The ailing economy is leading some enterprises to put off transforming their data-center networks with emerging technologies such as FCOE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet), Brocade Communications' CTO said Thursday.
IT managers are delaying transitions to converged networks that use a single protocol across both the storage and server areas of a data center, CTO Dave Stevens said in an interview after the company announced a steep increase in revenue for its first fiscal quarter, which ended Jan. 24.
It was the first quarter since Fibre Channel storage network pioneer Brocade acquired Foundry Networks, an Ethernet LAN vendor. FCoE and Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) are two emerging standards designed to combine the strengths of Fibre Channel and Ethernet.
"People are pushing back on trialing converged infrastructure right now," Stevens said. That reflects a greater selectiveness in pursuing IT projects as enterprises move into a mode of buying just what they need, he said.
However, growing network traffic and collections of data, along with requirements to keep data for longer periods, are forcing enterprises to upgrade their networks, he said. In doing so, they are saving money by consolidating ports in fewer platforms, such as large Ethernet switches that can accommodate as many connections as 10 smaller boxes, Stevens said.
"The FCOE stuff and the CEE stuff seem to be pushing out a little bit, and there seems to be more emphasis on the Ethernet side and the Fibre Channel side to implement high-density switching systems in both of those environments," he said.
Brocade reported revenue of $431.6 million for the quarter, up 8 percent from the previous quarter and 24 percent from a year earlier. That figure included about one month of revenue from Foundry, which was folded into the company in late December. It fell short of the consensus forecast of analysts by Thomson Reuters, which was US$441.7 million.
The company posted a loss of US$26 million, or $0.07 per share, because of one-time items that mostly were associated with the Foundry deal, according to Stevens. Not including those items, Brocade earned US$63.6 million or $0.15 per share, exceeding the consensus forecast of analysts by Thomson Reuters, which was $0.13 per share.
Brocade reported the integration of Foundry is ahead of schedule and that "the vast majority" of Foundry employees have remained on board. Brocade has been reorganized to focus on three market segments: Data center infrastructure, campus networks, and service-provider infrastructure, Stevens said. Engineers from both companies are working together on the next generation of technology, such as FCOE gear, but the traditional Fibre Channel and Ethernet product lines will remain and be updated for the foreseeable future, he said.
The biggest challenge in integrating the businesses has been allocating engineers and funding among the Ethernet, Fibre Channel and converged-infrastructure categories, Stevens said.
For fiscal 2009, Brocade predicted IT spending would continue to be held down by economic conditions but start to pick up in the fiscal fourth quarter and the next fiscal year. It forecast annual revenue of $1.9 billion to $2 billion, up from about $1.5 billion in fiscal 2008. But the company sees revenue rising only slightly in the following fiscal year, giving a revenue range for planning purposes of $2.1 billion to $2.2 billion for fiscal 2010.
In after-hours trading late Thursday, Brocade's shares on the Nasdaq (BRCD) were down $0.10 at $3.28.
Friday, February 20, 2009
How Will the $7.2 Billion Allotted for Broadband Stimulus Be Spent?
Though a number of details are vague, many people in tech and telecom circles hope that the $7.2 billion allotment for broadband in the newly enacted federal economic stimulus package marks the beginning of a nationwide broadband strategy.
In the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, recently enacted by Congress, many details regarding the allocation of funds for high-tech projects remain blurry. Nevertheless, the nation's tech community appears to be encouraged by the $7.2 billion provision for broadband in the near $789 billion economic stimulus package signed into law by President Barack Obama earlier this week. Many observers believe that the allocation is a clear first step toward establishing a nationwide broadband strategy.
Officially known as "Title VI--Broadband Technology Opportunities Program," the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus money accounts for less than 1 percent (and only five pages) of the entire package. Its purpose is to spur broadband growth in underserved areas of the country.
What the Law Says
The bureaucracy to allocate the money has not been set up yet, and no one can be absolutely sure exactly how the broadband program will work. Still some definite elements have emerged.
First, two entities will issue grants under Title VI: the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service. Tech companies, telecommunications service providers, and other ISPs large and small will compete for the grant money through a bidding process managed by the two organizations.
But confusion exists even on this point. "There's no clear way to know which government entity they should apply to," says Derek Turner, research director of Free Press, a Washington media-reform think tank.
Urban vs. Rural Broadband
The debate has begun in earnest over how much of the money should go to developing and extending rural broadband service and how much to improving quality and choice in existing urban broadband service. The division of the $7.2 billion between the two agencies provides some clue: The NTIA will be responsible for about $4.7 billion of the money, while USDA will dispense about $2.5 billion of it.
Language in the new law explicitly mentions expanding broadband to rural areas: "The purposes of the program are to (1) provide access to broadband service to consumers residing in underserved areas of the United States; (2) provide improved access to broadband service to consumers residing in underserved areas of the United States."
The law does not define any of those terms, however, nor does it identify the mechanism for issuing funds. Rather, it simply states that "the grant program [will be created] as expeditiously as practicable" and that "if approved, provide the greatest broadband speed possible to the greatest population of users in the area."
The USDA has been operating a Rural Utilities Service since 2002 to help small towns obtain broadband access; but the program, operating with a much smaller budget than the one it will administer under the stimulus act, has achieved only limited success.
We also know something about the timing of the allocations. The new bill states that "all awards are [to be] made before the end of fiscal year 2010."
Many Unknowns in Allocation Plan
While the Obama Administration would like to dole out this money as quickly as possible, many industry experts say that several months--and perhaps a year or more--will pass before any tangible services are up and running. Furthermore, many of the program's details have yet to be determined.
According to Bart Forbes, spokesperson for the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), the White House's technology policy arm, and one of main distributors of the new infusion of broadband money, no bureaucratic process is in place yet to move the funds to their needed destinations. "There's no procedure; there's no staff; there's no program," Forbes says. "The key players have not been put into place."
Forbes adds that the NTIA has no permanent head at the moment--and hasn't had one since November 2007. Moreover, the Department of Commerce, of which the NTIA is a component agency, has no secretary either.
Despite these ambiguities, many industry analysts seem hopeful about the broadband initiative's prospects for success. "There's lots of potential for waste, fraud, and abuse [in the new law], but our country is in trouble right now," Turner says. "I'm cautiously optimistic."
How Will It Work?
Once the NTIA and the USDA create a system for distributing stimulus grants, they will work with the various states to outline the states' needs. The resulting proposals could come in the form of wired or wireless projects--the language of the law doesn't specify any particular speed or technology.
Meanwhile, tech companies, nonprofits, and ISPs will submit grant proposals and the Washington, D.C., entities will broker the final arrangements for funding approved proposals.
Each grant must adhere to principles of openness, including generally recognized provisions of Net neutrality, which require an "open access basis."
To counter potential fraud and waste, the law also mandates a "fully searchable database, accessible on the Internet at no cost to the public, that contains at least a list of each entity that has applied for a grant under this section, a description of each application, the status of each such application, the name of each entity receiving funds made available pursuant to this section, the purpose for which such entity is receiving such funds, each quarterly report submitted by the entity pursuant to this section, and such other information sufficient to allow the public to understand and monitor grants awarded under the program."
Will It Ceate Jobs?
Industry watchers say that the new law is crucial if some 20 million Americans are to obtain the broadband Internet access they need.
Craig Settles, president of Successful.com and a longtime telecom industry observer, notes that public discussion of the broadband provision and of the larger stimulus package tends to focus on their similarity to New Deal-era public spending on infrastructure projects; but he says that the parallel is inexact.
"Broadband is as vital as roads and highways, but it isn't as much in the building of the infrastructure as in the job creation that comes out of the more physical, like dams and roads and so forth--those old-school infrastructure projects generate a lot of work," Settles says. "Where you're going to have the greatest impact [with the new projects] is after the network is done. It will draw new businesses to the communities; it will enable the businesses that are there to expand their markets."
What's Next?
In coming weeks, the person appointed as Secretary of Commerce by President Obama will appoint an assistant secretary--and that person will bear primary responsibility for overseeing execution of the provisions of Title VI.
"Over the next 60 days, the Department of Commerce and Department of Agriculture are going to write the [Request for Proposal] that puts the teeth into this bill, and the stipulations that the money gets appropriated to where it's needed and that it's open so it's not just the incumbents that are sucking up the money," Settles says.
Many other industry observers--including Harold Feld, a telecommunications consultant--say that the Obama Administration's attention to broadband indicates its commitment to making technology policy a high priority.
