COMPUTER NEWS, INFORMATION AND REVIEW OF PRODUCTS

EMC unveils all-SSD array, one app to manage all flash

2013-03-06T00:02:00.000-08:00

EMC today released its first, purpose-build, all-solid state drive (SSD) array that is based on its XtremIO acquisition last year, as well as new software that identifies server flash throughout a data center and allows it to be managed under one interface.

Additionally, EMC has released six new PCIe flash cards for use in data center servers.

XtremeIO all-SSD array

Referred to as "Project X" prior to its release today, EMC's all-SSD XtremIO Array is based on a clustered architecture, allowing multiple SSD modules to be added, increasing performance and capacity linearly, said Josh Goldstein, vice president of marketing and product management for EMC's XtremIO unit.

Unlike EMC's current all-flash appliances, which are filled with PCIe cards (i.e. Project Thunder), the new XtremIO Array uses serial ATA (SATA) SSDs, which come in a 2.5-in. hard-drive form factor. None of the hardware is proprietary, Goldstien said, allowing EMC to keep data center integration capabilities higher. The SATA SSDs, like SAS SSDs, are dual ported for resiliency.

Using random 4KB blocks, a single XtremIO Array node can achieve 250,000 read- and 100,000 write-IOPS, Goldstein said.

EMC's XtremIO all-SSD array

"We precondition the arrays before we recorded the performance numbers," Goldstein said. "We fill the array nearly to capacity with data to simulate a flash system that you're already overwriting with data. This is a much more stringent test the new arrays will undergo."

Along with high performance, the XtremIO array comes native with automated thin provisioning capabilities, which means volume sizes can automatically expand as an application may need. The thin provisioning is also granular in that volumes can expand in 4KB blocks to ensure thrifty use of flash capacity, Goldstein said.

The array comes with inline data deduplication, which means an algorithm checks to ensure data sets being stored to the array is not the same as content already there. "The only thing being written to flash on the XtremIO system are unique I/O blocks," Goldstein said.

For data protection, XtremIO has a proprietary algorithm that is similar to RAID 6 (capable of protecting data with up to two flash card failures), but with the performance of RAID 1, Goldstein said.

The XtremIO array is built on a scale-out architecture not dissimilar to EMC's Isilon scale-out NAS array.

The new arrays are being marketed for use with applications requiring extremely high levels of random I/O performance, such as such as OLTP databases, server virtualization and VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure).

The SSD array offers sub-millisecond latency, fully random transaction patterns with all data services enabled and operating while filled nearly to capacity.

EMC's all SSD-array announcement follows a similar one by NetApp last month. NetApp announced the EF540 all-flash array, also a purpose-build, all-SSD array.

New PCIe flash cards

Along with all the new product releases, EMC also announced it was changing all of its flash product names so that they would all come under the EMC Xtreme Family mantle. Accordingly, its VFCache PCIe flash card line for servers will now be called XtremSF cards.

EMC announced six new XtremSF cards that include four enterprise-class multi-level cell (eMLC)-based cards and two single-cell level (SLC) cards. All of the PCIe cards are in half-height, half-length form factors.

The eMLC cards come in capacities of 550GB, 700GB 1.4TB and 2.2TB. The SLC cards come in 350GB and 700GB capacities.

XtremSF server flash card

The new XtremSF server flash cards offer up to 1.13 million I/Os per second performance using 128KB blocks and deliver two times throughput of their predecessors with eight PCIe I/O lanes. Using 4KB and 8KB block sizes, the flash cards offer up to 200,000 and 120,000 IOPS, respectively, according to Barry Ader, an EMC senior director of product management.

XtremSF server flash card performance chart

The new flash cards also reduce server CPU utilization by as much as 50%, because the flash controller handles the flash management functions instead of the server chip.

"They are twice as fast as anything else in the marketplace," Adder said.

Flash management suite

Along with a new SSD array and PCIe flash cards, EMC announced that later this year it will be releasing new software that can discover NAND flash in a data center and bring it under a single management interface.

The XtremSW Suite works with either MLC or SLC-based flash, and can offer the ability to pool resources. The software suite will offer advanced data services for flash to be used as memory and DAS, Ader said.

The software will also allow the flash cards to be used in conjunction with a storage area network (SAN) to boost performance.

Mark Peters, an analyst with research firm ESG, said it is the software that sets EMC's announcement apart from other NAND flash-based hardware, such as NetApp's all-SSD array or server flash cards from FusionIO. Vendors regularly leapfrog each other with the performance of their storage systems, he said.

"Much as there is a lot of brand loyalty in enterprise storage, the game will ultimately be won and lost on software, not hardware, which is why the two most critical parts of this announcement in my view .... [is] the XtremIO Software Suite ... and the fact that XtremIO is essentially a software platform and does not demand proprietary hardware," Peters said.

Steve Duplessie, founder and lead analyst at ESG, agreed, saying that users need to think about a portfolio-approach to flash -- in the server, in the array, or as an all-flash array -- using intelligent software to leverage those assets.

"EMC has had this philosophy since it first entered the flash game, and hasn't wavered," Duplessie said.

XtremSF 550GB and 2.2TB eMLC capacities are available globally, and the 700GB and 1.4TB capacities will be available in the second quarter of 2013. EMC said it will extend the XtremSF family with even higher capacity offerings in the future.

EMC offered no pricing on any of its products.

Lucas Mearian covers storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, financial services infrastructure and health care IT for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at @lucasmearian or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed . His e-mail address is lmearian@computerworld.com.

See more by Lucas Mearian on Computerworld.com.

Read more about storage hardware in Computerworld's Storage Hardware Topic Center.

SAP pins future hopes on growth of Ariba business network

2013-03-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

After 12 successive quarters of double-digit growth at SAP, co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe is now pinning his future hopes on the company's recently acquired Ariba e-commerce network.

Recent growth has been fueled by SAP's HANA in-memory platform, the company's fastest-growing product ever, Snabe said, adding that the entire Business One suite can now run on HANA, not just its analytics functions.

But although HANA has specialized hardware requirements, SAP will not move into hardware sales: That will be left to partners, working to detailed specifications from SAP, he said in a news conference at the Cebit trade show on Tuesday.

Following the successful deployment of in-memory applications, the company is now turning its attention outward, Snabe said.

"We have 41 years' experience of optimizing within companies," he said. "Now the next phase is optimizing relations between companies. We can do that with Ariba."

He cited a study by McKinsey in early 2011 that found networked companies 50 percent more likely to have increased sales, higher profit margins, and market share growth.

"Ariba is our response to this trend," he said, adding that the Ariba network links one million trading partners in 190 countries. "Imagine the power of combining this network with the installed base of SAP."

As Ariba is integrated into all SAP products, customers "will only have to decide whether they want this benefit," he said.

Network members spend around US$450 billion in-network annually, according to SAP, which takes a slice of that spending as the network enabler. In the third quarter of 2012, the last before SAP closed its acquisition of the company, Ariba reported network transaction revenue of $47.3 million and subscription revenue of $95.3 million.

In return for those fees, customers are able to reduce transaction costs by automating many elements of the purchasing process, doing away with fax and email and eliminating the rekeying of data.

Snabe cited the example of Caterpillar, for which the SAP network accounts for 98 percent of spending. In the seven years it has been in the network, it has seen purchasing costs fall 70 percent, he said.

In addition, he said, "On the buyer side, we see a 1 percent to 8 percent reduction in total spend, and better discounts."

On the seller side, benefits include increased revenue, lower processing costs, and up to 70 percent faster payments. "That means better liquidity," he said.

He announced a new Ariba customer, Fleurop, a partner network for 7,000 German florists. They are seeing average savings in administrative costs of ¬35 ($45) per flower arrangement ordered in-network, he said.

Snabe reaffirmed the company's decision, made in 2010, not to sell its own hardware.

"Customers want choice. They aren't interested in being locked up in a stack with no choice, and suffering price pressure as a result," he said.

He acknowledged that company did recently offer a HANA-optimized, SAP-branded server through its website, but said most servers for HANA will be provided by SAP partners.

"We don't want to be a hardware company," he said. "We think it's better to specify the hardware requirements for HANA in sufficient detail that you can be sure it will work."

In addition to talk of strategy, Snabe mentioned improvements to SAP's Customer OnDemand offering for marketing and sales staff. This has been extended with a new home page, offline capabilities for the related iPad app, and the addition of a self-service portal with telephony integration and a link to social commerce company Bazaarvoice.com for customers of SAP's customers.

Cebit, at the fairgrounds in Hanover, Germany, runs through Saturday.

