PayPal Mobile app leak

App of the online payment service PayPal has a big hole on both the iPhone and Android phones. It is not the only betalingsapp with a leak.

PayPal has already made an update to his app, and submitted to the respective app stores. Users who have new, safe version can download, sign up to the Wall Street Journal. To the extent that PayPal knows, the hole is not abused. It promises 100 percent reimbursement fraud.

Phishing
The leak is a basic error: the betalingsapp not verify the certificate from the PayPal server is valid. This enables users to be redirected to a spoof, to secure their login information for PayPal booty. "This is really a huge mistake by PayPal," said lead researcher Andrew High of viaForensics, the company that this leak has discovered.

The Wall Street Journal reports that it is possible for payments to listen and thus to intercept user names and passwords. According to PayPal can only under rare circumstances, through an unsecured WiFi network where an attacker, therefore it just must be connected. The possibility of phishing spoof sites through communication, however, undermines this lulling.

Password
Furthermore, abuse of this vulnerability, possible on the iPhone. Android Smartphones are not vulnerable. Yet PayPal has its app for mobile operating system that is also updated. It is unknown what the status of the PayPal app for Blackberry.

On the website is to find no mention of the new version and the need for updating. PayPal is praised as the security of its mobile apps with the message that "any payment is confirmed by a password.

The iPhone app PayPal according to the company about 4 million times since that app was released in April this year. The updated version (3.0.1) is already available in the iTunes App Store. The online payment service expects mobile payments this year totaling some 700 million U.S. dollars amounts.

More Apps leak
Meanwhile prove more apps for mobile payment to contain leaks. viaForensics has several apps reviewed and gaps in discovery. These mobile payment applications of the large U.S. banks: Bank of America, USAA, Chase, Wells Fargo, TD Ameritrade and Vanguard. Several of these institutes have been update for their apps.

viaForensics has informed the banks before it went public with his discoveries. "Since Monday (November 1, 2010), we communicate and work together with financial institutions to eliminate these errors," the company said in a blog post yesterday. "The discoveries that we have published, the impact of testing we on November 3 or so. " The company, the new versions of the apps are also screening.

iPhone table with 58 inch screen

The iPhone is using a cable connected to the Connect Table. In addition, the unit currently gejailbreaked to a specific app to run. In the movie shows the Table Connect team, however, hinted that in future no longer necessary. How the system will work in the future is unclear. The table has multi-touch features, so you can do whatever you normally do well on the iPhone. Think swipe, but also to zoom in and out through your fingers together or apart to move.

Connect the Table is unfortunately only for iPhone 3G and 4. This is according to the team with the processor of the original iPhone and iPhone 3G. This is simply too slow to well with the Table Connect to cooperate.

Cheer also not too early. It is possible that the Connect Table was a hoax. It fell Macworld reader Davasc that on the iPhone on the movie with the little finger when you turn off iPhone app is started. In addition, the website of Connect Table is very little information and is hosted by Blogger.


The demonstration of the prototype of the Connect Table

Android Market Crosses 1 Lakh Applications

Almost two years since Android Market went live, Google's proprietary mobile OS has achieved a significant feat. More than 1 lakh applications are now available in the Android Market. Google announced this through the Android Developer Twitter account. This feat notwithstanding, Google is still behind rival Apple, which has almost thrice as many iOS applications available in its application store. The Android milestone is nonetheless significant, because it's the only viable competitor to those seeking a more open source alternative to Apple's offerings.

With increasing number of devices, ranging from smartphones to tablets, flooding the market, the future looks bright for Android. The extent of this success still hinges on Google's ability to maintain a synergy between the large array of devices sharing the Android platform, and the effectiveness of the upcoming 7-inch tablets.

Ozzie's 'doomsday' memo warns Microsoft of post-PC days

Computerworld - Departing Microsoft executive Ray Ozzie's just-published memo is a "doomsday-ish" missive that calls on the company to push further into the cloud or perish, an industry analyst said today.

Ozzie, who replaced Bill Gates as Microsoft's chief software architect in 2006, is leaving the company, although Microsoft has not disclosed the date of his departure.
His "Dawn of a New Day" memorandum, which was dated Oct. 28, is an attempt to focus Microsoft's attention on the day when PCs no longer rule consumer or business computing, said Wes Miller, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, the Kirkland, Wash. research firm that specializes in tracking Microsoft.
Miller worked for Microsoft from 1998 to 2004, in both the MSN and Windows groups.


"If you do a tag cloud of the memo, you'll see he rarely mentions the words 'PC' or 'Windows,'" said Miller, talking about the visual representation of a document's or Web site's content. "The words that are most prominent are 'devices' and 'services,' and shows that Ozzie believes the future will revolve around connected devices and continuous services."
In a nutshell, continued Miller, Ozzie's memo spells out the time when the PC -- the foundation of Microsoft's 35-year-old business, particularly its lucrative Windows franchise -- has been replaced by a slew of simple, low-cost devices that are constantly connected to the Internet, and through that, to cloud-based services.
"There's one key difference in tomorrow's devices," wrote Ozzie. "They're relatively simple and fundamentally appliance-like by design, from birth. They're instantly usable, interchangeable, and trivially replaceable without loss."
The communique is in many ways reminiscent of the one Ozzie published in 2005 shortly after joining Microsoft, in which he warned that the firm needed to jump on the cloud. And it's a continuation of what he's tried to do at Microsoft since.
"Ray has become synonymous with connected collaboration and the cloud," Miller argued, citing Azure as Ozzie's biggest success at Microsoft. "He's fought the valiant fight at Microsoft, but he's saying the company needs to continue investing in the cloud."
While Ozzie acknowledged rivals' successes in moving toward his world view, he didn't name names. "Our early and clear vision notwithstanding, their execution has surpassed our own in mobile experiences, in the seamless fusion of hardware & software & services, and in social networking & myriad new forms of Internet-centric social interaction," Ozzie said.
He didn't have to use the words "Apple" or "Google" or "Facebook" to get his message across to Microsoft's executives, said Miller. "They know who he's talking about."