"So far, the Obama people who are going to be running this have shown that they have a drive and an appreciation for what broadband can do to transform people's lives," Feld says. "[Obama] has made a relatively minor part of the stimulus bill something that he talks about in every one of his speeches."
In the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, recently enacted by Congress, many details regarding the allocation of funds for high-tech projects remain blurry. Nevertheless, the nation's tech community appears to be encouraged by the $7.2 billion provision for broadband in the near $789 billion economic stimulus package signed into law by President Barack Obama earlier this week. Many observers believe that the allocation is a clear first step toward establishing a nationwide broadband strategy.
Officially known as "Title VI--Broadband Technology Opportunities Program," the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus money accounts for less than 1 percent (and only five pages) of the entire package. Its purpose is to spur broadband growth in underserved areas of the country.
What the Law Says
The bureaucracy to allocate the money has not been set up yet, and no one can be absolutely sure exactly how the broadband program will work. Still some definite elements have emerged.
First, two entities will issue grants under Title VI: the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service. Tech companies, telecommunications service providers, and other ISPs large and small will compete for the grant money through a bidding process managed by the two organizations.
But confusion exists even on this point. "There's no clear way to know which government entity they should apply to," says Derek Turner, research director of Free Press, a Washington media-reform think tank.
Urban vs. Rural Broadband
The debate has begun in earnest over how much of the money should go to developing and extending rural broadband service and how much to improving quality and choice in existing urban broadband service. The division of the $7.2 billion between the two agencies provides some clue: The NTIA will be responsible for about $4.7 billion of the money, while USDA will dispense about $2.5 billion of it.
Language in the new law explicitly mentions expanding broadband to rural areas: "The purposes of the program are to (1) provide access to broadband service to consumers residing in underserved areas of the United States; (2) provide improved access to broadband service to consumers residing in underserved areas of the United States."
The law does not define any of those terms, however, nor does it identify the mechanism for issuing funds. Rather, it simply states that "the grant program [will be created] as expeditiously as practicable" and that "if approved, provide the greatest broadband speed possible to the greatest population of users in the area."
The USDA has been operating a Rural Utilities Service since 2002 to help small towns obtain broadband access; but the program, operating with a much smaller budget than the one it will administer under the stimulus act, has achieved only limited success.
We also know something about the timing of the allocations. The new bill states that "all awards are [to be] made before the end of fiscal year 2010."
Many Unknowns in Allocation Plan
While the Obama Administration would like to dole out this money as quickly as possible, many industry experts say that several months--and perhaps a year or more--will pass before any tangible services are up and running. Furthermore, many of the program's details have yet to be determined.
According to Bart Forbes, spokesperson for the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA), the White House's technology policy arm, and one of main distributors of the new infusion of broadband money, no bureaucratic process is in place yet to move the funds to their needed destinations. "There's no procedure; there's no staff; there's no program," Forbes says. "The key players have not been put into place."
Forbes adds that the NTIA has no permanent head at the moment--and hasn't had one since November 2007. Moreover, the Department of Commerce, of which the NTIA is a component agency, has no secretary either.
Despite these ambiguities, many industry analysts seem hopeful about the broadband initiative's prospects for success. "There's lots of potential for waste, fraud, and abuse [in the new law], but our country is in trouble right now," Turner says. "I'm cautiously optimistic."
How Will It Work?
Once the NTIA and the USDA create a system for distributing stimulus grants, they will work with the various states to outline the states' needs. The resulting proposals could come in the form of wired or wireless projects--the language of the law doesn't specify any particular speed or technology.
Meanwhile, tech companies, nonprofits, and ISPs will submit grant proposals and the Washington, D.C., entities will broker the final arrangements for funding approved proposals.
Each grant must adhere to principles of openness, including generally recognized provisions of Net neutrality, which require an "open access basis."
To counter potential fraud and waste, the law also mandates a "fully searchable database, accessible on the Internet at no cost to the public, that contains at least a list of each entity that has applied for a grant under this section, a description of each application, the status of each such application, the name of each entity receiving funds made available pursuant to this section, the purpose for which such entity is receiving such funds, each quarterly report submitted by the entity pursuant to this section, and such other information sufficient to allow the public to understand and monitor grants awarded under the program."
Will It Ceate Jobs?
Industry watchers say that the new law is crucial if some 20 million Americans are to obtain the broadband Internet access they need.
Craig Settles, president of Successful.com and a longtime telecom industry observer, notes that public discussion of the broadband provision and of the larger stimulus package tends to focus on their similarity to New Deal-era public spending on infrastructure projects; but he says that the parallel is inexact.
"Broadband is as vital as roads and highways, but it isn't as much in the building of the infrastructure as in the job creation that comes out of the more physical, like dams and roads and so forth--those old-school infrastructure projects generate a lot of work," Settles says. "Where you're going to have the greatest impact [with the new projects] is after the network is done. It will draw new businesses to the communities; it will enable the businesses that are there to expand their markets."
What's Next?
In coming weeks, the person appointed as Secretary of Commerce by President Obama will appoint an assistant secretary--and that person will bear primary responsibility for overseeing execution of the provisions of Title VI.
"Over the next 60 days, the Department of Commerce and Department of Agriculture are going to write the [Request for Proposal] that puts the teeth into this bill, and the stipulations that the money gets appropriated to where it's needed and that it's open so it's not just the incumbents that are sucking up the money," Settles says.
Many other industry observers--including Harold Feld, a telecommunications consultant--say that the Obama Administration's attention to broadband indicates its commitment to making technology policy a high priority.
"So far, the Obama people who are going to be running this have shown that they have a drive and an appreciation for what broadband can do to transform people's lives," Feld says. "[Obama] has made a relatively minor part of the stimulus bill something that he talks about in every one of his speeches."
Conficker Worm Gets an Evil Twin
The criminals behind the widespread Conficker worm have released a new version of the malware that could signal a major shift in the way the worm operates.
The new variant, dubbed Conficker B++, was spotted three days ago by SRI International researchers, who published details of the new code on Thursday. To the untrained eye, the new variant looks almost identical to the previous version of the worm, Conficker B. But the B++ variant uses new techniques to download software, giving its creators more flexibility in what they can do with infected machines.
Conficker-infected machines could be used for nasty stuff -- sending spam, logging keystrokes, or launching denial of service (DoS) attacks, but an ad hoc group calling itself the Conficker Cabal has largely prevented this from happening. They've kept Conficker under control by cracking the algorithm the software uses to find one of thousands of rendezvous points on the Internet where it can look for new code. These rendezvous points use unique domain names, such as pwulrrog.org, that the Conficker Cabal has worked hard to register and keep out of the hands of the criminals.
The new B++ variant uses the same algorithm to look for rendezvous points, but it also gives the creators two new techniques that skip them altogether. That means that the Cabal's most successful technique could be bypassed.
Conficker underwent a major rewrite in December, when the B variant was released. But this latest B++ version includes more subtle changes, according to Phil Porras, a program director with SRI. "This is a more surgical set of changes that they've made," he said.
To put things in perspective: There were 297 subroutines in Conficker B; 39 new routines were added in B++ and three existing subroutines were modified, SRI wrote in a report on the new variant. B++ suggests "the malware authors may be seeking new ways to obviate the need for Internet rendezvous points altogether," the report states.
Porras could not say how long Conficker B++ has been in circulation, but it first appeared on Feb. 6, according to a researcher using the pseudonym Jart Armin, who works on the Hostexploit.com Web site, which has tracked Conficker.
Though he does not know whether B++ was created in response to the Cabal's work, "it does make the botnet more robust and it does mitigate some of the Cabal's work," Support Intelligence CEO Rick Wesson said in an e-mail interview.
Also known as Downadup, Conficker spreads using a variety of techniques. It exploits a dangerous Windows bug to attack computers on a local area network, and it can also spread via USB devices such as cameras or storage devices. All variants of Conficker have now infected about 10.5 million computers, according to SRI.
The new variant, dubbed Conficker B++, was spotted three days ago by SRI International researchers, who published details of the new code on Thursday. To the untrained eye, the new variant looks almost identical to the previous version of the worm, Conficker B. But the B++ variant uses new techniques to download software, giving its creators more flexibility in what they can do with infected machines.
Conficker-infected machines could be used for nasty stuff -- sending spam, logging keystrokes, or launching denial of service (DoS) attacks, but an ad hoc group calling itself the Conficker Cabal has largely prevented this from happening. They've kept Conficker under control by cracking the algorithm the software uses to find one of thousands of rendezvous points on the Internet where it can look for new code. These rendezvous points use unique domain names, such as pwulrrog.org, that the Conficker Cabal has worked hard to register and keep out of the hands of the criminals.
