Aruba Networks Airheads Technical Conference, Phuket, Thailand 2010

At a glance, about Aruba Networks Airheads Technical Conference, Phuket, Thailand 2010.

Venue: JW Marriott Hotel, Phuket Thailand
Date: 1 - 3 December, 2010

The Airheads Conference is all about Technology Directions and Roadmap: A detailed review of Aruba’s plans for the future. This conference focusing on a few topics as follows:

Designing Defensive Networks with WIPS
Overview of fundamental WLAN security concepts, update on recent threats, and discussion of best-practices for defending your networks. Including a discussion on Aruba’s overall security architecture.

Supporting Voice & Video over WiFi
Wireless LANs are becoming mission-critical networks supporting a wide variety of voice and video applications (including Microsoft OCS). This session covers best practices for design, implementation, management and monitoring to deliver reliable performance for voice and video applications.

Managing an Aruba Networks with AirWave
Focusing on using the AirWave Wireless Management Suite to configure AOS, measure network capacity, and monitor usage patterns. Including discussion and demonstrations of AirWave 7.0

Taking the WLAN Outdoors
An overview of key issues to consider when implementing an outdoor network for access, video surveillance and other applications. Includes discussion of core outdoor design principles, antenna selections, mesh network designs, and more.

Teleworking & Branch Scenarios
Workers need secure access to their network resources wherever they are: at home, in small remote offices, on the road. This session offers an in-depth look at Aruba Virtual Branch Network architecture and other solutions to address the needs of remote users.

A Least Privilege Approach to Security using PEF
An in-depth discussion of user roles, Aruba’s Policy Enforcement Firewall (PEF), and Wireless Intrusion Prevention (WIP) in Aruba’s new 6.0 software. The speaker will provide in-depth examples of how to protect corporate asset, isolate viruses and worms and more.

Designing Wi-Fi Networks for Density
As more users and devices connect to your network, how do you design your WLAN to assure performance and reliability? The best practices for designing high-density wireless networks – and discuss how to avoid common mistakes.

New iOS keeps iPad fresh and new

MORE APPS IN ONE SCREEN: iOS 4.2.1 brings with it the ability to create folders on the iPad, and store up to twenty apps per folder.

The iPad gets its biggest update yet with more than 100 features introduced. We highlight the major ones.

Apple has finally released iOS 4.2.1 for the iPad, bringing the operating system in line with the OS on the iPhone 4.

While the iPhone users have already had iOS 4.1 on their devices for some time, which comes with multitasking and Game Centre, iPad owners have had to live with iOS 3.2 which has none of these features.

So, while iPhone users probably won't see many new features by updating their phones to the latest operating system, iPad users will have a lot to enjoy.

We take a look at some of the more interesting features from the more than 100 new ones and bug fixes that Apple has added into the new operating system.

Multitasking

The most major change for iPad users has got to be mulittasking and now iPad users can run certain application services in the background.

MULTITASKING: Double-click the Home button on the iPad to bring up a list of applications that you can switch between. Some applications will be able to run certain services in the background, such as downloads, or game save states or audio streaming

For example, a clock radio application will still stream audio when you're browsing the Net withSafari, an in-app download will continue even when you're not in the application and games will start exactly where you left off.

Switching between applications on the iPad is done the same way as on the iPhone - a double-click of the Home button opens up a small side-scrolling menu showing your open applications.

Quick settings menu

Accessing the multitasking menu and scrolling all the way to the left also allows quick access to a number of often-used settings, namely brightness, volume and iPod playback controls.

QUICK SETTINGS: Scroll all the way to the left in the multitasking menu and you'll have access to brightness, volume, playback and rotation lock settings

Also housed in this menu is a rotation lock control to lock your screen orientation in either landscape or portrait.