Ozzie's note seemed "doomsday-ish" to Miller, but the concern is warranted. "He's telling Microsoft that it needs to look forward or you're not going to own the market in the future," Miller said. "He's trying to get Microsoft to start thinking about a day when the hegemony of Windows is a thing of the past."
To do that, Ozzie said Microsoft must stress simplicity over complexity, and essentially said that the 25-year-old Windows and its surrounding ecosystem was an example of the latter.
"Complexity kills," said Ozzie. "Complexity sucks the life out of users, developers and IT. Complexity makes products difficult to plan, build, test and use. Complexity introduces security challenges. Complexity causes administrator frustration."
Miller agreed. "Microsoft needs to focus on simplicity," he said.
But turning around Microsoft won't be easy. It's a huge company, with revenues and inertia to match.
"My frustration is that it's a big ship, and the velocity with which the boat is going will make it hard," Miller said. "You're talking about competing with companies that are, if not out-innovating Microsoft, then out-pacing them."
It's unlikely Ozzie's words came as a surprise to people at the top of Microsoft's organization chart. "This may be the last chance for Ray Ozzie to make his thoughts known, but I think he's said this internally for a long time. It fits with everything he's been doing at Microsoft," Miller said.
Miller was hopeful that Ozzie's words would find fertile ground. "My hope is that it brings some soul searching to Microsoft," Miller said. "I can't imagine someone at Microsoft not walking away from this without thinking that Ray's right."
But he was also realistic. "From my time at Microsoft, it totally depends on the individual executive whether this is accepted," he concluded.

Android continues to grow, others lose their share.

Android shows no sign of slowing down. For the three months ended July 31 Android smartphone platform just to show growth. Palm remained, while Apple, Microsoft and RIM have all seen decreases.

ComScore latest report covers the period May, June and July 2010. During this time, Apple announced the iPhone 4 and although it was a huge commercial success, that a phone with an American carrier to limit its growth. Many sales of the fourth generation of existing iPhone owners are upgrading. That revenue from Apple, but nothing that the market share of the iPhone.

The fifth-generation iPhone could come with a spirit that appears when you rub it and give you three wishes, and there are still people who do not pass the network to AT & T's. Apple has dropped 25.1 per cent stake to 23.8 percent. Because the smartphone market grows, it shows that whatever the growth of the iPhone knows, it does not follow the general market.

Google's Android platform has passed Microsoft's Windows Mobile. This is not new information, but it is the first time this has happened in the rotation period of three months, indicating that the trend is real. Microsoft shares within three months ended in April was 14 percent, just before Google's 12 percent. Now the tables have changed. Microsoft has 11.8 percent, while Google grew 17 percent.

RIM, of course, strongly upward. with a share of 39.3 percent but has declined steadily. No data called again with BlackBerry 6.0 is included in this study.

Some of you may remember the recent news that Android was much higher in the standings. These surveys are usually based on data from NPD, which is only seen in retail sales. ComScore data channels appear to include wholesale and enterprise.

Surprisingly, the Palm WebOS remained stable, even if your operating system getting a little long in the tooth compared to the smartphone standards. It is a year and caused a sensation in the relatively small market when it was released exclusively on Sprint's network. Branch to AT&T and Verizon has obviously helped them remain stable.

Relations within the next six years have been a lot of new faces on it. WebOS launch of Windows 2.0 Phone 7, which Microsoft is a complete reboot of the BlackBerry platform and 6.0 included in the data.

Microsoft: No tethering on Windows 7 Phone

Although Microsoft manager Brandon Watson says that Windows 7 Phone use as modem supports, is now officially denied: no tethering.

Microsoft creates confusion or Windows 7 Phone enables 3G Internet looped to a laptop through the mobile as a modem. Earlier this week reported Brandon Watson, Director of Developer Experience Phone for Windows 7, it is possible, but not enabled by default.

Tethering or not
"It is the operators to turn it on, but it is certainly possible. They will not do. Well, you must have your operator partners to keep friends, but your cell phone manufacturer partners," said Watson in a podcast.
Some draw hope from these statements, but now Microsoft's officialstatement: no support for tethering. However, it seems that this last statement above is not to create expectations about tethering, but the OS is supported in principle. That is basically the same policies that Apple has the iPhone: it can, but the operator must turn.

Abuse
The decision of Watson will be fodder for hackers to unlock tethering functionality itself. However, this is probably root access, and that is no easy task, as Microsoft has significantly 7 Phone boarded up, says Watson. [Rooting] is very difficult to do, if not impossible. But people will try. "
Almost all operators in their terms prohibit tethering, but most take little against the practice. Recently, the small group who do tethering of the operators blamed the debt. Because they are deprived excessive data, see eg KPN and Vodafone was forced to enter a data limit.

No flash, no Skype
Android smartphones tethering easier, for example an app like PdaNet. Tethering in Android 2.2 is installed as standard. Watson also confirmed the earlier news that Windows 7 Phone (yet) running Flash. At launch there will be no Skype app are supported.

Dell CEO shows 7-inch Streak tablet

Michael Dell flashed a 7-inch version of its Android-based Streak tablet at Oracle OpenWorld...but offered no real details.

Dell is apparently working on evolving its Android-based Streak tablet: at the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco, Dell CEO Michael Dell flashed a 7-inch version of the device, which is currently available with a 5-inch display. However, Dell offered no other hard details about the device, including important information like price, availability, and whether Dell still envisions tablet devices serving as fully-functional phones.

A 7-inch version of the Dell Streak might make the device more competitive with the Apple iPad. Although numerous consumer device manufacturers are aiming at the tablet market with Android-based devices aimed at the end-of-year holiday buying season, so far the Apple iPad—with its high prices and 9.7-inch display—largely stands alone in the consumer tablet market. However, the Dell Streak has been given a lackluster reception by consumers, who note the device isn’t really big enough to serve as a full-fledged entertainment device or a notebook replacement for people on the go, but with a 5-inch display is too large to make a convenient phone.

At Oracle OpenWorld, Dell announced an expansion of its Dell Services Oracle Practice, which provides infrastructure support to enterprises and other large organizations with significant Oracle installations internationally.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab a 'litmus test' for the tablet market: Ovum

Samsung's Android-powered Galaxy Tab will be a "litmus test" for the tablet market, according to analyst firm Ovum.

