Nowadays, businesses must stay vigilent against cyberattacks

Companies must be ever watchful because cyberattacks could exploit their strategic information, in the perspective of markets security and compliance solutions. Nowadays, people are known as cybercriminals can use a wide range of methods - from wired to wireless - to launch their attacks against a company's IT infrastructure.

Businesses need to look at correlate ways to protect the various points of their IT infrastructure. Gone are the days when only perimeters such as a basic firewall and intrusion detection system could be deployed.

Companies could adopt any threat and risk management solution available in the market or engage with any security consultant. The expert judgment provides visibility into activities across a network; from external threats (malware and hackers) to internal threats (data breaches and fraud). This exercise will expose the types of risks associated with application flaws and configuration changes.

Security prevention exercise also helps companies to store and manage the massive volumes of data logs, to enable faster trouble-shooting or forensic analysis.

Airline planned for "fibre to the screen"

LIGHTER AND GREENER: Seatback entertainment could soon be powered by fibre optics.

A NEW in-flight entertainment system due to be rolled out by Flydubai this month could make watching movies in the sky easier and greener, if it proves successful.

The Dubai budget carrier is the launch customer for a new type of in-flight entertainment system from US company Lumexis, dubbed "fibre to the screen."

The premise of the system is that it uses fiber optics to take information to the seatback displays instead of copper wires, in much the same way that many home cable connections have superseded traditional copper telephone lines.

While using fibre optics in planes also offers faster connection speeds just like on the ground, it's another selling point that could make it big in aviation - it's much, much lighter.

Lumexis says that its system can weigh up to 50% less than traditional systems, thanks to lighter cabling and the removal of bulky switching and zone boxes under seats that can also get in the way of passengers.

This not only reduces the cost of an installation but also means less fuel burned, which helps carriers reduce emissions and keep ticket prices down.

As the system can carry more information, it could also mean more choice for customers, with Flydubai saying that its new in-flight entertainment will be an optional extra and that it plans "to offer functionality on our IFE system that other airlines traditionally don't have."

With the ever-more advanced market currently dominated by in-flight entertainment systems from companies such as Thales and Panasonic, other airlines are watching closely

Microsoft hypes smartphone, browser

ENTHUSIASTIC: Ballmer addressing a sold-out crowd of developers at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC10) in Redmond, Washington. - Microsoft

REDMOND (Washington): Microsoft Corp CEO Steve Ballmer pumped up unique features in the company's new web browser and smartphone software at a software developer conference.

The event was the company's annual pep rally for people who will build programs for the Web, Windows computers and phones.

Ballmer is known for his onstage enthusiasm. This year, he joked with the crowd that he wouldn't repeat the memorable "developer prance" of years past, when he loped around hollering, "Developers! Developers!"

Dean Hachamovitch, a top executive in Microsoft's Internet Explorer division, showed off how developers can program websites to take advantage of new features.

Internet Explorer 9, which is in beta test form, uses more of a PC's hardware to make pages load and run faster. A new version of the underlying code has been released for developers.

IE9, which is only available for computers running Windows Vista and Windows 7, lets computer users "pin" websites to the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, creating a permanent shortcut that makes the site feel more like a desktop program.

Microsoft also unveiled some new apps - add-on programs that can be downloaded - for Windows Phone 7, its new smartphone software.

One was a version of Amazon.com Inc's Kindle e-book reader software. Microsoft's app marketplace now has 1,000 approved programs and games; the first Windows Phone 7 devices go on sale in the United States in early November.

Most of the keynote presentations centered on what software programmers can build with Microsoft's tools.

Microsoft is far behind Apple Inc with its iPhone and Google Inc with its Android smartphone software; tens of thousands of apps are already available for those phones and have been critical to their success.

But one of Microsoft's greatest strengths is its relationship with developers. The company's tools, which it is updating, will be familiar for developers who already make programs for Windows PCs, and Microsoft is hoping that will encourage them to build apps even though the popularity of the phone is unproven.

"We need your best work," Ballmer said to developers. "Make no mistake about it, when it comes to Windows Phone, we're all in."

Ballmer said Microsoft will give all developers who attend the conference at its Redmond, Washington, headquarters a Windows Phone 7 smartphone - more than a week before it goes on sale.

