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The noise settles over Bose s noise-canceling headphones

2008-12-10T14:00:00.003-08:00

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In what appears to have been an amicable agreement for most involved, Bose Corp. announced today that its legal battle over QuietComfort noise-canceling headphone patents has officially come to an end.

Last year, sound technologies maker Bose filed notice with the US International Trade Commission PDF available here that Phitek, GN Netcom later Jabra , Audio-Technica, Creative Labs, Logitech, and Panasonic were infringing upon Bose s patents for noise-canceling headphones.

In the suit, Bose alleged that the companies had infringed upon three of its patents; one for the construction of headphone comfort, one for the noise reduction diaphragm , and one for the in-headphone noise reducing unit .

Bose originally sought a permanent injunction against the companies products, and an ITC investigation followed. While some of the companies settled with Bose , the list of defendants was whittled down to just one: Phitek Systems , a small New Zealand company responsible for making 40mm neodymium noise-canceling headphones .

Phitek conceded that it had sold infringing products for importation into the US. A settlement without any admission of infringement or liability, according to Phitek, was ultimately agreed upon. Bose today said that a part of the settlement included Phitek agreeing to make changes to the design of its headphones to stay clear of Bose patents, but other terms of the settlement are confidential.
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Symbian backer ATT isn t ruling out Android support

2008-12-10T14:00:00.001-08:00

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An ATT spokesperson today denied widely published reports that ATT plans to offer a single OS for smartphones. A founding member of the Symbian Foundation, ATT will also keep supporting Mac, Windows, BlackBerry, and perhaps Android.

In a rash of press and blog reports last week, remarks made by an ATT executive about ATT support for mobile OS were taken out of context, an ATT spokesperson told BetaNews today.

The spokesperson, Mark Siegel, told BetaNews that although ATT would like to experience less fragmentation in the smartphone OS market, the company is certainly not going to end support for devices such as RIM BlackBerry and Windows ME phones or the Mac OS-enabled iPhone.

After Roger Smith, ATT s director of next generation services and data product realization, delivered remarks at a Symbian Partner Event in San Francisco last week, a number of blogs and other publications reported that ATT plans to standardize on a single mobile OS over the next few years -- and also quoted Smith as saying that Symbian is a very credible and likely candidate to become that OS.

But some reporters present at the event apparently misunderstood Smith s comments, Siegel told BetaNews today.

Right now, mobile developers have to create different versions of the same application for different OS, and sometimes even different versions of the application for different versions of the same OS. So it takes that much longer to get the apps out there to our customers, the spokesperson conceded.

Could we see some consolidation here? Yes. But we are not going to have just one operating system for all of our devices, Siegel contended.

ATT holds great partnerships with companies such as RIM, Microsoft, and Apple, the spokesperson maintained. The US second-largest mobile carrier is also a founding member of the Nokia-spearheaded Symbian Foundation, a group that is now revamping the Symbian OS to bring together Symbian s three existing user interfaces -- UIQ, NTT DoCoMo s MOAP, and Nokia s own S60 -- into a new common, open source software framework .

Still, ATT isn t ruling out future support for either Android or LiMo, two open source mobile operating systems which compete with Symbian, Siegel said.

What we ve been saying all along is that if it makes sense for our customers, we will certainly offer an Android device. The same goes for LiMo. But no decision on this subject has been made, BetaNews was told.
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Symantec Announces MessageLabs Intelligence 2008 Annual Secu...

2008-12-05T10:00:00.003-08:00

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Storm s Demise Gives Way to New Trends in Spam and Malware; Botnets Extend Their Reach

CUPERTINO, Calif. December 4, 2008 Symantec Corp. Nasdaq: SYMC today announced the launch of its MessageLabs Intelligence 2008 Security Report. The annual report details how 2008 was a pivotal year for the cyber security landscape as revolutionary advances in malware and spam techniques made their mark on the underground shadow economy.

Total spam levels peaked at 82.7 percent in February 2008 and averaged 81.2 percent for the year, compared with 84.6 percent in 2007. As much as 90 percent of spam was being distributed by botnets, including the notorious Storm Peacomm botnet, which appeared on the threat landscape in early 2007 and all but disappeared by the end of the year, giving way to rival botnets like Srizbi and Cutwail Pandex , until community action in September and November resulted in the takedown of two U.S. ISPs blamed for hosting the command and control channels for some of the largest botnets, including Mega-D Ozdok and Srizbi, which had been responsible for about 50 percent of all spam. With the exception of Srizbi, the affected botnets have since found alternative hosting, resulting in a return to spam levels close to those before the takedowns, with rival botnets such as Cutwail and Rustock taking-up the slack left by Srizbi s absence.

In 2008, spammers developed an affinity for spamming from large, reputable web-based email and application services by defeating CAPTCHA Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart techniques to generate massive numbers of personal accounts from these services. In January, 6.5 percent of spam originated from these hosted webmail accounts, peaking in September when 25 percent of spam originated from these sources, averaging about 12 percent for the remainder of the year.

2008 was an important year for the security industry as new threats emerged and old threats evolved while the Internet gained sophistication and its users became more web-savvy than ever before, said Mark Sunner, chief security analyst, MessageLabs. CAPTCHA breaking became one of the best ways to spam and a wide variety of spam ensued emanating from free web-mail and social networking sites, which require personal accounts for access.

Complex web-based malware targeting social networking sites and vulnerabilities in legitimate websites, became widespread in 2008, resulting in malware being installed onto computers with no user intervention required. The daily number of new websites containing malware rose from 1,068 in January to its peak at 5,424 in November. The average number of new websites blocked daily rose to 2,290 in 2008 from 1,253 in 2007, largely due to increased attacks using SQL injection techniques.

As web-based attacks became more popular during 2008, email-based attacks rose by .15 percent compared with 2007. In 2008, 1 in 143.8 0.70 percent emails were malicious, compared with 1 in 117.7 0.85 percent for 2007. In addition, two distinct targeted attack patterns emerged during 2008. MessageLabs Intelligence noted the number of targeted Trojan attacks intercepted rose to 53 per day in 2008, peaking at 78 per day in April 2008, compared with one to two per week in 2005, 1 to 2 per day in 2006 and 10 per day in early 2007.

Web 2.0 offers endless opportunities to scammers for distributing their malware - from creating bogus social networking accounts to spoofed videos - and in 2008 the threats targeting social networking environments became very real, Sunner said. Web 2.0 thrives on user-generated content, as do the spammers. The ability to adapt to new mediums and upload enticing content as snake oil to persuade an information-hungry user to activate it, is one of the cybercriminals strongest talents and has made them successful in transforming deception into a fully scalable business model within the underground shadow economy.

Emphasizing how threats of this kind have increased in popularity over the last year, one targeted Trojan spoofed the an organization involved with the Olympic Games in late July disguising malware hidden in a file attachment, using embedded JavaScript to drop a malicious executable program onto the target s computer. The malware was sent to several participating nations sporting organizations and athletic representatives. Another targeted Trojan, distributed with the intent of corporate espionage, spoofed a well-known business organization purporting to relate to a complaint filed against the recipient, and involved approximately 900 targeted Trojans intended for senior executives worldwide.

Towards the end of 2008, the credit crisis generated many new finance related attacks as spammers and scammers sought to take advantage of the panic and uncertainty surrounding the changes on Wall Street and around the world.

