Balky browsers tick off tablet owners

Crashes are the top complaint from iPad Air, Fire HDX owners, No. 2 annoyance on iPad Mini, says Fixya

Browser problems are the most common complaints of iPad Air and Fire HDX tablet owners, an online community of troubleshooters said Friday.

San Mateo, Calif.-based Fixya mined 10,000 user-generated reports related to Apple's iPad Air and Retina-equipped iPad Mini, Amazon's Fire HDX and Microsoft's Surface 2, the second-generation tablet that replaced the poorly-received Surface RT of 2012, to come up with its conclusions.

Browser gripes topped the charts of the iPad Air and the 8.9-in. Fire HDX, said Fixya, while the surfing app tied for second on the iPad Mini's top-five-beef list.

Nearly a third -- 30% -- of the reported problems with the Air and 25% of those with the Fire stemmed from the tablets' bundled browsers, Safari and Silk, respectively. On the Retina iPad Mini, 20% of complaints targeted Safari, the same percentage as aimed ire at the paucity of storage space on the least expensive model.

"A relatively common issue with mobile Apple devices, especially those using Safari -- the browser that comes pre-packaged with the device -- is a crashing browser," said Fixya. "Users report that opening certain Web pages (most likely those that use [Adobe's] Flash [Player]) and opening multiple tabs on the browser can cause the browser to crash and kicks users onto the home [screen]."

Famously, Apple has never supported Flash Player on iOS, the mobile operating system that drives the iPad. Before his death, co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs was adamant about banning Flash, going as far as to publicly trash the media software in a 2010 diatribe.

But Safari on iOS is not supposed to crash when it encounters a website that calls on the Adobe software.

Fire HDX owners pummeled Silk with similar laments. "Silk ... has a variety of issues, most notably choppy performance and tendency to crash," Fixya noted.

Only the Surface 2 escaped owners' disgust with their device's mobile browser. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) is bundled with Windows RT 8.1, the OS that powers the tablet.

Instead, Microsoft customers tapped a shortage of quality apps as their No. 1 complaint, with 25% of the reports focused on the issue. Users' gripes matched those of analysts who have cited the app issue as the platform's weakest link since long before Microsoft started selling Windows 8.

Fixya recommended that iPad and Fire HDX owners regularly clear their browser's history and delete cookies to keep Safari or Silk as stable as possible. But it had no answer for the Surface 2's app problem. "App support is an issue with the device that ... users can't fix on their own," Fixya pointed out.

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Anonymous engineers claim BT gives spies backdoors to customer data

Coincidence? Bruce Schneier -- outspoken opponent of NSA mass surveillance -- leaving British Telecom

Carrier BT provides the British intelligence agency GCHQ and its American counterpart the NSA with direct access to customer data through the Internet modems it supplies, claims a 50-page document posted anonymously on the Cryptome site today.

The document, titled “Full Disclosure: The Internet Dark Age,” was originally post on Dec. 4 and reposted with updates a few days later. Its anonymous authors, calling themselves “The Adversaries,” say they are engineers in a business that supplies small office and home office networking in the United Kingdom. The document they posted goes into extensive detail about their claim that modems supplied by BT have secret backdoors that can be used both to send outgoing customer data directly to the U.K. and NSA intelligence agencies, or even to give surveillance agencies a means to attack, should that be required.

+ Also on Network World: Slideshow of NSA’s weird alphabet soup of secret spy programs and hacker tools | Debate rages: Should the NSA be reformed? +

BT spokesperson Kris Kozamchak, head of BT Global Services, would not comment on the contents of the document, but simply stated: “We comply with the law wherever we operate and do not disclose customer data in any jurisdiction unless legally required to do so.”

Also on the security front at BT, Bruce Schneier, who has held the post of “security futurologist” at the company for about eight years, is leaving the telco at the end of December, according to a spokesman. Since the disclosures in June about the National Security Agency related to documents leaked to the media by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Schneier has been an outspoken opponent of the type of mass surveillance, backdoors and encryption weakening alleged to be done by the agency and its partners, which include GCHQ. Schneier’s commentary about the NSA appeared frequently online.

