Quality Electronics

Adobe Patches Zero-Day XSS Flaw, Six Other Bugs in Flash Player

Lucinda Rennie — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:47:21 +0000

The list of security updates IT administrators have to stay on top of this month just got a little longer as Oracle and Adobe released new patches fixing a slew of security vulnerabilities in their products.

Adobe released a security update addressing seven critical vulnerabilities in its Flash Player software on Feb. 15, a day after it updated critical vulnerabilities in Shockwave Player. The latest Flash update addressed critical vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player 11.1.102.55 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris. Flash Player 11.1.112.61 and earlier versions for Android 4.x and version 11.1.111.5 and earlier for Android 3.x and 2.x are also affected by the update.

While this Flash release is part of Adobe’s scheduled quarterly update schedule, one of the bugs fixed was added in at the last minute, according to an Adobe spokesperson.

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Alcatel OT-915 Android Smartphone With QWERTY Keyboard

Max Lawlor — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:40:52 +0000

The Alcatel OT-990 is a new Android smartphone that comes equipped with a QWERTY keyboard. Measuring at just 11.9mm thick, the handset has a 2.8-inch touchscreen display with a 240×320 pixel resolution, Wi-Fi, a 5-megapixel digital camera and an FM radio. Sadly, the Alcatel OT-990 is powered by the old Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS. The Alcatel OT-915 will be launched in the UK later this year. Stay tuned for more updates.

PC Market Declines 6.5 Percent In Q42011

Bailey Murray — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:17:38 +0000

The combined desktop and mobile PC market in India totalled nearly 2.5 million units in Q4 2011, a 6.5 percent decrease from Q4 2010, according to the latest report from Gartner India.

The hard-disk drive (HDD) shortage due to the floods in Thailand significantly impacted the desktop market which declined 18 percent year-on-year in Q4, said Vishal Tripathi, Principal Research Analyst, Gartner. Desktop market saw a steep decline of 32 percent. But mobile PCs grew 12 percent helping arrest the decline.

Lenovo and Dell recorded 28 percent and 11 percent growth in unit shipments, respectively, while HP witnessed a negative growth of 26 percent compared to Q4 2010.

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3G Mobile Internet Reaches Mount Everest

Lucinda Rennie — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:03:53 +0000

NEPAL (GaeaTimes.com) Technology has reached the pinnacle of Mount Everest! Nepali mobile network Ncell has successfully installed the first 3G station at the summit of Mount Everest. This will enable the visitors, climbers and people living in the Khumbu valley to make calls and access internet wirelessly.

As a testing measure of the new facility, Ncell has made the worlds highest video call at the height of 17,388 feet.

Previously, visitors of Mount Everest had to use satellite phones to make calls, but now they can do it through 3G-enabled network or standard GSM, thanks to Ncell.

Ncell that brings the 3G wireless internet connection at the peak of the Mt.

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Rambus Convinces Nvidia to Sign License Agreement

Bailey Murray — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:30:11 +0000

Rambus and Nvidia have settled their patent dispute.

The two companies announced that Nvidia has signed a patent license agreement, which applies to “a broad range of integrated circuit (IC) products offered by Nvidia” for a time frame of five years. All claims referring to patent infringement in the past have been settled as well, Rambus said. Further details were kept confidential.

Rambus noted that the “license agreement […] settles our differences and allows [the company] to move forward with Nvidia, the leader in visual and parallel computing.” Nvidia did not provide an official statement.

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Asus Rolls Out New Firmware to Fix Reboot Issue in Transformer Prime

Max Lawlor — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:54:43 +0000

After denying a U.K. retailer’s claims that there are problems with the Transformer Prime tablet, Asus today confirmed the existence of a “random reboot problem” and has begun rolling out an over the air (OTA) firmware fix. The new firmware isn’t showing up online, but if you head over to Settings > About Tablet > System Firmware Update, you can grab the latest build, which is version 9.4.2.13.

“New FOTA update is rolling out for the #TF201 Prime. Fixes the random reboot problem. Have you got yours yet?,” @AsusUK posted to Twitter today.

U.K. vendor Clove said it was pulling its stock of Transformer Prime tablets after supposedly discovering an undisclosed mystery issue via internal testing.

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Wasting Hackers’ Time to Keep Websites Safe

Bailey Murray — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:23:12 +0000

Most security software defends PCs and websites by acting like a locked door to shut hackers out. A new security company, Mykonos Software, instead invites hackers in through a fake entrance and plays tricks on them until they give up.

“If you break in, I want to have fun with you,” says David Koretz, CEO of Mykonos. Koretz claims that the computer security industry is too timid—he advocates making hackers’ lives tedious and difficult instead.