In fact, by moving the screen rotation control to the multitasking menu, Apple has also changed the hardware slider switch on the side of the iPad which was used to lock orientation to a volume mute switch. There is no option in the settings to change the slider switch back to an orientation lock, so like it or not, users will just have to get used to locking orientation by going into the multitasking menu.

Folders

Another major feature which iOS 4.2.1 brings to the iPad is folders. Like on the iPhone, you can now group applications together into a single folder and are not limited to the twenty-applications-per-screen limit.

To create a folder, simply touch and hold on an app for about two seconds until the icon wobbles, then drag the app on top of another app to put them together in a folder.

You can store as many as 20 apps in a single folder and can name each folder anything you want, although the iPad intelligently names the folder according to the types of apps you put in.

Unified, threaded e-mail box

Users who manage multiple e-mail accounts (like this writer) will be happy to know that iOS 4.2.1 brings with it a unified inbox in which you can see e-mail messages from all your accounts.

UNIFIED INBOX: Users can now check out e-mail messages from various accounts in one single inbox. Messages are also threaded, with e-mail messages having the same heading grouped together.

With the unified inbox, users no longer have to switch between e-mail accounts to check their incoming messages.

If you like to see a separate view of your various e-mail accounts, you can still organise it that way.

Along with the unified inbox, iOS 4.2.1 introduces threaded e-mail, where e-mail messages with the same subject line are grouped together for a cleaner inbox and easier reading.

Game Center

Game Center is a new application that comes with the operating system and is meant to bring gamers on the system together.

GET YOUR GAME ON: Game Center comes to the iPad, a central location to see apps you're playing and your friends are playing.

Much like Xbox Live on the Xbox 360 console, Game Center is meant as a central location where you can connect with other gamers, see what games they are playing and compete by earning achievements.

Game Center is a nice idea, although the number of supported games are not as extensive as one would like.

AirPrint

New in iOS 4.2.1 is AirPrint, which ostensibly allows a user to wirelessly print documents, webpages and photos directly from the iPad.

WIRELESS PRINTING: The AirPrint icon can be accessed in most applications that you would print from. However, limited printer support means that this feature isn't as useful as it could be.

In use, however, AirPrint isn't so useful because the feature only works on printers connected to your local network and supported by AirPrint, which isn't that extensive at the moment.

We tried to print from the iPad to the network printer at the office but did not manage to find the non-supported printer at all.

AirPlay

On paper, AirPlay promises seamless streaming from the iPad to other entertainment devices, like a HDTV connected to your home network.

This means that you can watch movies and listen to music resident on the iPad, and then, when you're in front of your HDTV, to switch from the iPad to the HDTV and seamlessly watch or listen exactly where you left off.

In practice, however, the feature is a bit more limited than that. AirPlay only allows streaming of video from the iPad to devices connected to the Apple TV or music to a sound system connected to the AirPort Express.

So unless you own the Apple TV or an AirPort Express, you won't be able to enjoy this feature.

Safari tweaks

There are a number of tweaks that have been added to Safari, from small ones to a few major ones.

FIND ON PAGE: Entering a search term in Safari's Search bar now allows you to search for words within a currently open Web page.

An interesting and certainly welcome feature for the power user is a "search on this page" function which allows you to search for words on the current webpage.

This function is found in the search bar in the browser - typing a search query will now open a drop-down menu, giving you the option to search in Google or to search words within the webpage itself.

Another tweak to Safari is the "open new page" icon, which now has a number overlaid on top representing the number of pages you have open in the background.

TrendMicro's Worry-Free Business Security 7

Computer security vendor TrendMicro believes the latest version of its Worry-Free Business Security software will keep customers from having sleepless nights over network security issues.

It said small and medium businesses (SMBs) often have limited resources to allocate for IT security, and have to face threats such as malware attacks and data leakages through portable secondary storage devices and e-mail.

TrendMicro's Worry-Free Business Security 7 is designed to tackle such problems, allowing SMBs to focus on running their businesses. The product comes in standard and advanced versions.