Schneier could not immediately be reached for comment.

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10 top tests of 2013

Network World tested hundreds of products in 2013, but here are our top 10 tests of the year. In order to make the list, the product review had to be a comparative test of multiple products in a single category and it had to break new ground or deliver fresh insight into an important product area.

Here’s the list:

1. WAN OPTIMIZATION – JOEL SNYDER
We invited every major network optimization vendor, and ended up with seven contenders: Blue Coat, Cisco, Citrix, Exinda, Ipanema, Riverbed and Silver Peak.

Our Clear Choice Test winner is Riverbed, which excels at the core WAN optimization functions of compression and de-duplication. If you’re looking for innovation, you’ll be as impressed, as we were, with Ipanema Technologies ip|engines and Exinda Networks x800-series.

For great performance, we were again impressed with Silver Peak. And if you’re running all Cisco at the network edge, Cisco’s WAAS is a no-brainer with big benefits at moderate cost.
wan optimization

2. MOBILE DEVICE MANAGEMENT – DAVID STROM
We looked at six products: AirWatch, Apperian EASE, BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 (BES10), Divide, Fixmo, and Good Technology's Good for Enterprise. Each has a somewhat different perspective and different strengths in terms of what it can control best.

AirWatch had the widest phone/tablet/desktop support. But it also requires a collection of different downloaded apps that could be confusing to use. If you’re going the secure container route, Fixmo is a strong contender.

BlackBerry should be on your short list if your primary goal is protecting your messaging infrastructure. Good Technology is a mature product that features solid email security, fast device enrollment, extensive security policies and wide device support.

Divide had the most appealing management console and overall simplest setup routine. It features the best overall approach to MDM and is the easiest to operate, but has the most limited device OS version support. Apperian does a great job with setting up a protected app portal, but falls down on some basic MDM issues.

3. MIDRANGE MANAGEMENT TOOLS – BARRY NANCE
If your network has between 1,000 and 10,000 devices and computers, you have a midsized network. Your servers, connections and other resources suffer the same problems as larger networks, but your budget for keeping the network healthy is less than what large enterprises enjoy.

We tested six products that provide a management suite for mid-range networks: Paessler PRTG v12.4, Heroix Longitude v8.1, HP Intelligent Management Center (IMC) Standard and Enterprise v5.2, Ipswitch WhatsUp Gold (WUG) v16, SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor (NPM) v10.4 and Server & Application Monitor (SAM) v5.2 and Argent Software Advanced Technology (AT) v3.1, including Argent Commander 2.0 and Argent Reports 2.0.
Argent Advanced Technology earns itself the Network World Clear Choice award, edging Heroix Longitude, which came in second. Advanced Technology gave us sophisticated thresholds, a responsive user interface, accurate device discovery, time-saving root cause analysis, helpful corrective actions and meaningful reports.

4. HOSTED VDI – TOM HENDERSON
We compared hosted virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) products from Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware and came to many conclusions, but the most important one is this: Setting up hosted desktop sessions in a BYOD world is a complex undertaking.

Our Clear Choice Test winner is Citrix's VDI-in-a-Box for its ease of integration, flexibility of both hosted operating systems and variety of clients, and its end-user experience.

VMware's Horizon View 5.2 is also very capable and can scale dramatically, but it’s more limited in both hosts (Windows) and clients served. Windows 2012 Server is good, yet requires a buy-in to Microsoft's Windows System Center Configuration Manager, and has less client flexibility.

5. PERSONAL CLOUDS – WAYNE RASH
cloud computing

A personal cloud service lets you share photos, music and documents among all your devices easily and quickly.The good news is that these cloud services are normally free for a limited amount of data. Most vendors also offer premium or enterprise versions, which allow you to store more data and to share data, which is useful in a workgroup scenario, for example.

We looked at nine personal cloud services: Apple’s iCloud, Bitcasa, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive, MediaFire, SpiderOak and Ubuntu One. While iCloud, SkyDrive and Google Drive are optimized for their respective platforms, all of the cloud services work across multiple operating systems and different browser types.