Peter Sayer covers open source software, European intellectual property legislation and general technology breaking news for IDG News Service. Send comments and news tips to Peter atpeter_sayer@idg.com.

With convergence in mind, Ubuntu Linux scraps Wayland

2013-03-05T23:58:00.003-08:00

Longtime Ubuntu Linux fans may remember Canonical's announcement back in 2010 that it was planning to adopt the OpenGL-based Wayland display management system instead of the venerable X Window system for Ubuntu Linux.

That intent was reiterated last May by Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth in Ubuntu Open Week, but now it looks like plans have changed.

Specifically, just ahead of this week's Ubuntu Developer Summit, product strategy engineering manager Oliver Ries announced that the company's new platform-agnostic focus has caused it to drop Wayland and instead create a display manager of its own.

'Some changes are necessary'

"In order to implement the vision of converged devices, some changes to our display stack are necessary," Ries wrote in an announcement on the Ubuntu mailing lists on Monday.

"After thorough research, looking at existing options, and weighing in costs and benefits, we have decided to roll our own display server, Mir."

Today's users expect a more consistent and a more integrated user experience than what is possible using the old X Window system, the Ubuntu Wiki explains. Wayland, meanwhile, is similar enough that it's likely to suffer from similar problems, it adds.

According to an initial set of specs, Mir is "a system-level component targeted as a replacement for the X Window server system to unlock next-generation user experiences for devices ranging from Linux desktop to mobile devices powered by Ubuntu."

'By Ubuntu for Ubuntu'

Mir will be "driven by the designs and requirements that our larger vision dictates--no compromises, no crude hacks, fully testable and tested, performance in mind, support for legacy X applications, developed by Ubuntu for Ubuntu," Ries explained in another blog post.

Mir is also part of Canonical's transition from its current Unity desktop environment to Unity Next, by which the cross-platform software will adapt itself automatically to the hardware running it.

Toward that end, the Ubuntu project is also beginning to move Unity away from OpenGL toolkit Nux and towards a Qt/QML-based implementation instead.

"Having one single code base that serves all variants of input and display types will help greatly to deliver the unified user experience we are committing to," Ries explained.

Complete convergence by 2014

By May Canonical hopes to finish the first steps towards integrating Unity Next with Mir and start iterating the actual shell development, "providing developers with a solid platform and designers with means for rapid prototyping," it says.

April 2014 is when it aims to achieve complete convergence across form factors, with Mir serving as the carrier.

Kaspersky PURE 3.0 Total Security adds online shopping protection

2013-03-05T23:57:00.002-08:00

On Monday, Kaspersky released version 3.0 of PURE Total Security--the company's most-feature-packed PC antivirus and security product--priced at $90 for a 3-user, 1-year license. There are no major visual changes, but this new version has some new and improved features in addition to the existing file encryption, file backup, password manager, parental controls, and remote access features, among others.

The new Safe Money feature helps you better secure your online banking and shopping. Before you log onto a banking or payment site, it automatically verifies the site's security certificate and reputation. If the site is found genuine, Safe Monet opens it in a secure browser with secure keyboard input to prevent your login or payment information from being captured by any keyloggers or malware you might have on your PC.

Kaspersky also made improvements to the suite's existing backup utility, which now allows you to backup your important files online with the integrated Dropbox storage in addition to local drives. And if lose your files or your PC crashes, you can restore them via the program or access them from the Dropbox website.

The existing Online Password Manager that can store your passwords in a protected vault now offers a synchronization feature. Login details, notes, and identity information you save can automatically be encrypted, stored online, and synced with your other PURE-protected machines.

Kaspersky has also made several other minor improvements in version 3.0, including better protection against exploits and phishing sites, and improvements to the content filtering for the Paternal Controls.

Want to give Kaspersky a try? Though the company doesn't provide a full free edition, it does offer a free scan-only download and 30-day free trials for all its products.

Oracle pulls Java 6 plug, but Apple likely to keep patching OS X Snow Leopard

2013-03-05T23:55:00.001-08:00

Apple on Monday patched Java 6 for OS X, following Oracle's lead and quashing a browser plug-in vulnerability that hackers have been exploiting.

Oracle issued the "out-of-band," or emergency, update for Java 6 and Java 7 to patch two critical vulnerabilities. One of those bugs -- designated CVE-2013-1493 -- has been exploited in the wild since at least Feb. 28, according to security firm FireEye, which discovered the attacks.

Because Apple maintains Java 6 for OS X -- unlike Java 7, which Oracle handles -- it followed with its own update, as usual.

But Oracle also said that Monday's update would be the final for the aging software. "This release is the last of publicly available JDK 6 Updates," Oracle said in its release notes. "Oracle recommends that users migrate to JDK 7 in order to continue receiving public updates and security enhancements."

That advice works for Windows users: Java 7 runs on all Microsoft-supported versions of its operating system, including Windows XP.

However, not all Mac users can upgrade to Java 7, which requires OS X Lion, or its successor, Mountain Lion. According to Web metrics company Net Applications, 37% of all Macs last month ran a version of OS X older than Lion. The majority of those users relied on OS X Snow Leopard, the 2009 operating system that is stubbornly resisting retirement.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that Snow Leopard users will be out in the cold, Java-wise.

Contrary to what Computerworld reported in December, when it said Snow Leopard users would be without Java 6 security updates as soon as Oracle pulled the plug, further investigation has provided more than a glimmer of hope.

Apple relies on Oracle to craft Java 6 patches, and so without Oracle creating patches, Apple would seemingly have nothing to distribute. Not quite.

Oracle will continue to come up with security patches for Java 6, but those will only be distributed to enterprises that have negotiated contract support plans with Oracle. And if the past is any indicator, Apple will have access to those only-for-corporate-customers patches and will use them to draft updates for its own users.

The future is murky, as it always is with Apple support -- unlike Microsoft, the company does not spell out its support policies in black and white -- but there is precedent.

For OS X 10.5, known as Leopard, Apple provided Java 5 updates well after Sun Microsystems, the creator and former owner of Java, stopped serving public patches.

Sun stopped Java 5 support with Java 5 Update 22 (Java 5u22), which it released Nov. 4, 2009. But Apple continued to issue Java 5 updates for Leopard until June 2011, when it released patches that it said pushed the software up to Java 5u30.

Those patches were for flaws that Oracle -- by then it had acquired Sun and taken control of Java -- identified as fixes for its business customers.

If Apple follows that same timeline, it will support Java 6 for approximately a year and a half, or deep into 2014.

There's no guarantee. The closest Apple has come to that was when it deprecated Java, telling developers that it would no longer ship Java with OS X. "The Java runtime shipping in OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard, and OS X v10.5 Leopard, will continue to be supported and maintained through the standard support cycles of those products," Apple said at the time.

Leopard's support cycle has long ended -- the last Java update for OS X 10.5 was issued in mid-2011, and its last security update released in May 2012 -- but Snow Leopard's has not come to an end. (Apple shipped a security update for OS X 10.6 in September, for example, alongside the most recent fixes for Lion and Mountain Lion.)

Apple might want to play it safe and continue to patch Java for Snow Leopard, both because of the recent rash of Java "zero-days," or vulnerabilities exploited before they have been patched, and because Apple was embarrassed last year when a then-unpatched Java bug gave hackers a way toinfect hundreds of thousands of Macs in the widespread "Flashback" malware campaign.

The massive numbers of customers who remain on Snow Leopard -- as of last month, OS X 10.6 powered 27.5% of all Macs -- might also weigh in Apple's decision.

Ironically, Monday's update was a bonus for both Windows and Mac users. Previously, Oracle had said it would end public support for Java 6 with its Feb. 19 update. Oracle had also extended Java 6's EOL, or "end-of-life," twice last year, first from July to November 2012, then again from November 2012 to February 2013.

OS X Lion and Mountain Lion users who require Java should upgrade as soon as possible to Java 7, which Oracle plans to maintain at least until July 2014, and Apple may support even longer.

The next scheduled Java 7 update is set for April 16. If Apple continues support for Java 6 on Snow Leopard, it will issue that update the same day.

Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.

See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com.

Read more about application security in Computerworld's Application Security Topic Center.

Oracle adds virtualization, faster performance to Database Appliance for SMBs

2013-03-05T23:53:00.003-08:00

Oracle has rolled out version X3-2 of its Database Appliance for small and medium-sized businesses that it says delivers up to twice the speed and more than four times as much storage as the first edition, which was launched in 2011.