The new B++ variant uses the same algorithm to look for rendezvous points, but it also gives the creators two new techniques that skip them altogether. That means that the Cabal's most successful technique could be bypassed.
Conficker underwent a major rewrite in December, when the B variant was released. But this latest B++ version includes more subtle changes, according to Phil Porras, a program director with SRI. "This is a more surgical set of changes that they've made," he said.
To put things in perspective: There were 297 subroutines in Conficker B; 39 new routines were added in B++ and three existing subroutines were modified, SRI wrote in a report on the new variant. B++ suggests "the malware authors may be seeking new ways to obviate the need for Internet rendezvous points altogether," the report states.
Porras could not say how long Conficker B++ has been in circulation, but it first appeared on Feb. 6, according to a researcher using the pseudonym Jart Armin, who works on the Hostexploit.com Web site, which has tracked Conficker.
Though he does not know whether B++ was created in response to the Cabal's work, "it does make the botnet more robust and it does mitigate some of the Cabal's work," Support Intelligence CEO Rick Wesson said in an e-mail interview.
Also known as Downadup, Conficker spreads using a variety of techniques. It exploits a dangerous Windows bug to attack computers on a local area network, and it can also spread via USB devices such as cameras or storage devices. All variants of Conficker have now infected about 10.5 million computers, according to SRI.
Scientists Claim Big Leap in Nanoscale Storage
Nanotechnology researchers say they have achieved a breakthrough that could fit the contents of 250 DVDs on a coin-sized surface and might also have implications for displays and solar cells.
The scientists, from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, discovered a way to make certain kinds of molecules line up in perfect arrays over relatively large areas. The results of their work will appear Friday in the journal Science, according to a UC Berkeley press release. One of the researchers said the technology might be commercialized in less than 10 years, if industry is motivated.
More densely packed molecules could mean more data packed into a given space, higher-definition screens and more efficient photovoltaic cells, according to scientists Thomas Russell and Ting Xu. This could transform the microelectronics and storage industries, they said. Russell is director of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at Amherst and a visiting professor at Berkeley, and Xu is a Berkeley assistant professor in Chemistry and Materials Sciences and Engineering.
Russell and Xu discovered a new way to create block copolymers, or chemically dissimilar polymer chains that join together by themselves. Polymer chains can join up in a precise pattern equidistant from each other, but research over the past 10 years has found that the patterns break up as scientists try to make the pattern cover a larger area.
Russell and Xu used commercially available, man-made sapphire crystals to guide the polymer chains into precise patterns. Heating the crystals to between 1,300 and 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,372 to 2,732 degrees Fahrenheit) creates a pattern of sawtooth ridges that they used to guide the assembly of the block copolymers. With this technique, the only limit to the size of an array of block copolymers is the size of the sapphire, Xu said.
Once a sapphire is heated up and the pattern is created, the template could be reused. Both the crystals and the polymer chains could be obtained commercially, Xu said.
"Every ingredient we use here is nothing special," Xu said.
The scientists said they achieved a storage density of 10Tb (125GB) per square inch, which is 15 times the density of past solutions, with no defects. With this density, the data stored on 250 DVDs could fit on a surface the size of a U.S. quarter, which is 25.26 millimeters in diameter, the researchers said. It might also be possible to achieve a high-definition picture with 3-nanometer pixels, potentially as large as a stadium JumboTron, Xu said. Another possibility is more dense photovoltaic cells that capture the sun's energy more efficiently.
Russell and Xu's approach differs from how other researchers have been trying to increase storage density. Most have been using optical lithography, which sends light through a mask onto a photosensitive surface. That process creates a pattern to guide the copolymers into assembling.
The new technology could create chip features just 3nm across, far outstripping current microprocessor manufacturing techniques, which at their best create features about 45nm across. Photolithography is running into basic barriers to achieving greater density, and the new approach uses less environmentally harmful chemicals, Xu said. But actually applying the technique to CPUs would pose some challenges, such as the need to create random patterns on a CPU, Xu said.
Among other things, such a leap ahead in storage density could alter either the amount of content that a person could carry with them or the quality of media delivered on discs, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight64. For example, it might allow movies to turn into holograms, he said.
"Just when we think we're so technically sophisticated in what we can do, along comes somebody with a notion like this, which has the potential to fundamentally change economics in so many different areas," Brookwood said.
Ultra-high-definition displays have less practical potential, according to IDC analyst Tom Mainelli. The image and video standards of today, including those used in HDTV, couldn't take advantage of a display with 3nm pixels, he said. And when it comes to monitors, price is king.
"You could see how there would be a value to that level of precision (in an area like medical imaging) ... but are we talking about a [US]$10,000 display?" Mainelli said.
Insight64's Brookwood said the technology, for which Berkeley and Amherst have applied for a patent, harkens back to fundamental breakthroughs that created the IT industry, he said.
"It's this kind of basic materials research that has created the opportunities that have made Silicon Valley and American manufacturing great," Brookwood said. "The last few years (in the U.S.), there have been fewer and fewer people working on this level of basic stuff," he said.
The scientists, from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, discovered a way to make certain kinds of molecules line up in perfect arrays over relatively large areas. The results of their work will appear Friday in the journal Science, according to a UC Berkeley press release. One of the researchers said the technology might be commercialized in less than 10 years, if industry is motivated.
More densely packed molecules could mean more data packed into a given space, higher-definition screens and more efficient photovoltaic cells, according to scientists Thomas Russell and Ting Xu. This could transform the microelectronics and storage industries, they said. Russell is director of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at Amherst and a visiting professor at Berkeley, and Xu is a Berkeley assistant professor in Chemistry and Materials Sciences and Engineering.
Russell and Xu discovered a new way to create block copolymers, or chemically dissimilar polymer chains that join together by themselves. Polymer chains can join up in a precise pattern equidistant from each other, but research over the past 10 years has found that the patterns break up as scientists try to make the pattern cover a larger area.
Russell and Xu used commercially available, man-made sapphire crystals to guide the polymer chains into precise patterns. Heating the crystals to between 1,300 and 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,372 to 2,732 degrees Fahrenheit) creates a pattern of sawtooth ridges that they used to guide the assembly of the block copolymers. With this technique, the only limit to the size of an array of block copolymers is the size of the sapphire, Xu said.
Once a sapphire is heated up and the pattern is created, the template could be reused. Both the crystals and the polymer chains could be obtained commercially, Xu said.
"Every ingredient we use here is nothing special," Xu said.
The scientists said they achieved a storage density of 10Tb (125GB) per square inch, which is 15 times the density of past solutions, with no defects. With this density, the data stored on 250 DVDs could fit on a surface the size of a U.S. quarter, which is 25.26 millimeters in diameter, the researchers said. It might also be possible to achieve a high-definition picture with 3-nanometer pixels, potentially as large as a stadium JumboTron, Xu said. Another possibility is more dense photovoltaic cells that capture the sun's energy more efficiently.
Russell and Xu's approach differs from how other researchers have been trying to increase storage density. Most have been using optical lithography, which sends light through a mask onto a photosensitive surface. That process creates a pattern to guide the copolymers into assembling.
The new technology could create chip features just 3nm across, far outstripping current microprocessor manufacturing techniques, which at their best create features about 45nm across. Photolithography is running into basic barriers to achieving greater density, and the new approach uses less environmentally harmful chemicals, Xu said. But actually applying the technique to CPUs would pose some challenges, such as the need to create random patterns on a CPU, Xu said.
Among other things, such a leap ahead in storage density could alter either the amount of content that a person could carry with them or the quality of media delivered on discs, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight64. For example, it might allow movies to turn into holograms, he said.
"Just when we think we're so technically sophisticated in what we can do, along comes somebody with a notion like this, which has the potential to fundamentally change economics in so many different areas," Brookwood said.
Ultra-high-definition displays have less practical potential, according to IDC analyst Tom Mainelli. The image and video standards of today, including those used in HDTV, couldn't take advantage of a display with 3nm pixels, he said. And when it comes to monitors, price is king.
"You could see how there would be a value to that level of precision (in an area like medical imaging) ... but are we talking about a [US]$10,000 display?" Mainelli said.
Insight64's Brookwood said the technology, for which Berkeley and Amherst have applied for a patent, harkens back to fundamental breakthroughs that created the IT industry, he said.
