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RB | January 24, 2012
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Tablet Info

The Tablet PC has long been a pet project for Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who showed the first Tablet PC prototype in 2000 at Comdex. Mr. Gates described the device, which featured input via stylus only, as an evolutionary step in PC functionality and usability. For the next ten years leading up to CEO Steve Ballmer‘s introduction of the new “slates”, which support Windows 7 touchscreen features, the company has tried to make the Tablet catch-on but with little success according to PCWorld.

Microsoft Office Coming To iPad Next Year – Report

Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft may be bringing Office to the iPad next year, according to a report in The Daily. The report cites unnamed sources, and says that Microsoft (MSFT) will also update its version of Office for the Mac next year.

On a business level, it might make sense the Apple (AAPL) iPad is making inroads into enterprise, and having some sort of Office client available for it would let Microsoft earn at least some money from these Apple invaders. It would also help make sure that Office 365 the company’s cloud-based business services would work on the iPad according to the BusinessInsider,

Microsoft might even do this at the risk of driving some enterprise customers to stick with iPads instead of adopting Windows 8 tablets. After all, Office and related back-end products has been driving Microsoft’s growth for the last year, while Windows sales have been pretty stagnant (I wrote about Office’s profitability here).

The BusinessInsider points out that Microsoft has NEVER released Office for the Mac in the same year (or before) Office for Windows. Microsoft is building Office 15 for Windows. It’s going to be a ton of work to revamp it to work with the Windows 8 tablet interface, or risk having it relegated to traditional PCs only (and having one less reason for customers to choose Windows 8 tablets). The Mac version of Office almost always comes a year after the Windows version. It COULD be different this time, but that would require a diversion of resources to a minority platform (the Mac still has less than 5% market share for personal computers).

Microsoft said through a spokesperson: “We already deliver Office on multiple platforms and devices and are committed to expanding in the future, but have nothing further to share today.”

BI says that expanding Office to the iPad is not crazy.

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Dell Streak Discontinued

DellThe Dell Streak 7 won’t even get to turn one year old. The BusinessInsider noted that Dell (DELL) is pulling the plug on its unremarkable tablet, as indicated on its site.

This is only shortly after discontinuing the Dell Streak 5 as well.

BI recalled Walt Mossberg‘s February 2011 AllThingsD review of the tablet, he sums it all up with one sentence: “I found the compromises Dell made to get to that low price make it impossible for me to recommend the Streak 7.”

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I wrote about hardware companies abandoning the tablet market in 2012 here. Does this move make Dell a market leader?

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Proof That The PC Is Dying

PC is dyingThe BusinessInsider noted this excellent chart from Horace Dediu @asymco as proof that the PC is dying a slow, painful death. Mr. Dediu’s chart shows PC sales, including Google (GOOG) Android and Apple (AAPL) iOS devices, from the dawn of time to today.

As you can see, PC sales have started to go flat. Based on recent numbers from last quarter, they may have already hit their peak.

Meanwhile, Macs are gaining steady momentum while Android and iOS devices are blowing up.

One thing BI thinks could break the trend are all those fancy new Ultrabooks displayed at CES. Those could give PC sales a major boost considering how cheap and efficient they are.

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Apple Sues Chinese Outfit for Heresy

Steve Jobs Apple (AAPL) is suing a Chinese company for making graven idols of its founder Steve Jobs reports TechEye. Chinese company In Icons created an “eerily realistic” 12-inch action figure of Steve Jobs. TechEye says the model comes with the clothes and accessories such as the black faux turtleneck, blue jeans and sneakers. It was being sold in a box that looks like Walter Isaacson‘s “Steve Jobs” biography cover, and comes with a chair, a “One More Thing…” backdrop, as well as two red apples, including one with a bite in it.

Apple sees this an affront and has told In Icons that using Apple’s logo or products, or Jobs’ name or appearance, is a “criminal offence.” The article points out that the Pope and Elvis have similar deals on their merchandise.

But it is clear that its threat is going nowhere In Icons is not giving up.

Tandy Cheung, the entrepreneur behind In Icons told TechEye said that he was an Apple fanboy and a lot of people like him who want to have Jobs’ action figure. Cheung spoke with several lawyers from Hong Kong who told him that he wasn’t in violation unless he decided to brand any of his designs with Apple products or logos. He told IB Times that Steve Jobs was not an actor, he’s just a celebrity. There is no copyright protection for a normal person. Steve Jobs is not a product.

BuzzFeed updates that the promo pics from toy company In Icons might suggest that the late Apple co-founder comes with cool accessories, but alas. For $99 all you get is the black turtleneck-clad 12” action figure, no assembly required. Due for U.S. release in late February.

