Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » mars 13, 2012

BetaNews.Com (8 non lus)

VirtualBox 4.1.10 improves Windows 8 compatibility

Publié: mars 13, 2012, 11:16pm CET par Mike Williams

Oracle today released VirtualBox 4.1.10. The build is essentially a maintenance release, but it’s wide ranging enough to make it worth installing. Assorted additions include SSL/TLS support for VirtualBox’s web service, for instance. The changelog notes “some Windows 8 adaptions” in this build, though it doesn’t tell us any more. And the Linux build gains support for X.Org Server 1.12.

Elsewhere, notable bug fixes include several that will improve system stability. A possible guest memory corruption issue has been addressed; the Linux build will now properly flush all data when closing a memory-mapped file on a shared folder; and a bug which could result in corruption when compacting VDI or VHD images with snapshots has also been resolved.

And other changes cover everything from rendering issues on Linux to getting Python to work on OS X Lion.

The full list of fixes and additions is available at theVirtualBox Changelog. If you’d like to update, then you can do so by clicking Help > Check for Updates within the VirtualBox Manager. Or, if you need to reinstall, the full VirtualBox 4.1.10 setup file is available for download now.
Apple vs. Google: FTC asks one monopoly to tattle on another

Publié: mars 13, 2012, 11:10pm CET par Ed Oswald

Apple may find itself on the precipice of an antitrust lawsuit over its handling of ebooks, but on the flipside is quickly becoming a key witness in the US Government's continuing investigation into Google's business practices. The Federal Trade Commission has asked the Cupertino, Calif. company to detail Google's integration into iOS.

Google has been the default search engine for the iPhone since its debut in 2007, and on the iPad since 2010. While consumers do have the option to change the setting to Yahoo or Microsoft's Bing, from the factory it's all Google. Google Maps also is the basis for iOS' navigation functionality, with no other options provided.

The FTC wants to see the agreements between Apple and Google, Bloomberg reports, and is trying to determine whether the Mountain View, Calif. search giant is leveraging its dominant position in search to muscle its way into mobile advertising.

In recent years, the relationship between the two companies has become increasingly cold as both Apple and Google move onto one another's turf. Google's Android OS is the dominant smartphone platform, while Apple has made forays into Google's signature businesses, including its iAd mobile advertising platform. That said, Google still enjoys prominent placement in iOS as the platform's default search.

According to the report, Apple is only one of several companies to receive subpoenas from the FTC: other phone manufacturers as well as the wireless carriers are also being asked to detail their agreements with Google. The investigation only seems to make the march towards a Microsoft-like antitrust case, an increasing certainty in the near future.

Google and the FTC already have a history together: in March of last year, the regulatory body handed down a judgement that subjects the company to 20 years of audits over privacy blunders surrounding its Google Buzz service.

Photo Credit: yampi/Shutterstock
SalesCrunch to Cisco: We'll acquire WebEx, if you pay us

Publié: mars 13, 2012, 10:50pm CET par Michael Hatamoto

Today, SalesCrunch publicly disclosed its unsolicited -- what some would call outrageous, low-ball -- offer for WebEx. The online communications platform startup would pay Cisco Systems one dollar plus a 15-percent stake. Essentially, SalesCrunch offers nothing for WebEx, and really asks the tech giant to pay for the privilege of unloading the online-collaboration suite.

Cisco acquired WebEx for $3.2 billion in 2007. A single dollar might as well be nothing. But it's more than that. SalesCrunch wants WebEx assets to build out its own platform, and, of course, the customers. Cisco's involvement could instill confidence, and the bold play for WebEx demonstrate SalesCrunch's hunger to succeed by thinking outside the box. The 15-percent stake could assist the startup winning new rounds of funding or enticing new investors -- hence the concept asking the communications giant to pay SalesCrunch to take on the business.

SalesCrunch CEO Sean Black made a tender offer, meaning the company is interested in purchasing Cisco's shares of the company. "WebEx has failed to innovate in 7+ years," SalesCrunch said in a public statement, noting "customers are looking for a better solution, and it's not too late to give it to them".