Rogue Bots and Social Networking
During 2008, botnets were responsible for 90 percent of all spam, and responsible for a rise in the proportion of email-borne malware contained in links to malicious websites. This proportion peaked at 61.1 percent in February, when an increase of malicious activity from Storm was responsible for 96 percent of these interceptions. Before its demise, one of Storm s last activities involved a new bout of malware that appeared in July 2008 using headlines involving celebrities meeting their death and contained links to sites that when activated resulted in the installation of Antivirus XP 2008, a rogue anti-spyware program which could be installed without the user s involvement. The program runs a fake scan on the computer offering to remove the number of infections found for a fee. Following Storm s demise, links to this rogue application were spammed out by other botnets, including Srizbi, Rustock and Mega-D. One third of malicious links intercepted in July were related to Antivirus XP 2008 and by August, 64 percent of malicious emails, mostly spoofing fake greeting cards, contained links to Trojan droppers designed to install the rogue anti-spyware program.

Another cybercriminal favorite of 2008 involved the distribution of malware on social networking sites, first seen in small amounts toward the end of 2007. One tactic that became popular this year was to create fake profiles on social networking sites using them to post malicious links and to phish other users. Once a user is phished, spammers can post blog comments on the pages of their friends and send messages from the phished accounts to other contacts. The messages were mostly used to dispense spam, including links to spam sites such as online pharmacies. After gaining access to legitimate user profiles, scammers then harvest the available personal information to further target users, wreaking havoc.

Finally, phishing underwent some notable transformations in 2008 as phishing attacks from specialized botnets became commonplace. While the intensity of phishing attacks hasn t changed significantly over the course of the year, the targets have widened to include recruitment agencies and online retailers in addition to the financial institutions of before. The number of specialized banking Trojans is expected to rise further in 2009.

Top Trends in 2008
Web Security: For 2008, the average number of new malicious websites blocked each day rose to 2,290 compared with 1,253 for 2007, an increase of 82.8 percent owing mostly to an increase in SQL injection attacks.

Spam: In 2008 the annual average spam rate was 81.2 percent, a decline of 3.4 percent on the 2007 statistic of 84.6 percent. In 2008, the majority of spam was made up of text-only or HTML content and an increasing proportion of spam originated from reputable web-based email and application service providers.

Viruses: The average virus level for 2008 was 1 in 143.8 emails .70 percent reflecting a .15 percent decrease on 2007 where levels averaged at 1 in 117.7 .85 percent emails. The decline can be attributed to the transition to spreading malware using malicious content hosted on websites and drive-by installs rather than favoring email as the primary means of distribution.

Phishing: The number of phishing attacks was 1 in 244.9 .41 percent emails across 2008, compared to 1 in 156 emails in 2007. Phishing activity peaked in February at 1 in 99.1, due partly to the increase in plug- and- play style phishing kits and the increased use of specialized botnets for phishing activity.

The annual MessageLabs Intelligence Report provides greater detail on all the trends and figures noted above, as well as more detailed trends for 2008. The full report is available at http: www.messagelabs.com Threat Watch Intelligence Reports

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SDIO RFID Reader transforms PDAs into RFID portable terminal...

2008-12-05T10:00:00.001-08:00

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DAILY RFID www.rfid-in-china.com , a Chinese leading producer of RFID readers and RFID tags, has released 13.56MHz SDIO RFID reader, designed to plug into laptop, PDA and smartphone device with a SD card slot. It makes PDA and smartphone devices instantly transformed into cost-effective RFID readers and writers without any internal hardware change.

This SDIO RFID reader is capable of reading and writing most 13.56mHz HF RFID tag formats,including ISO IEC 14443A,ISO IEC 14443B or ISO IEC 15693 RFID tags on the market.Together with the wireless technology through Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or GSM connectivity, it allows those RFID tag information to be transferred seamlessly from mobile devices to centralized system for back end processing.

The SDIO RFID reader is compatible with devices running Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 2003 Windows Mobile 5.0 6.0, Palm OS4.1 or LINUX operating system. It is ideal for application such as warehouse management,food anti-counterfeiting,parcel tracking,quality control,pharmaceutical management.

You can visit http: www.rfid-in-china.com products 701 1.html for more info about
SDIO RFID Reader.

About DAILY RFID CO.,LIMITED

DAILY RFID CO.,LIMITED www.rfid-in-china.com , which belongs to PAN Group Co., ltd, is the leading company focusing on the research and development of EPC RFID technology in China.

DAILY RFID specialize in producing arguably the world s most extensive line of RFID Tag,RFID Label,Smart Card and RFID Reader, which are suitable for any vertical markets, and have obtained the National Integrated Circuit Card Register Certificate, IC Card Manufacture License and ISO9001 Quality Management System Certification. Also, we own a factory covering an area of 26,000 square meters.

DAILY s products are designed and manufactured with recognized industry standards relevant to RFID and its markets but most notably for use in the demanding environments to recognize and understand your business s RFID needs. We are commited to providing Innovative Technology , Superior, Cost-efficient Product and Professional, Efficient Customer Services .

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SysUtils Device Manager

2008-11-30T06:00:00.003-08:00

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SysUtils Device Manager 1.2 is a Disk Management product from users.iptelecom.net.ua, get 5 Stars SoftSea Rating, SysUtils Device Manager - the removable device access control solution. Once SysUtils Device Manager is installed, administrators can control access to floppies, CDROMs, and other devices. Also SysUtils Device Manager can protect network and local computers against viruses, trojan horses, and other malicious programs often introduced by removable media.
SysUtils Device Manager provides the flexibility to control access on a per user basis to:
- External Storage Devices;
- CD-ROM DVD Drives;
- Floppy Disks;
- Digital Cameras.
Every time the user wants to access a device, SysUtils Device Manager Agent intercepts this request at the kernel level of the operating system. SysUtils Device Manager Agent checks the user rights in the appropriate Access Control List ACL . If the user does not have rights to access this device, an access denied error message is returned.
SysUtils Device Manager works on any computer using Windows 2000 XP or Windows Server 2003. To install and control SysUtils Device Manager, you must have administrative privileges. The license of this file disk software is Free Trial Software, the price is 12, you can free download and get a free trial before you buy. If you want to get a full or nolimited version of SysUtils Device Manager, you can buy this file disk software.
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Mail Snoop Pro

2008-11-30T06:00:00.001-08:00

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Mail Snoop Pro 2.03.019 is a Anti Spam Software product from rainbow-innov.co.uk, get 5 Stars SoftSea Rating, Mail Snoop Pro is an anti-spam and email notification software designed to monitor any number of mailboxes, finding and deleting spam without disturbing you and alerting you when there is new mail you need to see. Each email is quickly scanned, marking or deleting unwanted Spam mail and advising of new mail.Feature Summary:Multiple mailboxes.Powerful filter system. Friends list. Blacklist. Message Archive. Scheduled Mail Checks.
Mail Snoop Pro is the ultimate, user friendly, anti-spam and email notification program. Designed to monitor any number of mailboxes, finding and destroying spam without disturbing you and alerting you when there is new mail you need to see.
The filter system rapidly checks new emails for any suspicious items. First, by checking if the sender is a ?Friend?. Immediately followed by checks for blacklisted senders, subject field, senders field, message header, message text, attachments, country code and DNSBL.
If an email is found to be spam, it will deleted from the server, and the original can be archived for future reference, alternatively be ?bounced? back to the sender or used to generate an automatic complaint to the senders ISP.
Feature Summary:
Compatible with Pop3 IMAP4 incoming mail servers.
Supports multiple mailboxes.
Easy to use setup wizards to get your mailbox protected quickly.
Powerful filter system. Mail Snoop Pro includes a strong filter system to help block unwanted spam. A New Filter Wizard allows you to quickly add new filters as required and you can easily modify filters if needed.
Friends list. You can add a list of friends email addresses allowing Mail Snoop Pro to always accept email from them. You are also able to import addresses from an external address list or file.
Blacklist. There are some senders you just never want to hear from, add those individuals to the blacklist and Mail Snoop Pro will always delete their incoming mail.
Message Archive. Whenever possible Mail Snoop Pro keeps a copy of deleted emails in its archive for later review retrieval.
Scheduled Mail Checks. Schedule automatic mail checks on a per-account basis or just check manually at any time.
New mail alerts, when filtered mail is available for collection.
Comprehensive help file.
And much more.
System Requirements:
Windows 2000 XP 2003 Vista
Internet connection using either LAN Cable ADSL DSL or dial-up modem.
11MB disc space. The license of this email software is Free Trial Software, the price is 35.00, you can free download and get a free trial before you buy. If you want to get a full or nolimited version of Mail Snoop Pro, you can buy this email software.
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VeriFone Announces Contactless Version of Best-Selling PINPa...