Microsoft also updated developers on its Azure system, which it describes as an operating system for "the cloud" - in other words, technology that allows programs to run not on a single computer or server, but across thousands of machines in datacentres scattered around the world.

Walt Disney Co's Pixar Animation Studios demonstrated a real-world example of how Azure works. The maker of the Toy Story movies is also responsible for the visual-effects rendering software used by many other movie studios.

Rendering effects is computing-power intensive, and in the past it required studios to invest in massive datacentres to crunch files.

Pixar built a version of the rendering software so it runs on Azure. It lets movie studios upload their raw files to the cloud.

The studio can decide how fast it wants the computing done, and the service ramps up the right number of machines to complete the work. The studio pays based on how much computing resources it uses, but doesn't have to buy a huge server farm. - AP

Mac Trojan Horse Boonana/Koobface - Reviewed

A trojan horse has been discovered that affects Mac OS X users, dubbed “trojan.osx.boonana.a” or ‘Koobface.’ An infected machine will hijack users social network accounts and attempt to spread the trojan further by sending out spam messages from your username.

Thus far the trojan has been spread through Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and eMail. Here is the method of operation:

The trojan behaves like a worm, by trying to bait users on various social networks to click a link. The link asks “Is this you in this video?” and, if clicked, will send a user to another website which attempts to load a Java applet, giving the user a standard Mac OS X Java Security Alert and certificate request.

If the Java applet is allowed to load, it will download files to your local machine and then start a background process which attempts to propagate the trojan. You can simply click on “Deny” to prevent any further trouble, which prevents the malicious code from loading.

Intego explains the trojan as follows:

This threat is a Mac OS X version of the Koobface worm, which is served as part of a multi-platform attack via a malicious Java applet. The malware itself is made up of a number of elements, though in order to simplify, we will use the term “Trojan horse” to describe it. (Technically, it propagates as a worm, is installed via a Trojan Horse, and installs a rootkit, backdoor, command and control, and other elements.)

The trojan also effects Windows users. The easiest way for Mac and Windows users to protect themselves from the trojan is to avoid clicking dubious links from untrusted sources and to deny sketchy Java applets. Another option is to disable Java in your web browser.

If you are concerned that you have been affected by the Koobface trojan, you can get a free removal tool through SecureMac, who rates the risk as “Critical.” Currently the download link sends you to MacScan, but this is expected to change when the removal tool is released.

Quick review of Samsung SP-H03 LED Pico Projector

For mobile warriors, this pocket projector should warrant a serious look.

BOXY: The Samsung SP-H03 LED Pico Projector looks just like a luxury watch case.

PICO projectors are getting better all the time and they have come to a point where it's really feasible to carry one around for small presentations.

Case in point is the Samsung SP-H03 LED pico projector - this diminutive little number turned in a surprisingly good performance for such a small device.

Specs

With a native resolution of 854 x 480-pixels, the SP-H03 is not the highest resolution pico projector out there but it's certainly more than adequate for PowerPoint slides, viewing documents and, of course, watching the odd movie or two.

In terms of size, it's pretty small - I'd say that it looks like a small music box or a luxury watch case.

The whole device is finished in black, with the removable battery unit taking up the whole of the bottom of the device.

BIG: The LED Pico Projector's battery is a clip-on unit that takes up the entire bottom part of the unit.

On the back you get the usual connections - a special mini VGA input, mini USB port, audio output and a mini 3.5mm connector port that accepts a special RCA cable for video and stereo audio input.

One nifty little touch is that the control system is driven by touch sensitive controls on the top of the projector, with the soft touch buttons having their own LED backlighting.

In use

Turn it on and it's immediately clear that the SP-H03 is actually more powerful than its size would suggest. The display is very bright for a pico projector - at 30 lumens, it's actually about twice as bright as the 3M MPro 150 pico projector we tested. While this doesn't mean that it's comfortable to use with the lights on, you can actually still clearly see the display in a brightly-lit room.

BRIGHT: With its 30lumens brightness, the Samsung LED Pico Projector projects a very bright image.

The focus slider is on the side of the device, and although it works, I would have preferred the slider to have less "give" when adjusting focus - as it is, it took a bit of fiddling before I got the focus just right.