Among the new features is e-mail data-loss protection, which enables businesses to keep their sensitive information private by discovering, monitoring and preventing accidental or deliberate loss of data through their e-mail system.

The software can be configured to look out for certain keywords in an e-mail message and can prevent an employee from sending the message out, TrendMicro explained. However, this feature is only available in the advanced version of the product.

There is also a device control feature that can prevent accidental data leakage via a portable storage device, such as thumbdrives. TrendMicro's product can enable business owners to limit the number of employees who can use thumbdrives on office computers.

Unauthorised thumbdrives will not work unless the user has the proper authorisation.

It is claimed that Worry-Free Business Security 7 also stops network threats before they reach the business systems.

This is achieved with the help of TrendMicro's smart-protection network-infrastructure that scans, filters and correlates more than 3.2 terabytes of data and blocks about five billion threats a day.

Worry-Free Business Security 7 is available now and pricing varies according to seat count. The advanced version costs USD 58 per user for two to 25 seats per year. The standard version is USD 34 per user for two to 25 seats for the same period.

How to Manage The Rising Tide Of Mobile Video

While social networking continues to explode and consumers transfer their daily Web habits to the mobile phone, there is a struggle simmering in the background for network operators to keep up with the demand. Carriers are especially feeling the impact of mobile video content’s speedy growth and the zealous use of it by subscribers around the globe.

Industry analysts predict by 2014, video will make up 66% of all mobile data traffic.1 This certainly isn’t surprising when you consider that the expected number of global mobile video/TV users will jump from approximately 250 million in 2010 to about 450 million in 2014.2
This is just a small sampling of industry research and analysis that points to consumers’ unquenchable thirst for mobile video. In part this desire is driven by the wave of new video-enabled mobile devices, video has redefined mobile networks and placed a premium on bandwidth—a demand the current networks can’t support.

On the horizon is 4G, marketed as the miracle cure for data congestion. Some consider it a band-aid solution, while others see it as a universal panacea. Yet the reality is that mobile carriers are seeking solutions today to deal with the expanding mobile Internet and, more specifically, the increasing use of mobile-video applications.
There is certainly no magic bullet. But with a combined approach, involving the adjustment of both carrier infrastructure and content delivery strategies, the industry will be able to curb the skyrocketing network-congestion problem.

Read more »

Final Ratification for LTE-Advanced

4G Americas, a wireless industry trade association representing the 3GPP family of technologies, today applauded the final ratification of LTE-Advanced as an offical 4G standard by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Both LTE Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced (802.16m) are the real deal — ITU sanctioned 4G standards. Both will deliver up to 100 Mbps (mobile) and up to 1 Gbps (fixed). In order to deliver those speeds, however, both need 20 Mhz wide channels and up to 4×4 MIMO antennas on both the receiver and basestation.

In its October meeting, ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) completed the assessment of six candidate submissions and reached a milestone by deciding on LTE-Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced for the first release of IMT-Advanced, their package of offical 4G standards.

Final ratification of the full IMT-Advanced technology family took place at the ITU-R Study Group meeting on November 22 and 23, 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The standards will now move into the final stage of the IMT-Advanced process, which provides for the development in early 2012 of an ITU-R Recommendation specifying the in-depth technical standards for these radio technologies.

“This day is a milestone to remember for mobile broadband connectivity,” said Chris Pearson, President of 4G Americas. The future for mobile broadband technologies has never been brighter to help progress societies in the Americas and throughout the world.”

Read more »

Nokia admits power problems in N8 handset

POWER OFF: Nokia says that a small number of its N8 phones are not turning on after recharging. - AFP

HELSINKI: Nokia Corp said its top N8 model, aimed at making up lost ground in the smartphone market, has had power problems with some handsets not turning on after recharging.

The fault is limited to "a small number of handsets" and will be fixed in line with Nokia warranty rules, Nokia spokesman Eija-Riitta Huovinen said. She gave no details of whether the problem was regional or how many handsets are affected.