2008-11-05T05:00:00.003-08:00

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Unites PIN Entry and Contactless in One Customer-Facing Device; Contactless Initiative also includes SingleCI Interface for Current and Future Investments

PARIS, France November 4, 2008 CARTES IDentification 2008, Stand 3 H018 - VeriFone Holdings, Inc. NYSE: PAY , today introduced a contactless version of its popular PINpad 1000SE, further expanding the industry s broadest line of contactless payment solutions.

VeriFone today also unveiled SingleCI Single Contactless Interface , a unifying programming interface with development tools that allows acquirers and developers to leverage existing contactless investments, adapt to future needs, and take advantage of the company s entire contactless portfolio. SingleCI is compatible with today s industry-leading contactless interfaces.

The contactless PINpad 1000SE combines two payment peripherals PIN entry and contactless into one space-saving device that reduces costs and support burdens. Suitable for use worldwide, the PCI PED approved PINpad1000SE contactless version is backward-compatible with earlier versions, and features USB or serial connectivity for easy connection to electronic cash registers and POS devices.

We are unleashing contactless by making it effortlessly available in the best-selling PIN entry device on the market today, said Paul Rasori, VeriFone senior vice president, marketing. Acquirers can literally swap out an older PINpad 1000SE for this new solution. That makes it easy for them to deploy contactless applications to merchants for acceptance of contactless payments from the widest range of card brands, including Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.

The PINpad 1000SE contactless version also supports non-payment applications, such as MiFare, and will be commercially available in the first half of 2009.

SingleCI provides a single interface to VeriFone s entire contactless portfolio, so developers can write one program that will operate on any VeriFone contactless system. VeriFone s SingleCI takes the pain out of working with contactless, providing acquirers and developers with the ability to invest once to create multiple solutions that run across our contactless product line in countertop, multi-lane, unattended, and drive-thru environments, Rasori said.

Fully compatible with common industry interfaces, SingleCI enables acquirers to leverage their existing investments in contactless platforms. In addition, it future-proofs new investments by providing development tools that enable acquirers to easily add new features and applications, and adapt to changing specifications such as the NFC Near-Field Communications standard.

-ends-

Additional Resources:
www.verifone.com contactless

About VeriFone Holdings, Inc. www.verifone.com
VeriFone Holdings, Inc. VeriFone NYSE: PAY is the global leader in secure electronic payment solutions. VeriFone provides expertise, solutions and services that add value to the point of sale with merchant-operated, consumer-facing and self-service payment systems for the financial, retail, hospitality, petroleum, government and healthcare vertical markets. VeriFone solutions are designed to meet the needs of merchants, processors and acquirers in developed and emerging economies worldwide.

US Editorial Contact:
Pete Bartolik
VeriFone Media Relations
Tel: 1 508-283-4112
Email: pete at bartolik dot com

EMEA Editorial Contact:
Nicky Davis
EvokedSet for VeriFone
Tel: 44 0 1189 461126
Mobile: 44 0 7747 017654
Email: nicky at evokedset dot com

THIS NEWS RELEASE HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED BY NEONDRUM www.neondrum.com
Nicky Davis
Tel: 44 7747 017654
nicky at neondrum dot com

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CSC chairman underscores company s commitment to expand Indi...

2008-11-05T05:00:00.001-08:00

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CSC CHAIRMAN Underscores Company Commitment to Expand India Operations

Michael Laphen Visits CSC Operations in India

New Delhi, Oct. 15, 2008 CSC NYSE:CSC announced today that Michael W. Laphen, Chairman, President and CEO of CSC, began a six-day visit to India, where he will be sharing the company s strategic growth plans. He will also meet with CSC employees to discuss their role in the company s global business strategy. In addition, he will inaugurate the Noida campus, the largest CSC campus in India, and tour CSC locations in Hyderabad and Chennai.

CSC acquired Covansys in July 2007 and First Consulting Group FCG in January 2008, and has achieved full integration of both operations into the company s model of delivering One CSC to customers and business. With the acquisitions, CSC nearly doubled its headcount in India surpassing its annual headcount goal and is now home to the company s second-largest concentration of employees. CSC also achieved a 90 percent compound annual growth rate in terms of headcount in India in the last five years. The company s fully integrated World Sourcing center in India provides end-to-end India-led global delivery to its customers worldwide, has attained 100 percent revenue growth in fiscal year 2008 and has increased its operations from four to seven locations in India.
As the Chairman, President and CEO of CSC, Mr. Michael W. Laphen is responsible for the effective execution of CSC s business plan and for ensuring operational excellence in the delivery of services to clients around the globe. CSC has approximately 90,000 employees and reported revenue of 17.1 billion for the 12 months ended July 4, 2008.
It is a pleasure to be back in India to meet with the team and see the progress they have made in person, said Laphen. India is CSC s largest world sourcing location outside the U.S. and an important part of the company s global success. As a part of CSC s global delivery network, our operations in India are critical to the company s growth strategy in the Asia Pacific region and will help CSC realize our goal of Delivery to the world, from around the world.

We are honored to welcome our Chairman, President and CEO to our campus, said Rajendra B. Vattikuti, President of CSC s operations in India. As a CSC World Sourcing center, our goal is to significantly grow our operations and be a vibrant part of the Indian IT industry. Mr. Laphen s visit confirms the company s commitment to expand operations in India, support the Indian IT ITES industry and contribute to the development of the nation s software industry.

About CSC India
With centers in Noida, Indore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore and Vadodara, and approximately 19,000 employees, CSC is one of the fastest growing IT services firms in India. CSC s strong local presence enables the company to offer high-value technology solutions and a rich portfolio of services to customers across industry segments, including applications development and product support, infrastructure and BPO services, to clients worldwide. CSC India is consistently recognized in best employer award categories and houses the company s first Office of Innovation outside the U.S. For more information, visit in.country.csc.com.

About CSC
CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services through three primary lines of business. These include Business Solutions Services, Global Outsourcing Services and the North American Public Sector. CSC s advanced capabilities include systems design and integration, information technology and business process outsourcing, applications software development, Web and application hosting, mission support and management consulting. Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, CSC has approximately 90,000 employees and reported revenue of 17.1 billion for the 12 months ended July 4, 2008. For more information, visit www.csc.com.

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Bradley Brown, Chief Technology Officer, TUSC will discuss S...

2008-10-31T06:00:00.003-07:00

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August 27, 2008 - Toronto, Canada - Bradley Brown, Chief Technology Officer at TUSC will present the implementation and benefits of the lightweight Service Oriented Architecture at the 2008 Financial Services Technology Forum.