"It's this kind of basic materials research that has created the opportunities that have made Silicon Valley and American manufacturing great," Brookwood said. "The last few years (in the U.S.), there have been fewer and fewer people working on this level of basic stuff," he said.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Google, Nvidia Bringing Android to Tegra Chips
Nvidia on Monday said it is working with Google to build support for Linux applications on smartphones with its upcoming Tegra mobile chips.
The company has allied with Google and the Open Handset Alliance to support the open-source Android software stack, which is increasingly being adopted by smartphone makers including Samsung and HTC.
Primarily known as a graphics card vendor, Nvidia said Tegra chips would bring advanced graphics capabilities to smartphones while drawing less power.
The support for the Android platform is an attempt to drive up Tegra's adoption among smartphone makers. Nvidia is displaying an Android-based phone with a Tegra chip at the GSMA Mobile World Congress being held in Barcelona from Monday to Thursday.
Tegra-based phones will combine advanced graphics, better battery life and always-on Internet access, Nvidia said in a press release. Smartphone makers can now use the Android platform to build Web 2.0 and Internet-based applications for Tegra-based smartphones, the company said.
Tegra chips put an Arm-based processor core, a GeForce graphics core and other components on a single chip. The product lineup includes the Tegra 600 running at 700MHz and Tegra 650 running at 800MHz. It also includes Tegra APX 2500 and APX 2600.
The systems-on-chips will start shipping in mid-2009 for handheld devices like smartphones and mobile Internet devices. Nvidia couldn't immediately name companies that may ship smartphones with the chips. However, an analyst last week speculated that Microsoft would launch a smartphone with Tegra's APX 2600 chip at MWC.
Beyond open-source support, Tegra chips also support Windows-based applications. At last year's MWC, Nvidia announced Tegra would support Windows Mobile and enable 3D user interfaces and high-definition video on smartphones.
Nvidia also wants to help bring about mobile Internet devices (MIDs) for US$100 with Tegra chips. Mobile Internet devices are handheld communication and Internet devices that fall somewhere between a sub-notebook and a smartphone.
A $99 Tegra-based MID is expected to be announced by Nvidia at MWC. The MID includes full high-definition 1080p video playback and full Wi-Fi and 3G mobile broadband connectivity capabilities. The always-on device can go "days" between battery charges, a company spokesman said.
Other than saying similar MIDs would ship in the second half, the company provided no further details about the product.
The company has allied with Google and the Open Handset Alliance to support the open-source Android software stack, which is increasingly being adopted by smartphone makers including Samsung and HTC.
Primarily known as a graphics card vendor, Nvidia said Tegra chips would bring advanced graphics capabilities to smartphones while drawing less power.
The support for the Android platform is an attempt to drive up Tegra's adoption among smartphone makers. Nvidia is displaying an Android-based phone with a Tegra chip at the GSMA Mobile World Congress being held in Barcelona from Monday to Thursday.
Tegra-based phones will combine advanced graphics, better battery life and always-on Internet access, Nvidia said in a press release. Smartphone makers can now use the Android platform to build Web 2.0 and Internet-based applications for Tegra-based smartphones, the company said.
Tegra chips put an Arm-based processor core, a GeForce graphics core and other components on a single chip. The product lineup includes the Tegra 600 running at 700MHz and Tegra 650 running at 800MHz. It also includes Tegra APX 2500 and APX 2600.
The systems-on-chips will start shipping in mid-2009 for handheld devices like smartphones and mobile Internet devices. Nvidia couldn't immediately name companies that may ship smartphones with the chips. However, an analyst last week speculated that Microsoft would launch a smartphone with Tegra's APX 2600 chip at MWC.
Beyond open-source support, Tegra chips also support Windows-based applications. At last year's MWC, Nvidia announced Tegra would support Windows Mobile and enable 3D user interfaces and high-definition video on smartphones.
Nvidia also wants to help bring about mobile Internet devices (MIDs) for US$100 with Tegra chips. Mobile Internet devices are handheld communication and Internet devices that fall somewhere between a sub-notebook and a smartphone.
A $99 Tegra-based MID is expected to be announced by Nvidia at MWC. The MID includes full high-definition 1080p video playback and full Wi-Fi and 3G mobile broadband connectivity capabilities. The always-on device can go "days" between battery charges, a company spokesman said.
Other than saying similar MIDs would ship in the second half, the company provided no further details about the product.
Adobe to Show off New Flash for Smartphones
At the Mobile World Congress on Monday, Adobe plans to show off progress on its Flash Player 10 for smartphones and deliver a new software development kit that should make reading documents on small screens easier.
While Adobe has demonstrated Flash Player 10 on the Android G1, at MWC it will also show it running on Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile phones. While Flash Player 10 won't display absolutely everything developed for the Web, even on high-end smartphones, it will come closer than its predecessors, said Anup Muraka, director of technology strategy and partner development in Adobe's platform business unit.
Muraka couldn't add any more details about the possibility of Flash in either form on iPhones, a question that many of the phone's users have wondered about. "I can reiterate what our CEO recently said, that we'll continue our development efforts. There's a fair bit of work to be done, and we're looking forward to completing that and coordinating with Apple to try to make it available," he said.
Adobe also planned to announce that it released a new Adobe Reader Mobile SDK that will replace Reader LE 2.5, the current mobile PDF reader. Licensees will use the new SDK to enable the display of PDF documents in their own readers. Reader LE 2.5 is slightly less flexible, requiring licensees to use an included reader.
The new SDK will fit text to the screen rather than display documents in their full size. "In the existing reader, you have to zoom in and pan around," Muraka said.
Sony is already using the technology in its Reader Digital Book, and e-book readers from Bookeen and iRex Technologies as well as Lexcycle, the maker of the iPhone Stanza book reader, plan to use it.
For developers, Adobe introduced new technology that will automatically detect if users buying their applications have Flash Lite, and if they don't, offer to install it. "A developer no longer has to be dependent on whether a consumer has the latest device or software," said Muraka. The distributable player is now available as a beta.
Adobe will also use Mobile World Congress to push its Open Screen Project, an industry initiative that aims to make it easier for content providers to offer a consistent experience to users across devices including TVs, computers and phones. Nokia and Adobe announced that they plan to award US$10 million to developers who build applications that are based on Adobe Flash and will run on Nokia phones plus other kinds of devices. Developers will submit concepts for their applications, and a group of companies including Adobe and Nokia will review them and decide to award them seed money.
While Adobe has demonstrated Flash Player 10 on the Android G1, at MWC it will also show it running on Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile phones. While Flash Player 10 won't display absolutely everything developed for the Web, even on high-end smartphones, it will come closer than its predecessors, said Anup Muraka, director of technology strategy and partner development in Adobe's platform business unit.
Muraka couldn't add any more details about the possibility of Flash in either form on iPhones, a question that many of the phone's users have wondered about. "I can reiterate what our CEO recently said, that we'll continue our development efforts. There's a fair bit of work to be done, and we're looking forward to completing that and coordinating with Apple to try to make it available," he said.
Adobe also planned to announce that it released a new Adobe Reader Mobile SDK that will replace Reader LE 2.5, the current mobile PDF reader. Licensees will use the new SDK to enable the display of PDF documents in their own readers. Reader LE 2.5 is slightly less flexible, requiring licensees to use an included reader.
The new SDK will fit text to the screen rather than display documents in their full size. "In the existing reader, you have to zoom in and pan around," Muraka said.
Sony is already using the technology in its Reader Digital Book, and e-book readers from Bookeen and iRex Technologies as well as Lexcycle, the maker of the iPhone Stanza book reader, plan to use it.
For developers, Adobe introduced new technology that will automatically detect if users buying their applications have Flash Lite, and if they don't, offer to install it. "A developer no longer has to be dependent on whether a consumer has the latest device or software," said Muraka. The distributable player is now available as a beta.
Adobe will also use Mobile World Congress to push its Open Screen Project, an industry initiative that aims to make it easier for content providers to offer a consistent experience to users across devices including TVs, computers and phones. Nokia and Adobe announced that they plan to award US$10 million to developers who build applications that are based on Adobe Flash and will run on Nokia phones plus other kinds of devices. Developers will submit concepts for their applications, and a group of companies including Adobe and Nokia will review them and decide to award them seed money.
Lenovo Uses BlackBerry to Sync Laptop E-mail
PC maker Lenovo on Monday is expected to announce a partnership with Research In Motion that will make it easier for laptops to synchronize e-mail with servers with the help of BlackBerry smartphones.
