Archive for October, 2009
Walmart is launching a new solution for the no-contract cell-phone world that may have competitors worried. Dubbed Straight Talk, Walmart’s wireless service will be offered through its 3,200-plus stores across the nation, starting Oct. 18. The program offers two prepaid plans at $30 and $45 a month.
“It has been very encouraging to see the excitement and response to the Straight Talk pilot in 234 stores that began last summer at Walmart,” said Greg Hall, vice president of media devices for Wal-Mart Stores. “In light of the savings customers continue to need, we have worked very quickly to extend this offering to all of our Walmart customers nationwide, and just before the holidays.”
Click here to read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.
October 16th, 2009
Google will roll out a new online service for booksellers in the first half of 2010. Dubbed Google Editions, the service will allow readers to buy books from various e-book vendors and read them on a broad array of devices, from cell phones to e-readers.
Consumers will be able to purchase e-books directly from Google or from existing e-book stores such as Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. Books sold through Google Editions will be hosted by Google, so they will be searchable in a web browser.
The store will launch with about 500,000 e-books through partnerships with publishers that have digital rights to the works they represent. Google so far has no plans to manufacturer a dedicated e-book reader that carries its brand name.
Click here to read the rest of my story on Sci-Tech Today.
October 16th, 2009
Microsoft 
released its largest-ever batch of security updates Tuesday, fixing 33 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, and other popular software. Eight of the updates are rated critical and five are rated important.
All the critical vulnerabilities are labeled as remote code execution, which would require system restarts and impact a very broad range of Windows platforms and applications, according to Lumension security and forensic analyst Paul Henry. But, he noted, IT administrators should pay attention to two particular security bulletins, as their vulnerabilities are being exploited in the wild: MS09-050 and MS09-053.
MS09-050 is a critical vulnerability that impacts both Vista and Windows 2008 platforms. While only rated as important, Henry said, MS09-053 should be considered a priority for organizations running public-facing FTP servers. He said organizations that use the Internet daily should also pay close attention to the high-priority critical client-side issues that could allow drive-by hacking exploits.
Click here to read the rest of my story on NewsFactor.
October 15th, 2009
Good news for Sidekick users — Microsoft is restoring lost data . But the high-profile data loss and another involving Mac OS X Snow Leopard may leave Microsoft and Apple customers with a bad taste for some time.
Microsoft reports it has recovered most, if not all, data for Sidekick customers whose personal information was affected by a weekend outage. Microsoft plans to begin restoring users’ data as soon as possible, starting with personal contacts, after the company validates the data and its restoration plan.
Microsoft will then continue working around the clock to restore data to all affected users, including calendar, notes, tasks, photographs and high scores, as quickly as possible, according to Roz Ho, corporate vice president of premium mobile experiences for Microsoft.
Click here to read the rest of my story on CIO Today.
October 15th, 2009
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