Also, there is no keystone correction so you'll have to keep it as level as possible when in use.

Since the buttons are touch-sensitive, it's actually quite easy to accidentally activate a button when you're trying to adjust the focus slider on the side as your palm or other finger is very likely to accidentally touch the top of the projector when you're doing this.

At about 5ft away the device projects an image size between 32in and 35in in 16:9 aspect ratio which is not too bad.

If you step back further the image gets larger but at the expense of brightness. Nevertheless we found that with the lights dimmed, you really can comfortably project pretty large images of 50in or more.

One thing we were really surprised with was the speaker. While lacking in bass, the 1-watt (again, about twice more powerful than the last pico projector we tested) speaker on the SP-H03 produced audio loud enough for an audience in a small room to hear clearly.

This really means that this tiny projector is often all you have to carry if you want to give a presentation to a small group of people.

The one downside is that battery life is obviously not going to be really great because it lasts about two hours on a single charge.

However, the charger for the pico projector is pretty small, so it's not a big deal to carry it around as well and keep the projector plugged in while you're using it.

The SP-H03 supports a number of formats, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, JPG images, MP3 songs and various video formats.

SOFT-TOUCH: The buttons on the Samsung LED Pico Projector are backlit and touch-sensitive.

The machine itself has 1GB of internal memory but you also get a microSD slot and the option to add more storage if you want to.

However, we did find the SP-H03 to be rather fussy when it comes to file formats. The projector just won't display some JPEG images and the only reason we can think of was that the photos may have been too large for the SP-H03 to handle.

There are quite a number of video formats out there so playback on the SP-H03 is even more spotty.

We generally had no problems playing DivX files in standard resolution though HD files are of course beyond the capability of this tiny projector.

Of course, native playback on the device itself is merely a bonus. The most common usage model is to connect it to a notebook via the VGA port and use the SP-H03 as a pure projector.

In this respect I really have no complaints at all because the SP-H03 can handle whatever your notebook can play or display.

I even connected it to my Nintendo Wii via the RCA adaptor, and I had a real blast playing with a screen as large as an expensive 50in HDTV. The only drawback is that you really do have to turn off all the lights in the room if your game has a lot of dark levels.

Conclusion

If you thought that all pico projectors were made the same, think again - Samsung proves that it can make it brighter and louder than most of the competition.

MINI-PORTS: (clockwise from top left) the Samsung LED Pico Projector has all the usual inputs -- a VGA input, audio/video input, headphone output, USB port and power adapter socket.

There's not much to say except that if you are looking for a pico projector, the Samsung SP-H03 should be near the top of your list.

Pros: Bright for a pico projector; speaker loud enough for a small room.

Cons: Limited native photo and video format support; touch sensitive buttons easily activated by accident.

SP-H03 LED Pico Projector
(Samsung)
Pocket projector
MEMORY: 1GB internal, microSD card slot
BRIGHTNESS: 30 lumens
PC COMPATIBILITY: 1080i, 720p
FILE FORMAT SUPPORT: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, BMP, JPEG, MP4, MP3
SPEAKERS: 1 built-in (1-watt)
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 7.11 x 7.11x 3.81cm
WEIGHT: 182g
PRICE: RM1,399
RATING: 4

Quick Review of MS Office 2011 for Mac

Microsoft has announced the local availability of Office 2011 for Mac, which the company said comes with some important additions.

One of the additions to the new productivity suite is Outlook, which replaces the ill-received Entourage e-mail client in the previous version.

Outlook for Office 2011 features a combination of e-mail, calendar and contact management and is designed to be an all-in-one application for checking your e-mail and planning your schedule.

The other components of Office 2011 for Mac are Word, Excel and PowerPoint, all of which come with new features.

Word 2011, for example, has a new full screen view mode, which is billed as a tool for taking away distractions when you need to get some serious work done.

It also supports Visual Basic scripting for accessing complex documents like macros.

Users will also be able to choose from a variety of different templates to add some visual flare to their documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

For number crunchers, Excel 2011 benefits from new features like Sparklines, which are thumbnail-sized charts that represent large volumes of data at a glance.