There was no single cloud service that we considered a winner. All worked as advertised, all had their strengths, as well as peculiarities or annoyances.

6. LINUX-BASED SERVER OPERATING SYSTEMS – SUSAN PERSCHKE
The five products we tested -- SUSE Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 2, Mandriva Business Server 1.0, ClearOS 6 Professional, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4 and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS -- are all enterprise server versions offering commercial support options, either at the OS level or in the form of commercial management tools and support plans.

Our Clear Choice Test winner is Ubuntu, which delivered intuitive, uncluttered management tools, excellent hypervisor support, and transparency (commercial and open source versions are one and the same).

The remaining four contenders fell into two categories with Red Hat and SUSE representing enterprise-level offerings and Mandriva and ClearOS geared more towards small and midsize businesses. In the SMB segment ClearOS edged out Mandriva.

7. TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION – DAVID STROM
Relying on a simple user ID and password combination is fraught with peril. One alternative is to use one of the single sign-on solutions we reviewed last year, but there are less expensive options that could also be easier to install.

That’s where two-factor authentication services come into play. Years ago, vendors came out with hardware-based two-factor authentication: combining a password with a token that generates a one-time code. But toting around tokens means that they can get taken, and in a large enterprise, hard tokens are a pain to manage, provision and track.

Enter the soft token, which could mean using a smartphone app, SMS text message, or telephony to provide the extra authentication step. We reviewed eight services that support up to five kinds of soft tokens: Celestix's HOTPin, Microsoft's PhoneFactor, RSA's Authentication Manager, SafeNet Authentication Service, SecureAuth's IdP, Symantec Validation and ID Protection Service (VIP), TextPower's TextKey, and Vasco's Identikey Authentication Server.

8. ULTRABOOKS – WAYNE RASH
We tested eight ultrabooks, all with touchscreens and all running Windows 8 Professional. They are: the astonishingly thin Acer Aspire S7 and Asus Zenbook UX31A, the flip-screen Dell XPS 12, HP’s Envy 400t-12, Lenovo’s business oriented ThinkPad Carbon X1 and the flexible Yoga 13, the Samsung ATIV Tab 7 that transforms into a tablet, and the Sony Vaio T-15.

Our favorite, because it was the easiest to type on and the easiest to use overall was the Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1. This ultrabook has three ways to control the pointer, had the best keyboard by far, yet it was still thin and light.

If you need your ultrabook to convert to a tablet, then you might like the Samsung ATIV Tab 7, or the Yoga or Dell, which fold or flip to become tablets. Acer and Asus win points for being sexy, thin and stylish, so if you want to impress in the conference room, these might be for you.

9. SOFTWARE-BASED NAS – ERIC GEIER
Earlier this year we tested Network Attached Storage (NAS) appliances. Now we're reviewing software-based NAS that you can load onto your own equipment — whether it's a PC, server, virtual machine, or in the cloud. We looked at FreeNAS, Openfiler, Open-E DSS, NexentaStor, and SoftNAS. All offer some sort of free solution or service, with some being fully open sourced.

Going with a software solution enables you to select and customize the hardware it runs on to best fit your particular application and environment. For a small and simple network you could load the software on a spare consumer-level PC, or for bigger networks purchase a server or run on a virtual machine.

On the other hand, going with an appliance may be better if you aren't comfortable selecting the hardware, installing the software, and then maintaining both. Appliances are generally more plug-and-play, whereas with software solutions you have to spend some time building your own appliance.

10. OPEN SOURCE MANAGEMENT TOOLS – SUSAN PERSCHKE
We reviewed four popular open source products - Nagios Core 3.5, NetXMS 1.2.7, OpenNMS 1.10.9 and Zenoss Core 4.2. All four products are mature, have extensive monitoring capabilities similar to their enterprise-grade counterparts, and are currently updated with good community support.

Zenoss is our top pick due primarily to its intuitive and professional-grade admin interface. Also we were able to configure our environment and run reports easily, and when help was needed, we found the user guide to be an excellent resource, a rare find in the open source world.