Lenovo is providing a hardware and software bundle that allows ThinkPad laptops to sync e-mail with a server using Research In Motion's BlackBerry phone as an intermediary. This is part of Lenovo's new Constant Connect program, which the company plans to announce at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Through Constant Connect, synchronizing e-mail with servers is a two-step process. First, ThinkPad laptops transfer e-mail back and forth with a BlackBerry using Bluetooth wireless technology. The smartphone then synchronizes laptop e-mail with a server using a mobile-phone network.
This could be useful in certain places like airports where users have to pay for Wi-Fi connections to sync e-mail with servers. This technology does not use Wi-Fi networks, said Rich Cheston, distinguished engineer and executive director at Lenovo. Users may also prefer to see their e-mail on a laptop with a bigger screen and full keyboard rather than on a BlackBerry, Cheston said.
The hardware comes in the form of a PCI Express card with its own radio and storage that plugs into a laptop. A user doesn't need to start a laptop, as the card replicates with a RIM device by drawing its own battery power. The real-time syncing can provide quicker access to e-mail where wireless connectivity is spotty, Cheston said.
Users will also have the ability to sort and get alerts when specific e-mails arrive, Cheston said. "Let's suppose I want to be notified when my wife sends me an e-mail. I could have the card start blinking when the e-mail comes," Cheston said.
The bundle costs US$150 and will be available in the second quarter in the U.S., with worldwide availability scheduled for the second half of this year. It works with BlackBerry devices supporting the operating system 4.2 or later.
On laptops, it works with Windows XP and Windows Vista and supports Outlook or other POP (Post Office Protocol) e-mail clients like Gmail, Cheston said. The company plans to add Lotus Notes support in the second half.
The technology works only with ThinkPad laptops based on Intel's Montevina technology, which the company started shipping in the middle of last year. The package syncs only e-mail for now and plans to add calendar- and contact-synchronizing capabilities later this year, Cheston said.
Lenovo is providing a hardware and software bundle that allows ThinkPad laptops to sync e-mail with a server using Research In Motion's BlackBerry phone as an intermediary. This is part of Lenovo's new Constant Connect program, which the company plans to announce at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Through Constant Connect, synchronizing e-mail with servers is a two-step process. First, ThinkPad laptops transfer e-mail back and forth with a BlackBerry using Bluetooth wireless technology. The smartphone then synchronizes laptop e-mail with a server using a mobile-phone network.
This could be useful in certain places like airports where users have to pay for Wi-Fi connections to sync e-mail with servers. This technology does not use Wi-Fi networks, said Rich Cheston, distinguished engineer and executive director at Lenovo. Users may also prefer to see their e-mail on a laptop with a bigger screen and full keyboard rather than on a BlackBerry, Cheston said.
The hardware comes in the form of a PCI Express card with its own radio and storage that plugs into a laptop. A user doesn't need to start a laptop, as the card replicates with a RIM device by drawing its own battery power. The real-time syncing can provide quicker access to e-mail where wireless connectivity is spotty, Cheston said.
Users will also have the ability to sort and get alerts when specific e-mails arrive, Cheston said. "Let's suppose I want to be notified when my wife sends me an e-mail. I could have the card start blinking when the e-mail comes," Cheston said.
The bundle costs US$150 and will be available in the second quarter in the U.S., with worldwide availability scheduled for the second half of this year. It works with BlackBerry devices supporting the operating system 4.2 or later.
On laptops, it works with Windows XP and Windows Vista and supports Outlook or other POP (Post Office Protocol) e-mail clients like Gmail, Cheston said. The company plans to add Lotus Notes support in the second half.
The technology works only with ThinkPad laptops based on Intel's Montevina technology, which the company started shipping in the middle of last year. The package syncs only e-mail for now and plans to add calendar- and contact-synchronizing capabilities later this year, Cheston said.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Dell Hurls out Another Adamo Teaser
Dell has launched a new teaser surrounding its highly anticipated Adamo ultraportable laptop, now inviting users to sign up for the launch of the laptop as its unfolds.
"Prepare to fall in love," says Dell's Adamo laptop Web site, which then invites users to sign up to see how the "love story" unfolds. Though what the e-mail may contain is unclear, the invites may provide an early look at the laptop.
Dell officially unveiled Adamo at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, calling it an ultrathin laptop representing the best of the company's craftsmanship, performance and design. An on-stage model held the light laptop with a few fingers, revealing an ultraslim design with a premium finish.
Dell did not reveal technical specifications, but said the laptop would ship later in the first quarter.
Adamo won't be just a laptop, but a whole new brand name of luxury products, said Michael Tatelman, vice president of global consumer sales and marketing at Dell at CES. The word Adamo means to fall in love with, Tatelman said at the time.
Speculation around Adamo heated up late last year when news media and observers said Adamo was Dell's response to Apple's MacBook Air.
Dell also leaked out accessories for an ultraportable laptop called Adamo Thirteen, which pointed to a laptop with a 13-inch screen in line with Dell's branding conventions. The company already offers the Inspiron Mini 9, which has a 9-inch screen, and Inspiron Mini 12, which has a 12-inch screen.
"Prepare to fall in love," says Dell's Adamo laptop Web site, which then invites users to sign up to see how the "love story" unfolds. Though what the e-mail may contain is unclear, the invites may provide an early look at the laptop.
Dell officially unveiled Adamo at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, calling it an ultrathin laptop representing the best of the company's craftsmanship, performance and design. An on-stage model held the light laptop with a few fingers, revealing an ultraslim design with a premium finish.
Dell did not reveal technical specifications, but said the laptop would ship later in the first quarter.
Adamo won't be just a laptop, but a whole new brand name of luxury products, said Michael Tatelman, vice president of global consumer sales and marketing at Dell at CES. The word Adamo means to fall in love with, Tatelman said at the time.
Speculation around Adamo heated up late last year when news media and observers said Adamo was Dell's response to Apple's MacBook Air.
Dell also leaked out accessories for an ultraportable laptop called Adamo Thirteen, which pointed to a laptop with a 13-inch screen in line with Dell's branding conventions. The company already offers the Inspiron Mini 9, which has a 9-inch screen, and Inspiron Mini 12, which has a 12-inch screen.
Internet Explorer 8 Offers Improved Privacy and Security
Internet Explorer has recently been losing market share to upstarts like Mozilla's Firefox, Apple's Safari, and Google's Chrome beta, but Microsoft hopes to reverse the tide with Internet Explorer 8, which is due out this summer. My conclusion after a close examination of the four browsers: As matters stand, IE 8 seems likely to be the easiest to deploy and maintain over a large or small network.
In addition, IE 8's capabilities will either match or exceed those of the other browsers. Here's a comparative look at some of the key features to be included in IE 8, and a discussion of why companies may be better off using IE 8 than one of the other browsers.
Easy to Deploy
IE 8 appears to be especially well suited for companies that want to adopt a browser across large network. In particular, Microsoft has equipped IE 8 with built-in deployment features, based on the company's existing deployment and update platforms. In contrast, Mozilla relies on third-party Firefox client customization add-ons such as FrontMotion Firefox MSI, CCK Wizard, or FirefoxADM; and Safari and Chrome don't as yet offer network-wide client customization deployment options at all.
Microsoft has been hyping IE 8's ability to switch automatically to IE 7 compatibility mode when necessary. But that's because IE versions 7 and earlier often didn't follow Web standards, and this failure to conform forced Web developers to code their pages differently in order to render on IE. Once deployed across a network, IE 8 won't break corporate intranet: Internal or intranet Web sites will automatically default to IE 7 compatibility so that businesses won't have to rewrite their inward-facing corporate pages. Similarly, Web surfing or external browsing in IE 8 will default to the new "standards mode" as well. Since Firefox, Chrome, and Safari have more or less conformed to Web standards over the years, they don't require this compatibility mode.
Taking a page from Google Chrome, IE 8 will offer built-in tab crash protection. In the event of a page fault, only the affected tab and not the entire browser will crash. The current versions of Firefox and Safari lack this isolation feature. Firefox will, however, restore the entire browser session after a browser crash; a similar feature in Safari called 'Reopen All Windows from Last Session' lets you restore previous browser windows whether or not the session ended with a crash.
Better Productivity
Though Microsoft took its time before embracing tabbed browsing, IE 8 is set to make significant strides in this area. As links on a page open new tabs, color-coded related tabs appear alongside the original. Chrome, Firefox, and Safari do not offer this capability. On the other hand, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox 3.1 can pull a tab out of the browser and create a new, stand-alone browser session; IE 8 won't be able to do this. IE 8 will offer some nice features within a tab, though: When you open a new tab, the browser will give you the option to reopen a closed tab or to restore your previous browsing session, among other choices.