Adding media to PowerPoint 2011 has also been made easier with new tools like the photo-editing and document layout tools. Microsoft said the tools allow you to make simple changes to documents such as remove the background from a picture and manage stacked images by layers.

In addition Office 2011 for Mac will support online collaboration tools such as Windows Live SkyDrive and Microsoft Office Web Apps, which will allow Mac and Windows users to simultaneously edit documents over the Web.

Office 2011 for Mac will be available in two editions: Home & Student (RM468 for single install; RM599 for three installs) and Home & Business (RM768 for single install; RM1,099 for two installs).

Both editions will come with Word 2011, Excel 2011 and PowerPoint 2011. However, only customers with the Home & Business edition will get Outlook 2011.

Aruba Networks offers the best solution for Video over WLAN

Last week I got a chance to test and review the implementation of Video over WLAN. The test gear is Aruba AP 125, medium range of Aruba Controller and Axis Web Cam. The main medium is over wireless LAN. The overall test is enhanced with Azalea Video Technology (AVT). The result is really superb ! The video run smoothly.


Video transmission over WLAN with AVT is really sharp and smooth. The test then been extended by using Sony CCTV. The remote zooming features from SONY works very well. The video quality has been improved by AVT and the reliable transmission over WLAN enhanced by QoS inside the Aruba technology. The merging of Aruba Networks and Azalea Technology promising a better quality for future deployment of video transmission over WLAN. It offers high reliability, flexibility and mobility. Future education infrastructure will be depending on video broadcasting and Aruba will be the best solution for it.

Quick review of 4G iPod Touch

There's very little to dislike in the newly improved iPod touch 4G.

AS APPLE'S premium music player, the iPod touch has benefited from consistent hardware and software updates that makes it one of the most popular Apple products next to the iPhone.

The new 4th generation (4G) iPod touch gains some significant enhancements, many that are found in the iPhone 4 - a fancy new Retina Display, A4 chip processor and FaceTime to name a few.

Lots of changes

At a glance, the 4G iPod touch looks identical to last year's model with the same round-edged curve design and reflective metal back plate. However, the latest version sports a much thinner profile that is just 7.2mm thick.

While there is no major physical redesign, the 4G sports many new features both seen and unseen. Key hardware enhancements include the HD video recording camera on the back as well as a front facing camera for FaceTime.

THIN AS A STICK: The new 4th generation iPod touch is just 7.2mm thick.

That's not all, the device's 3.5in multitouch screen has also been upgraded to a Retina Display, showing off very eye-catching and crisp images that make watching videos and playing games look much better on the device.

Updated games with support for Retina Display such as Angry Birds, Flight Control and Modern Combat looked sharper and had more detail.

Other subtle physical changes in the design include redesigned volume buttons that are now two individual buttons and the Sleep/Wake button shifted to the right-hand side of the device.

Disappointingly, the iPod touch ships with a regular pair of headphones instead of the microphone- and volume-control-equipped headphones included with last year's model.

Lots of different uses

On the inside the iPod touch sports Apple's new A4 processor, which is the very same processor used to power the iPhone 4 and the iPad. The performance gain is quite noticeable when compared against our older iPod touch.

Running applications in general feels a lot smoother and faster. Normal actions like web browsing, listening to music and watching movies felt the same though the 4G really shines when it comes to playing games.

NEAT: The new iPod touch benefits from a faster A4 processor and built-in gyroscope that enhances the overall gaming experience.

Games in general look better and ran incredibly smooth as we played Retina Display-optimised games such as Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus, Real Racing and N.O.V.A.

Another unseen new addition on the 4G is the built-in gyroscope that works in conjunction with certain games like N.O.V.A. - you can use it to aim your gun while you move your character with the virtual stick.

FaceTime video calling makes use of the front-facing VGA camera, allowing you to call other iPod touch users as well as iPhone 4 and Mac users over a WiFi connection.

The feature works surprisingly well by using your e-mail address instead of your phone number as your identity. All you have to do is sign in with your Apple ID and you're good to go.

Calls typically take four to five seconds to connect even after you hit the accept call button, but once you're connected the call and video quality is clear.

You still get Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity on the new iPod touch for web surfing and use with location-based apps.