Internal and External Application Integration - Oracle Fusion Web Services

Having ventured down the path of a full bore implementation of internal and external application integration in what he perceived as the most efficient and cost effective manner; attendees will get the benefit of his hindsight introspection today. Specifically, he will explain the implementation and benefits of the lightweight Service Oriented Architecture i.e. Web Services wherever it makes sense. This presentation will discuss the good, bad and ugly about this approach that was taken.

While Brad is easily recognized as an accomplished Oracle author and world-renowned speaker, it is his technological expertise that clearly is his identity. While he has enjoyed a countless number of major implementation successes over the years, one milestone that clearly stands out centers around the development of Periscope which he released through TUSC in 2002. Periscope is breakthrough software that makes data from other data sources i.e., Microsoft Access, Sybase, SQL Server, DB2, Web Services, file systems, APIs, etc. appear as if it s in one big Oracle Database. The data also can be inserted, updated and deleted from many source databases. The groundbreaking tool works with more than 100 databases.

Brad s vast experience and expertise have earned him roles as chief technology officer of a number of companies including IntelliReal, Open Access Broadband Networks and EventConnex. Brad has also been an active board member for a number of companies and organizations including Geekcruises, Lantech Inc., Colorado Uplift and Cactus Strategies. Brad was actively involved in Young Presidents Organization from 1997, having served as the Colorado chapter s chapter chair, breakfast of champions chair, on-boarding chair, education chairperson, inventory of skills chairperson, technology officer, assistant education chairperson and membership chairperson. Brad currently teaches New Venture Creation in the graduate department of the University of Denver.
For more information:
To register for Early-Bird Passes, please visit http: e-financial.wowgao.com registration
More details about the event can be found at http: e-financial.wowgao.com

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Discover innovative Enterprise Content Management Solutions ...

2008-10-31T06:00:00.001-07:00

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Aug 26, 2008 - Toronto, Canada - CDIT Inc. will exhibit its innovative Enterprise Content Management Solutions which help reduce operational costs and enhance competitive positioning at the 2008 Financial Services Technology Forum scheduled on October 28 29, 2008 at the Design Exchange in Toronto, Canada.

CDIT Inc. CDIT is Canada s leading Enterprise Capture Consultant Integrator. It focuses on accelerating the CAPTURE, TRANSFORMATION, DELIVERY and EXCHANGE of critical information that drives every organization. CDIT works with its clients to define architect, supply and implement.

CDIT s Solutions position organizations to realize optimized organizational performance, increased productivity and profit margins, improved service delivery, greater sales volumes and increased market share, by streamlining the flow and management of information and knowledge within the organization. Its unmatched solutions leverage leading-edge technologies including Document Imaging, Workflow and Document Management to improve the speed, cost, accuracy and efficiency of business transactions. It enables financial service organizations to receive and exchange information with anyone, anywhere, in any format while working within the business applications and IT platforms that they already know and use.

The 2008 Financial Services Technology Forum focuses on new, cutting-edge enterprise applications and solutions that are sustainable, flexible, and increase profitability, presented via interactive expositions and engaging conference sessions presented to all corporate users, from service providers to small, medium and large businesses alike.

To inquire about Early-Bird All-Access Passes to attend these events, please send a request via email to attendee wowgao.com or call 1-416-292-0038 ext. 812.

For more information:
To register for Early-Bird Passes, please visit http: e-financial.wowgao.com registration
More details about the event can be found at http: e-financial.wowgao.com

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CSC chairman underscores company s commitment to expand Indi...

2008-10-25T22:00:00.003-07:00

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BlueStar to Distribute Motorola in Latin America

2008-10-25T22:00:00.001-07:00

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Florence, KY October 20, 2008 BlueStar, the leading innovator in solutions-based distribution for Auto ID, Point-of-Sale, Mobility, and RFID products, is announcing a recent agreement with Motorola to market its entire product line-up throughout Latin America.

BlueStar began its relationship with Motorola in Canada, expanded into U.S. distribution, and now completes the Americas with the addition of Latin America. The addition of Motorola to our BlueStar Latin America product mix makes BlueStar a stronger Value-Added Distributor, says Bill Nix, BlueStar s Director of Global Channel Marketing and Sales.

BlueStar Latin America has acquired additional staff to ensure support for the initiative in the region, including: Susana Fonseca, BlueStar Business Development Manager for Colombia, Ricardo Pineda, Business Development Manager for Peru, and Alicia Booth, Marketing Assistant. In addition, two new Account Executives have come on-board Jonathan Abad and Fernando Contreras, along with two staff in Sales Support Cristian Rojas and Alexis Araneda.

BlueStar Latin America is excited about our newly formed partnership with Motorola s Mobility and Scanning Division. We expect that BlueStar s unique solutions-based distribution model will create growth in vertical channels for our current resellers in Latin America. We are currently adding ISVs with profit-building solutions in Spanish language sets, which, when combined with Motorola s broad range of hardware offerings, will create higher margins for our resellers and incremental growth for Motorola, affirmed Steve Cuntz, BlueStar President and CEO.

BlueStar has been a Value-Added Distributor within our North America theater for five years, and continues to enhance its go-to-market strategy with innovative programs like FUSION. We now welcome them to our Latin America theater, and look to continued success, says Janet Schijns, Vice President, Motorola Worldwide Channels.

About BlueStar Latin America
BlueStar has become the number one option for distribution in Latin America. Representing more than sixty vendors of AIDC and POS products, BlueStar Latin America offers inventory from its warehouse located in Miami, FL. The company ships to more than thirty countries in the Latin America region every day. For more information, visit: www.bluestarla.com.

About BlueStar
BlueStar is a leading global solutions-based distributor of Point-of-Sale, bar coding, data collection, radio frequency identification RFID , and wireless mobility products. BlueStar works exclusively with VAR Partners, providing them with complete solutions at competitive prices. The company brings unequaled expertise to the market, offers award-winning technical support, and is an authorized service center for a growing number of manufacturers. For more information about BlueStar, please contact a BlueStar Account Executive or log on to www.bluestarinc.com.

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CSC chairman underscores company s commitment to expand Indi...

2008-10-20T17:01:00.003-07:00

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Jordan s goes for GOLD with Ultimate from Episys

2008-10-20T17:01:00.001-07:00

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Royston, 15th October 2008 Jordan s Furniture, New England s largest furniture retailer, has upgraded its existing software to Ultimate Gold from global information technology services company, Episys, to enable it to improve the way labels are printed and also to maintain high levels of control and accuracy critical to the company s success.

Jordan s Furniture staff members are now able to access the extensive product database to ensure the correct information for any item of furniture is clearly stated. Proper item bar coding is vital to accurate stock replenishment and management. The option to add additional logos is also possible.

Peter Clark, Director of Information Systems at Jordans Furniture, said, New England is a very crowded market place for home furnishings, and customers have a lot of choice, which compels us to consistently provide the best value proposition. Episys has a proven record of providing a high level of customer service, and this helped our decision to upgrade our software. One of the biggest benefits we realized was the ability to queue and print specific tags on request.

Peter Lewis, Marketing Director at Episys, said, Upgrading Jordan s to Ultimate Gold will improve the consistency of messaging in store and improve the customers shopping experience, which will result in increased sales.

Jordan s Furniture already began seeing the benefits of the upgrade earlier this year, including better label creation and the easy, quick and efficient ability to make necessary changes.

Labels are currently printed at Jordan s Furniture s Corporate Offices rather than in the individual stores. Plans for the future include further upgrades that could include Episys Retail Enterprise Suite, which brings the benefits of consistency of message, accuracy of signage with the checkout price and an efficient store operations process that frees store associates to focus on customers rather than signs.