"We've had a lot of positive feedback about the N8. This problem involves really a small number," Huovinen said.

The N8, which looks like Apple Inc's iPhone, features a 12-megapixel digital camera with Carl Zeiss optics and a 3.5in display. It is built on Symbian 3, a new version of the Symbian software with photo uploading connections to social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Available also in North America, Nokia's worst market, the N8 is meant to compete with the iPhone that has set the standard for today's smartphones and Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerrys that are the favourite of the corporate set.

More recently, Google Inc's Android software has also emerged as a choice for phone makers that want to challenge the iPhone.

And the N8 has been beset with problems.

It was unveiled in April with deliveries expected in the summer but Nokia did not start shipping it internationally until the end of September.

The latest fault, though relatively small, comes at a bad time as the fourth quarter traditionally means strong growth in the wireless industry.

"This doesn't help the Nokia brand, that's for sure. The problems have been mounting for the past few years and every little negative headline adds to that," said Neil Mawston from London-based Strategy Analytics. "It's not a great start for their supposed iPhone or Android killer."

In September, Nokia replaced its Finnish CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo with Microsoft executive Stephen Elop, a Canadian, the first time the company appointed a non-Finn at its helm.

The choice of a North American executive to lead a Finnish company was seen as reflecting the increasing dominance of US and Canadian companies in the evolution of the top end mobile phone business.

Nokia reported a third-quarter net profit of 529mil euro (RM2.7bil), up from a net loss of 559mil euro (RM2.8bil) last year, but said it had lost market share to 30% in the period - from 34% in 2009.

Despite setbacks, it is still the global leader in handsets, including smartphones, selling 26.5 million smartphones in the quarter - up 60% on a year earlier. Its closest rivals, Apple sold 14 million and RIM 12.5 million. - AP

Quick Review of Samsung Notebook SF410

SF410

The SF410, which has a 14in screen with LED backlight, is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor. It comes with 2GB RAM, nVidia GeForce GT 310M graphics processor with 1GB VRAM, 500GB hard disk, webcam and stereo speakers.

It runs on Windows 7 Home Premium and, for wireless connectivity, it has WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0.

It uses Fast Start technology to speed up start up time, and the Sleep and Charge USB feature allows external devices to be charged even when the notebook is switched off.

Its comes with a lithium polymer battery that lasts up to 7.5 hours before needing a charge.

The SF410's Express Charging mode reduces charging times and the battery can be fully charged in two to three hours.

Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 : Reviewed

Wireless Solar Keyboard K750

Logitech has introduced its Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 - the company's first keyboard that's powered by light.

The Solar Keyboard powers itself whenever there's light, even indoors, making battery hassles a thing of the past, the company said.

It powers itself through an integrated solar panel - no power bricks or charging cables needed.

The included Solar Power app features a lux meter to help you get the necessary light, makes it easy to get at-a-glance information about battery levels, and even alerts you when you need more power.

Although the Solar Keyboard is powered by light, it can work in total darkness for up to three months, the company claimed.

The low-profile keyboard is only 7.5mm thick and features Incurve keys - the keys use a concave design that supports the shape of your fingertips, while helping guide your fingers to the right keys.

Plus, it sues a tiny Unifying receiver that is small enough to stay in a laptop, so there's no need to unplug it when you move around. And you can easily add up to six Logitech Unifying-ready mice and keyboards -without the hassle of multiple USB receivers.

The Solar Keyboard K750 is expected to be available in the market by the middle of next month and retail for approximately in the range of USD 75 - USD 80.

Original Source: 
www.logitech.com

Online video providers not protecting kids

NOT SAFE: A screencap of the Hulu website. According to a study, mainstream online video sites in the United States, such as Hulu, are not doing enough to keep explicit content from kids.

Mainstream online video destinations in the United States don't do enough to keep explicit content from kids, the Parents Television Council said in a report.

