Twitter, Google & China Concerns

DAVOS, Switzerland - Twitter's co-founder and the head of Google on Friday addressed concerns about Internet censorship in China, speaking at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Google's chief told the meeting that censorship in China has to change but that the internet search giant wanted to stay in the Asian giant despite being the target of cyber attacks from inside China. When asked about reports of China's attempts to block Twitter, the co-founder of the microblogging phenomenon, Evan Williams said he had been told about them but the company had no confirmation. "That's what I've been told," he told AFP. "I have heard reports on that," he added on the sidelines of the Davos forum, but said the company did not have direct confirmation. Williams said China can use a firewall to block the microblogging service used by millions around the world, but that Twitter was not "actively" looking for ways to get around any block. "There are ways for users to get around it, but I'm not an expert on that." When asked about media reports that Twitter was developing ways to get around the firewall, Williams said he had been "misquoted." "We're not actively developing any way to get around it," he said, although he stressed that "we're for the free exchange of information." Asked if his company had noticed cyber attacks, such as those launched against Google from inside China, he said none had been detected. Google has threatened to pull out of China over the attacks as well as over censorship in China which it opposed.

Apple Fixes Alot Of Holes ln Mac OS X

Apple fixes a dozen vulnerabilities affecting Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 in its first security update for the year released on Wednesday. The security update addresses several issues with the Flash Player plug-in, including one that could allow an attacker to take control of the computer if the user visits a malicious Web site. Also patched were holes in CoreAudio, ImageIO, and Image RAW that could lead to arbitrary code execution and allow an attacker to take control of the computer if a malicious MP4 audio file were played, or malicious TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) or DNG (Digital Negative) images were viewed. The release also affects OpenSSL, fixing a man-in-the-middle vulnerability that exists in the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocols used to secure communications over the Internet. The vulnerability, discovered by researchers at PhoneFactor in August 2009, could allow someone to capture data or modify operations performed in protected sessions. In addition, a hole in the CUPS printing service was plugged that could allow an attacker to cause a remote denial-of-service by issuing a malicious get-printer-jobs request. What happened to "secured"?

Intel : PC Industry Recovering

Intel's fourth-quarter earnings breezed past Wall Street's expectations, and its rosy profit outlook for 2010 was another sign that a lasting recovery for the recession-battered personal computer market is under way. As the first major technology company to report its results for the last quarter, Intel is seen as a barometer for the PC market and for technology spending in general. Its revenue beat the Street, as did its gross margin, which can measure how well Intel managed costs. Investors were restrained in their enthusiasm. Shares of the No. 1 maker of computer microprocessors edged up less than one percent in after-hours trading. Earlier, the stock had gained 2.5 percent to end the regular session at $21.48. PC shipments grew more sharply than expected in the fourth quarter, a promising sign after a brutal year for the industry during the recession. Intel, which supplies the vast majority of the "brains" inside computers, rode the resurgence of consumer PC shopping to a profit of $2.3 billion, or 40 cents per share. That was more than nine times as much as it earned in the year-ago quarter, when profit totaled $234 million, or 4 cents per share. Intel also posted its highest gross profit margin in history, at 64.7 percent. A higher gross margin number means the chipmaker was able to turn more revenue into profit. It's a key measure for a manufacturing-intensive company such as Intel because it reflects how well costs are held in check. Revenue climbed 29 percent to $10.6 billion, as Intel sold more chips, many at higher prices than in the past. Analysts expected a profit of 30 cents per share and $10.2 billion in revenue, according to a Thomson Reuters survey. It's never clear whether chip sales line up with demand for new computers. PC makers might be buying more than they need to replenish low supplies or fewer than they need to preserve cash. But Intel clearly sees the fourth quarter as more than a holiday shopping-induced blip.