About Episys Limited
Episys is a global information technology solutions and services company to the retail, manufacturing, logistics, chemical, healthcare and public service sector industries. We provide expertise, products, services and support for signage, labeling and mobile systems.

Episys works with strategic business partners worldwide and with a range of leading technology manufacturers, enabling us to provide solutions to meet each unique business need - from integrated signage systems for major worldwide retailers to specialist labels for food manufacturing.

Episys retail clients include BQ, Belk, Bloomingdales, Comet, Co-op, Fortnum Mason, Halfords, Home Depot, John Lewis Partnership, Kohl s, Macy s, Marks Spencer, Pets At Home, Sainsbury s, Sears, Waitrose, Wm Morrison Supermarkets and Woolworths.

www.episys.com

About Jordan s Furniture
Eliot and Barry s grandfather opened the first store in 1918 in Waltham. Now, the family includes a remarkable group of dedicated employees - the J-Team - who keep the spirit going with four stores and a massive new warehouse and corporate office complex. In 1999, Eliot and Barry sold the business to Warren Buffett s Berkshire Hathaway Company but remain heavily involved.

Jordan s Furniture attracts record numbers of guests each week. Now, they sell more furniture per square foot than any other furniture retailer in the country. And, they make sure to give back to the community, making philanthropy a cornerstone of their business.

www.jordansfurniture.com

Software:
OEM SOFTWARE

The Source Magazine and Pitbull Hire 5W Public Relations

2008-10-15T17:02:00.003-07:00

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NEW YORK, Oct. 14.2008-- 5W Public Relations today announced the additions of The Source magazine and Hip Hop star Pitbull to its Entertainment Division. 5WPR will provide strategic counsel, media relations and brand building for both clients.The Source is hip hop s longest running magazine and recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. The Source has long been recognized within hip hop for its in-depth coverage of music, fashion, lifestyle and politics.

Under new ownership, The Source has long been known as The Bible of Hip Hop Music, Culture and Politics. The Source is the longest running magazine in Hip Hop history as it recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. The Source aims to cover every aspect of this unique and vibrant culture - from the streets that spawn increasingly creative music and fashion to the power players that direct the boardrooms and make products into viable commodities and profitable investments. Since its inception as a newsletter back in 88, it has documented everything Hip-Hop like none other.

Pitbull, one of the most successful Latino artists in hip hop history surpassed gold status
for more than 600,000 copies sold of his debut album M.I.A.M.I.: Money Is A Major Issue in the United States. The feat gave Pitbull the biggest-selling bilingual hip-hop debut since Cypress Hill s 1991 self-titled debut, and put him in the rare category of Latino rappers who have achieved major success at English-language radio. In addition,being the 1 Latin artist on Myspace, Pitbull unleashed his sophomore album EL MARIEL in late 2006 spawning the 1 Latin Rap hit, Dime. His third album, Boatlift, dropped in 2007 to rave reviews. Pitbull is currently at work on his fourth album, Rebelution, due out in Summer 2009. He can be seen on his show, La Esquina, which will debut its second season on mun2 on October 22nd. Pitbull also recently launched his social networking site, PlanetPit.com

5W is excited to work with The Source Magazine under its new and exciting leadership team, and Pitbull, a major Latino hip-hop star, said Ronn Torossian, CEO of 5W PR. We look forward to re-establishing The Source s prestige within the entertainment industry and highlighting the accomplishments of Pitbull while taking their brands to the next level.

About 5W Public Relations 5W Public Relations http: www.5wpr.com , named to the INC. 500 list in 2007 is known for implementing creative and customized media programs designed for the maximal realization of its client s specific business goals and objectives.

With headquarters in New York and an office in Los Angeles, 5WPR, the nation s fastest
growing PR firm for three years 2004-2006 , offers public relations support to clients in
diverse areas that range from technology, corporate and consumer affairs, as well as crisis
communications, to entertainment and event management. The firm s energetic, fast-paced and focused culture led one of the industry s foremost trade magazines to describe 5WPR as aggressive in a way that clearly resonates with clients looking for a firm staffed with type A-plus personalities, a BS-free approach, and results from Day One.

With a diversified client portfolio second to none, some of 5WPR s clients include: Evian
Natural Spring Water, IHOP, Harrah s Entertainment,NICE Systems, Barnes Noble Online, Urban Retail Properties, Patina Restaurant Group, Lifestyles, The Ice Rink at Rockefeller Center, 1800 Tequila, Advanstar Communications, Avenue Stores, The Loews Regency, Vail Resorts, Ahava Skin Care, Weatherproof Garment Company, Gen Art, The Pritikin Longevity Center Spa and Philippe Chow. 5WPR also represents known talent such as Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube, as well as a plethora of publicly traded technology companies, a variety of global interests, national corporations, high-profile individuals, regional businesses,government agencies and academic institutions.

Contact Details:
http: www.5wpr.com
Christine Garabedian
212-999-5585
Christine 5wpr.com

Software:
OEM SOFTWARE

Trade Your Way into an Internship with a Unique Investment B...

2008-10-15T17:02:00.001-07:00

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eFinancialCareers.com the UK-based global financial careers website is pleased to announce the upcoming 2009 Merrill Lynch Investment Challenge, in association with eFinancialCareers.com. Teams of five undergraduates can register online now at www.efinancialcareers.com mlchallenge to compete for the unique opportunity to apply for a highly coveted summer internship with Merrill Lynch.

The Investment Challenge is an online trading game that asks teams of undergraduates to test their market skills against other student teams from universities across EMEA. In the first round, starting 5 January 2009, each team will receive a 10,000,000 fantasy fund to use over four weeks for commodities and futures trading in select European and US companies

Following this, the top performing teams will be invited to prepare and submit a second round business case study. A panel of Merrill Lynch judges will review each team s report and select 15 teams to compete in the final round.
Merrill Lynch will bring the 15 finalist teams from their countries of study to London to attend a one-week, Insight into Merrill Lynch Programme. The cost of travel will be covered and accommodation will be provided for those students residing outside of London.
During the one-week programme, students will have access to professionals who work in various business areas across Merrill Lynch and gain insight into the daily business activities. Additionally, each member of the finalist teams will have the opportunity to apply for Merrill Lynch s 2010 summer internship programme. The winning team will also receive an award of 5,000.

John Benson, found and CEO of eFinancialCareers.com, said:
Banks are telling eFinancialCareers that they anticipate maintaining graduate recruitment programmes despite the current market turbulence - although they may scale back somewhat on numbers and are likely to fill many posts from their intern pool. It is therefore important for students to get into an internship programme whilst at university to improve their chances of landing a job in banking when they graduate. The eFinancialCareers Investment Challenge provides a rare opportunity for students to stand out and get their foot in the internship door in a fun and educational way.

Registration for the Merrill Lynch Investment Challenge is now open and closes 31 December 2008. The first round of the Investment Challenge begins at 1400 GMT 5 January 2009 and closes at 1800 GMT 6 February 2009. Last year 376 teams took part in the Investment Challenge.
Please visit www.efinancialcareers.com mlchallenge for more information.
--Ends--

Notes to Students

Team Composition and Registration

Each team must be composed of five undergraduate students with at least two female and two male team members. Team members must remain the same throughout the competition; no substitutions are permitted.
Only teams from universities in Europe, Middle East or Africa EMEA can compete.
Team members must all be from the same university and be scheduled to graduate in 2011.
There is no limit to the number of teams from each university, but students can participate on only one team.