Ovum analyst Tony Cripps said that the reception of the Galaxy Tab will "tell us a great deal about the likely future development of the still embryonic tablet market". "Many questions remain. Answers to these questions will only really start to be answered later in the year, by which time the Galaxy Tab, Dell Streak, and Apple iPad will have been joined by an array of variations on the tablet theme, by multiple vendors, and right across the price spectrum. In the meantime, devices such as Samsung's Galaxy Tab are providing the perfect litmus test for the tablet market's prospects."

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is smaller than the iPad, and may prove to be more accessible for users who are on the go as a media consumption device.

"With its little brother the Samsung Galaxy S Android smartphone smartphone already selling well and demand for the iPad running high, it is not unreasonable to expect the scaled-up version [Galaxy Tab] to also ship in significant volume."

Mixed messages from Google: is Android ready for tablets?

Google's Android mobile operating system was designed for smartphones, but it is increasingly being adopted by consumer electronics companies to power a range of new devices, including tablets and e-book readers. As we discovered when we looked at some of the upcoming Android tablet products a few months ago, the platform isn't natively suited for the tablet form factor and will need some refinement in order to deliver a top-notch user experience on devices that aren't smartphones.

Google mobile products director Hugo Barra recently acknowledged this issue in a statement to TechRadar. He says that Android 2.2, codenamed Froyo, is simply not designed for the tablet form factor. He also commented that the Android Market won't be available on tablets that deviate too far from the conventional Android user experience, because such devices won't be able to properly run Android applications.

Google's Android compatibility definition, which describes the mandatory hardware and software features that a product has to support in order to ship with the Android Market, poses challenges for tablet vendors because it stipulates some hardware requirements that may not be practical for tablets—such as requiring devices to have a built-in camera and GPS. As we explained earlier this year, the purpose of such requirements in the compatibility definition is to protect the platform from fragmentation by ensuring that devices which are intended to run third-party software share a baseline level of functional and behavioral compatibility.

A problem that has emerged as Android is expanding to new form factors is that it may be difficult in some cases to adapt the platform to work well on non-smartphone devices without falling afoul of the compatibility definition. Despite the challenges, some vendors like Samsung are building compelling tablet-sized Android products that conform with Google's requirements. As TechRadar points out, this works because the Samsung Galaxy Tab is basically an oversized phone rather than a conventional tablet.

An odd twist in the Android compatibility story is the fact that upcoming products based on the Google TV platform will be able to run Android applications despite the fact that such devices won't even come close to fitting within the constraints of the Android compatibility definition. One one hand, we have a radically new set-top form factor that will supposedly run Android applications, and on the other hand, we have a Google product director saying that Android isn't a good fit for non-smartphone devices and that those devices may pose insurmountable application compatibility challenges in some cases.

Google open source and compatibility program manager Dan Morrill recently weighed in on this issue on the official Android Developers blog. Although Google's official Android documentation on supporting multiple displays doesn't even address sizes that are larger than four inches, he says that existing applications generally behave properly on larger screens. He also says that it won't be difficult for developers to make custom layouts that will allow applications to take advantage of the extra space when it's available.

In his view, the challenge posed by the Google TV product and other radically different form factors can be overcome if developers simply specify Android Market filters in their application's manifest file. This will cause their applications to only show up in the Market on devices that are capable of supporting all of the application's functionality. An application that relies on SMS and the camera, for example, could simply be excluded from the Android Market on Google TV.

"You can use our built-in tools to handle these cases and control which devices your app appears to in Android Market. Android lets you provide versions of your UI optimized for various screen configurations, and each device will pick the one that runs best," he wrote. "Android Market will make sure your apps only appear to devices that can run them, by matching those features you list as required (via tags) only with devices that have those features."

This approach will work, but it will create a certain kind of fragmentation that the Android compatibility definition was intended to prevent. Despite Google's efforts to ensure hardware uniformity between devices, it seems like fragmentation is inevitable. What is most puzzling is the lack of consistency in Google's message about Android on non-smartphone form factors.

It's possible that Android 3.0 will bring solutions to some of these problems. There are already rumors circulating that it will boost tablet support and be better suited for non-phone form factors. If Google's compatibility program can evolve to function as effectively for new devices as it has for smartphones, we could see Google's little robot show up in a lot more places.

Google and Adobe may dissolve iPhone

Google and Adobe are very pleased with the easier terms for Apple iPhone and iPad developers . Adobe Flash blows its IOS - to- tool and Google's new life in AdMob may continue .

Yesterday Apple unexpected changes in the conditions it imposes on developers of IOS apps for iPhone and iPad . Dutch development studio prices changeBut remain skeptical at the same time , partly because of the vague formulations that Apple uses .

Antitrust Investigation
But the big news is that Adobe and Google now think they have free rein . The previous version of the conditions closed development software from Adobe with Flash via a conversion tool ( Packager ) makes apps for IOS . Apple also banned , while revealing his own IAD , other mobile ad brokers " not neutral " were, because they have such a rival mobile OS . This Apple threatened Google's mobile advertising platform AdMob to ward off the iPhone and iPad , though still not an effective blockade come .

The measures led to much controversy and even the U.S. market watchdog FTC launched an antitrust investigation. Under this pressure, now let Apple reins , to the delight of Adobe and Google.

No Flash in browser
"We will again continue to develop this feature for future releases , Welcomes Adobe. " This is fantastic news for developers , we get reports that Packager apps already admitted to the App Store. We point out however that Apple 's restrictions on Flash in the browser IOS still in force. "

AdMob can
Google also blogs relieved that AdMob , which last year 750 million U.S. dollars paidAt IOS can stay. "Unlike the previous version , the new terms give Apple developers can choose from different ad platforms (including Google 's AdMob ) to monetize their apps . [ ... ] We are pleased that Apple has clarified its terms . "

Forgetful Facebook fanatics can remotely kill their other sessions

Forgetful Facebook users and wannabe-burglars can now rest a little easier at night knowing that they can remotely log themselves out if they accidentally left logged-in sessions in other locations. Facebook users will soon be able to see where else they might be logged on, adding another layer of security to the social networking service.

Some of you may know the scenario all too well: you log into your Facebook account at your friend's place or your parents' house to check an event page or post a quick update. Then you forget to log out before you leave, which you realize after your friend has posted 30 penis photos to your profile wall. If you think this doesn't really happen, think again: members of the Ars staff are constantly finding logged-in Facebook accounts at places like the Apple Store, and we aren't always able to resist the temptation to post a (polite, but) embarrassing update to the user's profile, reminding them to log out next time.

