Photo: McAfee

When Intel made the surprising bid to purchase security company McAfee, there were immediate anti-trust concerns, particularly in the EU region where regulators scrutinize major deals in excruciating detail. Word is Intel may have assuaged EU regulators in recent weeks, and is one step closer to swallowing the security company.

US Federal Trade cool, EU becoming cool

Given that McAfee is the world’s number two security company, behind only Symantec (the folks who make Norton), this deal was always going to come under a great deal of scrutiny in the US and with the European Commission.

Intel’s proposed $7.68 billion buy of McAfee has already been cleared by the US Federal Trade Commission, with sources telling Reuters the EU approval board is warming to the idea since Intel’s made concessions.

‘The Commission’s clearance is likely next week,’ the news agency was told by one of its sources.

What was being contested?

The natural questions are what concessions were made and what the sticking points were. Reportedly, the European Commission wanted Intel to allow competing products functionality on Intel’s offering without restrictions.

The primary concern was that Intel, who is by far the number one microprocessing chip maker in the world, would use the McAfee acquisition by embedding elements of the anti-virus tech into their chips, thus giving Intel an unfair advantage over competitors.

Side-by-side sales

With the explosion of web content, and the millions of hazards that accompany it now, online security has become a major concern. So it makes sense for Intel to make a play in the space.

What it comes down to, ultimately, is the distinction between software and hardware ‘blurring’ rapidly, and the European Commission doesn’t want any single big player in either space to gain an unfair advantage as a result of this.

Given that anti-virus software is big business with massive margins, Intel will want this to close in a hurry.

Photo: Apple

This should make the Mac fans. Some popular  Mac OS X apps saw an update Tuesday.These included BBEdit, the text editor, Transmit, a the FTP client, and Mac OS X’s version of Opera, the popular web browser.

Transmit 4

Photo: Apple

A great new Mac update is Transmit 4, a major new version of Panic’s FTP software. Transmit 4 offers file transfer speed of up to 25 times quicker. The interface, Transmit, already good looking, has been overhauled. The upgrade includes new features like improved file browsing, better path access, and server to server transfers using drag and drop .  The best new feature, though, might be the Transmit Disk feature. It will mount servers as disks, making direct file access possible, as well as and drag-and-drop transfers – even when the app is not running.

Better text editing

BBEdit 9 is quite a major upgrade of very popular software by Bare Bones. This new Mac update features live searching with extended scripting, archive browsing is now possible in .zip and .tar, and Objective-C2.0 property recognition are just some of the myriad new features. The update also has many bug fixes.

Opera

Photo: Opera

Lastly, Opera has released an updated version of its hugely popular web browser. Opera 10.52 for Mac OS X (this the official version of the 10.5 beta) has quite a few improvements, including much better JavaScript performance (which Windows got early last month) thanks to the Caraken JavaScript engine.

It also boasts better speed, and complies with the latest version of Presto (the rendering engine), as well as an updated Vega graphics library. Opera 10.52 also offers better platform integration – particularly for the Mac OS X user – with more Cocoa frameworks leveraged. It’s also adopted a look and feel at home with other Mac apps.

If you can’t live without your Mac, you’ll be glad to know there’s a new Mac update for just about anything you do on your machine, with more yet to come.

An essay mill is basically a ghost-writing service which actually sells homework writing to students of various universities and colleges. Plagiarism is considered to be as an academic fraud and some university can also investigate the home work using some sort of software which detects plagiarism. It is said that essay mills multiplying academic cheating as the home work assignments are plagiarism free but are done by hired hands. There are various companies that are offering essay mills service and students are opting for it all over the world. These services are provided at an affordable price which has given rise to essay mills in the recent past.

Readily accessible essay mills

A student from different fields requires projects on different topics but the essay mills service providers have solution to all problems. It is found that Essay Mills are Multiplying Academic Cheating but in an age where books have turned to digital paper, and music is no longer bought in stores but downloaded, stopping people from using the internet to cheat is practically impossible. Most of the Essay Mill companies are located at a different country and this is the major hindrance in order to cope with the problem. It is pretty easy to find them just search on the internet and you will get link of various websites. As the internet is now expanding or globalizing these type of problems or crimes are becoming pretty common.

Counteractive steps taken

The professors in various universities and colleges have taken various steps to curb the problem but there has been no full proof solution as yet. Few questions about the project may be asked in order to check the authenticity but then this cannot stop any student to get work done at a reasonable price. It is becoming an international problem and something should be done in order to curb it. Most of the time these projects are done at per page cost and is very affordable as well. Essay Mills Multiplying Academic Cheating is a point of concern and something must be done to curb it.

