Sony Ericsson
Still remember the Symbian-powered Sony Ericsson Idou cell phone that was unveiled at Mobile World Congress earlier this year? This handset will be released to the market as the “Satio”. Available in black, silver, and bordeaux, the phone has a 3.5-inch (640 x 350) touchscreen display, a superb 12.1MP digital camera with a xenon flash, dual-band HSPA, and a microSD slot. The Sony Ericsson Satio will be released in October this year. Stay tuned for more updates.
Digital-CowBoy Acrylic Cowboy ACPC5
The Digital-CowBoy Acrylic Cowboy ACPC5 PC case is enough to hold ATX or Micro ATX motherboard, a power supply, and a HDD. This Acrylic PC Case is currently available in blue or white at GeekStuff4U for 13,900 Yen ($145).
Latest Onkyo’s 21.5-inch HD LCD Monitor
The Sotec LA21TW-01S is Onkyo’s latest 21.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) LCD monitor. The HD LCD screen provides a HDMI and DVI-D port, a 1000:1 contrast ratio, a brightness level of 300cd/m2, and an integrated 1.6Watts x 2ch speaker. You can buy the Sotec LA21TW-01S for around 34,800 Yen ($364).
Does it work? Gadgets not all worth it
We’re at it again — testing another batch of professed kitchen miracles and innovations that promise to make our cooking chores faster and easier.
Will they really?
Armed with a healthy dose of skepticism, Beacon Journal home writer Mary Beth Breckenridge, consumer affairs writer Betty Lin-Fisher and I got down to business to find out.
Here’s what we have to report:
GT Xpress 101
If Billy Mays is the king of the infomercial, then pitchwoman Cathy Mitchell has to be the queen.
What is it about her that makes you want to buy everything she’s selling? Her grandmotherly manner? That voice? Or the fact that she looks like she’s really enjoying all of those pocket meals she produces on her GT Xpress 101?
This compact electric ”meal, snack and dessert maker” has two wells for preparing everything from omelets to salmon to individual cakes. Like a panini maker, it cooks from the top and bottom.
We approached this $29.99 cooker with varying attitudes. Betty was completely enamored with it and was convinced she would like it. I was a total skeptic, and Mary Beth had not even heard of it.
Twitter Gets Targeted Again by Worm-like Phishing Attack
Twitter users have been tricked into divulging their login and password details to a Web site that then spammed their contacts.
The culprit is a Web site called TwitterCut. Some Twitter users began getting a message that appeared to be from one of their friends and included a link to the TwitterCut Web site. The message implied they could gain more Twitter contacts by following the link.
At one time TwitterCut looked quite similar to the real Twitter login page, said Mikko Hypponen, chief research offer for the security vendor F-Secure.
If a person entered their login details, TwitterCut would then send the same message via Twitter to all of the victim’s contacts, a kind of phishing attack with worm-like characteristics. No malicious software is installed on a user’s machine, Hypponen said.
Although TwitterCut probably holds the login details for many accounts, it doesn’t appear those accounts have been used to spam out links to more dangerous Web sites.
TwitterCut’s Web site has been reported to services that blacklist potentially harmful Web sites, although it is still active. In a warning message now on TwitterCut, the site’s operators said they didn’t mean to phish people.
Instead, they say they were trying to create a so-called Twitter Train, which are sites that purport to quickly give Twitter users lots of followers. They said they bought the login script on their site for US$50.
“We were not phishing Twitter accounts whatsoever,” the message said. “We’re shutting down this site.”
Hypponen said Twitter should be on the lookout for signs of spam, such as when an identical message appears hundreds and hundreds of times across users’ profiles that isn’t a “retweet,” or the intentional reposting of other content.
Twitter could also screen URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) to make sure they’re not already blacklisted for security issues, Hypponen said. Many Web browsers as well as search engines will either warn about or block suspicious Web sites.
Most URLs posted in Twitter have been shortened using services such as TinyURL in order to fit in the 140-character message length that Twitter imposes, obscuring the real destination and making users dependent on the trustworthiness of their friends when clicking links. The service was hit by other worms earlier in the year.
Twitter acknowledged the phishing problem late Tuesday night.
“We are currently pushing a password reset on accounts we believe may have been caught in a phishing scam,” the company said. “Please exercise your best judgment when thinking about releasing your username and password to third parties.”
Does $200M Deal Indicate Problems at Facebook?
A Russian investment group on Tuesday paid $200 million for 1.96 percent of Facebook, valuing the social-networking giant at $10 billion. Digital Sky Technologies, which also has stakes in Eastern European and Russian Internet businesses, acquired preferred stock.
DST also plans to offer to purchase at least $100 million of Facebook common stock from existing stockholders. DST executives will not take a seat on Facebook’s board or hold special observer rights.