You'll be able to go to Account > Account Settings > Account Security in order to see which devices are currently logged into Facebook as you. (The feature is slowly rolling out to all users, so it may not be available on every account just yet.) There, Facebook will provide a list of active sessions along with as much device and location info as it can gather.

You then get the choice to "end" each session by logging it out, and there are extra steps you can take if those sessions aren't your own doing. "In the unlikely case that someone accesses your account without your permission, you can shut down the unauthorized login before resetting your password and taking other steps to secure your account and computer," the Facebook team wrote on its blog.

This update follows one from earlier this year that allows Facebook users to authenticate each device they want to use to log into their accounts. When someone tries to log into a locked-down account on a new device, Facebook will ask a series of questions to ensure the user is who she says she is. And, Facebook says these features are just the beginning: "Stay tuned over the coming weeks and months for more improvements," says Facebook.

O2 UNVEILS IPHONE 4 EARLY UPGRADE OFFER

O2 has revealed details of its 'Early Upgrade Offer' that will allow its customers whose existing mobile contract has not yet expired to get their hands on aniPhone 4.

Apple's latest smartphone was unveiled by Steve Jobs this week at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
The new handset, which features an all-new design, has "well over 100 new features" including an HD screen, video calling, a gyroscope, a new iMovie app and countless other upgrades.

O2, along with Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile will be offering the handset in the UK from June 24.
O2 said that instead of paying off the remaining contract in full, it would let its customers that wanted to take out a new iPhone 4 contract, pay a one-off charge based upon a £20 per month fee for each full month left to run on the contract.
However, none of the UK networks have yet revealed pricing details for the handset.
O2 customer interested in upgrading can visit the network'sdedicated upgrade web page and enter their upgrade date to get an estimate as to how much the one-off charge will be.
However, the network did say the scheme could not be used in conjunction with an early upgrade eligibility that might already exist.
O2 customers looking to get their hands on the iPhone 4 might want to consider making use of O2's mobile phone recycling scheme.
Under the scheme, O2 will pay a cash sum into your bank in exchange for your old mobile phone and battery.
Those looking to recycle a 16GB Apple iPhone 3G can get their hands on £173, which O2 customers could use to extract themselves from their current contract and even leave enough left over to pay the expected handset charge.
However, we have noticed the cash sum is decreasing daily, so users will need to recycle their handset quickly.

For more information see the Apple Web site.
For more information see the O2 Web site.

Cyber War: Microsoft a weak link in national security

"Microsoft has vast resources, literally billions of dollars in cash, or liquid assets reserves. Microsoft is an incredibly successful empire built on the premise of market dominance with low-quality goods."

Who wrote those lines? Steve Jobs? Linux inventor Linus Torvalds? Ralph Nader? No, the author is former White House adviser Richard A. Clarke in his new book, Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It.

It has been a few months since Clarke's latest opus appeared, but it's still making quite a splash. Clarke, after all, was the guy who repeatedly warned the White House about Al Qaeda before September 11, 2001. As a result, he has quickly become the most publicly identifiable person on the subject.

"While it may appear to give America some sort of advantage," Cyber War warns, "in fact cyber war places this country at greater jeopardy than it does any other nation." The enormous dependence of our financial and energy networks on the 'Net open us up to potentially devastating online attacks. "It is the public, the civilian population of the United States and the publicly owned corporations that run our key national systems, that are likely to suffer in a cyber war."

Large scale movement

Clarke takes readers through various famous cyberwar incidents, most notably the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on Estonia back in 2007, but how bad could such events really get?

The hypothetical answer is on page 64. There Clarke deputizes you as Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and takes you through a scenario of doom. The National Security Agency has just sent a critical alert to your BlackBerry: "Large scale movement of several different zero day malware programs moving on Internet in US, affecting critical infrastructure."

But by the time you get your office, one of the DoD's main networks has already crashed; computer system failures have caused huge refinery fires around the country; the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control center in Virginia is collapsing, and the hits just keep coming.

"The Chairman of the Fed just called," the Secretary of the Treasury tells you. "Their data centers and their backups have had some sort of major disaster. They have lost all their data." Power blackouts are sweeping the country. Thousands of people have already died. "There is more going on," Clarke narrates, "but the people who should be reporting to you can't get through."

File under fiction

Clarke's book has gotten tons of play with this sort of stuff—check out, for example, the scary interview he did with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air. But little of it impresses his critics.

"File under fiction," begins Ryan Siegel's review over at Wired. "Like in real war, truth is the first casualty." Siegel warns that the tome is based on hypothetical scenarios (see above) or alarmist and inaccurate rehashings of various cyber emergencies. Plus, we note the book has no references or index.

Ditto, says Evgeny Morozov in the Wall Street Journal. "We do not want to sleepwalk into a cyber-Katrina," he writes, "but neither do we want to hold our policy-making hostage to the rhetorical ploys of better-informed government contractors." Clarke is one of four partners in the Good Harbor Consulting security firm.

But even his detractors acknowledge that some of Clarke's broad arguments make sense—most notably his warning that the Pentagon can't assume that the energy and financial sectors will effectively defend themselves from cyber attacks. 

"At the beginning of the age of cyber war," Clarke ruefully notes, "the US government is telling the population and industry to defend themselves."

Money talks

Why has the national response to this problem been so slow? Lack of consensus on what to do and fear of the "R-word"—government regulation, Clarke contends. Then there's Reason Number Five on his list, which basically boils down to "Microsoft."

"Some people like things the way they are," Clarke obliquely observes. "Some of those people have bought access." Microsoft, he notes, is a prominent member of OpenSecrets.org's "Heavy Hitters" political donor list. Most of the list's stars are trade associations. "Microsoft is one of only seven companies that make the cut."

The software giant's largesse has shifted from Republicans back in the Clinton antitrust days to Obama, he continues, but the agenda is always clear: "Don't regulate security in the software industry, don't let the Pentagon stop using our software no matter how many security flaws it has, and don't say anything about software production overseas or deals with China."

Clarke tries to be fair. He notes that Microsoft didn't originally intend its software for critical networks. But even his efforts at fairness are unflattering. Microsoft's original goal "was to get the product out the door and at a low cost of production," he explains. "It did not originally see any point to investing in the kind of rigorous quality assurance and quality control process that NASA insisted on for the software used in human space-flight systems."

