an hour late or an hour early for my meeting with you, please understand, its not my fault, it's my government.'"
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
2008: The Year of President 2.0?
2008: The Year of President 2.0? by ZDNet's Larry Dignan -- Barak Obama launched his presidential campaign, talked Iraq, health care costs and retooling Washington. So what gets attention in the tech world? Obama's Web site only plays video in IE, social media features stumbled on day one and you can't import previous political blog posts. Welcome to the Web Mr. Obama. ZDNet's Donna Bogatin and Steve [...]
BlackBerry patent app depicts “pickpocket mode”
BlackBerry patent app depicts “pickpocket mode” by ZDNet's Russell Shaw -- BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion has applied for a patent that would throw a stolen device into "theft mode." The patent application describes a device that "can sense its removal from a holster and take appropriate steps if the removal was unacknowledged by the owner of the portable device." Next, the app describes how this would [...]
Hacker, Microsoft duke it out over Vista design flaw
Hacker, Microsoft duke it out over Vista design flaw by ZDNet's Ryan Naraine -- Joanna Rutkowska has always been a big supporter of the Windows Vista security model. Until she stumbled upon a "very severe hole" in the design of UAC (User Account Control) and found out -- from Microsoft officials -- that the default no-admin setting isn't even a security mechanism anymore.
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