Facebook Chooses DST
“This investment demonstrates Facebook’s ongoing success at creating a global network for people to share and connect,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “We’ve worked hard to bring more than 200 million people — 70 percent outside of the U.S. — onto Facebook to share with friends, family and coworkers. A number of firms approached us, but DST stood out because of the global perspective they bring — backed up by the impressive growth and financial achievements of their Internet investments. We’re looking forward to working with the DST team.”
Based in London and Moscow, DST holds significant interests in Internet companies such as Mail.ru, Forticom and vKontakte. DST’s assets account for more than 70 percent of all page views in the Russian-speaking Internet. What’s more, its social networks are the market leaders in more than 13 countries, addressing a combined population of more than 350 million.
“Our investment experience in other regions reveals the tremendous value social-networking companies create as they redefine how people communicate and interact,” said Yuri Milner, CEO of DST. “By every important metric — user growth and engagement, technological innovation, and financial performance — Facebook is on a similar trajectory, though on a much more global scale.”
Contradictory Signals
Facebook was founded in 2004 and has yet to turn a profit. The company expects to see positive cash flow sometime next year. From a valuation standpoint, it’s noteworthy that Microsoft’s investment into Facebook 18 months ago pegged the company’s worth at $15 billion. With the markets declining — Microsoft and Google’s own shares have dipped about 45 percent since November 2007 — some argue that Facebook is still valued too high. But DST may have been attracted at the prospect of preferred shares, rather than common shares.
Others, meanwhile, are wondering why Facebook is taking the investment at this stage in its evolution. According to Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, the investment is curious. Facebook says it’s driving significant revenue with ads and that it doesn’t need to take more capital, yet the company has given up preferred stock.
“There are some contradictory signals coming out,” Sterling said. “Theoretically, the money is being used to enable some number of employees to get cash from some of their options as well as to provide a ‘buffer’ in 2010 for continued growth. But there’s more to the story than is publicly being discussed. Clearly, Facebook thinks it needs this money or it wouldn’t have accepted the investment.”
Latest Kaspersky Mobile Software Wipes Data via SMS
Kaspersky Lab’s latest mobile security software due to be released next week can wipe data with a text message command even if a thief has swapped out the phone’s SIM card.
The feature is one of several in Mobile Security 8.0 focused on protecting data as well as deleting data if a device is lost or stolen, a critical concern for businesses.
For devices with GPS, the software’s SMS Find feature will send a link to a Google Map with the device’s coordinates. The device owner sends an SMS with a password to receive the link, according to Kaspersky. The feature can also be used to locate a child who is carrying the phone.
Kaspersky has also woven another interesting feature into the software called the SMS Watch module. If a criminal removes the SIM card from the device, the software will send a hidden message to the owner of the phone with the new phone number, which can be used by law enforcement to track the phone, Kaspersky said.
Knowing that new number also means the device’s rightful owner can use another SMS feature that can block access to the phone or wipe all of its data. The feature wasn’t available in the 7.0 version of the product.
In that scenario, the phone’s owner sends a special code word to the phone by SMS. The device can also be located that way.
For further data security, Mobile Security 8.0 also creates a folder on the device that for encrypted data.
Kaspersky said it has improved the antispam module, which filters out unsolicited messages and unwanted advertising. Users can also either whitelist phone numbers to accept only calls from specified contacts, or blacklist numbers, which blocks certain ones from ringing or being called.
The phone also has a parental control component that can block the device from receiving or sending messages or calling certain numbers.
The software also has an antivirus scanner and a firewall, which the company says can block malware such as mobile worms from spreading over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connections. Mobile malware is not nearly as common as that which targets desktop PCs, but malware has been written that will, for example, send text
Mobile Security 8.0 will work with Symbian phones running OS 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3 or Windows Mobile 5.0, 6.0 and 6.1. A one-year license costs £19.99 (US$31.78) in the U.K. and $29.95 in the U.S. The software can be downloaded from Kaspersky’s Web site on June 3.
Windows 7 Will Ship with Very Cool Multitouch Software
Some see the touch interface as the next big thing in personal computing, while others view it as a gimmick that won’t replace traditional input devices anytime soon. I’m split on the issue. The success of Apple’s iPhone proves that touch, if done correctly, is a great way to navigate a digital device, particularly one that’s handheld, petite, and portable.
Microsoft is bullish on touch and has been developing the technology for several years. In 2007 it unveiled its Microsoft Surface technology, a multitouch tabletop computer that may ultimately find a niche market in government, educational, and health-care kiosks. And a year ago it demoed touch features it’s adding to Windows 7, which will ship this fall. For a demo of Win 7’s multitouch skills, check out this video.
Now Redmond has introduced the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7, a set of six games and applications that are optimized for multitouch PCs. The Touch Pack will be available to PC makers, who’ll have the option of installing the software on touch-ready systems. Here’s a quick rundown of what it offers:
Microsoft Surface Globe: Based on the demo video, this app looks like the best thing in the Touch Pack. Navigation is a natural for touch screens, and Surface Globe, with its Virtual Earth 3D engine that lets you rotate around 3D models of buildings, makes Google Maps look low-tech by comparison. Perhaps Microsoft should incorporate Surface Globe into its upcoming Kumo search engine. The move might spur sales of Windows 7 multitouch PCs, and give people a reason to try Kumo instead of Google Search.