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RB | January 19, 2012
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Don’t Fear the iPad

Network security Dark Reading reports that as workers bring their consumer devices to the workplace and expect to use them, many IT teams have raised concerns over the impact of mobile devices on a business’ security.

Tablet computersThe first reaction to the trend of consumerization of IT has typically been to ban smartphones and tablets. Slowly, companies are opening up Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) programs and attempting to better manage the devices. Yet Josh Corman, director of security intelligence for Akamai (AKAM) told DarkReading firms should speed things up at least in the case of iPads.

He says firms that switch employees from general-purpose computers to more limited devices, such as the Apple (AAPL) iPad, could reap significant security benefits. “When new IT comes out, it is not ipso facto secure, consumer devices typically lag,” Mr. Corman told DarkReading. “But in this particular case, the adoption is of something that is inherently more defensible and inherently less complex.”

Apple ComputersMr. Corman looks at the more tightly controlled software ecosystem for iPads and sees fewer avenues for attackers to compromise corporate networks. The devices are simpler than general-purpose computer workstations, and that’s a benefit for security, he told DarkReading. “We know that complexity is the enemy of security, but we accept very high levels of complexity in our compute environments,” Mr. Corman says.

The article reports that the reasoning parallels that used by Microsoft (MSFT) when the company embarked on its mission to harden its Windows operating system. A measure of its progress was the reduction of the operating system’s attack surface area, a measure of the ease of which attackers could get access to and exploit critical functions. By reducing the ability for attackers to inject code into the system, Microsoft reduced the attack surface area and increased security. Similarly, simpler software systems, such as the iPad, used as part of a comprehensive attempt to reduce complexity in a company’s computational environment could have a similar effect.

Android logoAs long as the tablets can satisfy worker requirements, then a company could garner security benefits, agrees Frank Andrus, CTO for Bradford Networks, a network security provider. Not all tablets are created equal the more open Android platform might not offer as many security benefits as Apple’s more controlled product, “They can more easily be taken advantage of by an attacker,” he told DarkReading.

The mobile devices, however, pose a greater hazard to sensitive company data, he says. Because employees carry smartphones and tablets to places they would not bring a laptop, companies do run a greater risk of exposing data on lost and stolen devices, he says.

Weak linkIn addition, unless a company completely converts its employees to tablets for work, they will just be adding another attack surface to its IT systems, not subtracting a more complex system, Tim Matthews, a director of data-loss prevention products for Symantec told DarkReading. “The problem is that you don’t necessarily reduce the attack surface because you are not replacing your laptop yet,” he says.

To protect against the loss or theft of devices, and the resulting data leakage, companies should employee mobile device management (MDM), Mr. Matthews says. MDM software can also limit the applications installed on an employee-owned device and enforce role-based security on devices that attempt to connect to a corporate network.

In the end, allowing employees to use locked-down tablets, such as the iPad, can increase security, but only if the company pays attention to how employees are using the devices, he says.

Steve Ballmer

Where's my tablet?

“These guys are working on the plane or working at home, adding to a company’s productivity, but they are doing so in an unprotected way,” Matthews says. “And that’s a problem.”

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Mobile devices bring a different set of threats, but more employees on hard-to-hack tablets means better security.

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RB | January 17, 2012
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QR Codes Can Put Users at Risk

QR malware-Updated 01-26-12- It was just a matter of time and now the Websense (WBSN) ThreatSeeker Network has started spotting spam messages that lead to URLs that use embedded QR codes. According to a report at Help Net Security this is a clear evolution of traditional spammers towards targeting mobile technology. The spam email messages look like traditional pharmaceutical spam emails and contain a link to the Web site 2tag.nl. Once the 2tag.nl URL from the mail message is loaded in the browser, a QR code is displayed, along with the full URL. When the QR code is read by a QR reader, it automatically loads the spam URL.
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Quick Response codes (QR codes) are a “new” type of barcode that can be used for a variety of purposes tracking, ticketing, labeling of products, etc. They can be put anywhere, in magazines, buses, websites, TV, tickets, and on almost any object which they might want to learn more about.

 Help Net Security writes that when used for legitimate purposes, they make life easier for users. “All you need to ‘visualize such a code is a smartphone with a camera and a QR reader application to scan it – the code can direct you to websites or online videos, send text messages and e-mails, or launch apps,” point out BullGuard’s researchers.