The device's battery performance is tricky to measure as it is highly dependent on usage. We found the new iPod touch able to last a full day of regular usage with some power to spare, thanks in part to its energy-efficient A4 processor.

But the battery obviously drains faster when you constantly play games and edit videos on iMovie for instance, so keep these activities to a minimum if you want to prolong the battery life.

All about videos

One of the most talked about features on the new iPod touch is the built-in camera that shoots both stills and videos. While the camera does not share the same lens and sensor as the iPhone, it is still capable of capturing HD videos.

The 4G is capable of recording 720p quality HD videos at 30 frames per second. Changing the exposure is quick and as simple as tapping on the screen.

The omni directional mircophone does a good job of picking up sound and the recorded voices sound clear upon playback. Videos generally turn out well under bright conditions with lots of light and the camera's low light performance is also admirable despite the high amount of noise present in videos.

In short, the video quality is almost up to standard with a compact camera and it appears smooth during playback.

In fact, the quality is good enough that you can compile videos in iMovie to create a simple but pretty good looking clip. We made several on the iMovie app and were pleasantly surprised by how effective and simple it was to make a home video on the go.

Admittedly though, the camera doesn't fare so well when it comes to taking still pictures. The camera is limited by its fixed-focus lens and it doesn't have the tap-to-focus feature used in the iPhone 4. Instead tapping on different parts of the screen only changes the exposure of the photo.

The quality of photos is also noticeably softer, lacking detail and is much more grainy in low light conditions. You probably won't be making large prints with these photos, but they are good enough for posting on Facebook or Twitter.

Conclusion

All in all, the 4th generation iPod touch is really like a Swiss army knife - it offers all that you need in a multimedia device: Music and video playback, games, web browsing and now HD video recording along with the ability to make video calls.

The new features certainly add value to the device and it can do almost everything the iPhone 4 can with the exception of voice calls, text messaging and GPS navigation.

There isn't much to dislike about the iPod touch though we did find the camera's still picture quality poor in contrast to the otherwise great HD video quality.

In a nutshell, if you are looking for a media player that has almost everything that a smartphone has, the iPod touch is certainly worth considering.

Pros: Sharp-looking Retina Display; speedy performance for apps; HD video recording.

Cons: Poor still photos; no microphone-equipped earphones provideEndd.

iPod Touch
(Apple)
Portable media player
DISPLAY: 3.5in Retina Display screen (960 x 640 pixel)
SUPPORTED FORMATS: AAC, MP3, AIFF, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV
STORAGE: 64GB (also available in 8GB and 32GB models)
BATTERY: Rechargeable lithium-ion
BUNDLED ACCESSORIES: Earphones, 30-pin cable dock connector to USB cable
OTHER FEATURES: Camera with 720p HD video recording, built-in speakers, FaceTime
CONNECTIVITY: WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 58.9mm x 7.2mm x 111mm
WEIGHT: 101g
PRICE: RM1,399

List of Top 10 Ten World Best SmartPhone 2010

01 Apple iPhone 4

The king of smartphones is reborn, but does the fourth incarnation of the iPhone do enough to stop gadgeteers from signing up to the Android army?

02 HTC Desire  

The latest A-list Android smartie is here with a big AMOLED screen and HTC Sense. But can the Desire match the Nexus One?

03 Samsung Galaxy S

The Galaxy S takes the familiar iPhone format and tries to improve it with some eye-catching screen tech. But has it worked?

04 HTC Legend  

The aluminium Legend is the successor to HTC's Hero and runs the latest version of Android. But does it live up to its name?

05 HTC Touch HD2

The HD2 gives Windows Mobile a serious lick of paint and a capacitive touch screen. Should the iPhone be worried?

06 Nokia E72  

 The ultra slimline Nokia E71 broke BlackBerry’s monopoly on mobile email. Can its successor continue its good work ?

07 BlackBerry Bold 9700 

The BlackBerry Bold was one of the world’s finest messaging smartphones. But is its successor, the fitter, leaner looking 9700, a worthy successor?

08 Sony Ericsson Xperia X 10  

Sony Ericsson's first Android mobile is a headlong dive into the waters of Google's OS. But can it match Google's Nexus One?

09 Palm Pre   

It’s smarter than the average phone but has the Palm Pre got what it takes to topple the mighty iPhone 3G S?