Nagios is a good choice if a smaller footprint is desired and the infrastructure is limited in number of devices. Although NetXMS has a somewhat cluttered user interface, it boasts a rich toolset that provides a lot of granularity for infrastructure management and gets a plus for attention to mobile. OpenNMS is another powerful net management tool capable of running on most platforms and with the ability to manage a lot of data.

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7 service requests that make IT support folks cry

Every day, in organizations around the globe, the IT team supports requests that range from common usage requirements to the downright bizarre. When you work in IT, you move from one fire, to putting out to the next. But sometimes, those requests and emergencies just make one want to scream. CSO reached out to a few sources for stories about support incidents that made security managers and IT folks cry.

Help desk?
Tech support is there to help. But, as many help desk employees know, sometimes it's not the technology, but the user, who ends up creating the problem! Here are seven stories of how IT stepped in, bit their tongue, and stopped a bad situation from turning much worse.

Bad attachments
Forwarding us spear-phishing emails directly with the malicious document attached - this is what attackers want you to do.

One example: [An] email entitled "CIA Prism Watch List" with the message saying the attached word doc lists all the people who are on it (of course it's blank and rigged with an ms-doc CVE).

Port confusion
A customer was using our application, which, by default, uses three specified TCP ports, 9898, 8080, and 1169.

This customer did not want to use our stock port numbers for security reasons. That is just fine, our product supports using alternate ports for all three. Unfortunately, this customer selected TCP ports 1, 2, and 3.

These ports are "reserved" by the IANA for other uses and this choice was causing network instability in their environment. After more than a year of support calls, the customer changed the ports, but didn’t want to use the stock ports. He asked if he could just put “50” on the beginning of each stock port number, which, of course, is far too long.

Sticky reminders
When passwords written on a sticky note are left right on top of [the user's] monitor, or actually written on the laptop in permanent black marker.

Virtual headache
We, the vendor, instructed the customer to increase the memory allocated to a virtual machine appliance to avoid the issues the customer was seeing. After waiting at least a week, the customer’s virtualization department refused to increase the memory.

"The VM will not have the additional vRam added. This was a deployed appliance -which means that it was packaged originally as the virtual hardware configuration it should have and could ever need. Changing the vRam allocation could / will cause the device to become unstable."

Laptop lending
One of our sales reps went on vacation for two weeks and gave her younger brother her domain credentials to use her laptop in her absence.

How did we find this out? When she returned from vacation and tried to use her laptop, it was then unusable due to malware. We ended up rebuilding the laptop, and giving her one-on-one instruction on company policy and safe computing. In the end she still couldn't understand what she did wrong.

DVD deviation
A customer opened a ticket complaining that his file system rule was getting an "Access Denied" error, which concerned him because the folders being monitored were the same across several servers, and none of the other servers gave that error. I gave him a generic reply about checking ACLs and whatnot, and received the following reply:

"This was due to the fact that my VM machine had a virtual D: drive mapped to a DVD Drive. I have removed from this from the VM and now the baseline runs fine without any errors."

Just think what we would have received if he had a disk in the mapped drive.

Server slip-up
We were deep into a big-data issue with a customer and had spent enormous amounts of time troubleshooting and figuring out how to get the customer what he needed. Moving lots of data into and out of databases is always fun, right?

After days of removing data from a massive database I called to check on how everything was going. During the call the customer gave a sharp outcry and said, "The task stopped…the task stopped!"

We frantically started reverse engineering the problem until he mumbled, "Oh….the database server was rebooted."

Do you have a story to tell?
Tell us what IT support request left you shaking your fist (or banging your head!) by emailing sragan@cxo.com

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Microsoft takes off the gloves with Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 II

Hyper-V V3 resources can be aggregated into clusters, and through the use of new VHDX sharable disk stores, can create islands internally -- or for cloud-hosted purposes, external clouds whose resources should be opaque to other cloud components. We were not able to successfully find constructs to test the opaque nature of what should be isolated clouds, but rudimentary tests seemed to prove isolation. The VHDX format can also be dynamically re-sized as the need arises; we found that the process is fast, although during that period, disk and CPU resources can peak until the modification is over. Heavy CPU/disk-imposed limitations thwart resizing by slowing it.