But people brought in Microsoft programs for critical systems anyway. "They were, after all, much cheaper than custom-built applications." And when the government launched its Commercial Off-the-Shelf program (COTS) to cut expenses, Microsoft software migrated to military networks. These kind of cost cutting reforms "brought to the Pentagon all the same bugs and vulnerabilities that exist on your own computer," Clarke writes.

Floating i-brick

The former White House advisor cites the 1997 USS Yorktown incident as a consequence. The Ticonderoga-class ship's whole operational network was retrofitted with Windows NT. "When the Windows system crashed, as Windows often does, the cruiser became a floating i-brick, dead in the water."

In response to this "and a legion of other failures," the government began looking into the Linux operating system. The Pentagon could "slice and dice" this open source software, pick and choose the components it needed, and more easily eliminate bugs.

Clarke says that, in response:

[Microsoft] went on the warpath against Linux to slow the adoption of it by government committees, including by Bill Gates. Nevertheless, because there were government agencies using Linux, I asked NSA to do an assessment of it. In a move that startled the open-source community, NSA joined that community by publicly offering fixes to the Linux operating system that would improve its security. Microsoft gave me the very clear impression that if the US government promoted Linux, Microsoft would stop cooperating with the US government. While that did not faze me, it may have had an effect on others. Microsoft's software is still being bought by most federal agencies, even though Linux is free.

The company took a similarly hard line towards the banking and financial industry, Cyber War says, rebuffing access requests from security specialists for Microsoft code. When banks threatened to use Linux, Microsoft urged them to wait for its next operating system—Vista.

"Microsoft insiders have admitted to me that the company really did not take security seriously, even when they were being embarrassed by frequent highly publicized hacks," Clarke confides. Sure enough, when Apple and Linux began to offer serious competition, Microsoft upgraded quality in recent years. But what the company did first was to lobby against higher government security standards.

"Microsoft can buy a lot of spokesmen and lobbyists for a fraction of the cost of creating more secure systems," concludes Clarke's section on the software firm. "They are one of several dominant companies in the cyber industry for whom life is good right now and change may be bad."

Required to do so

Given the considerable amount of criticism Cyber War has come in for, we're not endorsing Clarke's nightmare version of Microsoft's history. And we're more than a little nervous about some of his prescriptions for "change." These include government rules ordering the big ISPs "to engage in deep-packet inspection for malware." 

Although these provisions should include high standards for privacy, "the ISPs must be given the legal protection necessary" so they won't fear being sued for stopping malware, viruses, DDOS attacks, and worms. "Indeed, they must be required to do so by new regulations," Clarke insists.

But many of the reviews and notices of Cyber War gloss over one of the principal observations of the book: the privatization of government over the last two decades may have saved cash but compromised the government's ability to defend crucial portions of America from big and small attacks on the 'Net. That's a concern that bears further discussion, whatever you think of Clarke's scary cyber stories.

Vision of 'a smart phone for everyone'

SINGAPORE : Samsung has launched its new flagship Galaxy S Android smart phone first in the Asia-Oceania region, with the aim of riding the wave of innovation in the Android platform and providing smart phones for every budget.

Speaking at the launch in Singapore, Gregory Lee, CEO of Samsung Southeast Asia and Oceania, said he was confident that the phone will be a major success thanks to Android now being the fastest-growing smart phone platform and the rich variety of applications available on the Android Market.

Samsung is all about open platforms which will help each country build in localisations.

The US and European launches will follow sometime in July. Lee said it was rare in the US for all carriers to launch the same phone at the same time, but all have already signed up for the Galaxy S.

In the region, Singtel, AIS, Telkomsel, Optus (and soon Maxxis) have signed up as launch partners.

''This is only the beginning of Samsung's approach to smart phones. We will soon offer smart phones for every price point aimed at every consumer in Southeast Asia,'' he said.

Winston Goh, Product Manager, ran though some of the highlights of the phone.

The Galaxy S is 9.9 millimetres slim and comes with the industry's most powerful CPU right now, running at 1 GHz. This does not come at a cost of battery life. Standby is 250 hours on 2G and 200 on 3G. With the radios off in flight mode, it is capable of showing video for seven hours.

''And when your battery runs out, you simply open it and put in another one. You don't need an engineer to change the battery,'' he said, taking a sideswipe at Apple's iPhone with its non-replaceable battery. Goh later said that the Galaxy S was not magic, but the result of hard engineering work, also taking a jab at Apple's ''magical'' iPad experience.

The Galaxy S is the second phone in Southeast Asia that comes with Samsung's new Super AMOLED display that offers stunning colours and, unlike earlier AMOLED designs, remains readable under direct sunlight.

Also present is Samsung's Swype keyboard, where words are written on an onscreen keypad without taking the user's finger off the screen. This input method, as used on the Samsung Omnia II, currently hold the Guinness world record for phone text input speed.

The Galaxy S runs Android 2.1 and features all the usual Android features, such as tight integration with social networking, gallery and video playback.

In addition it provides eBook capabilities, HD video playback and recording, DLNA (digital living network alliance) connectivity, ThinkFree office that can view and edit Microsoft Office 2007 documents, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi B/G/N and mobile access point (tethering) dhcapabilities.

It supports 7.2 MBPS down, 5.76 MBPS up on 3G networks and EDGE class 12.

Other applications included, for the Singapore market at least, was an e-Nets (debit card) application for e-commerce.

Google’s Hong Kong Back Door

Overnight in China, Google started redirecting users of its mainland Chinese search engine Google.cn to the uncensored, Hong Kong-based Google.com.hk, presenting a challenge to China’s control of the Internet.

Google’s latest move to offer unfiltered results to Chinese users represents the most prominent challenge to Chinese authorities in recent memory, particularly for a company that says it still wants to do business in China. The redirection of users to the Hong Kong site could be seen as compounding the offense since it is clearly based on the wider freedoms available in Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” policy.
The former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, maintains a separate legal system and has a free press. Google’s Hong Kong office is registered as a separate legal entity from its mainland China offices.