In addition, Database Appliance customers can take advantage of a new virtualization option in version X3-2. Independent software vendors could use the virtualization capabilities "to package and ship a complete solution-in-a-box," Oracle said in a statement released Tuesday. It is also capable of "automatically pinning the database and application VMs to specific cores," thereby tying costs to the actual capacity used, according to Oracle.

Another option allows customers to add a storage expansion shelf, providing room for larger data volumes as needed. Oracle has also developed a series of preconfigured virtual templates for its database, WebLogic application server and a number of applications, allowing for easier deployments, according to a statement.

The Database Appliance is aimed at companies that have smaller budgets or appetites for IT spending, but wish to gain some of the performance benefits of Oracle's flagship Exadata database machines.

The new X3-2 systems now have 512GB of RAM and 18TB of raw disk storage and 800GB of flash memory, according to a statement. That compares to 192GB of RAM and 12TB of raw storage in the original. X3-2 also includes 32 processor cores, up from 24 in the first edition.

Oracle has charged US$50,000 for the base Database Appliance hardware, a price that remained valid as of the latest public price list, which is dated Feb. 26. It wasn't immediately clear whether the new, upgraded hardware in version X3-2 will carry a higher cost.

In contrast, an entry-level Eighth Rack version of Exadata lists for $200,000 in hardware costs.

But both systems are better seen as a delivery vehicle for Oracle software licenses, which provide the vendor with lucrative annual maintenance revenue streams.

Still, customers can start by using just a handful of processor cores and then scale up to the full 32 available cores in the system as desired, according to an Oracle data sheet. They can also choose to run a single Oracle database instance or use the vendor's Real Application Clusters technology to create a high-availability environment.

Since acquiring Sun Microsystems and its hardware business, Oracle has focused on selling systems like the Database Appliance rather than trying to compete with the likes of Hewlett-Packard and Dell in the commodity server market.

While Oracle has seen hardware revenues continually fall, officials have stressed that engineered systems carry much higher profit margins for Oracle than basic hardware would. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has also said hardware revenues will begin growing within Oracle's current fiscal year.

Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris' email address is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com

VMware ships Horizon Mirage with application layering for modular desktops

2013-03-05T23:52:00.003-08:00

VMware's Horizon Mirage 4.0 allows IT departments to be more flexible when they put together centrally managed desktop images using separated application packages.

VMware lives and breathes desktop virtualization, but enterprises still want and need to run traditional desktops where applications execute on the PC. To address this fact, VMware last year acquired Wanova, a company whose software was used to centralize and simplify the management of physical desktop images while letting users get the native performance of a PC, it said at the time.

The latest iteration of that software is Horizon Mirage 4.0. It became generally available on Monday and the basic idea is still the same: to centrally manage desktop images.

The most notable feature in version 4.0 is application layering, according to VMware.

In a Mirage environment, the IT department first configures so-called base layers, which include the OS and applications that are used across the whole enterprise. It is possible to create multiple base layers that can be customized for different countries or business units. However, only one base layer can be assigned to each PC, according to VMware.

On top of the base layer, administrators can now configure layers containing only applications -- and deliver them to Mirage-managed devices independently of the base layer. An application layer can include applications for the sales department, for example. Previously the applications were all part of the base layer, but the addition of the application layers allow IT departments to be more granular, according to Erwin Breneis, lead systems engineer at VMware.

Each layer can be migrated, updated, or restored independently of the others.

If the IT department decides to allow it, users can still control their own data and settings, as well as install their own applications on their endpoints. This personalization exists side-by-side with the IT-controlled base and application layers.

Today, Mirage works with Windows XP and Windows 7, and can be used to help migrate from one to the other. That's important because Windows XP support ends next April.

VMware will soon add support for Windows 8 as well.

Mirage is part of VMware's Horizon Suite end-user computing package, which also includes Workspace and View, and is this week being demonstrated by VMware at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany.

Version 5.2 of View -- which is used to remotely access desktops running on a server -- includes bandwidth improvements, hardware accelerated 3D graphics and the platform can now understand native iOS and Android gestures.

There is also support for Windows 8 and improved management when used in large deployments, which will decrease the time it takes to provision the platform, VMware promises.

Today, View and Mirage use separate management tools, but VMware's goal is to bring the two together, so administrators can use one console to control both virtual and traditional desktops, according to Breneis.

Horizon Workspace is a new product that allows administrators to create customized sets of applications and data for end users.

Horizon View 5.2 and Horizon Workspace have now also become generally available.

Horizon Mirage 4 and Workspace both cost US$150 per named user, while Horizon View 5.2 costs $250 per concurrent connection and is offered in increments of 10 or 100 licenses. The whole suite costs from $300 per named user, according to VMware.

Send news tips and comments to mikael_ricknas@idg.com

Microsoft issues free tool it says will cut Azure costs

2013-03-05T23:51:00.002-08:00

If it works, a new free tool called MetricsHub can help cut costs of using Microsoft's Azure cloud services by automatically making the service run more efficiently and by increasing and decreasing Azure resources as customer need fluctuates.

Microsoft bought the company, which it also helped finance through its Microsoft Accelerator program for startups, and is making its software available as part of Azure services.

[ BACKGROUND: Microsoft acquires cloud monitoring startup MetricsHub ]

MetricsHub is a service that monitors customers' Azure systems and makes changes based on rules set by customers. Alternatively, customers can switch on a standard template of best-practices rules recommended by MetricsHub.

The service gathers data from each customer's Azure resources from one of two sources: WindowsAzure diagnostics or via a MetricsHub agent within customer's Azure infrastructure.

If customers use the first option, the gathered data is kept within customers' Azure storage block, typically costing 50 cents per instance per month, the MetricsHub says on its website. With this option, MetricsHub gathers only data that Azure makes available to any third-party developer via its APIs.

If customers use the second option, they install a MetricsHub agent in their Azure cloud, which requires redeploying each instance of customers' applications. This option allows gathering of more information. "Collecting data with this method gives MetricsHub deeper integration with your system, resulting in more informed decisions," MetricsHub says.

Specifically, the agent gathers metrics about virtual machines and websites, something the APIs don't reveal.

MetricsHub analyzes the data and using a feature called ActiveScale adds or drops application instances to best meet actual demand. MetricsHub produces a report that breaks down Azure bills to explain exactly what is being paid for.

MetricsHub can be used as a monitoring platform as well, providing health and performance monitoring and sending email, SMS or pager alerts when it detects potential problems.

In announcing that it had bought MetricsHub, Microsoft acknowledges that it's difficult without tools to gather and analyze data needed to scale applications up and down efficiently. MetricsHub makes those decisions and acts on them, says Bob Kelly, a Microsoft corporate vice president for strategy and business development in his blog. "It also ensures customers are only paying for what they need and maximizing the services they're using," he says. "We think it's going to save customers time, money and headaches."

Customers can opt in to using MetricsHub via the Azure Store. Any paying customers will be converted to the free version.

Tim Greene covers Microsoft for Network World and writes the Mostly Microsoft blog. Reach him at tgreene@nww.com and follow him on Twitter @Tim_Greene.

IBM: Watson will eventually fit on a smartphone, diagnose illness

2013-03-05T23:50:00.003-08:00

IBM's Jeopardy!-winning supercomputer, Watson, may have started out the size of a master bedroom, but it will eventually shrink to the size of a smart phone, its inventors say.

The supercomputer is currently performing "residencies" at several hospitals around the country, offering its data analytics capabilities for diagnosing and suggesting patient treatments.

IBM is also working to program Watson so that it can pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination. Yes, the "Dr. Watson" moniker used in the media will someday be applicable.

Even today, a Watson supercomputer with the same computational capabilities as the system that took on Jeopardy!'s all-time champions, is a fraction of its former size. And, the smaller Watson is almost two-and-a-half times faster than the original system, according to Dan Pelino, general manager of IBM's Global Healthcare & Life Sciences business.

"It was the size of a master bedroom, but now it's the size of a bathroom," Pelino said "It will get to be a handheld device by 2020 based on a trajectory of Moore's Law."

By then, Pelino said, he can envision Watson being capable of image recognition sophisticated enough to determine the difference between a life-threatening bug bite and a rash on a child in a developing nation. It could then recommend treatment based on its diagnosis, Pelino said.

It's not so far-fetched, considering IBM has allocated $7 billion toward the Watson supercomputer's research and development.

Digesting unstructured data

One area IBM scientists are working to improve with Watson is its ability to process unstructured data - physicians' notes, research published in peer-reviewed medical and science journals, radiological images, biofeedback from wireless monitoring devices, and even comment threads from online patient communities. All of that information can be used in the melting pot of data analytics.