We also tested Hyper-V and 2012R2 IPAM and Microsoft's SDN successfully under IPv4 (other limitations prevented heavy IPv6 testing). Software defined networks (SDN) cross a turf that is divided in many organizations: virtualization and network management teams. Network management staff have traditionally used IPS, routing, switching and infrastructure controls to balance traffic, hosts, even NOC hardware placement. SDN use means that what were once separate disciplines are now forced to work together to make things work inside the host server's hypervisor, where the demarcation was once where the RJ-45 connector meets the server chassis.

IPAM allowed us to define a base allocation of routeable and/or non-routeable addresses, then allocate them to VMs hosted on Hyper-V hosts or other hosts/VMs/devices on our test network. We could in turn, allocate virtual switches, public private or internal, connected with static/blocked and sticky DHCP. Inter-fabric VM movements still require a bit of homework, we found. Using one IPAM is recommended.

[ALSO: Windows 8.1 cheat sheet]

What we like is that the SDN primitives and IPAM can work well together, with well-implemented planning steps. We could create clouds easily, and keep track of address relationships. A Microsoft representative mused over the spreadsheets that carry IP relationship management information in many organizations, calling it crazy. We would agree, and believe that hypervisor or host-based IPAM is a great idea. If only DNS were mixed in more thoroughly -- and it's not -- we'd be complete converts to the concept. We found it very convenient nonetheless, although errors were more difficult to find when they occurred, such as address pool depletions. Uniting networking and virtualization/host management disciplines isn't going to be easy.
The Bad News

We found head-scratchers and limitations. We found several initial foibles installing the operating system on bare metal to what should be generic hardware. We were able to overcome them, but warn installers that they'll need to consider that Windows 2012 and especially R2 might require updated server BIOS firmware to UEFI-compatible, as happened with our Lenovo ThinkServer and HP DL 380 Gen8 servers. When Windows 2012 R2 can't install (R2 or Hyper-V V3-R2), we received an inarticulate flash of an error message. We actually took a video of it to capture that there was a problem with ACPI -- and not UEFI. The turf between platform providers and OS/hypervisor makers is still real and strong, but Microsoft isn't alone, as we've incurred driver/platform mysticism with VMware and Oracle, too.

We found the Hyper-V role cannot be re-instantiated. This means that no hypervisor on top of a hypervisor. Microsoft claims that there has been no customer demand for this, but it also imposes a limitation. Although running a hypervisor atop a hypervisor seems silly, there are cases where it's useful. One role often cited is in production test labs, and another where Microsoft's SDN is used -- Hyper-V V3 must always be the base layer talking to the metal and silicon of a server, precluding other schemes direct access to the metal and therefore impeding other SDN schemes.

The Azure Pack uses the same Hyper-V infrastructure as Windows Server 2012 R2. Microsoft offers a sample of what other third party providers may offer in the form of services and ready-to-deploy pre-built appliances. We were reminded of what TurnKeyLinux started several years ago, in terms of usable appliances built from Linux substrates. There isn't a huge variety of appliance samples available, but what we tested, worked -- full WordPress websites that were ready for skins and customizations.

A Service Bus, actually message bus, connects components in the clouds serviced by the Azure Pack and Hyper-V. The Service Bus connects Microsoft-specific API sets, after a framework “namespace” is created. Communications can be subscribed and published to the framework and its members in the namespace talk via REST, Advanced Message Queueing Protocol/AMQP, and Windows instrumentation APIs. The Service Bus reminds us of products like Puppet, Chef, and others in the Linux world, communicating in a stack-like framework for rapid deployment and ease of VM and infrastructure fleet management.
Windows 8.1

Where Windows 8.1 is upgraded on Windows 7 or Windows 8 platforms, the upgrade was fast and made no mistakes. Windows XP can be run atop Hyper-V or in a Type 2 hypervisor application, but we didn't test this, as we've retired Windows XP completely and we hope that readers have, too. Like Windows 8.0, 8.1 can use the latest version of Hyper-V V3 as a foundation, so that other OS versions can be used on the same host hardware, with resource limitations to guests or 8.1, SDN, IPAM, and other Hyper-V features.