The unsolicited offer generated quite a buzz on Twitter, with many followers complementing @SalesCrunch for its marketing effort and plea to Cisco shareholders. Others viewed the offer as a publicity stunt.

But Black claims the $1 cash offer isn't a publicity stunt, believing Cisco's shareholders may ultimately pressure the company to shed WebEx.

A Cisco spokesperson could see the offer no other way: "This is a cute publicity stunt from SalesCrunch, and we appreciate that they like our technology, but we have no intention of selling WebEx".

The offer is low-risk and possibly high rewards. SalesCrunch improves its visibility, which, again, could help securing additional funding while it builds out technology and up a customer base.

WebEx provides more than 5 million customers the ability to host online meetings, and share information easily among remote locations. Originally designed to help Cisco expand from routers and networking hardware, focus on video teleconferencing has greatly reduced. Cisco CEO John Chambers is under pressure to prioritize the company's core products after investor criticism.

It's rumored WebEx could be next on the Cisco chopping block, leaving customers to scramble to find new online communications platforms. However, Cisco previously said WebEx fits into the company's business collaboration efforts, though very little has been done with the once-promising conference platform.

Since a public memo disclosing the company's shakeup, Cisco shuttered the Flip video product line while also ending the Umi Telepresence video conferencing platform. In addition to ending several programs, Cisco laid off hundreds of employees as it looks to shrink operations.

A successful acquisition by SalesCrunch would aim to migrate current WebEx customers to the SalesCrunch platform as quickly and easily as possible. SalesCrunch offers a modern technology able to utilize Web 2.0, including online analytics and social networking integration, while WebEx cannot. If nothing else, SalesCrunch's offer may sway disappointed WebEx customers away from Cisco and towards SalesCrunch.

Knowing there is interest in WebEx, if Cisco does intend to shutter the brand, SalesCrunch will likely have to pay a modest sum that will be above $1.

SalesCrunch posted an online presentation highlighting their effort to acquire WebEx, available here.

Photo Credit: Redstarstudio/Shutterstock
March Madness: Win an Ultrabook

Publié: mars 13, 2012, 8:23pm CET par Joe Wilcox

BetaNews is pleased to be a media sponsor of Newegg's March Mania Ultrabook-a-Day Giveaway, starting today and going for 21. Each day the tech retailer, in cooperation with Intel, will award one lucky winner an Acer Aspire S3-951-6646, ASUS Zenbook UX21E-DH52 or Lenovo IdeaPad U300s Ultrabook.

Why just watch March Madness when you can get a little crazy trying to win one of these sleek Ultrabooks?

"We are delighted to partner with Intel to offer slam dunk brands such as Acer, ASUS and Lenovo as giveaways for our sweepstakes", Bob Bellack, Newegg North America CEO, says.

"College basketball fans will find that the only thing more amazing than the Ultrabook is what they’ll do with it" Steve Peterson, Intel North America retail marketing manager, says.

Acer Aspire S3-951-6646 quick specs: 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 2467M processor; 13.3-inch display (with 1366 x 768 resolution); 4GB DDR3 memory; Intel HD Graphics 3000; 20GB SSD and 320GB 5400-rpm hard drive; 1.3MP WebCam; two USB ports; one HDMI port; WiFi N; Bluetooth 4; 3-cell battery; and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Weighs: 2.98 pounds. Newegg sells the laptop for $799.99.

ASUS Zenbook UX21E-DH52 quick specs: 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 2467M processor; 11.6-inch display (with 1366 x 768 resolution); 4GB DDR3 memory; Intel HD Graphics 3000; 128GB SSD; .3MP WebCam; two USB ports; one micro-HDMI port; WiFi N; Bluetooth 4; 6-cell battery; and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Weighs: 2.43 pounds. Newegg sells the laptop for $999.99.