About Student Centre
eFinancialCareers.com s Student Centre is an online resource specifically tailored to students and graduates planning careers and searching for jobs in the investment banking, asset management and securities industries. In addition to its job search engine, the site features up-to-date information on internships and graduate programmes, online practice numerical tests, in-depth explanations of the different financial sectors, an A to Z jargon buster to help decipher financial terminology and Student Answers, the interactive tool that allows students to ask and get answers to their questions about kick-starting their careers in finance. www.efinancialcareers.com students

About eFinancialCareers
eFinancialCareers, a Dice Holdings, Inc. company, is the leading global career site network for professionals working in the investment banking, asset management and securities industries. The website provides financial services professionals with job opportunities, job market news and analysis, salary surveys and career advice. Recruiters and employers can post jobs targeting specific sectors within the financial services industry, both buy-side and sell-side, and can search the resume database for highly qualified and specialized professionals. eFinancialCareers has a network of co-branded career sites with industry-leading trade publications and offers local websites in 18 markets and five languages primarily across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. www.eFinancialCareers.com

--Ends--

Further press information
Please contact Christian Pickel or Brooke Paul gth media on 44 0 20 7153 8036 8035 for further details.

Software:
OEM SOFTWARE

IBM Confirms Finjan s Report on Crimeware-as-a-Service

2008-10-10T17:02:00.003-07:00

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Farnborough, United Kingdom, 19th September 2008 - Finjan Inc., a leading provider of secure web gateway solutions for the enterprise market, stated today that a blog posting from IBM Internet Security Systems, in which the rapid ascendance of hacking-as-a-service is discussed, confirms an earlier report from Finjan on Crimeware-as-a-Service. Finjan s Web Security Trends Report Q1 2008 is available for download at: www.finjan.com mcrc

It is indicative of the domination of criminal gangs in the malware and security attack business these days, says Yuval Ben-Itzhak, Chief Technology Officer of Finjan.

Crimeware-as-a-service, or CaaS, represents the latest phase in the commercialization of hacking methods and tools as indicated by our Malicious Code Research Center MCRC report at the beginning of this year, added Ben-Itzhak. The process of conducting criminal activities is getting even more advanced by simplification getting straight to stolen data as a service.

In our Q1 2008 report, we highlighted the fact that cybercriminals are deploying malware, botnets, and infected computers to provide online hacking services to anyone willing to pay - the providers themselves do not necessarily conduct the criminal activities related to the data that is being compromised he continued.

According to Ben-Itzhak, these services are managed remotely and include features that facilitate the installation of the crimeware program, running the service, online reporting and even offering ongoing maintenance.

As IBM notes, the legality of the new crop of these services is questionable at best, but we suspect that we are going to see more and more of these types of commercial services emerging in the near future, he concluded.

For more on IBM post comments: http: tinyurl.com 6mvr6l

For more on Finjan s Web Security Trends Reports: http: www.finjan.com mcrc

ENDS
About Finjan
Finjan is a global provider of secure web gateway solutions for the enterprise market. Our real-time, appliance-based web security solutions deliver the most effective shield against web-borne threats, freeing enterprises to harness the web for maximum commercial results. Finjan s real-time web security solutions utilize patented behavior-based technology to repel all types of threats arriving via the web, such as spyware, phishing, Trojans, obfuscated code and other malicious code, securing businesses against unknown and emerging threats, as well as known malware. Finjan s security solutions have received industry awards and recognition from leading analyst houses and publications, including Gartner, IDC, Butler Group, SC Magazine, eWEEK, CRN, ITPro, PCPro, ITWeek, Network Computing, and Information Security. With Finjan s award-winning and widely used solutions, businesses can focus on implementing web strategies to realize their full organizational and commercial potential. For more information about Finjan, please visit: www.finjan.com.
Copyright 1996-2008. Finjan Software Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries. All rights reserved.
All text and figures included in this publication are the exclusive property of Finjan and are for your personal and non-commercial use. You may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, use or sell any part of its content in any way without the express permission in writing from Finjan. Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not present a commitment or representation on the part of Finjan. The Finjan technology and or products and or software described and or referenced to in this material are protected by registered and or pending patents including U.S. Patents No. 6092194, 6154844, 6167520, 6480962, 6209103, 6298446, 6353892, 6804780, 6922693, 6944822, 6993662, 6965968, 7058822, 7076469, 7155743, 7155744, 7185358, 7418731 and may be protected by other U.S. Patents, foreign patents, or pending applications.
Finjan, Finjan logo, Vital Security, Vulnerability Anti.dote , Window-of-Vulnerability, and RUSafe are trademarks or registered trademarks of Finjan Inc., and or its affiliates and subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the trademarks of their respective owners.

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OEM SOFTWARE

Fortify Software welcomes IBM s latest diversification

2008-10-10T17:02:00.001-07:00

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25th September 2008 - Fortify Software sees IBM s late entry into the static analysis marketplace as a limited step in the right direction...

Fortify notes that IT research firm Dataquest reports Fortify s revenue led the entire application security testing market, including IBM s dynamic testing product line.

Competition is always good for the industry, but it s the customer that makes the final decision as to which product or service they source, said Barmak Meftah, Fortify s senior vice president of products and technology.

It s therefore worth noting that Fortify s static analyzer covers 17 programming languages, whereas IBM addresses a lot less. In addition, our analyzer can discover more than 315 types of vulnerabilities, whereas IBM uncovers far fewer, he added. Also, Fortify can support seven major IDEs beyond just IBM Eclipse.

According to Meftah, for IT security experts whose job - particularly in these economically challenging times - depends on ensuring that ALL vulnerabilities are revealed, Big Blue s offering might keep some of the hackers out.

But not all of them.

And the ones that get through will probably be the ones that have architected the most complex attack vectors, he noted.

Meftah went on to say that IBM s offering leads with dynamic security analysis via the Watchfire AppScan pen testing capability.

But, he said, effective communication and interaction with developers requires an extensive inside out, code-level knowledge approach compared to the outside in black box capability that Watchfire brings to the IT security table.

It s also worth recognising, he added, that Fortify s offering was built around the language and environment to optimally support developers.

Of course, application vulnerability is what we have specialized in since we were founded in 2003. IBM, in contrast, has produced mainframes, minicomputers, PCs, and software, he said.

If you want convenience, you go to the convenience store. If you want high quality, however, you go to the specialist, he added.

For more on IBM s entry into static code analysis market: http: tinyurl.com 3pyf2r

For more on Fortify Software: http: www.fortify.com

Software:
OEM SOFTWARE

Fortify Software welcomes IBM s latest diversification

2008-10-05T17:01:00.003-07:00

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Fortify Software welcomes IBM s latest diversification

2008-10-05T17:01:00.001-07:00

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Paul Allen s Evri whips up a semantic widget

2008-09-30T21:00:00.003-07:00

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Evri, a Seattle-based semantic-Web project backed by Paul Allen s Vulcan Capital, has thrown open the doors on its beta site and on Evri s Garden, a sandbox for researchers and interested bystanders.

Formerly known as Hypertext Solutions, Evri s first widget offering in the Garden is a pop-up that examines the words it finds significant generally nouns on a page and returns various related articles, images, and video, and if sufficient connections are available a circle-and spoke chart, showing terms with which a given word has a close connection. An automatically generated chart might link, for example, Barack Obama with Joe Biden, or Beverly Hills with Ed McMahon, or Mariners with failure. I may have made that last one up. You can check for yourself on Evri s site or download the widget for your own uses.

