Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is a big fan of smartphones running Google’s Android OS . . . and in some ways finds them superior to mobile phones running iOS. ”My primary phone is the iPhone. I love the beauty of it. But I wish it did all the things my Android does, I really do,” Woz told Dan Lyons. The both fascinating...
Microsoft is on a knife edge: It is developing a version of Windows that could ensure its continued success in the computer market — or it could completely cannibalize Microsoft’s profits and lead to the slow, painful, obsolescent death.
Windows 8, when you cut to the chase, is a tablet-oriented, touch-first skin on top of Windows 7. If you take into account the actual software stack and runtime, calling Metro a “skin” isn’t accurate at all, but as far as consumers and companies are concerned, that’s exactly what it is. There are two problems with this: First, if you already use Windows 7 — and hundreds of millions do — there is little reason to upgrade to Windows 8, much in the same way that everyone eschewed Vista and stuck with XP. Second, if everyone goes out and buys a Windows 8 tablet, Microsoft would collapse in a frothing fit of unprofitability.
You see, Windows 8 tablets, especially ARM variants, will be used almost exclusively in Metro mode — or, more accurately, tablet mode. At this point, Windows 8 ceases to be a “PC” operating system in the conventional sense of the word and enters a market that is dominated by Apple and Android and apps that cost between one and 10 dollars. On the desktop, Microsoft charges anywhere between $30 (OEMs) and $125 (retail box) for a Windows license, with the average being around $60. Android, by comparison, is free, and effectively so is iOS. A Microsoft Office license is even more costly, with an average price in the hundreds of dollars region. Mobile word processing apps like the iWork suite or Documents To Go, by comparison, cost just a few dollars.
Here’s the tricky bit: Microsoft has free or cheap alternatives to Windows and Office in the form of Windows Phone 7, Office Mobile, and Office Web Apps. For around $15, OEMs can license an operating system that has all of the major mobile computing components and is a direct analog of the cross-platform iOS — but it can only be used on smartphones. To put this into perspective, though, remember that Microsoft gets around $15 per smartphone, or between $30 and $300 per desktop or laptop. If we look at Microsoft’s 2011 profits of $23 billion, 57% came from its Windows division (Desktop & Server) and 65% from Business (Office) (The totals come to 122% because of internal adjustments, and because Bing currently loses more than a billion dollars per year.) Windows Phone 7 and Xbox are flecks of crud on Ballmer’s heel in comparison.
Microsoft, then, simply can’t afford to put Windows Phone 7 on its tablet “PCs.” If, during the next upgrade cycle, hundreds of millions of people bought WP7 tablets instead of Windows 8 tablets, Microsoft would lose billions of dollars and eventually go out of business. Microsoft is stuck between a rock and a hard place: It needs to be a serious competitor in the tablet market, but it simply can’t compete with Apple and Android in terms of cost, a problem that is exacerbated by Apple’s profits deriving from hardware rather than software. Remember the HP TouchPad? It was fatter, slower, and heavier than the iPad — but cost more. Windows 8 tablets, even if Microsoft cuts the margins on its cash cow franchises, cannot compete with iOS or Android on price — it’s as simple as that.
Fortunately, at least if you’re a Microsoft fan, there is a way out of this razor-sharp dichotomy. One method is for Microsoft to stick to its guns and call these Windows 8 tablets — whether they’re x86 or ARM — PCs. The inexorable cost difference between Windows 8 tablets and the competition will be ameliorated by the sheer awesomeness of being able to do anything with a portable slate. This is the route that Microsoft is currently taking, and given Ballmer’s painstakingly conservative efforts to milk Office and Windows for as long as possible it’s really the only feasible path.
There’s another option, though; one that would scare MS shareholders and the industry itself into a shocked stupor. Microsoft could buy out Nokia and create a beautiful Windows Phone 7 tablet. With the hardware and software both in-house, MS could compete with Apple on cost and production values. Furthermore, Microsoft could give up on the Metrofied Start screen and focus on making Windows 8 a first-class desktop-and-laptop enterprise-oriented OS. There would be a dip in Windows and Office licenses as consumers shift from PCs to their WP7 tablets, but Microsoft could mitigate that by offering more subscriber services. Think of Xbox Live and Xbox TV, but on your WP7 tablet. Instead of paying $300 for an Office license, think of paying $5 per month for oodles of SkyDrive space and access to both offline and online Office suites.
After almost 30 years of thundering ahead in the same direction, it would take cajones the size of cantaloupes to rock the Windows revenue boat — but at the same time, going full steam ahead and squeakily stipulating that Windows 8 tablets are PCs dammit! is a risky ploy as well. After all, if there has ever been a time when the definition — and fate — of PC s in question, it is now.