Lenovo IdeaPad U300s quick specs: 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-2677M processor; 13.3-inch display (with 1366 x 768 resolution); 4GB DDR3 memory; Intel HD Graphics 3000; 256GB SSD; 1.3MP WebCam; two USB ports; one HDMI port; WiFi N; Bluetooth 3; 4-cell battery; and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Weighs: 2.91 pounds. Newegg sells the laptop for $1,499.99.

Contest rules: Open to anyone 18 years or older living in the District of Columbia or any US state other than Rhode Island. Prospective participants go to the sweepstakes website and submit one entry. Newegg will award the Acer Ultrabook during week one, the ASUS during week two and the Lenovo during the final 7 days.

Ultrabook is a fairly new category of slim-and-light portables. Intel introduced the concept in May 2011. Lenovo announced Ideapad 300s in September; Acer the S3 in October; and ASUS the Zenbook also in October.

PC shipments fell sharply in 2011, and Gartner predicts paltry 4.4 percent growth for this year. The analyst firm sees Ultrabooks as one vehicle for reviving sales.

Okay, I appreciate your attention, but why are you still reading? Please enter the contest -- and good luck!

Photo Credit: Solvod/Shutterstock
Dell's evolution continues with acquisition of firewall company SonicWall

Publié: mars 13, 2012, 8:12pm CET par Tim Conneally

Dell announced on Tuesday that it will be acquiring firewall and network security management company SonicWall Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Analysts estimate the transaction to be valued at more than a billion dollars.

Dell, which led the consumer personal computer market in the late 90's and early 2000's, is repositioning itself as a systems and solutions provider for government and private enterprise. In February, the company unveiled new storage arrays, virtual network architecture framework, private cloud deployment services, and data warehousing appliances along with a message from founder, chairman, and CEO Michael Dell that Dell "isn't really a PC company."

The acquisition of SonicWall will expand Dell's portfolio of security solutions, which already includes SecureWorks IT security and KACE systems management and deployment, and will integrate SonicWall's network security and data protection solutions including its Unified Threat Management appliance, as well as its SuperMassive firewalls.

"This acquisition is the next step in Dell’s strategy to expand its solutions capabilities for customers and simplify management of their IT infrastructure. This vision is a perfect match for SonicWALL that has delivered easy-to-use, high-performance network security solutions to SMB and enterprise organizations for over twenty years," a message to SonicWall's existent customers said on Tuesday.
Jobs demanding 'cloud skills' increased 400% since 2010, says firm

Publié: mars 13, 2012, 6:44pm CET par Tim Conneally

Though it doesn't identify exactly what "cloud computing skills" actually are, business intelligence firm Wanted Analytics on Tuesday said more than 5,000 U.S. cloud computing job openings were listed online in February alone. This is up 92 percent from February 2011, and an impressive 400 percent from February 2010.

Software Engineers, Computer Systems Engineers and Architects, and Network and Computer Systems Administrators are the three jobs that most commonly listed cloud computing skills. However, Wanted Analytics said 2011 job listings weren't just in the engineering and administration sector. Jobs in marketing, sales, and financial and marketing analysis also demanded experience with cloud computing at much greater rates than previous years.

Predictably, most of these jobs were in California, with 900 in the San Jose area alone. Other cities where there was high demand included Seattle, New York, Washington DC, and San Francisco.

The company found the five metropolitan areas with the best markets for sourcing cloud-related jobs: Tucson, Arizona; Madison, Wisconsin; Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale, Arizona; and Des Moines/West Des Moines, Iowa. In these markets, cloud job listings tend to be filled an average of two-and-a-half weeks faster than anywhere else in the country.

Last week, market research firm IDC and Microsoft released a white paper tracking cloud-based job creation, and found the majority of new opportunities would arise in India and China. IDC estimated that spending on public cloud IT services in 2011 constituted $28 billion of the total $1.7 trillion in worldwide IT spending.

Limiting "cloud spending" to IT-related expenses, however, knocks out the non-tech related fields from the overall picture, such as those listed by Wanted Analytics, or even those tertiary fields that feel the effects of cloud expansion such as construction, HVAC, plumbing, and maintenance.