"Ninety percent of the world's information has been created over the past 10 years, and 80% of that 90% is unstructured data," said Manoj Saxena, general manager of Watson solutions in IBM's Software Group. "That data needs to be digestible."

Today, Watson is developing its resume working with oncologists at Memorial-Kettering Cancer Center in diagnosing and treating patients.

That project, announced a year ago, follows efforts by IBM and WellPoint to jointly develop applications that will essentially turn Watson into an adviser for oncologists at Cedars-Sinai's Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute in Los Angeles.

Last month, IBM announced that WellPoint and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center unveiled the first commercially developed Watson-based cognitive computing breakthroughs.

To date, Watson has ingested more than 600,000 pieces of medical evidence, two million pages of text from 42 medical journals and clinical trials in the area of oncology research. In a matter of seconds, Watson can sift through 1.5 million patient records representing decades of cancer treatment history, such as medical records and patient outcomes, and provide to physicians evidence based treatment options.

Jeopardy! Is old news

The Watson supercomputer that handily beat past Jeopardy! champions was made up of 90 IBM Power 750 Express servers powered by eight-core processors -- four in each machine for a total of 32 processors per machine. The clustered system had 2,880 cores and 15TB of memory. The servers were virtualized using a kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) implementation, creating a server cluster with a total processing capacity of 80 teraflops. A teraflop is 1 trillion operations per second.

Today, Watson's software can run on one-sixteenth the number of servers the original system used, Pelino said.

Saxena sees a time when big data and the Watson supercomputer are integrated, allowing it to focus its teraflop processing capabilities on, for example, personal genomics. Watson and other supercomputers could access massive gene-sequencing data stores to determine which patients react best to specific medicines, ushering in an era of personalized healthcare.

"We refer to this as Big Data cognitive analytics," Saxena said. "Cloud embedded with the cognitive capabilities of Watson. You'll see this by the end of this year."

Right now, Watson's cognitive abilities to crunch massive amounts of data and interpret the results is limited "to a few people in the U.S.," Saxena said, referring to its current deployment in only a few hospitals.

"It's like you're the Coca Cola company, and you only have one fountain dispenser in this country in Houston. Everybody likes Coke, but they have to go to Houston to drink Coke. I want Watson to be the bottling and distribution plant for all of their [the medical industry's] knowledge and distributed around the world through a browser, through a handheld, through whatever interface," Saxena said.

"Big data will make Moore's Law look small," he said.

See more by Lucas Mearian on Computerworld.com.

Read more about high performance computing in Computerworld's High Performance Computing Topic Center.

After SlideRocket, will VMware sell other enterprise collaboration products?

2013-03-05T23:49:00.002-08:00

VMware, the virtualization specialist that has recently built up an enterprise collaboration software stack through acquisitions, has sold off one of those companies, but at least two analysts say it's unlikely VMware will retreat from that market.

SlideRocket, whose cloud application is designed to let users post and share slide presentations, has been sold to ClearSlide, which makes cloud-based software for managing sales professionals' interactions with customers, ClearSlide announced on Tuesday. VMware had indicated in its latest earnings call in late January that it intended to sell SlideRocket as part of an effort to refocus its product lineup.

VMware bought SlideRocket two years ago, as part of its strategy to compete in enterprise collaboration, which also involved acquiring email and collaboration software vendor Zimbra and enterprise social-networking provider Socialcast, as well as developing a cloud file-sharing product now called Horizon Suite.

Asked whether the SlideRocket divestiture means VMware will distance itself from the enterprise collaboration market, a spokesman reiterated VMware's intention to focus on three areas: data center software, hybrid cloud and end user computing.

"For all other related products including Zimbra and Socialcast, we remain committed to our customers' success and to continuing the same level of service and support that they are accustomed to receiving," the spokesman said via email.

Gartner analyst Chris Wolf doesn't see VMware discarding other enterprise collaboration software like Socialcast and Horizon.

"Collaboration is a key component of VMware's Horizon strategy. Horizon's long term vision is to allow users to seamlessly work and collaborate across Windows, Web, and mobile applications," he said via email.

Zimbra, meanwhile, plays a core role in VMware's move up the stack to the application layer, according to Gartner analyst Matt Cain. As long as VMware continues to make "applications part of their strategy, we believe Zimbra will be a part of that effort," Cain said via email.

For its part, ClearSlide has big plans for SlideRocket, which has more than 1 million users and will be integrated with ClearSlide's software.

With SlideRocket, ClearSlide plans to give its customers -- primarily sales professionals -- a tool to create highly interactive presentations that contain not only text and images but also video, audio, analytics and rich media, the company said.

Juan Carlos Perez covers enterprise communication/collaboration suites, operating systems, browsers and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at@JuanCPerezIDG.

Strangest Apple Store robbery yet: Thieves attack with bear spray

2013-03-05T23:48:00.002-08:00

Vancouver police are investigating a brazen robbery at an Apple Store Monday night in which three male suspects allegedly sprayed 40 people with a chemical mix designed to ward off bears as they swiped an undetermined amount of Apple laptops, iPads and iPods.

According to the National Post in Canada, police are still looking for the suspects, who fled by car and dumped some of the items they swiped before doing so. A handful of the people hit at the Oakridge Mall with the cayenne pepper-based spray were treated by paramedics, according to the National Post.

[ LOOK BACK: The ugly, scary year in Apple iPhone, iPad thefts ]

Theft of Apple devices has become a serious concern for device owners and law enforcement. An armed robbery of an Apple Store in Paris on New Year's Eve involved more than $1 million in stolen goods.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in December pointed to thefts of iPhones and iPads as being the main reason crime numbers have inched up in the Big Apple.

2012 was marked by a wide variety of ugly Apple product thefts, including at stores, on the streets and at airports. There was even a report of thief stealing an iPhone from a baby.

Bob Brown tracks network research in his Alpha Doggs blog and Facebook page, as well on Twitter and Google +.

Read more about anti-malware in Network World's Anti-malware section.

Hot technologies to watch: Augmented reality and 3D printing

2013-03-05T23:47:00.004-08:00

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Augmented reality and 3D printing are the hottest emerging technologies to watch, according to Tom Soderstrom, chief technology officer for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The impact of both technologies is already being felt with some new products, including a free augmented reality app in Apple's App Store called Spacecraft 3D. The app was built by JPL designers as an outgrowth of the Jet Propulsion Lab's "petting zoo" -- a development sandbox concept that JPL has had in five locations for four years.

In an interview at the Premier 100 conference here, Soderstrom showed how the Voyager and 10 other spacecraft look in the 3D app. With the app loaded on his iPhone, he focused its camera on a special card, and the 3D image of Voyager appeared on the smartphone's display, and could be rotated to look at all sides of the spacecraft. The image on the card was like the rough surface of a planet, and that same image can be downloaded and printed out -- eliminating the need for the card. The app will soon be available on Google Play for Android, Soderstrom said.

Soderstrom also demonstrated functional plastic tools, including a wrench and a gear that were produced with inexpensive 3D printers. Such printers can now cost $1,500 to $2,500, using a variety of materials, including sheets of highly durable manufactured sapphire, he said. Low-cost 3D printers are being made by MakerBot, Cubify and a number of companies that showed products at the International CES show in January, he said.

JPL engineers helped further develop 3D printing in JPL's five petting zoos, Soderstrom said.

Augmented reality allows computer-generated content to be superimposed over a live camera view of the real world.

Th first uses of augmented reality and 3D printing could be effective in education settings, Soderstrom said. Students could learn how tools and devices look and feel and how to design them with software.

He showed a hand-sized 3D model of the surface of the moon, which blind students can touch to gain an appreciation of the moon's rugged surface. "This model cost just 30 cents to make," he said.

Likewise, augmented reality can be used to enrich the learning experience about spacecraft and other technologies -- all from a student's smartphone or other portable device, Soderstrom said.

JPL engineers are also relying on the virtual world of Second Life to design JPL conference rooms, showing potential users and investors how they would look or could be modified. "Blueprints didn't work, but in Second Life they see how the lighting works, where the walls will be," Soderstrom said.

Soderstrom, a science evangelist of sorts for JPL, spending much of his time in schools explaining the significance of technology to coming generations. This is the second year he has attended Premier 100. He attracted a crowd of CIOs interested in innovations and ways they can promote innovation in their companies.

Soderstrom's purpose in going to schools is to preach about the need for more scientists and engineers. "We're going to need more engineers for all this new technology," he said.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.

See more by Matt Hamblen on Computerworld.com.