Well, the bells of inevitability are ringing far and wide across the electronic realm. And, this time the sonorous sound is that of net giant Google slowly but surely taking over the computing domain. In this respect, we should not actually limit Google as just a internet giant. Because it started out with its search engine, then made an efficient web browser (in the form of Chrome), and finally proceeded onto to create a slew of mobile OS versions in the form of Android. And if you thought, all of this was impressive, hear this out. Two years ago, the founding members of the start-up Mobile Facts already found out that one could actually utilize Android as a full fledged operating system in PCs.
Why are we talking about this?
This is indeed a crucial question, and in answer we are moving onto the seemingly ‘impenetrable’ fortress of Windows. It was just in 2010 that many of us got access to the BlueStacks App Player. In short, this free software nigh did the unbelievable; it allowed Android users to run their favorite apps on any Windows PC. The complete visualization lets us run a total of 10 pre-loaded applications in the Windows platform, including the more graphically demanding ones like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja. The app player also connected to the company’s Cloud Connect software for Android, which in turn allowed for the apps to be loaded onto the PCs (from their phones) through the cloud.
Now, the app we were harping about belongs to the annals of the previous year. But it was only in this year that many sources and analysts found out that the new version of Google’s software (supposedly Ice Cream Sandwich) is compatible with a plethora of our very own personal computers. According to a nigh momentous announcement by Google in September, ICS should be compatible with x86 chips (thus including both Intel and AMD). In terms of features, the ICS is touted to have a multitude of fascinating attributes like three dimensional control and face tracking. Now, envisage such convenient security features along with a wealth of apps in your very own desktop.
The impact
The clever folk from Mobile Facts took only about four hours to have the OS fully running (with all the basic hardware required) in their netbook (Asus Eee PC 1000H, in desktop Linux mode). Now, from an unbiased perspective these sudden spurts of coding exploits allude two major points. Firstly, the Android has always been an OS that would work with PCs. As a matter of fact, many among us tech enthusiasts can actually get it to work with a bit of time (and coding skill) in our hands. Secondly, and most importantly, with Google’s announcement this year, many of us consumers can look forth to a complete Android based OS on personal computers, along with Ice Cream Sandwich’s throng of apps. This becomes even more important in view of Google not so successful Chrome OS (which is based largely on an internet browser with access to apps), as opposed to the more ‘mass accepted’ Android platform.
Is the idea insane?
Most of us perceive the Android as an OS catering to smartphones (with already over 200 million Android devices being sold world wide). Now in relation to this, at the surface, the myriad of innovative coding and visualization exploits may all seem to a tad bit on the fantastic (or even insane) side. But, logically speaking, Android has always been a Linux component, and by generalization: a Linux can be shifted from one platform to the other. On the other hand, the Android code has some pretty interesting features in the form of its product policy. One of these features stand for specific usage regarding MIDs (or mobile internet devices). In relation to this revelation, a slew of devices like our aforementioned Asus Eee PC actually fall in this category.
Moreover, Microsoft has also talked about launching their Windows 8 in two versions – one for PCs and the other for tablets. So, at the end of the day, the Android running PC is not an utterly insane idea after all.
User perspective
There was a time when people looked up to iOS, not Android for their tablet OS woes. But now, with the more ‘collectively’ advanced ICS making its presence felt both in smartphones and tablets, Google has certainly tickled the fancies of many a user. With this wide acceptance comes consumer trust. So, I daresay, many of us would actually look forward to an Android PC, not as a complete replacement for Windows, but as an additional source of good UI with a wealth of apps.
The holidays can be incredibly stressful – cooking, shopping, decorating and, well, family.
Add to it the pets underfoot and your children complaining that they want to play on the Wii when grandpa wants to watch the Law and Order marathon on USA, and you have potential for a grumpy household.
So we decided to take a look at the projects here on Sourceforge that could help keep your children occupied over the holidays.
Whether you’re on Windows, Mac or Linux, there are many options. Something here is bound to be attractive to your kids and keep them interested for a while.
• As the mother of a kindergartner, I loved Tux of Math Command. It’s a form of one of my childhood favorites, Missile Command, where you answer math problems to prevent them from melting the igloos of penguins on the ground. I called my 5-year-old over to check it out and he got very excited, trying to add the numbers together as fast as his brain would allow, to save the penguins’ homes.
• Scrabble is always a good one to broaden your vocabulary. Scrabble3D allows you to play against your computer or against others on the game server. It’s only Windows and Linux at the moment, but has an experimental Mac OSX version. The board is configurable and it’s available in several languages, including Irish Gaelic and Swedish.