Google.hk offers many of the same services as Google.cn, as well as a simplified Chinese-language option (Hong Kong uses traditional Chinese characters). On the simplified Chinese home page of Google.hk, users are greeted with a message that reads: “Welcome to the new home of Google Search in China.” Users can also access Google’s free Chinese music download service through the Hong Kong site.
The Hong Kong government said Tuesday it doesn’t censor the content of Web sites and fully respects freedom of information. “There are no restrictions on access to Web sites, including Hong Kong-based Web sites, from China,” the government said in an e-mailed statement.
The question now is how long China will allow Google to continue to exploit the loophole offered by “one country, two systems.” Mainland authorities could easily revoke Google’s right to use the Google.cn domain name (as well as the related g.cn domain) and/or block access to the Hong Kong site, but beyond that, Google’s activities in Hong Kong are largely beyond their reach. This has made the city a haven for media outlets that take a critical stance toward the Chinese government, such as Jimmy Lai’s Next Media (publisher of Apple Daily) and the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia, as well as human rights groups and NGOs that focus on issues in China.
China’s response so far doesn’t offer much comfort. This morning, Xinhua news agency cited an official from the Internet bureau of the State Council Information Office slamming the U.S. Internet giant’s actions.
“Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service and blaming China in insinuation for alleged hacker attacks,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying. “This is totally wrong. We’re uncompromisingly opposed to the politicization of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conducts.”

:blogs.wsj.com

InVisage aims to remake camera sensor market

"With a tiny smartphone 3-megapixel sensor, we could make that a 12-megapixel sensor," said Chief Executive Jess Lee. "Or we could quadruple its sensitivity and ISO. That's the net benefit here." Higher sensitivity means photos that aren't as afflicted with the flecks of color that mean the sensor is capturing noise instead of what a person wants to photograph.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company is set to demonstrate its products at the Demo conference in Palm Springs, Calif., on Monday, coming out of stealth mode in the process. Specifically, it'll show images produced by a sensor whose pixels measure only 1.1 microns, or millionths of a meter, on edge.
Essentially, the technology works by adding a new finely tuned light-sensitive layer on top of the silicon chip, Lee said. That layer is more efficient at converting incoming light into electrical signals, and the light isn't partially blocked by a microprocessor's metallic layers, either.

Those who make camera sensors, including Panasonic, Sony, Canon, Micron Technologies spinoff Aptina Imaging, and OmniVision Technologies, have been working to snatch as many photons as possible that come through the camera lens. Among other things, they've reduced the size of circuitry that gets in the way of capturing light, thereby increasing the "fill factor" of each pixel; they've flipped the sensor design around so the circuitry doesn't get in the way of the silicon in an approach called back-side illumination; they've come up with "gapless" microlenses that gather light from one edge of the pixel to the other and focus it on the light-gathering area.

And those sensor makers have made steady progress. In particular, SLR cameras can shoot at ISO sensitivity settings as high as 102,400 in a couple cases. But SLRs use large, expensive sensors that don't fit in a mobile phone camera's physical housing or price constraints, and smaller sensors require some combination of fewer megapixels and smaller pixels with lower sensitivity.

InVisage believes its approach offers a much larger leap in improvement than the existing industry has come up with so far, and though it's aiming initially for high-end mobile phones, the technology will work on ordinary digital cameras, security cameras, and military night-vision systems as well, Lee said.

The company has ambitions to remake the image sensor market, but doing so isn't easy. Foveon, another Silicon Valley image sensor start-up, has had only niche success, for example. And it's going up against major chipmaking experts with established businesses.

Competitor OmniVision has 1.1-micron pixels, too, with its own partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), and said the process will work with sub-micron pixels as well.
InVisage has backing in the form of more than $30 million raised from RockPort Capital, Charles River Ventures, InterWest Partners, and OnPoint Technologies. It's got 30 employees to date and a manufacturing partnership with TSMC, as well.

And Lee argues InVisage has an advantage over incumbent powers: its technology doesn't require as advanced manufacturing equipment to make. OmniVision's 1.1-micron pixel sensor requires manufacturing equipment that can make features as small as 65 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, but InVisage's requires only 110-nanometer equipment, Lee said.

InVisage Executives include Lee, who previously was a vice president of OmniVision and also worked at Altera, Silicon Graphics, and Creative Labs; nanotechnology researcher and Chief Technology Officer Ted Sargent; and Marketing Director Michael Hepp, who worked at OmniVision as in product marketing and program management and also worked at National Semiconductor.

InVisage is starting with smartphones first because it's an established, high-volume market. "We're working with two top-tier handset manufacturers already," Lee said, declining to mention them by name.
The company will begin producing samples of its chips by the end of the year. With mass production typically taking six to nine months after that, people could start seeing them in products by mid-2011, Lee said.

:news.cnet.com

Viacom, Google air dirty laundry in court docs

Court filings released on Thursday in the bitter $1 billion copyright fight between Viacom and Google's YouTube show just how far apart the companies remain, as the 3-year-old case winds through federal court.
Viacom, in 108 pages of court documents, portrays YouTube's founders as reckless copyright violators who were far more concerned with increasing traffic to their site than obeying the law. Even executives at Google, which acquired YouTube for $1.7 billion in October 2006, questioned the ethics of building a site through questionable copyright practices, according to the Viacom filings.

But in the 100-page document filed by Google, perhaps not surprisingly, the search engine tells a different story. Viacom is painted as a media giant trying to play it both ways: demanding that YouTube take down videos even while third parties were uploading Viacom content on the entertainment giant's behalf. More intriguingly, the parent company of MTV and Paramount Pictures was at one point interested in acquiring the video-sharing site, according to the documents.
"We believe YouTube would make a transformative acquisition for MTV Networks/Viacom that would immediately make us the leading deliverer of video online, globally," according to an internal Viacom slide that Google filed with the court.
Interesting as the documents may be, it's not clear which side will benefit most from the disclosures. Google argues that it is protected by the safe-harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which says, in short, that if a Web site acts in good faith to take down copyrighted content as soon as it learns of it, and it has not benefited financially through advertising or other means, it is protected from a lawsuit. Viacom is attempting to pierce that protection by proving that YouTube employees, at the very least, knew of rampant copyright violations on their site and did little about it.
:news.cnet.com

Chrome Extension : Amazon Rocket

Amazon Rocket is access to popular products and Product cheap prices. Simple and fast as possible

download amazon rocket click

HTC Legend in April with Vodafone UK

The month of April seems to be a time of promise for the world Android in Europe, following news that the Nexus One will be marketed in April in England (and also in Italy), now check the news that the 'HTC Legend arrives on the shelves of United Kingdom in the same month.

