jenniferleclaire.com » 2009

Pressure Builds on Google as Server Problems Continue

Google News was down again Friday morning, signaling an apparent ripple effect through its servers that continues to affect users.Google has apologized for Thursday’s glitch, calling it a “traffic jam” that caused many users to experience slow service and service interruptions on Google.com, Gmail and Google News. The sites, as well as Google Docs, AdSense, YouTube, Google Analytics, and Blogger, were unavailable to some users for about an hour.

Specifically, Google said the trouble stemmed from a glitch that routed too much of its traffic through computers in Asia. This glitch translated to 14 percent of its users feeling the pain of an overwhelmed Google server .

Click here to read the rest of my story on Sci-Tech Today.

May 16th, 2009

Phishing Attack Grabs Access To Facebook Accounts

Another Facebook phishing attack was under way Thursday. Phishers hijacked Facebook messages and inserted fake links that take users to a bogus site where they were instructed to log in to Facebook again. If they did, the phishers captured the username and password information.One version of the e-mail reads: “Susan sent you a message. Subject: Hello. Check 121.im,” with “121.im” as a link. Compromised accounts help spread the malicious links rapidly across the network.

Facebook identified and blocked the e-mails with the fake link within a few hours of the attack’s execution, but many members received the bogus message before the popular social-networking site acted. Facebook changes the passwords on victims’ accounts to foil the phishers, but it hasn’t divulged how many of its 200 million members were affected.

Click here to read the rest of my story on Sci-Tech Today.

Add comment May 16th, 2009

Sony Reels From $1.03B Loss Amid Falling Sales

In a sign of the times for the consumer electronics industry, Sony on Thursday posted its first annual loss in 14 years. It predicted a bleak year ahead.Sony’s loss was 98.9 billion yen (US$1.03 billion) for its fiscal year just ended, and it expects a net loss of 120 billion yen (US$1.25 billion) for its fiscal year ending in March 2010. Despite the dismal report, Sony beat analyst’s expectations, thanks to a one-time gain from Japanese tax-law changes.

Sony blamed the economic downturn and a strong yen for its poor earnings and plans to close three factories in Japan to slash production costs. But analysts suggested the problem might be something more.

“Like Apple products, Sony products often carry a bit of a cache and are considered premium products,” said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret. “The key difference is that Apple has managed to portray itself as a premium product that carries value. Sony hasn’t gone to the trouble to establish the value behind the premium offerings.”

Click here to read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.

May 15th, 2009

Amazon Launches Blog Subscriptions for Kindle

After optimizing the Kindle bookstore for the iPhone and acquiring the popular iPhone e-book reader Stanza, Amazon is now turning the page on its next Kindle innovation: Blog subscriptions.

Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a beta program to pay bloggers for Kindle subscriptions to their posts. Although Kindle comes equipped with a simple browser that allows consumers to pull up their blogs of choice, Amazon has decided to remove a step from the process and push blog content to the device’s home screen. Subscriptions run 99 cents to $2 a month.

Amazon pays registered bloggers 30 percent of the subscription fee and keeps 70 percent for internal costs. Bloggers don’t have to pay any fees to join the program, but Amazon sets the price of the content based on what it deems a fair value for customers. The new program opens the door for bloggers to gain new readers and cash.

Click here to read the rest of my story on CIOToday.

Add comment May 15th, 2009

3Com Challenges Cisco with ‘Flex-Chassis’ Switches

n a move to compete with Cisco Systems, 3Com on Monday added a “flex-chassis” family of network switches to its H3C portfolio. The H3C S5800 Series offers up to 192 10-Gigabit ports or 640 gigabit Ethernet ports and supports embedded extensible application services, including security , wireless and monitoring.With its latest product launch, 3Com is positioning its enterprise switches as a way to improve network reliability, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), and improve application delivery.

“The H3C S5800 is the industry’s most cost-effective and innovative platform for meeting enterprise customers’ networking needs today and in the future,” said Saar Gillai, senior vice president of worldwide products and solutions at 3Com. “Our H3C portfolio is the most modern in the industry — developed over the past four years — so it delivers unmatched price and performance advantages.”

Click here to read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.

May 12th, 2009

Microsoft Readies Windows 7 for 2009 Holiday Release

It’s official: Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 7 will go on sale in time for the 2009 holiday shopping season.After making the Windows 7 release candidate available earlier this month, a Microsoft executive on Monday said the latest version of its operating system — a version that follows the dismal reception of Windows Vista — will hit store shelves later this year.

“Windows 7 is tracking well for holiday availability,” said Bill Veghte, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Windows business, at the TechEd NorthAmerica 2009 conference in Los Angeles. Veghte based estimates on feedback the company has received, as well as Redmond’s internal testing. However, Veghte emphasized that Windows 7 will not ship until it meets Microsoft’s quality standards.

Click here to read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.

Add comment May 12th, 2009

RIM, HP To Develop Mobile Road Warrior Solutions

May 4th, 2009

Archive for May, 2009

Pressure Builds on Google as Server Problems Continue

Phishing Attack Grabs Access To Facebook Accounts

Sony Reels From $1.03B Loss Amid Falling Sales

Amazon Launches Blog Subscriptions for Kindle

3Com Challenges Cisco with ‘Flex-Chassis’ Switches

Microsoft Readies Windows 7 for 2009 Holiday Release

RIM, HP To Develop Mobile Road Warrior Solutions