Windows 7 E the imaginative European name for Windows 7, is getting a massive reduction in a pre-orders sale in the UK that will start at 00:01 tonight and run through till August 9th.

Some retailers are cutting prices by up to 70%, both home and office versions of Windows 7 E are getting their prices slashed. Windows 7 Home Premium E will be available for just £49.99, while Windows 7 Professional E will be going for £99.99.

Microsoft have been having trouble as of late with the EU concerning Internet Explorer 8, as a result of this neither of the European versions of Windows 7 will ship with IE 8. It is believed however that most retailers will supply customers with a separate IE 8 disc or a alternative browser.

Windows 7 is promising to blow Vista out of the water, Microsoft have been raving about it for ages now. It would seem that they may have got it right with Windows 7 E as even the critics had a hard time picking at the new OS.

Even though it will be possible to pre-order Windows 7 E, people will still have to wait until October 22nd to get their mitts on it. So save yourself a bucket load, to order Windows 7 Premium E  go Amazon and save up to 70%. Business customers go through to Amazon and order Windows 7 E for just £99.99.

The Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 is enhanced software that has been designed for the protection of internet on computers, palmtops, tablet PCs and notebook PCs. With this security software comes a license key for a defined tenure post which it will be of no use. The tenure served by the key will be a worthy one as breaching the internet firewall will be next to impossible. The key can be used on 3 distinct computers which will form a virtual envelope over their respective internet systems. The software offers high end security for internet platforms and blocks malicious perpetrators like Trojans and other viruses. Any threat to the internet platform will be proactively tackled by the Kaspersky Internet Security 2009. It also restricts access of unknown applications and blocks their entry into system supplies.

If you have a chain of computers and are operating a business, then having the Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 on board is imperative. Every copy of this software will cover three of your computers so this way, you can also save a lot on costs. You can guarantee the safe running of your internet platform by installing the Kaspersky Internet Security 2009. Spending a paltry amount of money and assuring the security of such a vital part of your business will be a very wise investment. Once installed on your computers, you and your allies can simply relax and carry on with work without worrying about security issues and cyber trespassing. You will be able to divert more attention and energy towards work.

Tags for this article: internet, security, kaspersky

Paragon Hard Disk Manager 2009 is the ultimate solution for data backup and hard drive partition management. It’s a jack-of-all and can be used with almost every hard drive installed in the PC. The Paragon Hard Disk Manager 2009 provides a comprehensive disk backup and partitioning console in a user friendly interface.

Usually, there are two types of hard disk management applications, one that creates an image of entire hard disk for backup purposes and another one that offers management of the hard drive partitions. The successor to Paragon Hard Disk Manager 2008 offers both of the functions in a single package with extended functions and tools. The best feature of this 2009 edition software is its interactive user interface and self explanatory wizards that guide the user at every step and automate the configuration tasks. The program offers both file by file backup as well as full disk image backup. So, you can backup selective files quickly without waiting for the complete disk image. The Paragon Hard Disk Manager 2009 do not have a built-in scheduler to automate the backup process but it can be used with the Microsoft Windows scheduler if you are using higher-end version of Windows XP or Vista.

The Paragon Hard Disk Manager 2009 can also be used to create and manage hard drive partitions. It has got a mighty disk defragmenter which performs far better than the Windows defragmenter but it do take lots of time and does not support background processing. This means while the application’s defragmenter is running you cannot run any other program. The program takes about four hours to de-fragment 85GB of files. The program supports 64 bit versions of Windows Vista along with the 32 bit versions of Vista and XP. It is also helpful in rectifying disk start-up errors.

Tags for this article: toshiba, backup, software

There is no doubt that the smartphones are at greater risk of security breaching and attacks by malicious codes. More and more people are getting inclined towards using smartphones as their main source of communication, connectivity and entertainment. As a result the phishers and hackers too have turned their head towards such devices instead of disturbing desktops and notebooks. Georgia Tech Information Security Center had cited in its 2009 Cyber Threat Report that there are chances of botnets targeting smartphones instead of desktops this year. Thus, it’s imperative to take smartphone security seriously.

To help fight against smartphone malware Lumension, the leading security management company has released Lumension Mobile data protection tool for Windows Mobile Devices like the Eten Glofiish M810 smartphone. The Lumension data protection tool will let the security administrators to enforce password policy and implement encryption up to 256-bit standard. It will also deny users to export data to an external removable drive and use Bluetooth for file transfer. In case of smartphone theft the security administrator can use the Lumension data protection tool to wipe the phone’s data. This tool is exclusively for Windows Mobile smartphones.