Microsoft Surface Collage: The ability to resize and organize digital photos is another great use for touch, and that’s what Surface Collage offers. I’m not sure if the app includes simple image-editing tools such as cropping, but it should.
The remaining four apps seem more like tech demos to illustrate the capabilities of multitouch, but they could be fun just the same:
Microsoft Blackboard: A physics puzzle that lets you use gestures to build a virtual machine of gears, fans, and seesaws.
Microsoft Garden Pond: Gently move your origami creations in a virtual pond.
Microsoft Rebound: A game where you “propel a ball and annihilate your opponent” on an electrified court.
Microsoft Surface Lagoon: A screensaver where you use multitouch to interact with the fish.
Will multitouch someday make the keyboard and mouse obsolete? Not in the near future, certainly. But it’s bound to play an increasingly important role in human-computer interaction.
PC Gaming Suffering Least in Games Biz
We’ve long heard how teflon-coated video games are despite the bum economy, but what if I told you PC gaming in particular’s been the most resilient of all? That’s what Jon Peddie Research just concluded in its market forecast for PC gaming hardware, a report that “took almost five years to bring it to life” and which combines “bottom-up” GPU and PC shipment forecasts with macro-economic “top-down” forecasts for 36 countries.
According to JPR, the total PC games hardware market should drop $1.4 billion this year, down 7 points from $20.07 billion in 2008 to $18.65 billion in 2009. Blame a sales slump tied to the recession, but also lower prices on PCs and components due to the increasingly competitive economic climate, says JPR. Despite that, the report concludes, “PC gaming systems seem to have suffered the least discounting which illustrates the value consumers place on such systems.”
And here’s the particularly illuminating angle: The nearly $19 billion in PC games hardware sales? It’s set to “eclipse” the hardware market for all gaming consoles combined by some $2 billion. Lest you balk at the apples-oranges comparison, note that JPR takes into account “the console, a certain amount of accessories, and a factor for the cost of an HDTV to display the games on.”
Here’s JPR’s PC Gaming Hardware Market forecast (in billions) through 2012. *
2008 – $20,0762009 – $18,6582010 – $23,9372011 – $28,9072012 – $30,672
* PC gaming hardware includes the PC, a percentage for the monitor (because some people will already have one), a percentage of accessories like driving wheels and special mice/joysticks, as well as aftermarket and DIY parts and systems.
Why would the PC games market drop less than its peers? JPR believes — aside from the usual assumptions about people staying home more, viewing fewer movies, eating out less, putting off vacations, and turning to alternative forms of entertainment — that PC gaming is simply sounder economics. Says JPR: “Purchases of a PC for gaming can be shared since the machine can be used for watching (and creating) videos, as well as office work and web browsing, something consoles can’t offer.”
For more gaming news and opinion, point your tweet-readers at twitter.com/game_on.
MySpace’s new CEO promises innovation
CARLSBAD, Calif. -
The new leaders of News Corp.’s MySpace said Wednesday they need to innovate to rejuvenate the social networking site, which has suffered from stalled user growth.
Owen Van Natta didn’t detail specifics but indicated that the ability to make changes to the site was a reason he took the job of MySpace chief executive last month.
“When I look at MySpace there’s just so much opportunity to build,” Van Natta said at The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference. “I took the job because there’s a lot more that can be done around innovation.”
Though praised for its substantial entertainment content, MySpace has been criticized for falling behind rival Facebook when it comes to technology. Its worldwide user base has also stagnated at about 130 million, compared with Facebook’s 200 million.
“Certainly we’re not the darling of the press right now, I think that’s pretty clear,” he said.
Van Natta, a former Facebook executive, said success would require trial and error, with failures along the way. He said it’s starting from a strong place with millions of users.
MySpace, based in Beverly Hills, Calif., has distinguished itself from Facebook by allowing users to be “super-creative” in designing their pages, Van Natta said.
“I’m a big believer in personalization,” he said. “Our job is to make MySpace really, really great for everybody, and that means that the experience has to be different for everybody.”
Van Natta fielded questions for nearly an hour with Jonathan Miller, a former chief executive at AOL who was recently named chief digital officer of News Corp., the New York-based media conglomerate that also owns the Journal.
Miller acknowledged Facebook is a rival but that the growth in social networking leaves plenty of room for both.
“Yes, I think Facebook is a competitor but it’s also fine to have competitors,” Miller said. “I don’t think it’s going to be a winner-take-all game at all.”
A substantial amount of MySpace’s revenue comes from a $900 million, three-year ad-sharing deal it began with Internet search leader Google Inc. in 2007. That deal expires in August 2010.
Miller said a new agreement with Google might involve other News Corp. Web sites.