Zune HD to get XviD

We're getting word that Zune HD users will soon have some good news to shout about. Come Spring, the Zune HD should receive a firmware update providing support for MPEG-4 part 2 Advanced Simple Profile videos, including the torrent junkie's format of choice, XviD. When pressed on whether DivX support would also be added, contacts explained it was unlikely, because of proprietary restrictions. Also unclear is what range of resolutions will be supported, although we did confirm that the new format support will maintain compatibility with the HD AV dock accessory. The firmware update will also bring over a Smart DJ feature, which currently is found only in the Zune's client software. The addition of Smart DJ playlists brings the Zune HD in line with the on-the-fly Genius playlist capabilities of the iPod Touch. Better yet, Zune Pass users within Wi-Fi range will have the ability to create Smart DJ playlists that incorporate streaming content from Zune Marketplace, in addition to songs already stored on the device. Microsoft representatives were also quick to remind us that its mythical Facebook app is on track for early this year. With the Zune HD Twitter app seeing the light of day last month, there's reason for users to keep the faith.

Zune: Tips For The Switch, Goodbye iPod

The Microsoft Zune HD is a beautiful device and truly one of the best alternatives to the iPod we've had the pleasure to use. But if you're really thinking about hanging up your iPod and going Zune, you'll need to think about how to take your iTunes library with you. I'm not going to lie to you: some stuff just isn't coming with you. Your DRM-ed AAC audio files, iTunes movies and TV shows, and even those iTunes audiobooks, just can't survive outside of the iTunes/iPod universe. So quell those fantasies of uninstalling iTunes, because you'll still need it to play your protected iTunes purchases. The good news is, most everything else from iTunes is fair game, including your unprotected AAC and MP3 files, podcasts, unprotected videos, and playlists. Even your iTunes Smart Playlists can be reconstructed with a decent resemblance. Then comes the issue of gaming. While there's no shortage of handheld game systems on the market--the Nintendo DS and DSi are still selling well and the PSP continues to hang in there, while the App Store expands its catalog every minute--one of the seemingly no-brainer bets in the mobile gaming realm hasn't happened yet: the Zune. We say "no brainer" for several reasons: Microsoft has a successful gaming platform in the Xbox 360, emphasizing online and downloadable gaming. Microsoft, compared with Sony and Nintendo, is best able to take on Apple in terms of a media-management software store and the ability to build an equivalent music/games/movies catalog, and making that product PC compatible. The Zune HD now plays games. The first point is obvious. The second is debatable, but we say this because Sony, while having a decent media library on PSN, just isn't historically great at building cross-platform software for syncing the PSP, and Microsoft's global software reach is simply stronger. The third is technically true--Microsoft launched a small collection of completely free-to-play, ad-supported games for its OLED-screened Zune HD last month, and one of them happens to be an adaptation of Project Gotham Racing. It's an interesting prospect (and one we've wondered about before) because the Zune HD processor, an Nvidia Tegra, has both HD processing muscle and 3D graphics capability. We downloaded and played with all the Zune HD games currently available--all 12 of them--with some curiosity to see if the Zune could compete as a game device. Overall, the Zune HD games are similar in quality to iPod Touch and iPhone titles. The Zune HD has an accelerometer and multitouch, just like the iPod Touch, but its screen is smaller, making controls even harder without feeling ham-handed. Now, in fairness, all of the Zune's games are free, and thus many are of demo quality. PGR, with its Ferrari branding, is a pared-down game, a "lite" version. Still, the track graphics and controls are impressive, and definitely Touch quality. Other games, like Audiosurf Tilt (which generates tracks to music) and a Texas Hold 'Em, are better than most freebies but are titles we probably wouldn't pay more than a few bucks for. The most obvious idea would be to expand the Zune HD in size slightly, add a physical controller (perhaps similar to the sliding PSP Go), and then open up a Zune game marketplace that syncs with Xbox Live. A big move toward this being a possibility was the recent Xbox 360 update that opened up a Zune marketplace on the 360 dashboard. While it currently doesn't offer games, Microsoft already allows Zunes and Xbox Live accounts to share digital funds for transactions, opening up a smooth doorway to a mobile game console ecosystem. The current Zune HD is so small--smaller than a PSP Go or an iPod Touch to a significant degree--that Microsoft could even sell a clip-on gamepad (with a speaker, preferably) and still have a portable device that wasn't bulky. And its price is competitive with the PSP, iPod Touch, and Nintendo DS, at $219 for a 16GB model. Would you want a Microsoft Zune/Xbox handheld? I'd say the answer would be yes, provided it actually used physical controls. And if they were able to corral the Xbox Live Arcade development community (and even the XNA indie crowd) to make games, it could catch on much faster than anyone might expect.