The advocacy group, which monitors decency issues, evaluated the child appropriateness of four online video portals: Hulu, Comcast's Fancast, AOL's Slashcontrol and AT&T's U-verse. None received a better grade than a "D."

The study looked at home pages and 602 videos over a three-week period. The council found that standards are more lenient online than on broadcast television, that content ratings were vague, and that content that may be unsuitable for children under 14 could be watched by young children.

Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council said the report proved that the four websites "are failing to protect kids on the Web."

"The content ratings and parental control devices (media corporations) tout as a solution to indecent material on television are not being applied to similarly indecent material on their websites," Winter said.

Mark Siegel, a spokesman for AT&T, said in a statement that through a program called Smart Limits, the company provides various tools that enable parents to limit the kinds of videos children can view on computers, TVs and cellphones.

Hulu (which is owned by NBC Universal, News Corp, The Walt Disney Co and Providence Equity Partners), Comcast and AOL didn't respond to requests for comment on the study.

The report calls on online providers to implement more effective ways of filtering out content unsuitable for children, including homepages with a parental control option and more explicit ratings.

The Parents Television Council chose the sites it did for the study, it said, because they're aggregators of commercially supported streaming video. It excluded sites that display their own content exclusively and those that focused on user-generated video.

Source:
www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/OnlineVideo/Study.pdf

10 Best Security Apps for iPhone

Apple's App Store currently holds about 85,000 applications for you to download to your iPhone or iPod Touch. Of course, about 84,900 of those programs consist of free and 99-cent games that your seven-year-old would probably find more compelling than you do. So we've scoured reviews, App Store search sites, and recommendation directories to compile this concise list of some of the best security apps currently available.

1. Video Surveillance Camera Views

EyeSpyFX has developed mobile applications that allow you to check surveillance cameras from Axis, Sony, D-Link, Linksys, Mobotix, and Vivotek. Each edition lets you set up a camera list and check the views for up to 100 cameras. You can also add cameras and bring up an edit screen to adjust camera details. When a camera goes offline, a status indicator will point that out. And the app will remember your passwords.

http://www.eyespyfx.com/ 

Price: $4.99 and less
Size: Under 0.5 MB

2. iPortScan and Portscan

iPortScan from Whiteside Solutions (better known for its paintball training tools) is a port scanner that lets you check what services are listening in on a known system--handy for making sure nothing is open that shouldn't be. You can also do a port scan from a 3G or EDGE network to test what TCP ports are open from the Internet. Features include the ability to set up a profile for the port scan, do a random port scan, adjust the delay time from 0.05 to three seconds, scan using a hostname/URL or IP address, and e-mail your port scan results.

Portscan from digitalsirup.com lets you adjust your speed from aggressive to sneaky. For every discovered service, you get a cell in a table with the port, a short name, and the full name of the service. You can use the integrated browser to explore http ports from within the app.

http://www.digitalsirup.com 

Price: $1.99
Size: 0.4 MB

3. iPEToolbox

You can find a bunch of little utilities that'll look up MAC addresses (MacLookUp) and do subnet calculation (iNetmask from Steve Weiland), but here's one that integrates several tools: iPEToolbox from Kid Mun Yap.

This collection of tools can help you check subnet allocations, route summarization, and configuration register settings for Cisco routers. An IP subnet calculator lets you find the next or previous subnet and provides additional information on subnets being used, such as private range and link local range. An aggregate tool calculates the optimal aggregates given a range of IP addresses (for use in route summarization and to assist in constructing access lists). A configuration register tool provides configuration register values. And a VoIP bandwidth calculator tool estimates bandwidth requirements given the voice codec, payload size, and other details.