Read more about emerging technologies in Computerworld's Emerging Technologies Topic Center.

Dell puts RNA Networks assets to use in new product

2013-03-05T23:46:00.002-08:00

Dell has released a new software product designed to make solid-state-drive caching on servers more efficient, resulting in improved performance of applications such as databases.

The company's Fluid Cache 1.0 technology is the first product to be released with the technology acquired from memory virtualization company RNA Networks in June 2011. Dell was expected to implement RNA technology when it introduced its 12G servers last year, but no announcement came.

Dell has since moved slowly with RNA, taking more than a year-and-a-half to incorporate its technologies into servers. More products based on RNA will come in the future, a Dell spokeswoman said.

The Fluid Cache 1.0 software technology sits between the Express Flash solid-state drives attached directly to the PowerEdge 12G servers. The software essentially is an application accelerator that creates a high-speed caching pool to facilitate quicker reading and writing of data from SSDs.

The software layer replicates data in cache, which improves response time without compromising the data. Dell in a blog entry claimed that the software can boost database response times by up to 95 percent, and allows for the addition of more concurrent users accessing the database.

Caching technology has been prevalent in the form of read-only cache, said Kishore Gagrani, senior product manager at Dell, in a video explaining the technology that was posted on YouTube .

"Fluid Cache... can also rewrite cache. With the write caching comes data protection. We make sure data in the cache is protected," Gagrani said.

The software can scale caching performance as more Express Flash SSDs are attached to multiple servers. Fluid Cache 1.0 works only with Linux servers for now, but the company plans to add support for more operating systems such as Windows, Gagrani said. The technology will also be expanded to network-attached storage products, and will also be optimized for Compellent, which virtualizes storage.

Customers do not need to learn any new management tools, and applications do not need to be rewritten to work with Fluid Cache, Gagrani said.

Pricing and availability information for Fluid Cache wasn't immediately provided by Dell.

Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com

IDC: Windows 8 a factor in lower 2012 PC sales

2013-03-05T23:45:00.002-08:00

The final numbers are in showing that PC makers shipped fewer machines last year than in 2011, andWindows 8 is among several factors being blamed by IDC for the decline, which is expected to continue this year.

Looking back IDC found that in 2012 total worldwide shipments of PCs was down 3.7%, including desktop and portable PCs.

[ IN PHOTOS: Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said what?

TEST YOURSELF: The Windows 8 quiz

NAVIGATE: 12 essential Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts ]

The trend was worse in mature markets -- the U.S., Canada, Western Europe and Japan -- with a dip of 4%. Emerging markets -- Asia/Pacific, Latin America the Middle East and Africa -- were down 1.4%.

Limited interest in Windows 8 led last year to a dismal fourth quarter, IDC says in its latest Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. Volume dropped 8.3% in Q4 2012 compared to Q4 2011, wiping out a potential bump during the normally robust holiday sales quarter, IDC says. That's the largest drop ever recorded for a holiday season.

IDC described the reception of Windows 8, which launched in October, as "underwhelming." Also contributing to the slow fourth quarter were tight IT budgets and a continuing poor world economy.

Hurting the potential lift that Windows 8 might have provided was the lack of components for touchscreen devices -- the type of machine Windows 8 was designed to work best on. That makes the touchscreen devices that are available seem expensive compared to non-touch devices, IDC says.

Still, Windows 8 could help PC sales rebound somewhat late this year, says Rajani Singh, a research analyst at IDC. "IDC expects the second half of 2013 to regain some marginal momentum partly as a rubber band effect from 2012, and largely thanks to the outcome of industry restructuring, better channel involvement, and potentially greater acceptance of Windows 8," he says. But it still won't be enough to register growth; IDC projects worldwide PC sales in 2013 to drop another 1.3%.

The end of support for Windows XP should force more PC upgrades later this year as well, which could help bolster shipments later in 2013, Singh says.

The study doesn't include tablets because they aren't the functional equivalents of PCs, but their popularity among consumers helps siphon off dollars that otherwise might be spent on PCs, says Loren Loverde, vice president for Worldwide PC Trackers at IDC. "Growth in emerging regions has slowed considerably, and we continue to see constrained PC demand as buyers favor other devices for their mobility and convenience features," Loverde says.

Long-term shipments of PCs shows better but still modest growth, the report says, projecting a 9% increase between 2012 and the end of 2017.

Tim Greene covers Microsoft for Network World and writes the Mostly Microsoft blog. Reach him at tgreene@nww.com and follow him on Twitter @Tim_Greene.

Read more about software in Network World's Software section.

Evernote hack shows that passwords aren't good enough

2013-03-05T23:44:00.000-08:00

Evernote revealed over the weekend that it was the victim of a data breach, emailing users and posting a notice on its Web site that attackers had gained access to usernames, email addresses, and encrypted passwords associated with Evernote accounts. As a precaution, Evernote forced all 50 million users to reset their passwords. That's a good step, but it's not really not good enough--so Evernote is accelerating its plan to roll out two-factor authentication.

Evernote wasn't originally designed as a business service, at least until the December release ofEvernote for Business. Evernote is primarily a note-taking and organizational tool similar to Microsoft's OneNote. Evernote provides a range of services--including Evernote Food, Evernote Peek, Skitch, Penultimate and more--as Web-based tools or apps across a range of operating systems and mobile platforms. Its capability to access and sync data across a broad range of devices makes it appealing as a business tool.

By its nature, Evernote is a prime example of a service where you stash both personal and professional data. Like any cloud-based service, it comes with some inherent risk. Any time you place business data in the cloud--particularly sensitive information such as customer names or addresses, banking or financial details, or proprietary company research--you are trusting the vendor to protect it. The big caveat, though, is that you are still ultimately responsible for what happens to your data.

One password to rule them all?

Evernote claims that the password data captured by the attackers was encrypted, but it still made all users select new passwords, just in case. As respected security authority Brian Krebs notes in his blog post on the Evernote breach, the standard hashing and salting algorithms used by vendors to encrypt password data offers trivial protection that can be cracked with relative ease.

One solution would be to use stronger passwords or passphrases, and to ensure that you don't use the same password for more than one service. When you do, a data breach at one vendor can expose your password, which could then allow the attacker to access all of your accounts instead of limiting the damage to the one that was breached.

Of course, remembering tens or hundreds of passwords is a bit of a Herculean task--especially if you're using strong, complex passwords. My PCWorld peer John Mello suggests a few options for simplifying password management, such as OneID, KeePass, and RoboForm.

The real lesson of the Evernote hack, though, is that passwords don't offer very good protection for your data. Unique passwords that are complex offer better protection than using your dog's name or no password at all, but ultimately all passwords can be cracked or guessed, given enough time and effort.

Moving to multi-factor authentication

With that in mind, Evernote is joining Facebook, Dropbox, Microsoft SkyDrive, PayPal, Gmail, and a growing list of online service providers by adopting two-factor authentication.

Multi-factor authentication provides an extra layer of protection to safeguard your data. Phone-based authentication, for instance, can dramatically boost security. You've probably encountered a prompt for phone-based authentication when you try to log on to a bank's website from a device you don't normally use.

With phone-based authentication, a random or one-time code is sent to a mobile phone, and must be entered in addition to the standard username and password. Some solutions use a mobile app to generate a one-time PIN. Either way, in order for an attacker to access the account they'd have to both crack your password and be in possession of your mobile phone.

There are many other options aside from phone-based authentication, such as access tokens, smartcards and email verification. The exact method varies widely. No matter the implementation, two-factor authentication provides an extra layer of protection, and Evernote should be commended for offering it.

Java security woes to stay with businesses for a long time

2013-03-05T23:42:00.002-08:00

Zero-day vulnerabilities, delays in receiving patches and continuous cyberattacks are enough to make any large company want to toss the buggy Java plug-in from browsers. But that seemingly simple solution is not possible for the majority of businesses, which still use the platform for running Web-based Java applications, experts say.

Businesses were reminded of Java's problems on Monday, when Oracle released an emergency patch to fix two flaws in Java 7 and Java 6, including one hole that security experts warned last week was already being exploited by cybercriminals. Oracle acknowledged knowing about the more serious flaw since Feb. 1, but was unable to get a patch out sooner.

On the same day, a Polish security firm notified Oracle of five more vulnerabilities in the latest version of Java. Those flaws would be difficult to exploit, since they would have to be linked together to bypass Java's anti-exploit sandbox technology.

Nevertheless, Java has become a key target for criminals and a major headache for corporations. The fact that the technology is cross-platform has made matters worse, because malware can be written to infect Windows, Mac or Linux desktops and notebooks.