Photo: Norebbo/Shutterstock
Apple looks like an angel after Motorola's outrageous patent demands

Publié: mars 13, 2012, 6:29pm CET par Ed Oswald

Apple and Motorola held talks late last year to settle the patent row between the two companies but Motorola's demands blew up the deal, legal filings now indicate. The revelations are part of documents from the European Union's review of the merger between Google and Motorola, and essentially flips the argument that Apple is the patent bully in this mess.

Motorola gets a pass in the patent row that has become a crippling plague in the technology sector, while Apple is continuously beat up by pundits with an ax to grind. But Motorola's demands are so out of line it's almost comical: for Apple to gain access to Moto's standards-essential patents, it has to license all of its own porfolio.

That's right: every single patent Apple owns. Computing, software, its music-related patents -- all technologies Motorola would never ever use. Naturally Apple told them to shove it, because such a demand is absolutely ludicrous.

"Apple also argues that its refusal to accede to this demand led Motorola Mobility to sue Apple in an attempt to exclude Apple's products from the market", the document reads. So who becomes the patent bully now? It's certainly not Apple in this case.

These patents are supposed to be licensed under so called "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory" terms (FRAND). FRAND was set up by standards bodies to prevent abuse of intellectual property that is included within established standards. There's nothing 'FRAND' about what Motorola demanded. In fact, it makes a mockery of the whole process.

You may be asking, why would the European Union then approve Google's merger with Motorola, knowing full well of the way in which the wireless pioneer acted? Competition Commission regulators did not find reason to believe the search giant influenced the proceedings. "In this context it must be noted that those proceedings were instigated by Motorola Mobility prior to this transaction taking place," the agency found. "The Commission has no evidence to demonstrate that Google has determined (or indeed made worse) Motorola Mobility's conduct in existing litigation".

That's all well and good, but it does now seem like with Google behind it, Motorola's hyperagressive patent strategy will only kick into overdrive. From the statements of Google on top of this, that doesn't look to change: Google's already said it will maintain Motorola's patent defense strategies. This patent row is only about to get worse.

Photo Credit: Yayayoyo/Shutterstock
Nitro Reader 2.3 uses less memory, improves digital signing

Publié: mars 13, 2012, 4:54pm CET par Nick Peers

Nitro PDF has updated its free PDF reader and creator, Nitro Reader, to version 2.3. The latest version, which is also available as a 64-bit app promises improved performance through reduced memory usage, plus revamps its QuickSign signature tool and adds a smattering of new features in addition to various bug fixes.

Nitro Reader has carved itself a niche in the PDF reader market by providing a feature-rich application that includes powerful PDF creation tools as well as viewing ones, all without delivering ads or nags to upgrade to a paid-for version. Version 2.3 aims to maintain its lead in the feature stakes while significantly cutting back on its system demands.

Nitro Reader’s Achilles heel has always been its memory demands. With version 2.3, these have been cut back thanks to tweaks made to the program’s PDF rendering engine, which was significantly overhauled for the 2.0 release last June. Now the engine is capable of rendering PDF files more quickly than before while consuming less system RAM, freeing up resources for other applications.

Nitro Reader 2.3 introduces one other significant improvement, a much improved QuickSign tool. QuickSign is designed to allow users to quickly import digital signatures for stamping on PDF documents, and Nitro Reader 2.3 delivers a number of improvements to speed up the process further.

First, imported images are handled much better: transparencies are preserved in PNG files, and the signature is automatically converted to black and white. It’s also dynamically and intelligently resized to fit the document when stamped on the page, further saving time and hassle.

Other changes are minor: users can now zoom into and out of documents via the mouse’s scroll wheel while holding the [Ctrl] button, and a number of bugs and crashes have been resolved, resulting in improved rendering of fonts and previews. The new release marks a shift to a new rapid-release cycle, with future updates expected to follow every six to eight weeks.

Nitro Reader 2.3 32-bit and Nitro Reader 2.3 64-bit are free downloads for PCs running Windows XP or later.

Photo Credit: cybrain/Shutterstock