http://sites.google.com/site/ikidyapps/Home 

Price: $0.99
Size: 0.3 MB

4. SNMPmon

SNMPmon from TTrix Software Design lets you retrieve information from SNMP-capable devices--routers, access points, switches, printers, IP phones, IP cameras.... This utility can display system contacts, network interfaces, routing tables, address resolution protocol tables, TCP connections, UDP listeners, file systems, and printers. One feature allows you to retrieve a subtree of management values displayed in raw format. You can also transmit the information you've just retrieved as an e-mail attachment. This one requires a WiFi or 3G or EDGE connection. The latest edition also lets you copy a configuration file to another device.

http://www.ttrix.com 

Price: $4.99
Size: 0.5 MB

5. Wyse PocketCloud

Now, this is thin computing. Sure, PocketCloud from Wyse Technology is a bit pricier than a typical App Store download, but it delivers great value for the money. PocketCloud lets you access and manage a PC or VMware virtual machine from your iPhone. The software uses the Remote Desktop Protocol on a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows operating system or the VMware View client. To keep the connection secure, it supports federal standards for the former and secure sockets layer for the latter. You'll need to load a free Windows companion application on your 32-bit client machines to do server-side Web browsing with the iPhone and achieve keyboard detection. (The companion software lets the iPhone know to invoke its virtual keyboard.)

http://www.wyse.com 

Price: $29.99
Size: 1.9 MB

6. Snap

Snap from 9Bit Labs scans the network it's on and discovers nearby PCs, servers, routers, and other iPhones. When Snap finds a device, it displays the manufacturer of the device, type of device, any name information it could discover, along with the device's MAC and IP addresses. For each device that Snap finds, you can also scan it for common services such as HTTP, remote login, AppleTalk, and Microsoft networking. It also links directly to Safari for any HTTP services it finds, enabling you to easily explore devices on the network around you. Snap is useful for discovering open ports and probing public networks to see who else is on.

http://www.9bitlabs.com 

Price: $1.99
Size: 0.4 MB

7. IP Port List

George Dimidik has created a utility that allows you to search and view all Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)-registered IP port numbers and view the name and brief description of those assignments--handy when you're monitoring a network, managing a firewall, or managing network security and traffic. Since the port list is stored locally, you don't need a network connection to use the tool. Plus, you can download updates from IANA.org at any time by touching the update icon.

http://www.wideopenwest.com/~gdimidik 

Price: $0.99
Size: 0.4 MB

8. RSA SecurID Software Token

If your organization is using RSA Authentication Manager, this RSA-developed app lets you use your iPhone as a two-factor software authenticator, such as VPNs, wireless LANs, and Web applications. Administrators can deploy software tokens to user devices and users can import the token with a tap.

http://www.rsa.com 

Price: Free
Size: 1.1 MB

9. Splash ID

SplashID from SplashData is a password keeper to maintain your usernames, passwords, and other vital information. It has unlimited and customizable record types and categories, 256-bit Blowfish encryption, backup and wireless sync to your PC, a password generator to create hacker-resistant passwords, and URL icons that can be customized for delivering you to the right address so you don't have to type. The latest release--version 5.0--provides a tab that shows you the records you view most often for quick access.

http://splashdata.com 

Price: $9.99
Size: 1.6 MB

10. Network Security Books

O'Reilly Media isn't the only publisher with network security books available, but it's the only major one we know of that publishes its books in iPhone app format. These digital editions include full book text search, a built-in dictionary, the ability to add your own annotations, a landscape view, working hyperlinks, and a zoom function for images.

http://oreilly.com 

Price: $4.99 and less
Size: Under 10 MB

Bonus App! Antivirus, the Game

Welcome, Artificial Intelligence Agent 1.4.3. Your assignment from Dead Rat Games is to defend the interweb data in Grid 817 from attacks by cyber-terrorists. To do this you must manage deployment of a new system code-named Defender 001 using tools like a proxy-blaster, decrypter, and authenticator. After all, you have to keep up your security skills, right?

http://www.deadratgames.com 

Price: $0.99
Size: 4.6 MB