Unfortunately, QR codes can just as easily be used to compromise users’ mobile devices. “Much like URL shortening services can be and are used maliciously because of the fact that they obscure the real target URL, QR codes can also be used for such deception,” Joe Levy, CTO of Solera Networks told DarkReading. “QR codes … provide a direct link to other smart phone capabilities such as email, SMS, and application installation. So potential attack vectors extend beyond obscured URLs and browser exploits very nearly to the full suite of device capabilities.”

Mobile malwareThere are several ways attackers are already using malicious QR codes to perpetrate their scams. A recent attack via QR code “Attaging” took place in Russia and involved a Trojan disguised as a mobile app called Jimm. Once installed, “Jimm” sent a series of expensive text messages ($6 each), racking up unwanted charges.

On Apple (AAPL) iOS devices, hackers are sending users to websites that will jailbreak the device and install more malicious malware. Tomer Teller, security evangelist at Check Point Software Technologies, told DarkReading, “a user scans a barcode and is redirected to an unknown website … the user phone will be jail broken and additional malware could be deployed (such as key loggers and GPS trackers).”

Android malware“On the Google (GOOG) Android  … Criminals are redirecting users to download malicious applications. All a user needs to do is scan a barcode and it will redirect to a website that will download the Android Application” according to the article.

In addition attackers are using QR codes to redirect users to fake websites for phishing. “A QR code will redirect to a fake Bank that will look exactly like your bank. Since most smart phone screens are small, a normal user may not see the difference and will type in his or her (information) and hand it to the attackers,” Teller says. According to Mobile Commerce News some apps, like the NeoReader from Neomedia, that collect personal identifiable information (PII). This information is then sent to third parties who mine the data and possibly resell it.

Mobile paymentsThe trend to mobile QR based payment systems from firms like LevelUp, Kuapay, and Paypal are developing will drive QR code malware forward Mr. Levy says. “As our mobile devices and our wallets continue to converge through such technologies as near field communications (NFC), Bump and QR, malware authors are bound to prefer these very direct paths to the money. After all, these devices and apps are well on the road to becoming our new currency.”

So how do you protect yourself and the data on your mobile?

  • Download an app that scans QR codes and barcodes and shows the URL to which the codes want to take you. “Only use QR code reader software that allows the user to confirm the action to be taken i.e. visit a website link,” Paul Henry, security and forensic analyst at Lumension told DarkReading. “If you do not know and trust the link, cancel the action.
  • Do not scan QR codes from random stickers on walls and similar surfaces. Help Net Security says scammers are counting on people to do that because they can’t curb their curiosity.
  • Consider installing a mobile security app on your device, especially if it runs the Android OS. “Android is an open platform, which means that its source code can be examined by criminals and exploited easily when they find a weakness in, say, the Android browser,” according to the article. “That’s why most malicious apps transmitted via QR codes target the Android-based smartphones.”

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I am not a fan of QR codes they seem to take you to an advertisement. Most of the destinations are fluff at best and dangerous at worst. Now that they have become nearly ubiquitous, they present more risk than necessary. Avoid QR codes.

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RB | January 15, 2012
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Congress Prepares to Destroy the Web

Stop SOPAThe Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation being debated in Congress has the potential to destroy the internet as we have come to know it. If passed, SOPA would require internet providers to block access to sites in other countries hosting stolen intellectual property (IP) from the U.S. It also puts any site that has even an accidental link to a protected intellectual property (IP) at risk for legal action according to the BusinessInsider and many others.

DetroitMichigan Democratic congressman John Conyers Jr, husband of convicted Detroit City Council bribe taker, Monica Conyers, not only supports SOPA, but was a co-sponsor of SOPA (H.R.3261) according to ProPublica.

Conyers support of SOPA may have been purchased for $158,574 in campaign contributions in 2010 from the Computers/Internet and TV/Movies/Music industries according to ProPublica. This is an increase of nearly $14,000 from the 2008 election cycle.

Electronics Frontier FoundationStolen IP is a very broad and vague term. Most the leading Internet sites rely on user-generated content and links that might have protected IP on them. BI predicts that some of the web’s favorite sites may cease to exist because of the bill Conyers sponsored.

Which sites? The BusinessInsider asked anti censorship advocacy groups like the Free Software Foundation, the Electronics Frontier Foundation and the Participatory Politics Foundation for some answers and they projected the following (This is NOT a comprehensive list).

Reddit logoThe experts say Reddit is a forum for linking to and commenting on content, and it’s all user-generated. As a result, some users are going to post or link to content that don’t have the rights to. Both of those are big no-nos for SOPA according to BI. Alexa ranks Reddit #115.