"Java has certainly moved to the forefront for many enterprises as far as patching and vulnerabilities are concerned," Wolfgang Kandek, chief technology officer for Qualys, said on Tuesday.

The reason businesses cannot remove the distressing Java from browsers is because many organizations run Web-based internal business applications that require the technology.

[Also see: Oracle speeds up Java patching cycle]

"Disabling Java in browsers would break access to these applications," said Chenxi Wang, an analyst for Forrester Research. "For that reason, not many have gotten rid of Java in their environment, despite the fact that Java has been the target of mass market malware exploits for years."

In addition, the technology IT administrators use for enforcing corporate policies does not include disabling or enabling Java for specific people in an organization. "This lack of enterprise controls is causing major heartburn for IT teams," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations for nCircle.

Besides not having an easy off-switch, some organizations are just plain slow at upgrading Java plug-ins. "Some have only just added it to their patching regimes,"said Glenn Chisholm, chief security officer of Cylance.

Many companies are starting to tackle the Java problem. Some are looking at application virtualization to provide Java in a browser for a single session, which is then destroyed and recreated when needed again, Chisholm said.

Security vendors are also providing help. Kandek recommends setting up whitelisting within Internet Explorer, so only pre-approved applications can run. Dan Guido, a consultant with iSec Partners, hasposted an hour-long YouTube video that shows how to automatically switch between Chrome for browsing the public Internet and IE for accessing internal applications.

Such creativity is the direction organizations will need to go to avoid a Java-caused security breach. "Java is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving for attackers," Storms said.

Read more about application security in CSOonline's Application Security section.

Google's latest Android browser promises faster surfing

2013-03-05T23:41:00.002-08:00

Faster Web browsing and lower data use might be on the cards for Android mobile phone users if they download a new version of the Chrome Web browser offered by Google.

The latest Chrome Beta for Android, which was made available on Tuesday, includes an "experimental data compression feature" that Google said could reduce data loads by up to 60 percent on some sites.

The system works by sending most Web requests through a proxy server, which sits in between the user's browser and the destination Web server. The server is running SPDY, a Google-developed protocol designed to reduce the data size of Web content.

It does this through tricks such as compressing the text in pages, sending multiple simultaneous requests to a Web server and by transcoding images into a more efficient format called WebP.

WebP is a Google-developed image format that is said to reduce image size by 26 percent against PNG (Portable Network Graphics) images and by between 25 percent and 34 percent against the JPEG format. Support for the format is already in Chrome, Opera and Android from version 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich," and can be added to Internet Explorer with the Chrome Frame plug-in.

The system works on all non-secure connections to websites using the HTTP protocol. Connections to secure sites using the HTTPS protocol are handled as normal and don't flow through the SPDY proxy. As an added advantage, non-secure connections are encrypted using SSL between the phone and proxy. Google's Safe Browsing feature is also enabled, which helps guard against malware and phishing attacks.

Users can find the beta version of the Chrome browser by following this link. It won't appear through a search of the Play Store.

Once installed, the system needs to be enabled. That can be done by navigating the browser to "chrome://flags" and setting "Experimental Data Compression Proxy" to on.

Martyn Williams covers mobile telecoms, Silicon Valley and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Martyn on Twitter at @martyn_williams. Martyn's e-mail address ismartyn_williams@idg.com

Facebook updates developer policy after Vine scuffle

2013-01-29T07:12:00.003-08:00

Facebook has updated its policies for third-party application developers in a bid to explain why Twitter's new Vine video-sharing app is unable to access Facebook's friend-finder tool.

While the updated policies don't mention Vine by name, the biggest changes appear designed to explain why Facebook decided to block the app, a move that sparked a wave of criticism this week.

In a blog post Friday, Facebook's Justin Osofsky, director of platform partnerships and operations, said the "clarifications" were published after the site received questions about its policies over the past few days.

"For the vast majority of developers building social apps and games, keep doing what you're doing," he wrote. But a "much smaller number of apps" violate its policy by using Facebook to "replicate our functionality or bootstrap their growth in a way that creates little value for people on Facebook, such as not providing users an easy way to share back to Facebook."

Vine, which is owned by Twitter and launched Thursday, includes a tool that allows users to search for their Facebook friends and add them to their Vine network. Vine also lets users automatically share the videos they create with the app with their Facebook friends -- a function that remains intact -- as well as with their Twitter and internal Vine connections.

Controversy broke out when users discovered later on Thursday that the Facebook friend-search tool had been disabled. Facebook has yet to say whether it intentionally blocked the feature, but the clarified policies it published Friday explain where the site stands on matters related to competitors using its social graph.

One of the amended sections reads: "You may not use Facebook Platform to promote, or to export user data to, a product or service that replicates a core Facebook product or service without our permission." The policies don't say what, exactly, constitutes a "core" Facebook product.

The new policies retain similar language about permissions, but give additional guidance about data-sharing with third-party apps. On the topic of reciprocity, for instance, the policies say developers can build their own social network via Facebook's API (application programming interface), but only if the app allows users to share their experiences back with Facebook users. Vine does offer this functionality.

Asked whether Facebook blocked the search tool or if there was a technical issue on Twitter's end, Twitter has said it has no comment beyond the error message users get when they try to perform the search.

The new guidelines also say that if Facebook disables an app, the developer of the app must delete all the user information it collected through Facebook's API, unless it is basic account information or it receives consent from the user to retain it.

Finally, the policies clarify that developers are responsible for "providing users with a quality experience and must not confuse, defraud, mislead, spam or surprise users."

Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach's e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com

BitTorrent invites testers to help fine tune its new Sync file-sharing program

2013-01-29T07:11:00.000-08:00

BitTorrent will crowd source ideas from its 170 million users for its new Sync program for file sharing across multiple computers.

Of course, the company is best known for its slightly less legal uses: Many a pirated movie has been passed around over the peer-to-peer file-sharing client. But BitTorrent opened its virtual doors to the public Thursday, with an invitation to crowdsource innovative products that build on BitTorrent's technology. Sync is the first effort.

BitTorrent Sync is in such early stages of development that the company considers it a pre-alpha product. But for early adopters wanting to get in on the ground floor, the invitation-only programlets you sync files across multiple machines, similar to Dropbox and cloud-storage services offered by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

It's unclear exactly how Sync is (or will be) different from its competitors but, so far, BitTorrent is targeting home users "to help manage personal files between multiple computers," the company said in a blog post. So if you want copies of home movies on both your laptop and desktop, Sync may be where it's at. (Note: peer-to-peer backup has been in discussion since at least 2009.)

Background

The new file-sharing program follows on the heels of Mega, another major file-sharing product released this month. Mega, the brainchild of MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom, encrypts your files before you upload them to the company's servers and offers 50GB of free storage.

Dotcom has been the target of a federal piracy investigation, which makes the future success of Mega a somewhat dicey prospect. But BitTorrent, whose users have also been targeted in piracy investigations, is trying to move away from the unsavory side of file sharing. The company last year launched a revenue-sharing program to compensate musicians with advertising dollars.

Sync is part of BitTorrent Labs, which the company calls its "test kitchen" and a "not-so-secret fort," which is where it opened up its alpha projects to developers, testers, and the general public.

Other concepts available to experiment with in the Lab are BitTorrent Live, a beta streaming client; Surf, a torrent discovery extension for the Chrome browser; and Beam It Over, a Facebook file-sharing plug-in.

BitTorrent and its client uTorrent have about 170 million active users to draw upon for crowdsourcing ideas and solutions, which could make the public release of Sync a better product than other cloud-storage services.

IBM to beef up content management, analytics in Connections enterprise social product

2013-01-29T07:09:00.003-08:00

IBM will launch before mid-year several new and improved collaboration and communication products, including a new suite for human resources tasks and a major upgrade of its Connections enterprise social networking product.

The company, which will unveil the products at its Connect 2013 conference in Orlando on Monday, will also announce improvements to its enterprise social suite for marketers.

The upgrade to its IBM Connections enterprise social networking platform will feature new analytics features so that administrators can monitor usage, such as collaboration trends among employees and engagement with customers in social media services like Twitter and Facebook.

IBM Connections 4.5, which will be available in March, will also feature new document and content management capabilities, as well as an "ideation" tool to manage brainstorming processes. This new version will also feature deeper integration with Microsoft Outlook, so that users can access IBM Connections features within their Outlook interface.

"This 4.5 version is a momentum announcement," said Rob Koplowitz, a Forrester Research analyst. "IBM continues to grow, add functionality to and improve Connections."