The price in UK will be £ 399 from 12 April, probably in Italy will cost around € and 499. We recall that the 'HTC Legend is based on the Android operating system 2.1 Eclair, interface Sense of HTC, an optical joystick (instead of the trackball), a 5 megapixel camera and 3.2-inch AMOLED screen HVGA capacitive type.
Street: AndroidWorld.

Kindle: more than an e-book reader, it's a development platform

Last month we announced the forthcoming release of the Kindle Development Kit, a suite of programming interfaces, tools, and documentation that allows you to build active content that you can promote in the Kindle Store. I travel a lot, and I'm seeing more and more Kindles every time I fly. Kindle owners never hesitate to tell me how much they love their devices and its capabilities -- the long battery life, an easy-on-the-eyes display, an incredibly convenient form factor, the instant gratification of accessing and downloading new content on-the-go whenever something strikes their fancy. Now you, as a developer, can tap into this enthusiasm and create compelling active content.

Today we're pleased to announce open enrollment into the Kindle developer beta program. Read more about the program here and sign up here. We'll ask you to briefly describe your idea during the enrollment process. Enrollees receive information on how to download the development kit, how to receive support from us while you develop your project, and how to submit your finished project to the Kindle Store. The development kit includes a Kindle simulator (both 6" and 9.7") that works on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. You can also register up to three Kindle devices through the developer portal; the owners of those devices will receive invitations to download and test your active content.

The Kindle as a platform offers your customers a great user experience, including its large e-ink display and access to its always-connected wireless Whispernet with no monthly connectivity fees or contracts. The Kindle Store provides you wide exposure to make your active content discoverable and accessible to a very large community of enthusiasts. We're looking forward to seeing some great innovation!
: amazon.com

Twitter ‘LOL’ Phishing Attack Turns Into Spam Wave

Yesterday we wrote about a new phishing attack on Twitter, which lured unsuspecting users into giving away their Twitter credentials. The compromised accounts were then used to spread the attack further via direct messages containing text such as "lol, is this you", "Lol. this is me?", "lol , this is funny" etc.

IT security firm Sophos now has detailed info on the attacks and a video describing them, which we’ve embedded below.

After the first attack wave, however, the phishers are now using the compromised accounts to send out spam, which resulted in a huge amount of Viagra-related messages on Twitter (Twitter), which read something similar to this: "Get bigger and have sex longer. go here", followed by an address that leads to a sexual enhancement site.

Once again, if you see unusual messages (similar to the examples above) sent from your Twitter account, it may mean it has been compromised, and you should change your Twitter password immediately.



:mashable.com

Puma Phone pounces into action

BARCELONA, Spain--I think I just found my favorite phone (though the HTC Legend comes in a close second) of Mobile World Congress 2010 and it's from someone completely unexpected: Puma. Yes, the same Puma who makes the shoes, sportswear, and accessories.
OK, maybe I'm just a sucker for a cool gimmick but it's always nice to see something completely different like the Puma Phone. Plus, it looks to be quite a competent phone and it's apparent that the company put a lot of thought into the integrated features.
The handset itself is manufactured by Sagem and has a 2.8-inch, 240x320 capacitive touch screen and built-in solar charger on the back. The quad-band GSM device also includes Bluetooth, 3G, aGPS, and a 3.2-megapixel camera. All pretty standard for a full-feature phone, but it's the user experience that makes the Puma Phone different.
From the bright red background to the bold icons to the preloaded sports functions, the Puma Phone is designed to complement your lifestyle just as much as it is meant to be a communication device. There's a host of sports features, such as a run and bike tracker that takes advantage of the GPS capabilities. There's a built-in radio, a scratching turntable, social networking integration, and video calling. And it's all done with a cheeky and fun attitude. I mean, the phone has an on-demand digital puma named Dylan. Enough said.
Unfortunately, it looks like the Puma Phone will only be heading to Europe with an expected April ship date. If you like what you see, there's always a chance you buy the phone unlocked, but pricing information was not released at this time. For more about this cool cat, check out our hands-on photo gallery below.

: cnet.com

What Google needs to learn from Buzz backlash

Google's decision to use mostly internal testing before launching Google Buzz backfired: sure, the product didn't leak, but objections to its privacy policies were muted until it launched.

Credit: news.cnet.com

Disappointed with iPad, go for Adam

Disappointed with iPad, go for Adam: Are you one of those who got disappointed by Apple iPad? Then you can try your hand at Notion Ink’s ‘Adam’.

Indian company Notion Ink’s Adam runs on NVIDIA’s Tegra T20 chipset and Android. Has WiFi, Bluetooth and UMTS/HSDPA, A-GPS, a digital compass, accelerometer and proximity, ambient light and water sensors.

Supports 1080p Full HD video playback and is equipped with a 3-megapixel autofocus camera.

It measures 6.3 x 9.8 x 0.6 inches and weighs around 770 gms. It has 16GB or 32GB of onboard storage.

Pricing is under wraps as of now.

Google Broadband Move is Latest Case of Google Creep

Google Feb. 11 said it will build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in some locations across the U.S., hurtling Internet data at speeds of 1 gigabit per second, or more than 100 times faster than most residential broadband connections.
Google will offer this service to anywhere from 50,000 people to 500,000 people. Why would a search engine do this?
Because Google is not just a search engine anymore. It the premier proprietor of Web services and the sooner everyone acknowledges this, the easier it will be to grok Google.
Google says it does everything it does for the sake of organizing the world's information on the Web.
The company offers search to organize the Web's information. It leverages communications tools such as Gmail to let people e-mail each other and share other content via the Web through Google Buzz.
Google Voice lets users funnel calls to several phones via the Web.
Google tethers advertising to most of these services and Google's Nexus One and other Android devices are aimed at extending this empire to the mobile Web.
With $25 billion in the bank, the search engine also has the cash to branch out to the infrastructure parts of the Web, such as offering a Google Domain Name System.
Now Google wants to own some of the pipes that shuttle the massive chunks of data generated in these Web services to and from the computers and mobile devices we use.
Hence the broadband play, which has been in the works for years. Google's goals for this endeavor include:

• We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it's creating new bandwidth-intensive "killer apps" and services, or other uses we can't yet imagine.
• We'll test new ways to build fiber networks, and to help inform and support deployments elsewhere, we'll share key lessons learned with the world.
• We'll operate an "open access" network, giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we'll manage our network in an open, non-discriminatory and transparent way.