• Another old standby, Yahtzee, is still popular in its original and all the iterations out there, free, paid, social and open source. Open Yahtzee can be used to calculate odds, work on addition and even simple number recognition for the youngest ones.
• My boys love mazes. They enjoy figuring out where to go and how to get there. FunLabyrinthe gives them mazes to navigate and also enables them to create their own mazes. It’s Windows only, though.
• Race into Space can help give your children a healthy interest in history, politics and science. Granted, though the original this version was based on was said to be suitable for children as young as 10, it’s been criticized as being far too difficult. But if you tell your teens that maybe they shouldn’t play it because it’s too hard for them, I’d wager they’d figure it out pretty quickly.
• FlightGear is a very cool flight simulator, available in multiple platforms, including a separate Mac OSX version. There are a couple dozen related projects on Sourceforge, including GUIs for launchers and flight planners. Airplane options include seaplanes, warplanes and small craft. You can “fly around the world from the comfort of your computer,” the project suggests. Good for those who are afraid of heights, perhaps.
• SimuTrans is a SimCity-type transportation game. You can build networks of railroads, monorails, roadways and airports and move cargo and passengers around the world. A variety of packs help you create different settings and styles.
• Rigs of Rods evoked Minecraft a bit, albeit an already constructed world with no creepers. It’s a bit complicated to get started on, but once you figure it out, you can drive trucks and cars, sail boats and fly airplanes, among other vehicles. Figuring it out is half the fun.
• VDrift is your requisite racing simulator. The 40 tracks are based on real tracks from around the world, as are the 40 cars. You can plug in a wheel or joystick and the physics of driving in real life apply in the game. Vroom.
• Arianne RPG could be a great challenge for your older children. If they like playing RPGs, let them take that one step further and actually create their own. Arianne is the engine that drives Stendhal and can be used to create any MORPG. Why just play when you can create? That should be good for a few hours of quiet time.
• Java Settlers of Catan and Pioneers are both computer-based versions of Settlers of Catan. Both allow over-the-internet play and emulate the board game in its look and feel. If your children are Catan fans at all, download these puppies and you’ll have some very happy kids in your house.
• Battle Tanks is your typical side-scrolling arcade game. It has multiplayer/split-screen modes and lets you shoot ‘em up. In a tank.
• Super Tux Kart is a great replacement for Mario Kart games. And if you have younger children, the option to drive a penguin around instead of Mario or Luigi might be even more fun. I’ll be setting this one up for my boys, believe you me.
• If fighting games like Streets of Rage are more your kid’s cup of tea, then Paintown could be a good option. And after your in-laws leave, you can hop on the computer and exorcise your frustrations by beating the crap out of someone made out of pixels rather than flesh and blood.
• And finally, what arcade would be complete without a shoot-em-up game — in space? Galaxy Forces V2is a 2D space shooter. There are single- and multi-player options and you can complete missions or just dogfight. Its simplicity reminds me a bit of Asteroids (no, it’s not THAT simple) and it has downloads for Windows and Linux.
There are many other games for all ages on SourceForge, and if none of these float your boat, you can start your search in the Games index. One of these just may be your sanity-saver over this holiday season.
And for the price of free, you can’t beat that.
While most Americans will be lulled into a Turkey coma, or perhaps fighting Black Friday crowds, a MalCon conference in Mumbai will be kicking off with a wicked ‘muhahaha’ from malware and information security researchers as they dive into twisted pen testing. It’s a bit like the anti-antivirus crowd. While MalCon said it does not promote malware creation, it also laughs and answers “no” to the question of if it’s a trap to profile malcoders.
The eight-hour Twisted Penetration testing workshop,according to MalCon, is exactly what it reads; “A fresh and twisted approach towards penetration testing from MalCon, it can help get results the unconventional way in regular network and system audits, vulnerability assessment and penetration testing.”
Last years’ MalCon had some security-minded individuals practically foaming at the mouth. Infoworld warned that no good could come out of a malware convention, adding “MalCon organizers want us to believe that the security community can benefit from an event showcasing and teaching malware.” Then SecurityCurve asked whether “MalCon is the devil or just a more specialized BlackHat?” Krebs on Security said the conference was more like a “call for ethical malcoding.”
Yet the wild speculation has started again, as bringing together a large group of malcoders seems to make some people nervous. After being “pretty shocked” by a MalCon Twitter update about a research paper submission, The Hacker News wondered if perhaps Stuxnet 3.0 might be released at the conference? “While this may just be a discussion and not a release, it is interesting to note that the speaker Nima Bagheri presenting the paper is from IRAN.” Duqu which is similar to Stuxnet had just been analyzed around that time and the MalCon research paper abstract discusses rootkit features, and may show a demonstration “related to hiding rootkits and advanced Stuxnet-like malwares.”