Also unique to IE 8 will be "accelerators"--shortcuts to services that open within a given Web page. Instead of cutting and pasting to another tab, you may simply highlight the text and click the blue Accelerator icon to open blog, e-mail, map, search, and even translation services on the page you're currently viewing. This page-within-a-page feature is unavailable as yet from Firefox (without add-ons), Chrome, or Safari.
Web Slices, another unique feature, is designed to monitor a specific section of a Web page--a weather radar image, say, or an eBay auction--without requiring you to revisit the page. You'll simply select the page element and drag it to your toolbar to view as needed. Companies may be able to use Web Slices for intranet messaging and access to company services.
Mozilla dubbed its address bar in Firefox 3 the 'Awesome Bar' because it displays URL suggestions drawn from browser history and bookmarks. IE 8 will have its own awesome bar, with the unique ability to delete these suggestions--something Firefox doesn't offer. Deleting suggestions may help prevent over-the-shoulder snooping and assuage privacy concerns regarding a shared computer.
Private Browsing
If you share a computer with others, you may prefer that sites you visit not be added to your browser's history, or that any new cookies created be deleted when your browsing session ends. Safari was the first browser to offer Private Browsing. Chrome has answered with Incognito, and Firefox plans to add some form of private browsing to its Firefox 3.1 release.
With IE 8, Microsoft will introduce In Private browsing. Both IE 8 (when it is released) and Chrome (now) display visual indicators--icons in the upper lefthand corner--to signal when you're in a private session. Safari offers no visual cues, and Firefox hasn't said what UI changes it plans to make. With private browsing, all client-side evidence of your surfing session should disappear when the session ends, though records of your visits will remain on external Web servers.
The private browsing feature appears to provide secrecy, but both Apple and Microsoft maintain a cache that includes Private Browsing sessions. Is that a contradiction? No. Apple uses a DS cache so that the Safari browser doesn't have to request DNS information continually on frequently accessed sites. IE 8 will save information about your In Private sessions for sites that may be collecting information about your visits. Both Apple and Microsoft say that you can delete these caches through configuration options, however.
Better Security
Perhaps the most vexing aspect of past versions of Internet Explorer has been the browser's poor security. Here, too, Microsoft has made significant gains on the competition, starting with its 'Trustworthy Computing' inspection of lines of code. Both IE 8 (running in Protected Mode) and Chrome will run at low integrity, meaning that they can't launch applications without the user's express permission. And both browsers are designed to use 'Data Execution Prevention' and 'Address Space Layout Representation' to protect against remotely executing malware. Neither Firefox nor Safari offers similar protection.
All of the new browsers support Extended Verification SSL, a way of further establishing trust in a site you are visiting. Only Safari doesn't change its address bar to green to signal the extra security. And all four browsers include antiphishing protection, though Safari 3.2 stops there and doesn't yet offer antimalware protection.
Cross-Site Scripting and Other Demons
Cross-site scripting (aka "XSS") attacks occur when a malicious Web site uses Javascipt to read or write data onto another Web site. Unlike the three competing browsers, IE 8 will offer built-in XSS protection. Firefox recommends that users install No Script, a third-party add-on. So far, Chrome and Safari don't offer XSS-specific protection.
"Clickjacking," a term coined by security researchers Jeremiah Grossman of WhiteHat Security and Robert Hansen of SecTheory, refers to a less common but sinister practice: Bad guys trick a user into clicking a concealed link and performing unknown actions, such as activating a peripheral device like a Webcam or deleting data from a Webmail site. Since the attack uses a common coding procedure, Microsoft says that the best way to defeat it is for developers to add a special tag--X-FRAME-OPTIONS--that IE 8 will use to filter clickjacking attempts. Firefox recommends using the No Script add-on to ward off clickjacking attempts. Chrome and Safari do not offer specific protection against clickjacking.
In light of its robust new features and the ease with which it can be deployed, IE 8 appears poised to be the most network-ready browser of the bunch. Organizations currently running Internet Explorer should definitely upgrade to IE 8 when Microsoft releases it, and those that have migrated away from Internet Explorer should evaluate the productivity and security benefits they stand to gain by returning.
In addition, IE 8's capabilities will either match or exceed those of the other browsers. Here's a comparative look at some of the key features to be included in IE 8, and a discussion of why companies may be better off using IE 8 than one of the other browsers.
Easy to Deploy
IE 8 appears to be especially well suited for companies that want to adopt a browser across large network. In particular, Microsoft has equipped IE 8 with built-in deployment features, based on the company's existing deployment and update platforms. In contrast, Mozilla relies on third-party Firefox client customization add-ons such as FrontMotion Firefox MSI, CCK Wizard, or FirefoxADM; and Safari and Chrome don't as yet offer network-wide client customization deployment options at all.
Microsoft has been hyping IE 8's ability to switch automatically to IE 7 compatibility mode when necessary. But that's because IE versions 7 and earlier often didn't follow Web standards, and this failure to conform forced Web developers to code their pages differently in order to render on IE. Once deployed across a network, IE 8 won't break corporate intranet: Internal or intranet Web sites will automatically default to IE 7 compatibility so that businesses won't have to rewrite their inward-facing corporate pages. Similarly, Web surfing or external browsing in IE 8 will default to the new "standards mode" as well. Since Firefox, Chrome, and Safari have more or less conformed to Web standards over the years, they don't require this compatibility mode.
Taking a page from Google Chrome, IE 8 will offer built-in tab crash protection. In the event of a page fault, only the affected tab and not the entire browser will crash. The current versions of Firefox and Safari lack this isolation feature. Firefox will, however, restore the entire browser session after a browser crash; a similar feature in Safari called 'Reopen All Windows from Last Session' lets you restore previous browser windows whether or not the session ended with a crash.
Better Productivity
Though Microsoft took its time before embracing tabbed browsing, IE 8 is set to make significant strides in this area. As links on a page open new tabs, color-coded related tabs appear alongside the original. Chrome, Firefox, and Safari do not offer this capability. On the other hand, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox 3.1 can pull a tab out of the browser and create a new, stand-alone browser session; IE 8 won't be able to do this. IE 8 will offer some nice features within a tab, though: When you open a new tab, the browser will give you the option to reopen a closed tab or to restore your previous browsing session, among other choices.
Also unique to IE 8 will be "accelerators"--shortcuts to services that open within a given Web page. Instead of cutting and pasting to another tab, you may simply highlight the text and click the blue Accelerator icon to open blog, e-mail, map, search, and even translation services on the page you're currently viewing. This page-within-a-page feature is unavailable as yet from Firefox (without add-ons), Chrome, or Safari.
Web Slices, another unique feature, is designed to monitor a specific section of a Web page--a weather radar image, say, or an eBay auction--without requiring you to revisit the page. You'll simply select the page element and drag it to your toolbar to view as needed. Companies may be able to use Web Slices for intranet messaging and access to company services.
Mozilla dubbed its address bar in Firefox 3 the 'Awesome Bar' because it displays URL suggestions drawn from browser history and bookmarks. IE 8 will have its own awesome bar, with the unique ability to delete these suggestions--something Firefox doesn't offer. Deleting suggestions may help prevent over-the-shoulder snooping and assuage privacy concerns regarding a shared computer.
Private Browsing
If you share a computer with others, you may prefer that sites you visit not be added to your browser's history, or that any new cookies created be deleted when your browsing session ends. Safari was the first browser to offer Private Browsing. Chrome has answered with Incognito, and Firefox plans to add some form of private browsing to its Firefox 3.1 release.
With IE 8, Microsoft will introduce In Private browsing. Both IE 8 (when it is released) and Chrome (now) display visual indicators--icons in the upper lefthand corner--to signal when you're in a private session. Safari offers no visual cues, and Firefox hasn't said what UI changes it plans to make. With private browsing, all client-side evidence of your surfing session should disappear when the session ends, though records of your visits will remain on external Web servers.
The private browsing feature appears to provide secrecy, but both Apple and Microsoft maintain a cache that includes Private Browsing sessions. Is that a contradiction? No. Apple uses a DS cache so that the Safari browser doesn't have to request DNS information continually on frequently accessed sites. IE 8 will save information about your In Private sessions for sites that may be collecting information about your visits. Both Apple and Microsoft say that you can delete these caches through configuration options, however.