Like Google News, the search process is entirely algorithm-driven, drawing its links from a variety of highly regarded information services, very nearly in real time. By parsing the semantics of the information it finds, Evri aims to provide better context than a search engine might -- guiding you to, for instance, articles on Madonna the singer rather than Madonna the religious figure. One of those Madonnas is, by the way, Evri-linked directly to Bill Clinton. Guess.

An early version of the search widget originally saw daylight at last May s All Things D conference. During his demonstration there, CEO Neil Roseman, formerly VP of technology at Amazon, described the widget s MO as search less, understand more.

I question whether Evri entirely understands my most profound search needs; a check for the television show Pushing Daisies passed back on-point images, news, connections and a Wikipedia-based show synopsis, but the duplicate photos of the show-inspired crochet afghan may have been a bit random. Still, it works, and could add a little semantic sparkle to many a dull Web page.
Software:
OEM SOFTWARE

Circuit City looks to better customer experience after another loss

2008-09-30T21:00:00.001-07:00

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The struggling consumer electronics retail chain today blamed its continuing financial losses on a weakened brand image, together with competitive pressures and the faltering economy.

US retailer Circuit City plans to put more emphasis on improving the customer experience in its stores, in the wake of a 162.7 million loss for the second quarter of its 2009 fiscal year. Earlier efforts to do that haven t been sufficient to reverse our overall business results, acknowledged Bruce H. Besanko, executive VP and CFO.

Circuit City has been gaining traction in bettering the customer experience, as well as in rebuilding its selling culture and improving its close rates on sales, Besanko said in a statement today.

However, the consumer electronics retail chain has undergone a significant decline in traffic, Besanko said, placing the blame on a weakened brand position along with competitive pressures and a worsening of the overall economy.

Circuit City did show some growth in home theater installations over the same quarter last year. But these gains were offset by a decline in its Firedog PC services. The retailer also felt double-digit losses in notebook and desktop PCs, audio, and digital imaging products such as camcorders and DVD hardware, although losses were only in the single digits in some other categories, such as video gaming, flat panel TVs, and navigation products.

Yet it seems to singing a more frantic tune right now than over the two previous quarters, when its sales also slid downwards.

Two quarters ago, the chain s sales numbers showed some progress, and we expect continued improvement from our turnaround strategy for fiscal year 2009, said CEO and Chairman Philip J. Schoonover, in a conference call with analysts in early April.

Then, in a statement issued after the close of the first fiscal quarter, Schoonover maintained that Circuit City seemed to be delivering an improved customer experience at the time, based on the result of scores of third-party mystery tests -- a type of test in which paid personnel typically pose as actual shoppers and then report back on their experiences.

In response to its second quarter loss, Circuit City plans to undertake a comprehensive review of the business, and the company has already identified key initiatives to drive performance in the holiday season, according to today s statement.
Software:
OEM SOFTWARE

Nokia tablets get 3G, company says 'software comes first!'

2008-09-20T17:00:00.003-07:00

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At Open Source in Mobile (OSIM) in Berlin this week, Nokia announced that future iterations of its Internet Tablet OS will support 3G HSPA. Are Nokia tablets becoming better PCs than 'tablet PCs?'

Worldwide mobile device leader Nokia predicted earlier this month that its dominant position in the market would soften as consumer confidence weakens. Meanwhile, the company presses ever harder into the software sector.

This week, the Finnish company upgraded its status in the nonprofit Linux Foundation to "Gold" sponsorship status. Nokia's recent innovations to its Internet Tablet OS, the most recent of which it's calling Maemo 5, represent the first code of its kind to be included in the standards-founding group. Nokia has developed Linux kernel code related to High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) connectivity for Texas Instruments OMAP3 processors.

This crucial development will give future iterations of Nokia's Internet Tablets -- progenies of the N800 -- cellular broadband connectivity. While there is a WiMAX-equipped version of the N810 tablet in Nokia's upcoming release schedule, any future tablets running Maemo 5 will be equipped with OMAP3 chips to facilitate 3G connectivity. These are an upgrade to the current 400 MHz OMAP 2420. TI claims this can improve performance up to three times. Nokia also announced added support for high definition cameras and optics, in keeping with OMAP3's purported strengths.

Nokia reps said that the company does not yet have a successor to the N810 ready for announcement. Since its OS will be open-source, however, "software comes first, and then products based on it may come later."

Software:
OEM SOFTWARE

Eee maker Asus to produce Skype's first dedicated phone

2008-09-20T17:00:00.001-07:00

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After a premature rollout by Asus earlier this week, Skype gave the first glimpses of Asus' first phone -- a videophone with a built-in webcam -- at events yesterday on both sides of the Atlantic.

NEW YORK, NY (BetaNews) -- Skype celebrated its fifth birthday yesterday by announcing in both New York and London that Asus, maker of the pioneering Eee ultramobile (PC), will produce the first Skype-certified videophone.

In addition to previewing Asus' AiGuru SV1 at a birthday bash in the UK, Skype showed the phone at a Pepcom-sponsored press event in the US.

Earlier in the week week, Asus jumped the gun on Skype's phone launch, first issuing and then retracting a press release about the SV1. Yet on Thursday night, the new phone was plainly visible in Skype's booth at Pepcom's Holiday Spectacular holiday gifts preview in Manhattan, right next to a dish of elaborately decorated birthday cupcakes.

A Skype spokesperson presiding over that company's booth at the Pepcom show told BetaNews that, although the exact date hasn't been decided upon, the SV1 is scheduled to ship at some point in October.

The first phone to be produced by Asus, this standalone device has its own 7-inch, 800-by-400 display, along with Wi-Fi, eliminating the need for a PC connection.

Purportedly aimed at ease of use, the SV1 also integrates a webcam, speaker, and microphone, and is designed mostly for desktop use. Although the device can also be used as a portable videophone, it offers only around 20 minutes of battery life. Expected pricing is about $300.

Software:
OEM SOFTWARE

Is Microsoft's Cashback putting pressure on Google Checkout?

2008-08-31T09:00:00.003-07:00

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Although Google might not have much to fear from Microsoft, on the whole, could a new promotion in Google Checkout represent a response to Microsoft's Live Search Cashback feature?

In a new back-to-school promotion, Google is now offering a $5 to $10 discount on purchases made at partner sites that use its Checkout Service.

Unlike previous promotions from Google of this kind, the current one lets you use the discount as many times -- and on as many partner sites -- as you'd like.

Meanwhile, on the merchant side, Google allows participating sites to process orders and charge customers' credit and debit cards without fees.

Google has also been running additional promotions for merchants but on a limited time basis, such as offering 50 free AdWords to sites that agree to take part.

As previously reported in BetaNews, according to many accounts, Microsoft's Cash Back services -- which gives cash back to consumers buying products through LiveSearch -- seems to be faring well in helping to improve the company's search share , in recent figures from comScore.

To find online stores that accept Google Checkout, you need to search Google for items you're interested in buying. Sites participating in the Checkout program show up as sponsored links with shopping cart icons.

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OEM SOFTWARE

Could Obama's VP pick have triggered millions in SMS traffic?

2008-08-31T09:00:00.001-07:00

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If you do the math, using the best estimates available to you about text messaging (SMS) usage in the US, the results could be staggering: A single news announcement may mean a small windfall for telcos.

If Sprint's early estimates are accurate and if they're reflective of other carriers' traffic on the day Sen. Barack Obama announced his running mate, the resulting flow of text message traffic on the nation's networks could theoretically have generated more than $118 million in extra revenue for the nation's cell phone carriers.

Here's how the theory works: Analytics service Nielsen Mobile announced yesterday afternoon that, based on the billing activity of sampled customers, it believes some 2.9 million people were recipients of the 3am text message from the Obama campaign , announcing Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate.