10 Samsung Wave   

With an eye-grabbing screen, HD video and a catwalk-slim design, Samsung’s first Bada OS phone has the iPhone 4 in its sights

Purdue University Deploying 4G Network as Part of Wireless Rollout

Purdue University will be one of the early recipients of Verizon Wireless' rollout of a 4G network starting this year. This fourth generation data network, which is using Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology, is expected to provide four to 10 times the transmission speeds currently available in 3G networks.

The institution was chosen to participate in the deployment based on its track record with using mobile technology to enhance learning, according to Lowell McAdam, president and chief operating officer of Verizon. Recent technologies developed at Purdue include Mixable, an academic integration with Facebook; a student discussion tool, HotSeat, which allows students to interact with classmates and faculty with Twitter and text messages; and eStadium, to deliver athletic game services to spectators.


The university also contracted with Verizon Business to implement a campuswide 802.11n wireless network, which will encompass 6,000 access points in 256 buildings. That project is expected to be completed in the 2010-2011 academic year.

Verizon said the broader rollout of 4G will include 38 metropolitan areas and 60 commercial airports, including Indianapolis International Airport, located within 90 minutes of the West Lafayette-based university. The company is currently installing LTE equipment at existing cell sites and switching centers around the United States.

According to Mr. McAdam, the partnership with Purdue will explore the next phase of how 4G technology can improve education across our nation. Verizon Wireless said it expects 4G LTE average data rates to be 5 Mbps to 12 Mbps on the downlink and 2 Mbps to 5 Mbps on the uplink in real-world, loaded network environments.

"At Purdue, the advancement of mobile technology is critically important--both to students and faculty. The addition of Verizon's 4G network will contribute in a noticeable way to their success," said Gerry McCartney, Purdue's CIO and vice president for IT.

Apple shows off new Mac OS X 10.7 (Codename Lion) features

Mac OS X Lion

Apple recently showcased its upcoming Mac OS X Lion as well as the new iLife '11during a special event held at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.

The much anticipated Lion is expected to ship next year and will feature a host of new features, many of which are inspired by the iPad.

Among the new features that Lion will have is the Mac App Store, an online store that functions just like the iOS App Store. Here, users will be able to discover new apps, purchase and install them, all through the store.

Apps can be purchased using an iTunes account and will be downloaded and installed all within one simple step, Apple said.

The Mac App Store will also act as a centralised location for app updates. Users will be able to purchase Mac applications such as iMovie, Pages, Keynote and Numbers through the store, it was announced.

The store will be available for Mac OS X Snow Leopard users within the next three months and will come bundled with Mac OS X Lion next year.

Other enhancements

Launchpad is another feature on Lion that houses all applications. The interface is similar to that of the iPad's home screen and it allows users to find applications by swiping through pages and even organise them by folders.

Another new feature in the Lion is that it will support full screen mode for all applications. This means that applications like iPhoto will take up the entire screen, reducing the clutter of multiple open windows and allow you to focus on using a single open application.

To allow users to easily navigate between different applications, Lion will have "Mission Control" that consolidates elements of Expose, the Dock and Dashboard all within a single interface.

This will give the user a full view of all open applications as well as widgets and applications running in full screen mode. They will then be able to navigate to any application they chose to use.

A new iLife

At the same event, Apple also announced the new iLife '11 suite of programs that include updated versions of iPhotos and iMovie.

iPhoto '11 has a new full screen mode for easy browsing, editing and showcasing your photos that can be organised by Faces, Places and Events.

It's all about sharing with the latest version of iPhoto as you will be able share photos via e-mail within the application and post them on your Facebook wall. You can also create enhanced slideshows that incorporate slick new effects and integrate data such as the GPS location to the slideshow.

Other new additions to the program include an integrated photo album that allows users to post and pull photos from their Facebook and Flickr account.

iMovie '11 has also received a major update that will give users the ability to create movie-style trailers with dynamic effects, letting you choose the type of graphics, titles and cinematic soundtrack used within the trailer.

Video editors will also gain advanced options like precise audio editing as well as the new People Finder feature that analyses videos and marks sections that contain single or multiple faces.

iLife '11 is available now and is priced at RM199.