Better Security
Perhaps the most vexing aspect of past versions of Internet Explorer has been the browser's poor security. Here, too, Microsoft has made significant gains on the competition, starting with its 'Trustworthy Computing' inspection of lines of code. Both IE 8 (running in Protected Mode) and Chrome will run at low integrity, meaning that they can't launch applications without the user's express permission. And both browsers are designed to use 'Data Execution Prevention' and 'Address Space Layout Representation' to protect against remotely executing malware. Neither Firefox nor Safari offers similar protection.
All of the new browsers support Extended Verification SSL, a way of further establishing trust in a site you are visiting. Only Safari doesn't change its address bar to green to signal the extra security. And all four browsers include antiphishing protection, though Safari 3.2 stops there and doesn't yet offer antimalware protection.
Cross-Site Scripting and Other Demons
Cross-site scripting (aka "XSS") attacks occur when a malicious Web site uses Javascipt to read or write data onto another Web site. Unlike the three competing browsers, IE 8 will offer built-in XSS protection. Firefox recommends that users install No Script, a third-party add-on. So far, Chrome and Safari don't offer XSS-specific protection.
"Clickjacking," a term coined by security researchers Jeremiah Grossman of WhiteHat Security and Robert Hansen of SecTheory, refers to a less common but sinister practice: Bad guys trick a user into clicking a concealed link and performing unknown actions, such as activating a peripheral device like a Webcam or deleting data from a Webmail site. Since the attack uses a common coding procedure, Microsoft says that the best way to defeat it is for developers to add a special tag--X-FRAME-OPTIONS--that IE 8 will use to filter clickjacking attempts. Firefox recommends using the No Script add-on to ward off clickjacking attempts. Chrome and Safari do not offer specific protection against clickjacking.
In light of its robust new features and the ease with which it can be deployed, IE 8 appears poised to be the most network-ready browser of the bunch. Organizations currently running Internet Explorer should definitely upgrade to IE 8 when Microsoft releases it, and those that have migrated away from Internet Explorer should evaluate the productivity and security benefits they stand to gain by returning.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Removal of OLPC Donation Program Rattles Observers
One Laptop Per Child's removal of a program that enables small-scale XO laptop deployments has rattled observers, who are concerned that the nonprofit is changing its focus to large-scale deployments.
A program for donors to employ between 100 or more laptops for small-scale deployments, called "Give a School," has been removed from the participation page of the nonprofit's Web site. The nonprofit is now offering options to directly donate laptops or to make corporate purchases.
Designed for use by children in developing countries, the XO laptop has been praised for its innovative hardware features and environmentally friendly design. The Give a School program was defined as a "special program that allows donors to choose the country where the laptops go."
The change was first noted by Morgan Collett, who blogged about it. OLPC's changed focus could affect XO laptop deployments in South Africa that were purchased through the program, he wrote.
"This is a blow to future small deployments in South Africa, as we have over 600 XOs deployed in South Africa through this program with more that were planned," Collett wrote. A nonprofit organization was being set up to raise funds and coordinate deployments, but that will be to "no effect" unless laptops from other vendors are used, Collett wrote.
OLPC's grassroots focus through small deployments generate excitement for the nonprofit's larger efforts, wrote Wayan Vota, an OLPC observer in a blog entry on OLPC News.
"It's pilots that give us guidance for national rollouts. It's the OLPC movements in South Africa, Oceania, and South Asia that are giving OLPC is real successes. And to discount, or outright abandon them, is foolish," Vota wrote.
OLPC officials did not comment on removal of the "Give a School" program, but President and Chief Operating Officer Chuck Kane said OLPC is committed to small-scale deployments. "Would you like to purchase 1,000 computers and change the world?" Kane asked in an e-mail.
He did not provide further comment.
Rumors of OLPC's change of focus started after a message on OLPC's Web site said the nonprofit removed the Give a School program to refocus its efforts on larger deployments.
The authenticity of the e-mail could not be verified, but the Give a School program has been removed by OLPC, which led to concerns among observers.
A program for donors to employ between 100 or more laptops for small-scale deployments, called "Give a School," has been removed from the participation page of the nonprofit's Web site. The nonprofit is now offering options to directly donate laptops or to make corporate purchases.
Designed for use by children in developing countries, the XO laptop has been praised for its innovative hardware features and environmentally friendly design. The Give a School program was defined as a "special program that allows donors to choose the country where the laptops go."
The change was first noted by Morgan Collett, who blogged about it. OLPC's changed focus could affect XO laptop deployments in South Africa that were purchased through the program, he wrote.
"This is a blow to future small deployments in South Africa, as we have over 600 XOs deployed in South Africa through this program with more that were planned," Collett wrote. A nonprofit organization was being set up to raise funds and coordinate deployments, but that will be to "no effect" unless laptops from other vendors are used, Collett wrote.
OLPC's grassroots focus through small deployments generate excitement for the nonprofit's larger efforts, wrote Wayan Vota, an OLPC observer in a blog entry on OLPC News.
"It's pilots that give us guidance for national rollouts. It's the OLPC movements in South Africa, Oceania, and South Asia that are giving OLPC is real successes. And to discount, or outright abandon them, is foolish," Vota wrote.
OLPC officials did not comment on removal of the "Give a School" program, but President and Chief Operating Officer Chuck Kane said OLPC is committed to small-scale deployments. "Would you like to purchase 1,000 computers and change the world?" Kane asked in an e-mail.
He did not provide further comment.
Rumors of OLPC's change of focus started after a message on OLPC's Web site said the nonprofit removed the Give a School program to refocus its efforts on larger deployments.
The authenticity of the e-mail could not be verified, but the Give a School program has been removed by OLPC, which led to concerns among observers.
E-Books Take Center Stage
New Amazon Kindle rumors and Google's e-book announcement help fuel e-reading furor.
It’s been over a year since the Amazon Kindle e-book reader was introduced. And the electronic-ink-based device--which in many ways has transformed the e-book category--has spent much of that time in high-demand: The Kindle was on backorder and sold out during the holidays. Today the Kindle remains on backorder at Amazon's site, by three to five weeks.
Rumor has it that the second-generation Kindle will be introduced at an Amazon event in New York on Monday. Last fall, images purported to be the Kindle 2 surfaced on The Boy Genius Report.
The first-generation Kindle cost $359--when you could buy it. “The Kindle has spurred much interest in the e-book category, not only because of its wireless capabilities, but also because it extends the footprint of Amazon nearly anywhere," notes Ross Rubin, NPD Group director of industry analysis. "It's been one of the first wirelessly connected consumer electronics products to offer fast connectivity at no end-user cost to the consumer.”
That connectivity--an integrated 3G cellular radio and Kindle’s free, Whispernet EvDO wireless connection provided in partnership with Sprint--allows immediate access to the Kindle store for on-demand e-book purchases. Plus, you can use Whispernet to subscribe to and receive blogs and RSS feeds, as well as to browse basic Web sites (text pages, not graphics-heavy sites, so it's handy for quick news and weather checks, or for Wikipedia lookups).
A second-generation Kindle has the opportunity to correct some of the design flaws of the first-gen model--it was too bulky, and handled PDFs and other document files less than gracefully--while making the device more competitive and appealing, given new competition.
Sony, for example, has added backlighting and a touch screen, on its slim second-generation Sony Reader Digital Book PRS-700BC. Meanwhile, Google announced that the 1.5 million public-domain books in its Google Book Search will be accessible via mobile handsets such as the Apple iPhone 3G and the T-Mobile G1. And Amazon has countered by saying that it is working on making Kindle e-book titles accessible on cell phones as well.
Cell phones could be the ultimate mobile e-book reader, by virtue of their portability and ubiquitous nature. “There's a relatively small market for a dedicated device for reading best-sellers, and we're seeing more development on e-book initiatives for the iPhone, with offerings such as Shortcovers and Zinio for the iPhone,” says Rubin. Add in the Google Book Search and Amazon mobile Kindle initiatives, and cell phones could become the next big platform for e-books, beyond the dedicated electronic-ink screens.
Rubin says that one area Amazon could potentially mine is that of electronic textbooks. “There's a tremendous opportunity for the first e-book provider that can tap into the textbook market,” he says. “At the appropriate price, that could transform these devices from frequent-flyer folios into a staple in the homes of students.”
It’s been over a year since the Amazon Kindle e-book reader was introduced. And the electronic-ink-based device--which in many ways has transformed the e-book category--has spent much of that time in high-demand: The Kindle was on backorder and sold out during the holidays. Today the Kindle remains on backorder at Amazon's site, by three to five weeks.
