It has become as common for many folks as putting on their socks and shoes: Almost instinctively, they put their cell phones Latest News about cell phone into their pockets, and then later in the day hold them close to their ears to talk with friends, family, or co-workers. Cell phone users, who number 150 million in the United States, believe their actions are innocuous, but there is a group of scientists and vendors who think otherwise.
Larry Ellison has his super yacht, Bill Gates has his humanitarian fund. For Mark Spencer, the symbol of his success is a hot tub.
It may not be the most expensive trophy, but Spencer’s achievement may well prove to be just as revolutionary - turning the world of enterprise telephony on its head.
The tub, now installed at his Huntsville, Alabama home, was bought for him as a token of gratitude by 150 software developers who work on the platform he initiated - Asterisk, the Linux-based IP private branch exchange (PBX) software.
The technology industry never had it easy explaining technical concepts in plain language, but some at Hanover's CeBIT technology fair don't even seem to be trying.
There's "SAN extension over MAN/WAN" on offer as well as "knowledge automation infrastructure" with "authentic cross-linguistic capability." That is all about computer networking and how companies store and access information.
"Public safety organizations" -- police and fire brigades -- might benefit from a Mobile Information and Communication System called MiKoBOS with an XBRL Tool Suite.
Antivirus company Kaspersky is preparing to release antivirus software for smartphones that use the Symbian operating system.
Mobile phone viruses are still relatively rare in the world, but Kaspersky's move into phone antivirus software shows it expects more to break out in the future.
Earlier this week a Trojan horse was found that targets Nokia Series 60 phones, which use Symbian. And last week, a smartphone virus called Cabir infected a handset in France, making it the seventeenth country to fall victim to the malware.
A new smartcard, the type privacy advocates fear because it combines biometric data with radio tags, will soon be one of the most common ID cards in Washington.
New technology on servers and switches from HP could slow virus outbreaks on computer networks that use the HP products.
HP last week announced commercial implementations of technology it calls virus throttling that can slow the rate viruses and worms spread in a corporate network. HP is offering the virusthrottling software for ProLiant Servers and ProCurve Networking by HP 5300 series switches. HP also unveiled the security Containment software suite, which locks down software applications that have been compromised, says Tony Redmond, head of HP's security Office.
The traditional view of VoIP is that it is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, as a ‘disruptive’ technology, it constitutes a major threat to incumbent fixed-line telecos; on the other, it creates business opportunities for new entrants.
A new version of the Mozilla Firefox browser fixes a flaw that made users vulnerable to online fraud.
The flaw allowed fraudsters to set up fake Web sites with names indistinguishable from legitimate companies.
It worked because, to a Firefox user, a Web address with one Cyrillic letter in place of the Latin-script letters used in English could look indistinguishable from an address written completely in Latin script. For instance, a Cyrillic "a" looks just like the Latin "a," but if used in a Web address, it will send the surfer to a different site.
The Japanese technology company Omron is ready to launch a feature that equips a mobile device to accurately identify its user. The face recognition software uses a cell phone's built-in camera.
The recording industry is hoping to enlist millions of new distributors -- its listeners. EMI and Sony (SNE) are considering services that blend file sharing with viral marketing. Called super-distribution, the technology lets users download digital content to their cell phones and forward it to friends. Have a hip-hop MP3 you like? Send it to your pals, who get to hear it once for free. For a few bucks, they can keep it and share it again. Fans become evangelists, and labels get another bite at the $30 billion digital-music pie.