The Windows 8.1 UI is initially identical to Windows 8.0, but with the addition of a desktop icon that can be touched/chosen to be optionally or subsequently a resident resource more familiar to XP and Windows 7 users. We found it's also possible to boot directly to an Apps screen that allows apps to be easily chosen, although not with the same vendor topical drop-boxes that Win XP and Windows 7 might be used to. If there are many applications, the screen must be scrolled. Windows XP/7 users who have accumulated many dozens of applications might be scrolling frequently as long lists of applications can fill many screens.

We found more UI customization choices, and discovered we could make very busy combinations of Live Tiles. It's possible to insert RSS feeds into tiles where supported, allowing what we feel is an addicting amount of information available within just a handful of tiles, and the appeal of moving tiles combinations on tablets to suit differing use situations. Apps that use “traditional” windows are easier to manage, and users can now move multiple windows adjacent to each other (especially handy on multiple monitors) without having snap behavior crater their placement choices, as occurred in 8.0 and even Windows 7 editions.

Desktop/notebook users have now taken second seat to tablets in this upgrade, and some of the hoped for bridges to Windows 7-ish look-and-feel are missing as we found the 8.1 changes more easily demonstrated on tablets. However, mouse or touch sweeps are more customizable, although consistencies can be imposed in Group Policy. If you're looking for the familiar Start button, you'll still need to garner it from a third party app provider. Microsoft, like Apple and Google, would really prefer that you obtain Start Buttons and other third party applications from Microsoft's online store, which is far more filled with new, familiar, and diverse applications than when Windows 8.0 was released. You can still install from “unauthorized” sources if preferred or forbid that if you're draconian or simply worried about security.

Recent changes to 8.1 in terms of speed weren't dramatic, in our subjective analysis. Windows 8.1 uses Server Message Block V3/SMB3 features when connecting to Windows 2012+ network resources that allow several features, including SMB Encryption, SMB traffic aggregation for speed, and TPC “signing” for ostensibly trustable, ostensibly non-repudiating host and client relationships. We say ostensibly, as we're unsure of a comprehensive methodology to test these, and therefore, have not.
Overall

Microsoft has been very busy. Windows Server 2012 R2, while a strong operating system update, is perhaps more about Hyper-V V3 and Azure Pack, and represents a trend towards platform strengthening on Microsoft's part as platform flexibility starts to replace the operating system as the functional least common denominator for applications infrastructure. Towards these ends, Hyper-V now controls more of the network than the operating system, more of the storage connectivity and options then the operating system, and more of the application availability and administrative control nexus than ever before.

For its part, Windows 8.1 is now the client-side of the experiences rendered by web access, and client/cloud-based services, which become increasingly location-irrelevant where persistent connectivity is available. The Windows 8.1 release comes in fewer forms than Window 8.0, which comes in fewer forms than Windows 7. The shrinking forms betrays that the versions must now be synchronized across a wide variety of platforms, from traditional desktops and notebooks, to tablets, phones, and VDI/Desktop-as-a-Service platforms. More attention to this variety of user device in Windows 8.1 also includes attention paid to criticisms of the seemingly lurching change from former Windows UIs to the tiled interface of Windows 8.

Windows as a client is no longer like the old leaky Windows, but it's approachable in a more familiar way. Whether the 8.1 client changes can re-enamor disaffected users, and roll with new competitive punches, remains to be seen.
How We Tested Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1

For Windows Server 2012 R2, we tested the RTM version downloaded from the MSDN website. We deployed and tested the DataCenter version on both bare metal servers from HP (DL580G5, 16core, iSCSI, Dell (Compellent iSCSI SAN and older Dell servers), and Lenovo (ThinkServer 580 with 16 cores, 32GB) and various hypervisors. Windows 2012 R2 installed basic operations successfully atop VMware vSphere 5.1 and 5.5, Oracle VirtualBox 4.2, aforementioned Hyper-V V3, and Citrix XenServer 6.2, and we found much flexibility and a few servers that needed the aforementioned firmware upgrades for Hyper-V or 2012 R2.