Iran Link to Twitter Hack

A computer hacker briefly hijacked Twitter.com on Thursday, redirecting users to a website and claiming to represent a group calling itself the Iranian Cyber Army. Twitter, which in June became a key communication channel for Iranian protesters disputing the country's election results, said it was disrupted for a little more than an hour. Twitter's home page was replaced with one whose headline read "This site has been hacked by Iranian Cyber Army" and an anti-American message. "The motive for this attack appears to have been focused on defacing our site, not aimed at users," Twitter said on its blog. "We don't believe any accounts were compromised." Security experts said it was the first time attackers have succeeded in hijacking a major social-networking website. It was unlikely that the Iranian government was involved, despite its dislike of social networking sites and years of discord with the United States over its nuclear program, experts said. A screen shot posted in a number of websites, including TechCrunch, shows the message written in red, set above a green flag. An e-mail sent to the address on the redirected Web page was returned. The hacker or hackers got credentials to redirect Twitter's traffic to a bogus site, according to Dyn Inc, a company based in New Hampshire that directs that traffic for Twitter. The attackers did not hijack accounts of the company's other customers, Dyn Vice President Kyle York said. "This was an isolated incident," he said. Twitter, which allows people to broadcast 140-character messages to cell phones and on the Web, got caught up in Iranian politics earlier this year. The U.S. State Department urged Twitter to delay maintenance that would have interrupted the site's service during the peak of the demonstrations. As for Thursday's attack, a source close to the Department of Homeland Security said the Iranian government was likely not involved because of the unsophisticated nature of the work. James Lewis, a cybersecurity effort with the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the attack might have come from a group that supports Tehran. "This is ham-handed so it's probably not the Iranian government. It could be sympathizers," said Lewis. The Iranian government would have been more likely to hack Twitter during protests or other upheaval when the site was being used by dissidents, he said.

Iran Link to Twitter Hack

A computer hacker briefly hijacked Twitter.com on Thursday, redirecting users to a website and claiming to represent a group calling itself the Iranian Cyber Army.
Twitter, which in June became a key communication channel for Iranian protesters disputing the country's election results, said it was disrupted for a little more than an hour. Twitter's home page was replaced with one whose headline read "This site has been hacked by Iranian Cyber Army" and an anti-American message. "The motive for this attack appears to have been focused on defacing our site, not aimed at users," Twitter said on its blog. "We don't believe any accounts were compromised." Security experts said it was the first time attackers have succeeded in hijacking a major social-networking website. It was unlikely that the Iranian government was involved, despite its dislike of social networking sites and years of discord with the United States over its nuclear program, experts said. A screen shot posted in a number of websites, including TechCrunch, shows the message written in red, set above a green flag. An e-mail sent to the address on the redirected Web page was returned. The hacker or hackers got credentials to redirect Twitter's traffic to a bogus site, according to Dyn Inc, a company based in New Hampshire that directs that traffic for Twitter. The attackers did not hijack accounts of the company's other customers, Dyn Vice President Kyle York said. "This was an isolated incident," he said. Twitter, which allows people to broadcast 140-character messages to cell phones and on the Web, got caught up in Iranian politics earlier this year. The U.S. State Department urged Twitter to delay maintenance that would have interrupted the site's service during the peak of the demonstrations. As for Thursday's attack, a source close to the Department of Homeland Security said the Iranian government was likely not involved because of the unsophisticated nature of the work. James Lewis, a cybersecurity effort with the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the attack might have come from a group that supports Tehran. "This is ham-handed so it's probably not the Iranian government. It could be sympathizers," said Lewis. The Iranian government would have been more likely to hack Twitter during protests or other upheaval when the site was being used by dissidents, he said.