The content management functionality makes Connections a stronger competitor to Microsoft's SharePoint, which in turn is encroaching further into the Connections territory with its upcoming integration with the Yammer enterprise social networking software.

The suites for human resources and marketing departments are designed to give employees collaboration tools like microblogging, IM, video conferencing, activity streams, employee profiles, document sharing, content rating, wikis and discussion forums.

The new IBM Employee Experience Suite will include existing IBM enterprise social and communication software along with human resources management applications from Kenexa, a company IBM acquired in December for $1.3 billion. This new suite will be available in this year's first half.

Meanwhile, the existing IBM Customer Experience Suite, designed for marketing departments, will gain a new capability to let marketers push content, like ads and promotions, to social networks "with one simple click" and without requiring IT involvement.

IBM also plans to ship in March an upgrade of its Notes-Domino email and collaboration software, called IBM Notes and Domino Social Edition 9.

"We have an enterprise social business platform that is for social networking, content management, analytics, and can be leveraged across all business departments," said Jeff Schick, vice president of social software at IBM.

Google faces legal action in the UK over Safari cookies

2013-01-29T07:09:00.000-08:00

A group of Internet users in the U.K. are seeking damages, disclosure and an apology from Google for its alleged undermining of the security settings on Apple's Safari browser to track online usage covertly.

Members of the group, described as informal, have instructed a technology and media law firm, Olswang, to begin action against Google, the group said.

The claims center around tracking cookies, which were allegedly installed in secret by Google on computers and mobile devices of users of the Safari browser, Olswang said in a statement on Sunday. The legal firm has been retained by the group to coordinate claims.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said in August last year that Google agreed to pay US$22.5 million civil penalty to settle charges that it misrepresented to users of Safari that it would not place tracking cookies or serve targeted ads to those users, violating an earlier privacy settlement between the company and the FTC.

FTC charged that Google placed advertising tracking cookies on consumers' computers, in many cases by circumventing Safari's default cookie-blocking setting. A court accepted the consent decree. Google however denied wrongdoing.

The group has also set up a Facebook page, called "Safari Users Against Google's Secret Tracking", to provide information for anyone who used the Safari internet browser between September 2011 and February 2012, and "who was illegally tracked by Google."

Any users in the U.K. may have a claim against Google for this breach of their privacy, according to the group. Other users, who have set up this group, are taking action against Google to hold them to account, it added.

This has the potential of being the biggest ever group action filed in the U.K., with millions of potential claimants, privacy advocate Alexander Hanff said in a Twitter message.

Google did not immediately comment.

New bug makes moot Java's latest anti-exploit defenses, claims researcher

2013-01-29T07:07:00.001-08:00

Java's new security settings, designed to block "drive-by" browser attacks, can be bypassed by hackers, a researcher announced Sunday.

The news came in the aftermath of several embarrassing "zero-day" vulnerabilities, and a recent commitment by the head of Java security that his team would fix bugs in the software.

The Java security provisions that can be circumvented were introduced last December with Java 7 Update 10, and let users decide which Java applets are allowed to run within their browsers. The most stringent of the four settings is supposed to block any applet not signed with a valid digital certificate. Other settings freely allow most unsigned applets, execute unsigned applets only if Java itself is up to date, or display a warning before unsigned applets are allowed to run.

But according to Adam Gowdiak, CEO of Security Explorations, none of the settings can stymie an attacker.

"What we found ... is that unsigned Java code can be successfully executed on a target Windows system regardless of the four Java Control Panel settings," Gowdiak wrote in a message posted Sunday to the Bugtraq mailing list.

In an email reply to questions Sunday, Gowdiak said there was a single vulnerability that makes the bypass possible. "It could be used to successfully launch unsigned Java code on a target system regardless of the security level set by the user in Java Control Panel. [The] 'High' or 'Very High' security [setting] does not matter here, the code will still run," he said.

After discovering the vulnerability and creating a proof-of-concept exploit that worked on Java 7 Update 11 -- the version released two weeks ago -- running on Windows 7, Gowdiak reported the bug to Oracle.

His discovery makes moot -- in theory at least -- Oracle's latest security change. When it shipped an emergency update on Jan. 13 to quash two critical Java browser plug-in vulnerabilities, including one that was actively being exploited by cyber criminals, Oracle also automatically reset Java to the "High" security level. At that setting, Java notifies users before they can run unsigned applets.

Although there's no evidence of hackers exploiting the newest vulnerability, Gowdiak hinted that it wouldn't be difficult for them to do so. "It should be considered in terms of a big miss by Oracle," Gowdiak said. "We were truly surprised to find out how trivial it is to bypass these new security settings."

Hackers have stepped up their attacks against Java and its browser plug-in, with some security firms estimating that they account for more than half of all attempted exploits. Most often, Java exploits are used to conduct "drive-by" attacks, or ones that install malware on PCs and Macs after their owners simply browse to compromised or malicious websites.

Gowdiak published his claim just days after Oracle released a recording of a conference call between Milton Smith, the senior principal product manager who oversees Java security, and Java user group leaders, to discuss the recent vulnerabilities and steps Oracle was taking.

During the call, Smith touted the security enhancements to Java 7, including the introduction of the settings in Update 10, and the change of the default from "Medium" to "High" in Update 11. "[They] effectively make it so that unsigned applets won't run without a warning," Smith said of the security settings. "Some of the things we were seeing were silent exploits, where people would click on a link in an email and unwittingly compromise a machine. But now those features really prevent that. Even if Java did have an exploit, it would be very hard to do it silently."

According to Gowdiak, that's exactly what the newest vulnerability could let attackers do. "Recently made security improvements to Java 7 don't prevent silent exploits at all," Gowdiak wrote on Bugtraq.

When asked how users who must run Java in their browser should protect themselves against possible exploits, Gowdiak repeated his earlier suggestion that people turn to a browser with "click-to-play," a feature that forces users to explicitly authorize a plug-in's execution. Both Chrome and Firefox include click-to-play.

"That may help prevent automatic and silent exploitation of known and not-yet-addressed Java plug-in vulnerabilities," Gowdiak said.

See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com.

Read more about malware and vulnerabilities in Computerworld's Malware and Vulnerabilities Topic Center.

How wireless charging can drive near-field communications growth

2013-01-29T07:05:00.001-08:00

At CES 2013, the Wireless Power Consortium displayed dozens of devices that were designed to the Qi wireless charging standard, suggesting that 2013 may be the year wireless charging becomes a feature consumers expect to come standard in new smartphones.

Nokia and HTC already offer smartphones with Qi technology integrated directly, such as the Lumia 920 and Droid DNA. For more popular smartphones that were not developed with Qi compatibility, including Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S3, third-party manufacturers have developed smartphone cases with integrated Qi technology. The cases themselves plug into the phone's power dock and relay a charge received when the encased phone is placed on a wireless power source.

Further facilitating the rise of wireless charging is the Qi standard's compatibility. Although manufacturers can build wirelessly charging devices on their own, the standard dictates that all Qi-enabled devices are compatible with all Qi-enabled power sources. That means a wireless charging pad developed by Nokia could charge a smartphone built by HTC, and so on. Best of all, it means smartphone users will never again need to scramble for a power cord that fits into the custom-designed power dock on their phones.

[ALSO AT CES: 10 wireless charging technologies on display at CES 2013

MORE ON NFC: What IT needs to know about near-field communications]

But what does the impending rise of wirelessly charging smartphones have to do with the growth of near-field communications (NFC) technology?

At CES, the WPC booth also displayed several new components designed to facilitate the integration of the Qi wireless charging technology. One component on display, developed by TDK, integrated both Qi wireless technology and NFC into a single chip.

As these components become smaller, cheaper, and easier to integrate into devices, Bas Fransen, chief marketing officer at ConvenientPower, says manufacturers will ship more smartphones featuring both wireless charging and NFC.

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Microsoft waived hearing in EU browser ballot antitrust caseMicrosoft waived its right to a hearing before European antitrust regulators to further answer charges that it failed to offer customers a browser choice screen, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

2013-01-29T07:02:00.002-08:00

Microsoft waived its right to a hearing before European antitrust regulators to further answer charges that it failed to offer customers a browser choice screen, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The company faces fines in the billions for the blunder.

In a Jan. 24 filing with the SEC, Microsoft noted the ongoing investigation by the European Commission, the EU's antitrust arm, and gave a short status update of the case.

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iPhone 6 rumor rollup for the week ending Jan. 25

2013-01-29T07:01:00.002-08:00

The combination of intense cold gripping much of the U.S. and feverish iPhone speculation is creating extreme rumoring conditions, threatening to drive the iOSphere into epistemological collapse.