Mykonos sells software intended to protect websites against attacks—like those on Sony’s websites last year that yielded thousands of credit-card numbers—aimed at gaining access to valuable data such as user credentials. When

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Future iPhone and the iPad will be able to distinguish users by their faces

Max Lawlor — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:05:36 +0000

According to information contained in the recently published United States Patent Office (USPatent and Trademark Office) regular patent application, Apple, in Cupertino company from speculating on the new system user authorization for its handheld devices, which will be based on face recognition technology. In the documentation, entitled “Low Threshold Face Recognition” (ie, “Face recognition with a low threshold of action”), describes the system identification through integrated front camera, which allows multiple users to take turns working with the same device without interfering with each other. Get more info…

Blizzard Incorporating In-Game Ads Scheme for “Titan”

Lucinda Rennie — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:56:27 +0000

Blizzard’s next-gen MMOG codenamed “Titan” will feature in-game ads to enhance the gameplay experience.

Keen eyes have spotted a job listing on Blizzard’s website that is looking for a franchise development producer. The individual selected for this job will be responsible for working with major consumer brands to facilitate product placement and licensing within the world of Blizzard Entertainment’s next-gen MMO. In other words, Blizzard’s “Titan” (codename) will sport in-game advertisements, whether it’s a billboard or a bottle of Coke.

There’s speculation that this little nugget of information points to a current or somewhat futuristic setting. It could also mean that due to its “casual” nature, Activision Blizzard is looking for a little financial help as id Software did for Quake Live.

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Lenovo Beefs Up The Classmate+ Laptop

Bailey Murray — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:17:09 +0000

Lenovo are showing off their updated version of the Classmate laptop, the Classmate+ is rugged, tough and will do what is asked of it, which is just as well as these machine are designed to be used by school kids and therefore will have to take some punishment.

However, these laptops do feature a fully waterproofed keyboard, a reinforced steel hinge designed to be opened and closed thousands of times, there are also toughened corners and Lenovo have even strengthened DC jack to cope with the excessive use.

The laptop will only be available in a standard Grey colour, however custom colours are available for those buyers who bulk order, although there are no details as to exactly how many laptop will need to be actually ordered in to count as a bulk order.

From the limited details available we know that the Classmate+ laptop will come with a neat 10.1 inch anti glare screen that offers optional high brightness or high definition and comes with a useful built in 2.0 mega pixel web camera.

The laptop will be powered by the Intel Atom N2600 processor and has up to 2 GB of DDR3 memory on offers.

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Ignition Backs Symplified

Lucinda Rennie — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:51:41 +0000

Seattle-based Ignition Partners has led an investment in a developer of cloud-based, identity management software. According to Symplified, it raised $20M in the round led by Ignition, and also included its prior investors, Allegis Capital, Granite Ventures, and Quest Software. Ignition Partners’ Cameron Myhrvold has joined Symplified’s board of directors with the investment. Symplified is based in Colorado. More information »

iPhone Apps and Games For Free Using Mega Free Apps

Max Lawlor — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:21:31 +0000

Ternopil, Ukraine – As of 2011, the App Store has over 500,000 apps in its inventory, which over 84,000 are games. According to a recent study from DigitalBuzzBlog, 61% percent of mobile phone users play games on their smart phone. With the popularity of mobile gaming on the rise, mobile phone users are always on the hunt for new and exciting titles to add to their gaming collection. However, purchasing games for the iPhone and iPad can quickly add up since prices for top paid iOS based games range from $0.99 to $6.99.

Offering a cost effective solution to find paid iPhone games for free, MegaFreeApps.com allows visitors to browse new free game titles each and every day. Get more info…

Most Read Sustainable Business Stories of 2011

Max Lawlor — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:10:33 +0000

Every day this week weve been looking at a different aspect of environmental and sustainability management and counting down the top stories that grabbed your attention this year. Today we look at the most popular sustainable business stories that didnt fall into the previous categories of energy management, paper and packaging or finance and reporting.

The resulting lists shows your varied interests, from policy and enforcement to strategy, green building, renewable energy and waste management.

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Gigabyte T1006 Convertible Cedar Trail Netbook Officially Announced

Bailey Murray — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:05:33 +0000

Gigabyte is still holding down the convertible netbook market with a new addition to its line up with the Gigabyte T1006 netbook with a hinge that allows it to turn into a tablet. This 10.1 inch tablet looks pretty much like every other Gigabyte convertible netbook with the same chassis design that has ever come to market. There are a few differences though: its running the latest Intel Atom Cedar Trail processor and offers a 1366 x 768 display resolution under a capacitive touch screen.

The T1006 also offers a premium USB 3.0 port alongside 2 x USB 2.0 ports, SD card reader, VGA, ethernet, audio jacks and an HDMI port. We

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Samsung Series 5 Ultrabooks Go Up For Pre-order

Bailey Murray — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:15:24 +0000

Samsung recently announced a new range of ultrabook notebooks, the Samsung Series 5, and now both models have appeared online for pre-order with retailer J&R, with the 13.3 inch version starting at $800 and the 14 inch version starting at $949.

As a reminder the 14 inch model comes with up to 1TB of storage whilst the 13.3 inch model comes with up to 500GB of storage, or you can choose up to a 128GB solid state drive and a total of 8GB of RAM.

Other specifications include HDMI, WiFi, Ethernet, VGA and AMD HD7550M graphics, and both models come with an Intel Core i5 processor.

Source Electronista