The virtual artist platform deviantART attracts 45 million unique visitors per month. The site allows emerging and established artists to exhibit, promote, and share their work on the web. It makes the SOPA hit list because if an artist infringes upon a copyrighted work, both the artist and the site may be subject to legal action. deviantART will have to closely censor what is uploaded on the site says BI. Alexa ranks deviantART #131.

ebay logoThe virtual auction house and e-commerce site eBay (EBAY) makes this list because of sellers who use the site to distribute counterfeit merchandise. The article says the site does discourage selling these types of items with policies on IP. Alexa ranks eBay #20.

Amazon (AMZN) could also be at risk due to sellers who attempt to distribute counterfeit goods. Alexa ranks Amazon #9.

Etsy logo Etsy, the virtual marketplace of over 800,000 active “shops” is threatened by SOPA because it allows users to buy and sell handmade or vintage items, art, and supplies according the BI. Etsy faces risk from SOPA because it will have to monitor the handmade goods it offers. If an IP holder claims to be harmed by any activity on the site, Etsy could be forced to suspend their service. That would harm all the vendors on the site and not just those accused of IP theft. Alexa ranks Etsy #162.

The BusinessInsider says YouTube is at risk from SOPA despite its effort to keep keep pirated content out. If copyrighted works are found on YouTube by an IP holder, it could mean a suspension of service. SOPA will further censor the kinds of content the YouTube community can upload. Alexa ranks YouTube #3.

Facebook Facebook also makes the experts list because if one of it’s 800 million users shares a link to a copyrighted work or to a site that is accused of infringing IP, Facebook could be held liable as well. SOPA will likely force Facebook to further monitor and censor its users. Facebook is ranked #2 by Alexa.

Like YouTube, if copyrighted works are found on Flickr by an IP holder it could result in the suspension of service. SOPA will further censor the kinds of content the Flickr community can upload. Under SOPA, any copyright violation complaint made could suspend both the site and its revenue streams according to the article. Flickr is ranked #42 by Alexa.

WordPress logoOver 70 million people use WordPress to publish their blog. WordPress faces risk by SOPA because the bill could mandate the site further monitor and censor the bloggers. If a WordPress site is accused of violating IP protected works or a commenter links to a copyrighted work, BI predicts that could potentially shut down all the blogs hosted on the site. WordPress is ranked #18 by Alexa.

Over 40 million people use Tumblr to share photos, poems, posts, and other creative content. Tumblr faces the same threat as WordPress according to BI. If a blogger or commenter uploads or links to copyrighted works, then Tumblr and its users could be at risk. Tumblr is ranked #40 by Alexa.

Vimeo logo Vimeo is a video sharing website and has a reputation for being the place where creative types in the video and film industry upload their original work. However, given the user-generated nature of the site BI says, Vimeo still faces risk from users who include even a portion of copyrighted material in their film. Vimeo is ranked #11 by Alexa.

Big name sites that the experts say a at risk from SOPA include:

Google (GOOG) ranked #1 by Alexa.

Yahoo (YHOO) is ranked #4 by Alexa.

Wikipedia ranked #6 by Alexa.

Twitter ranked #10 by Alexa.

Microsoft‘s (MSFT) Bing is ranked #26 by Alexa.

The BusinessInsider concludes that the real victim of SOPA would be the startups (which Conyers says SOPA will save jobs)whose innovation will be restricted by this bill. Smaller websites may not have the lawyers to fight a bill like SOPA and other sites may not consider launching at all for fear of prosecution.

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RB | January 12, 2012
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Congress Gets Richer While We Get Poorer

Congress money bagsA new analysis from The New York Times shows that members of Congress have gotten richer during the financial crisis, while the people they represent have seen their incomes decline according to Zeke Miller at the BusinessInsider. The median congressional net worth rose from $800,000 in 2004 to $1.2 million in 2010, while that of the general public declined from $108,000 to $100,000.

Congress greedThe BI article says millionaires are also overrepresented in Congress, with at least 250 members worth at least seven figures. Lawmakers aren’t inclined to discuss their personal wealth, but they don’t even want to discuss whether family or friends have been affected by the financial crisis. The NYT asked all 534 members about how close friends and family members weathered the downturn, and just 18 responded, raising questions about whether members of Congress are out of touch with the people they represent.

Nancy Pelosi stays at a $10,000 a day hotelAs further proof of how out of touch Congress is, Henry Blodget at the BusinessInsider points out a report from the Hawaii Reporter (via Drudge), that Nancy Pelosi is spending her Christmas at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu on Hawaii. And this has become something of a tradition for her. For the last two years, she has reportedly stayed in the resort’s $10,000-a-night suite.

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