Apple is planning to announce one, two, three (or more?) iPhones, none of which may be "iPhone 6" unless they are, with screen sizes between 4 and 6 inches, and an equally wide, or weird, range of prices, sometime between now and the end of 2014.

You read it here second.

__________

iPhone 6 will be one of two (2!!) iPhones released in 2013

Loquacious "industry sources" tell DigiTimes that Apple will release two 4-inch iPhones in 2013, both with in-cell display technology (introduced in iPhone 5, helping to create a thinner and lighter phone).

[ MORE RUMORS: iPad5 rumor rollup for the week of Jan. 21 ]

This is an improved rumor, because "Previously it was said that Apple would release a lower-cost version of its iPhone with a bigger screen in 2013. But the sources claimed that Apple is indeed developing an iPhone with a bigger [apparently meaning 'bigger than 4 inches'] screen, but that will not be among the models to be launched this year."

One of the two will be aimed at the "midrange market segment" otherwise known as the cost-conscious or economical or frugal or stingy segment.

Bliss is two new iPhone models. But. There may not be many of them around because "the sources noted it is still yet to be determined if Apple will have adequate supply of in-cell touch panels in 2013 for a lower-cost version of the iPhone due to mass production issues from the technology in 2012."

At this past week's earning call, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that supplies of the iPhone 5 fell short of demand until very recently, but he didn't say why. The iOSphere Consensus Rumor, copy/pasted by DigiTimes, is that the reason was "poor yields for in-cell technology."

So Apple might announce two iPhones and release them. But you won't be able to actually buy one.

iPhone 6 will be one of three (3!!!) new iPhones released in 2014

Business Insider's Jay Yarrow industriously tracked this rumor from its source, Commercial Times, Taiwan, to its proliferation in the iOSphere, such as AppleInsider.

"So, yeah," Yarrow wrote. "Treat this one lightly for now. Though, a lot of accurate information has come from Asian supply chain sources in the last few years." We think we'll treat THAT assertion lightly. Because a lot more inaccurate information has come from the Asian supply chain sources in the last few years.

But let's not quibble.

"According to the reports, Apple will release a 4-inch iPhone 5S and a 4.8-inch iPhone before the end of June," Yarrow reveals. "The report calls the 4.8-inch phone, the 'iPhone Math,' which is, um, odd."

So take that lightly, too, we guess. Repeatedly calling a rumor a "report" lends baseless speculation an air of authority.

AppleInsider also picked up on these rumors. First it dutifully cautioned readers that "It should be noted that AppleInsider cannot vouch for the veracity of the sources' claims and offers the following information for purposes of discussion only." And then it repeated every scrap of veracity-challenged "information" it could glean: "at least" a 4.8-inch screen, 8 megapixel camera with lenses from Largan Precision, and component shipments starting in March for production lines swinging into action in April.

But there's something interesting about this report, something apparently only Yarrow perceived.

"What's interesting about this report is that it comes one week after The Wall Street Journal and the Nikkei reported Apple was cutting iPhone screen orders," he points out.

Think about that. One week. Just one.

"When those reports rolled out Apple's stock was hit hard," he explains. "So were the stocks of Apple's suppliers. ... We could be over thinking it, but it sure sounds like suppliers started leaking Apple's plans to let the market know that they are not totally hosed."

Thank heavens for the iOSphere and its dedications to rumors. How else would the stock market know what's happening?

"Whether that makes this report more or less trustworthy is up to you," Yarrow concludes, not very helpfully. "However, this is not the first time we've heard about Apple reportedly developing a much larger iPhone. So, we wouldn't just cast the report aside."

We may be overthinking it, but it sure sounds like Yarrow is saying that you can believe the "report" and that you can't, or like whatever. But it's not the first time we've heard this kind of analysis. So we wouldn't just cast it aside.

iPhone 6 will be one of four (4!!!!) new iPhones to be released in 2013

According to midstream sources in the Asian supply chain, Apple will be releasing four iPhone models in 2013. It should be noted that the Rollup cannot vouch for the veracity of the sources' claims and offers the following information for purposes of discussion only. But if Apple can be rumored to be planning two or three iPhones, it's not much of a stretch to think, "Hey. Heck. Why not four?"

According to the sources, one will be a 4-inch phone, one will be a low-cost 4-inch phone, one will be 4.8-inch phone, a third will be 5.3 inches.

OK: we made that up.

But iMore.com's editor in chief, Rene Ritchie, has an intriguing, lengthy and nearly exhaustive post ("Imagining a 5-inch iPhone," complete with illustrative examples) that speculates in depth on "what steps could they take to get to 5-inches" for the iPhone.

The most likely option, he writes, is increasing the number of pixels by some multiple: by 2, 3 or 4. He even considers a 5-inch model that uses the iPad mini display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, and 4.5 and 4.8 inch models.

But there are a range of tradeoffs. Bigger displays with more pixels will require even more graphics processing power, more light, and more battery to be effective, Ritchie notes. And depending on how the larger screen size is actually implemented, it can make life especially difficult for software developers.

During Apple's Q1 earnings report, Apple CEO Cook was asked if there was a case to be made for a larger screen size or larger variety of screen sizes. His reply suggests that Apple won't be taking that route any time soon. "The iPhone 5 offers a new 4-inch retina display: the most advanced in the industry. ... And it offers a larger screen size without sacrificing the one-handed use that our customers love. We put a lot of thought into screen size and we think we picked the right one."

That statement doesn't preclude a still-larger iPhone, but it does underscore two things Apple takes seriously: the convenience of one-handed phone use and what customers "love."

In his post, Ritchie notes that Apple has addressed one-handed use "in hardware" -- keeping the phone at a physical size that ensures most people can still use it with one hand. But it could be done "in software," he says. That's how RIM -- in its new BlackBerry 10 phones due to be unveiled next week -- is addressing one-handed use: the BlackBerry Flow UI is "using corner gestures to allow for more navigation with less thumb travel."

Finally: speculation worthy of the name.

iPhone 6 or iPhone Something will be released between Jan. 28 and Dec. 31, or in 2014

The blizzard of Next iPhones is creating enough conflicting dates to require a scheduling app (for example, Schedule Planner, from Intersog) to keep track of everything. Even the iOSphere is starting to sound confused.

"So when will the IPhone 6 release date be?" asks TechRadar's Dan Grabham, just before making it clear he has no real idea what the answer is.

"Some analysts and observers are predicting that it could be as early as summer 2013," he writes. "We think it's more likely we'll see a new iPhone release in September."

Then he references "[Technorati] Blogger Ed Valdez [who] cites six reasons why we can expect an iPhone 6 announcement by June 2013 -- a mere nine months after the iPhone 5." So Ed doesn't agree with Dan. "But it's still quite likely there will be an iPhone 5S instead of iPhone 6," Dan adds, making it sound as if even Dan doesn't agree with Dan.

We think Grabham is saying that his belief, conviction, gut feeling, hope, hunch, intuition, and opinion is that it's "quite likely" that the Next iPhone will be the iPhone 5S and it will be announced in September.

Some, actually much, of the confusion depends on how one defines "iPhone 6" and "iPhone 5S." Or even "iPhone Math." DigiTimes this week echoed rumors from "industry sources" that 2013 will see the release of two Next iPhones, only neither of them will be "Phone 6."

SlashGear's Eric Abent sounds almost plaintive commenting on the DigiTimes post. The previous DigiTimes rumor of a 5-inch iPhone "seemed at least relatively easy to believe," he writes, clarifying the iOSphere criteria for rumor credibility. "That rumor came from DigiTimes, but today the site is going back on what it previously said - according to the most recent word from sources, there won't be a 5-inch iPhone in 2013."

Oh, woe. "DigiTimes is now saying that while it's in development, the 5-inch iPhone won't be launching until sometime in 2014," Abent continues. "Apparently, there are some production issues with the new 5-inch panels, meaning that Apple has decided to hold off while those problems get sorted out."

Abent might have sounded even more plaintive if he realized the latest DigiTimes rumor contradictedlast week's rumor, launched by Jefferies Group stock analyst Peter Misek in a Note To Investors, wherein he predicted that the 2013 iPhone will be only a "minor iPhone 5 upgrade," and the 2014 iPhone, the "iPhone 6," will have a screen size of 4.8 inches, not 5 inches.

John Cox covers wireless networking and mobile computing for Network World. Twitter: @johnwcoxnww Email: john_cox@nww.com

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