While Microsoft BizSpark recently announced the new Kinect Accelerator program that supports “entrepreneurs, engineers and innovators to bring to life a wide range of business ideas that leverage the limitless possibilities Kinect enables,” it’s doubtful Microsoft will be as enthused about the MalCon 2011 Challenge to Code a malware utilizing Xbox Kinect. 15-year-old Shantanu Gawde will present a proof-of-concept paper “of an advanced malware for Xbox Kinect” that will work on Windows 7, will take pictures silently from the Xbox Kinect and will post those “pictures on a specified Facebook / Social website without knowledge of victim.” Another MalCon workshop is titled,” Xbox Kinect Coding for fun and profit.”
Rajshekhar Murthy, Director at ISAC, (Information Sharing and Analysis Center), a scientific non-profit body that holds the International Malware Conference, MalCon said, “We believe that in coming years, a lot of windows based applications will be developed for Kinect and the device will gain further immense popularity and acceptance- and from a perspective of an attacker, such a popular device can be an exciting target for visual and audio intelligence. At MalCon research labs, we promote proactive security research and the malware utilizing Kinect is only a proof of concept.”
Also on the MalCon agenda is Android Hacking and an anticipated release to get root on Windows 8. Ars Technica reported on the “first known bootkit for Windows 8-an exploit that is able to load from a hard drive’s master boot record and reside in memory all the way through the startup of the operating system, providing root access to the system.” Yet Austrian security analyst Peter Kleissner’s appearance is still considered tentative, since Kleissner has an upcoming court date on “charges related to Stoned Bootkit.”
Other qualified papers to be presented at MalCon 2011 include: Atul Alex‘s Advanced Malware for Apple Products. Watch out Apple fanboys as the “invisible” malware features will include accessing all mail and text, controlling devices via SMS, upload/download user data, record and listen to all calls remotely, and using a VNC server to view remote screen. David Baptiste will teach how to make your own home botnet. Dhruv Soi will show how to exploit the exploit kits.
Law enforcement and government officials are encouraged to attend MalCon, and that isn’t too surprising since many security firms sell malware and exploits to governments. The “Big Talks” will include “Hackers for National Security and Cyber Law.”
In insecurity expert has shown how it is a doddle to hack your way past Windows 8′s controversal boot-up security and gain root access.
Austrian independent developer and security analyst Peter Kleissner is scheduled to release the first known “bootkit” for Windows 8 which can load from a hard drive’s master boot record and reside in memory all the way through the startup of the operating system, providing root access to the system.
Windows 8′s boot loader is designed to stop malware and security breaches, including a measure that requires any software loaded at boot time to be authenticated with a valid digital signature. Vole thinks this will kill off malware because it would block any unsigned software from loading into memory before startup. The software angered open-saucers who think that it is designed to kill Linux distributions such asRed Hat and Ubuntu which don’t come with a digital signature.
Kleissner said that his exploit defeats the security features of Windows 8′s new Boot Loader which has angered Open Saucers who claim it will prevent them running dual booted systems.
Kleissner told Ars Technica that the exploit did not currently target the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), but instead went after legacy BIOS. He is going to share his hack with the people at Microsoft.
Kleissner is famous for his Stoned bootkit which was a proof-of-concept exploit that could attack Windows XP, Vista, and 7, as well as Windows Server 2003. Stoned could install itself into the Windows kernel and gain unrestricted access to the entire system, even on systems with encrypted drives.
Kleissner said his bootkit, called Stoned Lite, has an infector file that is only 14 kilobytes in size, and the bootkit can be started from a USB drive or CD.
He is also considering adding in “in-memory patching of msv1_0!MsvpPasswordValidate.” That would make it possible to change the password validation routine in Windows to accept any password as valid for an account.
I use my AIM instant-messaging account every day, but I can’t remember the last time I used the AIM software. Instead, I use iChat, Meebo, Imo.IM, and other third-party clients that work on AIM’s network. AIM’s app itself has long felt like software that goes all the way back to 1997 and has been getting more bloated ever since. Which it has.
Until now. AOL has launched a preview of an all-new AIM, and it has very little to do with the creaky old one except that it works on the same IM network. It’s so all-new that AOL even dumped its venerable “running man” stick-figure—who, let’s face it, screams “Old AOL that used to send us trial discs”—in favor of a hip little bot as its mascot.