That's actually not a lot of people. As the telecommunications industry trade group CTIA estimates , based on December 2007 sampling, some 48.1 billion text messages are sent by Americans every month. For the average day, that's about 1.58 billion SMS messages; so the Obama blast by itself would have only represented two tenths of one percent of the entire day's SMS traffic on US networks, for August 23.

That's not the bump Sprint reported, however. It says its SMS traffic levels ballooned to 250% of normal, which would have accounted not just for the initial blast, but for all the response from people who may not have been aware their phone also had a "talk" feature.

If you apply that 250% boost figure to the CTIA estimates (again, assuming Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and others received similar traffic boosts), that means some 3.95 billion text messages may have been processed that day, for about 2.37 billion extra messages on that subject alone.

With estimates of the average price per US-based SMS message at $0.05, that means $118.6 million in extra traffic may have been generated, perhaps in just a few hours' time. All this for discussion of a candidate who, after all was said and done after the final round of the Iowa Caucuses in January, could only muster less than one percent of caucus voters.

2:45 pm EDT August 26, 2008 - Nielsen Mobile Director of Insights Nicholas Covey told BetaNews this afternoon that he believes the 250% traffic boost figure may, in the end, only apply to the segment of the SMS network where Sen. Obama's "short code" messages were being trafficked.

"This makes a substantial difference in terms of the total carrier revenue that could potentially be attributed to this text message campaign," Covey wrote us.

Software:
OEM SOFTWARE

Active WebCam

2008-08-24T09:00:00.003-07:00

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Active WebCam 11.0 is a WebCam Tool product from pysoft.com, get 5 Stars SoftSea Rating, Active WebCam captures images up to 30 frames per second from any video device including USB and Analog cameras, TV-boards, Camcorders and Network IP cameras. The software broadcasts live high-quality MPEG-4 video from your computer or uploads JPEG images to your FTP server. Broadcasting can be viewed using any Internet browser; no plug-ins or downloads required.
Active WebCam performs simultaneous recording and broadcasting from unlimited number of cameras. Your camera / cameras can be used as surveillance system. When the software detects motion in the monitored area, it sounds alarm, e-mails you captured images, starts broadcasting, or records video. Live broadcasting as well as recording can be password protected that all video and audio are scrambled and cannot be watched without valid password. The software has features to place image overlays and date/time stamps, adjust picture size / quality, and Pan/Tilt/Zoom control.
Key Features:
Works with all USB and Parallel Port cameras, Windows compatible Capture Devices and Framegrabbers, TV-boards, and with Network IP Cameras.
Broadcasts live MPEG-4 video and MP3 audio up to 30 frames per second.
Multiple cameras support. Simultaneous recording and broadcasting from unlimited number of cameras.
Dynamic IP Service, that gives a permanent internet address to your web camera whenever IP of your computer changes.
Time stamps captured video.
Broadcasts audio.
Supports Encrypted Transmission.
Records password protected video clips.
Performs Live Recording that allows rewind and playback captured content at any time.
Has features to control camera's Pan, Tilt, and Zoom.
Helps you to create web page for your web camera.
Records video when a motion is detected.
Allows to view recorded video remotely.
Sends Email and SMS when motion detected.
Runs a software when a motion is detected.
Allows to define the active area for motion detection.
Creates thumbnails from captured images.
Has a comprehensive scheduler.
Checks the available space on hard drive and stops recording if there is no available space.
User name and password to control access to your camera and recorded videos from Internet.
Has feature to limit number of camera viewers.
Stealth mode makes the software totally invisible that it doesn't display any icon in the sys tool tray and it is not presented in the task bar tray.
Password protection from unauthorized usage.
Ability to run the software as Windows service that the software starts automatically at system boot and executes even when no user is logged on to the system. The license of this communication software is Free Trial Software, the price is $29.00, you can free download and get a free trial before you buy. If you want to get a full or nolimited version of Active WebCam, you can buy this communication software.

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OEM SOFTWARE

Electronic Arts won't extend Take-Two deadline

2008-08-24T09:00:00.001-07:00

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By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Business Writer
Mon Aug 18, 6:41 PM ET

NEW YORK - Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. is retracting its hostile bid for smaller rival Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., but a deal — and a friendly one at that — is likelier than ever.

Take-Two, best known for the popular "Grand Theft Auto" video game series, confirmed Monday it expects to sign a confidentiality agreement with EA to begin formal discussions about "strategic alternatives."

EA had said earlier it wouldn't extend the Monday night deadline for its $2 billion tender offer to buy Take-Two. The companies have been unable to agree on a price for the past six months.

Now, EA says that if it does buy Take-Two, it no longer believes it can combine the company in time for the holidays, when video game companies make most of their money. Because of this, EA said it needs to review assumptions made to support its offer price of $25.74 per share.

"They are both posturing," said Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. "EA is saying `we want to pay less,' Take-Two is saying they want more. The important thing is that they are talking."

EA already has extended its deadline for the offer five times, mostly to let regulators continue their antitrust review. The company said it would let the offer expire at 11:59 p.m. EDT Monday, and added it "remains confident that antitrust issues will not prevent or delay a transaction." The Federal Trade Commission is scheduled to complete its review by Thursday.

On Monday, EA said it will entertain a financial presentation by Take-Two under confidentiality agreements. Take-Two's management said it plans to present EA with its three-year product release schedule, financial projections and other nonpublic information meant to support its claims of what the company is worth.

EA wants to buy Take-Two not just for the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise, the company's main source of revenue, but also for its sports business and critically acclaimed titles such as "BioShock," which is being made into a movie. Take-Two's sales for the most recent fiscal year, which ended in October, totaled $982 million. EA, meanwhile, reaped sales of $3.67 billion in the year ended March 31.

On Friday, EA Chief Executive John Riccitiello called Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two's board, to discuss the offer. Following further discussions over the weekend, EA agreed to hear Take-Two's presentation.

In a letter made public Monday, Zelnick said the company "has made significant strides since EA first expressed interest" in Take-Two. In a separate statement, Zelnick said his company's board remains "unwavering in its belief" that EA's offer price was too low.

Shares of New York-based Take-Two slid $1.09, or 4.4 percent, to $23.75. This is still well above $17.36, the stock's closing price on Feb. 22, the last trading day before EA announced its offer of $25.74 per share. This could signal that investors are confident a deal will go through, but the question is at what price, and when.

Pachter, for one, said if the companies' managements "are as smart as I think they are," this price will be somewhere between $26 and $27, and an agreement could happen this week. But if Take-Two decides to hold out for a higher price, like $30 or more, the analyst expects EA to go hostile again, and at a price closer to $20. This, Pachter noted, is less likely, given the "dearth of other bidders."

If a deal does happen, EA has said it would give Take-Two's creative teams — many of which have worked under a succession of CEOs over the past few years — a "stable management" that understands video games. Riccitiello took over at EA in April 2007 and has since reorganized the software publisher into a "city-state model," with four game divisions and distinct, independent development studios.

Still, EA has been under pressure from investors to improve its creativity and rely less on sequels of existing hits — something the Take-Two acquisition could help accomplish.

Zelnick took over as chairman of Take-Two after a March 2007 shareholder coup ousted most of the company's top executives and board members over poor results, accounting troubles and controversy surrounding violent and sexual content in games. Several former executives, including ex-Chairman and CEO Ryan A. Brant, pleaded guilty in 2007 to falsifying business records after a probe into backdated stock options.

Shares of Redwood City, Calif.-based EA fell 48 cents to $47.76.

AP Technology Writer Anick Jesdanun contributed to this report.

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