Rumor has it that the second-generation Kindle will be introduced at an Amazon event in New York on Monday. Last fall, images purported to be the Kindle 2 surfaced on The Boy Genius Report.
The first-generation Kindle cost $359--when you could buy it. “The Kindle has spurred much interest in the e-book category, not only because of its wireless capabilities, but also because it extends the footprint of Amazon nearly anywhere," notes Ross Rubin, NPD Group director of industry analysis. "It's been one of the first wirelessly connected consumer electronics products to offer fast connectivity at no end-user cost to the consumer.”
That connectivity--an integrated 3G cellular radio and Kindle’s free, Whispernet EvDO wireless connection provided in partnership with Sprint--allows immediate access to the Kindle store for on-demand e-book purchases. Plus, you can use Whispernet to subscribe to and receive blogs and RSS feeds, as well as to browse basic Web sites (text pages, not graphics-heavy sites, so it's handy for quick news and weather checks, or for Wikipedia lookups).
A second-generation Kindle has the opportunity to correct some of the design flaws of the first-gen model--it was too bulky, and handled PDFs and other document files less than gracefully--while making the device more competitive and appealing, given new competition.
Sony, for example, has added backlighting and a touch screen, on its slim second-generation Sony Reader Digital Book PRS-700BC. Meanwhile, Google announced that the 1.5 million public-domain books in its Google Book Search will be accessible via mobile handsets such as the Apple iPhone 3G and the T-Mobile G1. And Amazon has countered by saying that it is working on making Kindle e-book titles accessible on cell phones as well.
Cell phones could be the ultimate mobile e-book reader, by virtue of their portability and ubiquitous nature. “There's a relatively small market for a dedicated device for reading best-sellers, and we're seeing more development on e-book initiatives for the iPhone, with offerings such as Shortcovers and Zinio for the iPhone,” says Rubin. Add in the Google Book Search and Amazon mobile Kindle initiatives, and cell phones could become the next big platform for e-books, beyond the dedicated electronic-ink screens.
Rubin says that one area Amazon could potentially mine is that of electronic textbooks. “There's a tremendous opportunity for the first e-book provider that can tap into the textbook market,” he says. “At the appropriate price, that could transform these devices from frequent-flyer folios into a staple in the homes of students.”
Groups Push for Broadband Stimulus
The U.S. Congress should keep money for broadband deployment in a huge economic stimulus package, despite some calls to trim it out of the bill, representatives of three groups said Friday.
As the U.S. Senate debated cuts to a US$890 billion stimulus package, representatives of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the Communications Workers of America and Connected Nation, called on the Senate to keep funding for building broadband networks in rural and other underserved areas.
The Senate version of the economic stimulus package originally included $9 billion for broadband deployment, about $3 billion more than a House of Representatives' stimulus bill that passed Jan. 29. Late Friday, senators continued to debate their own stimulus bill, with several lawmakers calling for significant cuts in the spending package. One proposal would cut the broadband spending by $1.5 billion.
Money for broadband is important to help rural and some urban areas realize the economic and social benefits of broadband, said Raquel Noriega, director of strategic partnerships at Connected Nation, a nonprofit group focused on helping communities expand broadband deployment.
"I cannot see a better way" to stimulate the economy, she said during an ITIF forum on broadband stimulus in the U.S. Capitol.
Some groups have questioned whether there's a need for broadband deployment money in the bill. On Jan. 21, New York Times tech columnist Saul Hansell suggested that broadband providers would reach most of the nation without a large amount of stimulus money. Using new cable modem technology, the U.S. should be able to surpass other nations' broadband speeds, he wrote.
"As I look at it, the noise about a broadband gap is hooey," Hansell wrote. "With new cable modem technology becoming available, 19 out of 20 American homes eventually will be able to have Internet service that is faster than any available now anywhere in the world."
Hansell suggested the stimulus package should focus on unserved areas instead of spending tens of billions [b] of dollars to increase speeds in areas already served by broadband providers, as some groups have called for. "It is hardly clear that the country would get an adequate return from subsidizing what is essentially duplicate capacity," he wrote.
Berin Szoka, a fellow at conservative think tank the Progress and Freedom Foundation, also questioned how the government will be able to gauge the effectiveness of any stimulus money for broadband. He suggested the broadband stimulus is "corporate welfare" in a Jan. 20 blog post.
"How would one actually evaluate the efficacy of any proposed government intervention?" Szoka wrote. "As difficult as it is to predict the unintended consequences of intervention, it's even more difficult to do so in high-tech sectors of the economy, where the rate of change is particularly rapid."
But stimulus money will be needed to reach that last 5 percent to 10 percent of U.S. residents who don't have access to broadband, said Robert Atkinson, ITIF's president. Many of those people are in rural areas where broadband providers have been reluctant to provide service because of the cost per customer, he said.
"You can't make the money back at $35 a month," he said. "The numbers don't work."
Atkinson called on Congress to approve a mixture of tax cuts and grants to help broadband providers expand service. While a grant program would take time to set up, tax cuts would encourage providers to expand their networks almost immediately, he said.
He also called on Congress to get rid of open access and net neutrality requirements, as well as speed requirements, in the House version of the stimulus package. The House bill would require the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to define open access rules, and those rules could potentially include requirements for broadband providers to share their networks with competitors, he said.
Proponents of the open access rules say they're needed to keep broadband providers from blocking or slowing access to some Web content. But Atkinson said those requirements could drive away broadband providers from accepting stimulus money. With the requirements in place, "you'll see very little take-up of the grants," he said.
As the U.S. Senate debated cuts to a US$890 billion stimulus package, representatives of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the Communications Workers of America and Connected Nation, called on the Senate to keep funding for building broadband networks in rural and other underserved areas.
The Senate version of the economic stimulus package originally included $9 billion for broadband deployment, about $3 billion more than a House of Representatives' stimulus bill that passed Jan. 29. Late Friday, senators continued to debate their own stimulus bill, with several lawmakers calling for significant cuts in the spending package. One proposal would cut the broadband spending by $1.5 billion.
Money for broadband is important to help rural and some urban areas realize the economic and social benefits of broadband, said Raquel Noriega, director of strategic partnerships at Connected Nation, a nonprofit group focused on helping communities expand broadband deployment.
"I cannot see a better way" to stimulate the economy, she said during an ITIF forum on broadband stimulus in the U.S. Capitol.
Some groups have questioned whether there's a need for broadband deployment money in the bill. On Jan. 21, New York Times tech columnist Saul Hansell suggested that broadband providers would reach most of the nation without a large amount of stimulus money. Using new cable modem technology, the U.S. should be able to surpass other nations' broadband speeds, he wrote.
"As I look at it, the noise about a broadband gap is hooey," Hansell wrote. "With new cable modem technology becoming available, 19 out of 20 American homes eventually will be able to have Internet service that is faster than any available now anywhere in the world."
Hansell suggested the stimulus package should focus on unserved areas instead of spending tens of billions [b] of dollars to increase speeds in areas already served by broadband providers, as some groups have called for. "It is hardly clear that the country would get an adequate return from subsidizing what is essentially duplicate capacity," he wrote.
Berin Szoka, a fellow at conservative think tank the Progress and Freedom Foundation, also questioned how the government will be able to gauge the effectiveness of any stimulus money for broadband. He suggested the broadband stimulus is "corporate welfare" in a Jan. 20 blog post.
"How would one actually evaluate the efficacy of any proposed government intervention?" Szoka wrote. "As difficult as it is to predict the unintended consequences of intervention, it's even more difficult to do so in high-tech sectors of the economy, where the rate of change is particularly rapid."
But stimulus money will be needed to reach that last 5 percent to 10 percent of U.S. residents who don't have access to broadband, said Robert Atkinson, ITIF's president. Many of those people are in rural areas where broadband providers have been reluctant to provide service because of the cost per customer, he said.
"You can't make the money back at $35 a month," he said. "The numbers don't work."
Atkinson called on Congress to approve a mixture of tax cuts and grants to help broadband providers expand service. While a grant program would take time to set up, tax cuts would encourage providers to expand their networks almost immediately, he said.
He also called on Congress to get rid of open access and net neutrality requirements, as well as speed requirements, in the House version of the stimulus package. The House bill would require the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to define open access rules, and those rules could potentially include requirements for broadband providers to share their networks with competitors, he said.
Proponents of the open access rules say they're needed to keep broadband providers from blocking or slowing access to some Web content. But Atkinson said those requirements could drive away broadband providers from accepting stimulus money. With the requirements in place, "you'll see very little take-up of the grants," he said.
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