Here are some of the major features of the Windows and Mac clients, most of which are new:
Besides the Windows and Mac clients—which are preview editions that haven’t replaced their predecessors yet—AOL is launching a new version of the browser-based AIM, plus new iPhone and Android apps. It doesn’t have any immediate plans to update the iPad app.
The single best thing about the new AIM isn’t any one feature: It’s that it finally feels like it was designed in the 21st century. I’m not sure whether I’ll stick with it, but I’m going to give it a try—and given AIM’s history in recent years, that’s an accomplishment in itself.
Microsoft is telling Windows users that they’ll have to reinstall the operating system if they get infected with a new rootkit that hides in the machine’s boot sector.
A new variant of a Trojan Microsoft calls “Popureb” digs so deeply into the system that the only way to eradicate it is to return Windows to its out-of-the-box configuration, Chun Feng, an engineer with the Microsoft Malware Protection Center, said last week on the group’s blog.
[ Windows 7 is making huge inroads into business IT. But with it comes new security threats and security methods. InfoWorld's expert contributors show you how to secure the new OS in the "Windows 7 Security Deep Dive" PDF guide. ]
“If your system does get infected with Trojan:Win32/Popureb.E, we advise you to fix the MBR and then use a recovery CD to restore your system to a pre-infected state,” said Feng.
A recovery disc returns Windows to its factory settings.
Malware like Popureb overwrites the hard drive’s MBR (master boot record), the first sector — sector 0 — where code is stored to bootstrap the operating system after the computer’s BIOS does its start-up checks. Because it hides on the MBR, the rootkit is effectively invisible to both the operating system and security software.
According to Feng, Popureb detects write operations aimed at the MBR — operations designed to scrub the MBR or other disk sectors containing attack code — and then swaps out the write operation with a read operation.
Although the operation will seem to succeed, the new data is not actually written to the disk. In other words, the cleaning process will have failed.
Feng provided links to MBR-fixing instructions for XP, Vista, and Windows 7
Rootkits are often planted by attackers to hide follow-on malware, such as banking password-stealing Trojans. They’re not a new phenomenon on Windows.
In early 2010, for example, Microsoft contended with a rootkit dubbed “Alureon” that infected Windows XP systems and crippled machines after a Microsoft security update.
At the time, Microsoft’s advice was similar to what Feng is now offering for Popureb.
“If customers cannot confirm removal of the Alureon rootkit using their chosen anti-virus/anti-malware software, the most secure recommendation is for the owner of the system to back up important files and completely restore the system from a cleanly formatted disk,” said Mike Reavey, director of the Microsoft Security Response Center, in February 2010.
Since then, Microsoft has added a check for the Aluereon rootkit to all security updates so that when the malware is detected, the updates are not installed.
A moment of silence, please, for Microsoft’s Zune, which has ceased production at the tragically young age of four. The company announced yesterday that it “will no longer be producing Zune players,” although services and warranties for existing players will be unaffected by the decision.
The first Zune players, developed by Microsoft in collaboration with Toshiba, were released in November 2006 as alternatives to Apple’s iOS products. Although the devices have been superseded by Windows Phone, the Zune namesake will live on as both branding for media playback on Windows phones and a music store for Xbox users.
The new iPhone has not been announced. It is not available for pre-order. It does not have a ridiculous see-through screen. It is not called the “iPhone 5G S” and it’s (probably) not going to be available this Friday. So if you get an email with the subject line “iPhone 5G S has been released” that contains what appears to be marketing from Apple, don’t fall for it.
Technology journalist Abram Wagenaar received such an email in his inbox and posted a screenshot to Twitter (see below). Aside from the fact that the phone hasn’t even been announced yet, there are several other warning signs: the see-through display, the weirder-than-weird naming scheme (iPhone 5G S) and the insanely big “5″ on the backside of the phone.
Security firm Sophos reports the following:
“Clicking on links in the email takes you to some Windows malware (lucky Mac fans are being ignored by the hackers on this occasion) which Sophos detects as Mal/Zapchas-A.”
You may recall a similar fake email going around in early June. It also pitched something called the “iPhone 5G S,” except this particular fake model featured a slide-out keyboard.
The first line of the June email’s marketing jargon was exactly the same as the first line in this newest email: “Introducing the iPhone that lets you do more than ever. And do it amazingly faster.” Looks like the same group of tricksters may be behind both emails.
If your computer has become infected by Mal/Zapchas-A, you run the risk of having your machine remotely accessed by others. However, it appears that most common anti-virus programs are able to remove it.
[via Sophos]
access Android Anonymous app Apple attack attacks caption com company computer Facebook Game google hacker hackers hacking information Internet iPad iPhone malware Microsoft music need news number Online phone point police report security site spotlight statement system time today US website week work world youtube