In a complementary post, Google's D.C. Telecom Guru Richard Whitt cited streaming high-definition video content, remote data storage, distance learning and real-time multimedia collaboration as some of the tasks 1 Gbps broadband will enable.
We should not be surprised. Anything that makes the Web work faster enables Google to consummate more search and Web services transactions. In this digital economy, more Web transactions translates to more advertising spend and more reward for the primary vector of that operation: Google.
While the FCC has come out in support of Google's endeavor, the nation's broadband providers aren't likely to be so kind of this latest case of Google Creep.
Google Creep is my term for the way Google is entering new markets, often with the stated goals to improve the way the Web works for users. Behind these statements of philanthropy lie the cool, precise model for making money from the Web.
Is Google taking over the world, and is that a leading question, as lawyers like to ask?
If you believe the world is run by information in this Information Age, and you accept that the Web is now the ultimate medium for delivering information in the Information Age then the answer is yes.
The Web by its nature wants to make information available to users rapidly and now Google is facilitating this effort from the starting point of broadband access to the search engine gateway, or the "middleman" to the extending Web service tendrils, such as Gmail, Google Voice, and in mobile.
Google is taking over the Web, in so far as the Web, which is open, can be taken over. Net-net, Google is gunning to control some of the pipes to protect its interests in making sure Internet service is better than anything average Joe Web user has at home.
If Google pulls this off, one could envision in five years Google serving consumers from soup to nuts, or its search and other Web services and mobile apps, from its own pipes.
This is fantastic and frightening at the same time. Some people will love the emergent Google World Order. Others loathe it, fearing a slow slide toward a Microsoft-like grip on the Web. Fear in Loathing in Mountain View, Calif.

Apple iPad: Is it for you?

Apple iPad

Police survey provides glimpse of Net-surveillance figures | Politics and Law - CNET News

A forthcoming survey of computer crime investigators suggests that electronic surveillance is a bit more commonplace than most people might expect.Even a relatively small group of 100 police working on online investigations reports submitting as many as 22,800 legal requests for information a year to Internet and e-mail providers, a category that includes both subpoenas and search warrants.CNET has reviewed a presentation scheduled to be given at a federal task force meeting on Thursday, which says that the survey respondents said they submitted a total of anywhere from 2,868 to 22,800 requests for information a year. (See one excerpt and another.)"Most Internet users do not realize how often the government is demanding personal information from companies, often without judicial oversight, and how often companies turn it over," says Nicole Ozer, technology director for the ACLU of Northern California. "Companies are refusing to disclose to the public how many demands they get. It appears that the government is demanding that Internet companies turn over so much personal information about users, so often, that companies can't keep up."No law requires that the number of subpoenas and search warrants sent to Internet and e-mail providers be made public. Federal law does require the disclosure of certain types of wiretaps--in 2004, for instance, there were 1,442 nonterrorism-related wiretaps, and only 4 percent targeted computers and electronic devices.Sixty-one of survey respondents reported that their investigations were "detrimentally" affected because data were not retained long enough, and 47 percent said they had to end an investigation because data were not retained. The survey was conducted in late October 2009. (In general, subscriber information such as billing addresses can be obtained with a subpoena, and content information such as the contents of an e-mail message can be obtained with a search warrant.)The survey, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, is part of a broader push from law enforcement agencies to alter the ground rules of online investigations. Other components include renewed calls for laws requiring Internet companies to store data about their users for up to five years, and a push for a national Web interface linking police computers with those of Internet and e-mail providers so requests can be sent and received electronically instead of via fax.The survey's author is Frank Kardasz, who is scheduled to present it at a meeting of the Online Safety and Technology Working Group, organized by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Kardasz, a sergeant in the Phoenix police department and a project director of Arizona's Internet Crimes Against Children task force, said in an e-mail exchange on Tuesday that he is still revising the document and was unable to discuss it.

Police survey provides glimpse of Net-surveillance figures | Politics and Law - CNET News

Apple seeks e-book pricing plan for tablet

Apple is in secret last-minute negotiations with book publishers over a new e-books pricing scheme for its highly anticipated tablet computer, putting it in direct competition with Amazon, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Apple wants publishers to create two new price points for e-books of best-sellers: $12.99 and $14.99, with some titles offered at $9.99, according to the report. As it does with iPhone apps, Apple is negotiating for a 30 percent take on the sales price, with publishers getting the other 70 percent, the Journal reported.
The move would put Apple in an open battle for the e-book sales crown with Amazon, which has slashed the prices of titles for its Kindle e-book reader, offering some best-sellers for free. Amazon has also announced the release of a software development kit for the Kindle, which will allow developers to build and eventually sell their own applications for the device, apparently opening a new front with Apple and its iPhone.
Apple and Amazon representatives did not immediately respond to request for comment.
When Apple allowed Amazon to develop a way for iPhone users to get access to Amazon's library of e-books, it appeared the company was ceding the mobile computing e-book market to Amazon. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has dismissed the e-book reader and market in general, declaring in 2008 that "people don't read anymore." However, Jobs is notorious for dismissing a new product or concept right up until the day Apple ships a similar product.
Apple has also been rumored to be jockeying to get a variety of media on the device, including TV content magazines, newspapers, music, games, and video. Publishers such as the New York Times Co., Conde Nast Publications, and HarperCollins Publishers have reportedly been approached over content deals, as well as TV networks such as CBS and Walt Disney over monthly subscription deals for the device, which is expected to be unveiled at an event Wednesday in San Francisco.
However, at least one books publisher isn't likely to be very welcome at the event. Terry McGraw, the chairman and CEO of McGraw-Hill apparently jumped the gun a bit during a CNBC interview, confirming that a device would be revealed Wednesday and that college textbooks would make an appearance on it. He also revealed that the device would be based on the iPhone operating system--the first named source offering actual confirmation of the operating system and specific content for the device.

news.cnet.com