Don Leatham, senior director of solutions and strategy for Lumension. Commented, “We wanted to take a level of enterprise management … and use it to deploy and to monitor mobile devices. It identifies devices, groups them within a logical group, and then allows companies to apply group policy to anyone who sends company e-mail or stores company data.”

Recently, Micron Technology Inc, a world leading provider of advanced semiconductor solutions has released its new suite of NAND software solutions called NANDcode to bolster the mobile device designers in implementing NAND technology into their applications. NAND is the main storage medium used in today’s handsets and is primarily used to store boot code, call logs, contact information, web caching, photos, music and other multimedia content.

The Micron’s NANDcode family of software solutions can be used with all major mobile operating systems including Windows Mobile 6, Linux, Symbian and others. This means the innovation can benefit every smartphone use, from the iPhone, to the G1 Google phone, to the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The NANDcode software solution will offer the mobile designers better development process and they will be able to make better use of Micron’s ONFI-standard single-level cell (SLC) NAND technology. The mobile technology is advancing day by day. Cellular phones are not longer a simple bar type communication devices. Consumers expect laptop-like performance and features in their smartphones. So, it’s important to have a better NAND implementation.

To make the phones take full advantage of the Micron’s NAND the NANDcode family has got an advanced Flash Translation Layer (FTL) and flash drivers. The FTL is the key factor that will improve the NAND lifespan. Apart from this the flash drivers will now work hand-in-hand with the phone’s processor to improve the performance via data caching schemes and dual-plane operations. The NANDcode also features advanced security features.

Eric Spanneut, director of mobile memory marketing for Micron commented, “We have specially designed the NANDcode software to work with our flash memory, delivering better performance than competing solutions in the market. In addition to supplying customers with our trusted NAND technology and expertise, we are now also enabling mobile handset manufacturers to streamline their design process by utilizing Micron’s NANDcode software.”

Tags for this article: mobile, smartphone, software

Bell Micro’s security division has partnered with the company Virtuity to support the sales of the BackStopp mobile computing software and services. The agreement signed between these two is exclusively for the UK.

According to Bell Micro this partnership will make the company to serve better to their customers. It will be able to deliver higher level security to prevent data theft on mobile computing devices. Now, if a BackStopp protected device is reported stolen or lost by its users the Virtuity will immediately locate the device and then delete all the ‘at risk’ data within 180 seconds. This will prevent the intruder from accessing the sensitive data on the stolen mobile device and is more dramatic than most security software like the ZoneLabs ZoneAlarm Internet Security software, for instance. After the mobile security protocols get activated, the BackStopp will generate a detailed report of the data accessed (if any). It will also confirm the Virtuity hosting centre about data deletion. If the stolen mobile device features an integrated web cam then the application will also photograph the malicious user.

Steve Browell, General Manager, Security Division at Bell Micro said, “If the national press taught us just one thing last year, it would be the importance of securing data on the move. Protecting data and bringing in encryption for data at rest and in transit, whether on PDA or especially on laptops is a driving need in modern business.”

Motion Computing, a leading company specialising in mobile computing and wireless communications, in conjunction with Sig-Tec, a world leader in identity and access management software solutions, have joined hands together to develop mobility plus identity and access management solutions for healthcare organisations.

Specialised teams from both the companies will work together to create such applications that will maximise mobility and improve the workflow. Both the firms will analyse the clinical workflow behaviour and wireless network infrastructure needs and requirements and then develop the mobility solutions accordingly. In essence, the applications allow healthcare professionals to securely conduct all the operations they need to with mobile computers like Dell Latitude XT tablet PC, rather than being tied down to an inconvenient desktop PC. Sig-Tech’s identity and application management software will enable the health care organisations to quickly address application management, identity management and session management. This will improve the day to day complex tasks of the health care professionals as the application will allow authentication, sign-in facilities and features like fast user switching, hot desktop, context management etc.

Mike Stinson, vice president of marketing, Motion said, “Motion is pleased to be working with Sig-Tec, an industry leader in identity and access management software. Sig-Tec’s software solutions can enhance the mobility offered by Motion tablet PCs by enabling users to more quickly access information while computing on-the-move. Sig-Tec’s flexible, scalable solution is an ideal fit for healthcare customers that are looking for ways to make processes faster and easier for their organization and want to leverage the full mobility of tablet PCs with enhanced authentication capabilities.”

John McGuire, national sales manager, Sig-Tec has also commented that, “Sig-Tec is pleased to be working with Motion, an industry leader in mobility healthcare solutions. We both have seen firsthand with our clients the many difficulties associated with meeting the necessary but often troubling healthcare requirements for privacy and security. With our combined solutions we can improve the speed and performance of user workflows while addressing those requirements that usually have a negative impact on end-user experience.”

Tags for this article: mobile, software