Windows 8.1 was tested on a Microsoft Surface Pro, Lenovo T530 notebooks, and as virtual machines, upgrading from Windows 7 Professional and Windows 8.0 Enterprise versions, as well as fresh installs on UEFI the T530 notebooks hardware.

Testing was performed between the Lab (Gigabit Ethernet switched infrastructure) connected via Xfinity Broadband to our NOC at Expedient/nFrame in Indianapolis (Gigabit Ethernet switched infrastructure with 10GB links on Extreme Switches, connected via a GBE backbone to core routers, Compellent iSCSI SAN, with numerous hosts running VMware, XenServer, BSD, various flavors of Linux, Solaris, in turn connected to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft's Azure Cloud).

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TECH Products of the week

TECH Products of the week 11.04.13
Our roundup of intriguing new products from companies such as Service Mesh and Red Lion

Product name: Pertino AppScape
Key features: first app store for cloud-based network services. The first available app is GeoView, a real-time network-mapping tool. Future apps: network visibility, security, optimization and more. More info.

Product name – Pegasus2
Pricing – The Pegasus2 R4 4-bay costs $1,499 for 2TB HDD; the Pegasus2 R6 6-bay costs $2,299 for 2TB HDD and $2,999 for 3TB HDD; the Pegasus2 R8 8-bay costs $3,599 for 3TB HDD and $4,599 for 4TB HDD.

Key features – first storage solution with Thunderbolt 2 technology, and it provides fast transfer speeds that dramatically accelerate and simplify 4K workflows. More info.

Product name: SCALAR
Key features: a next generation cloud-based platform for organizing and analyzing complex machine data. More info.

Product name: Honey
Pricing: Free for teams of up to 10 users; $59/month for 11 - 25 users; $119/month for 26 - 50 users; $229/month for 51 - 100 users; custom prices for 100+ users.

Key features: admin analytics dashboard that allows execs to track, measure, export employee engagement metrics, plus a feature that allows sharing select information with external clients, stakeholders. More info.

Product name: Agility Platform 9.1
Key features: makes it possible for highly regulated global organizations to increase agility and innovation, control IT costs, and drive vendor contestability using a self-service, on-demand IT service delivery model. More info.

Product name: Revolution R Enterprise 7
Key features: integrating with multiple data management platforms for in-database and in-Hadoop capabilities. More info.

Product name: PTP 650
Key features: Microwave backhaul solution operating in sub-6 GHz frequencies, offering optimal spectral flexibility and throughput (up to 450Mbps). The only radio with a real-time onboard spectrum analyzer – Dynamic Spectrum Optimization. More info.

Product name- FireEye NX 900
Key features - protects remote/branch offices against advanced persistent threats and attacks. It is integrated with FireEye's overall architecture to protect customers from threats across multiple vectors. More info.

Product Name – OpenBTS Development Kit
Key features – Educational and experimental tool – provides ability to deploy small cellular network in minutes. Lowest price cellular development kit available, allows users to test configurations, devices, mobile apps in simulated environment. More info.

Product Name: Zenoss Service Dynamics: Service Impact
Key features: It extends the scalability and performance of ZSD Service Impact to meet the needs of mid to large customers struggling with accelerating business demands and complexity of modern data center. More info.

Product name: ClustrixDB
Key features: A scale-out database for real-time analytics on live operational data that works across multiple clouds. More info.

Product name: CrowdFlower Platform
Pricing: Basic is suitable for individual users and available at no upfront cost with 33% markup on crowdsourced microtasks. Pro is suitable for companies with multiple users at a cost of $2,500 with a 20% markup on crowdsourced microtasks.

Key features: is a crowdsourcing platform designed for large-scale data projects. CrowdFlower lets users crowdsource massive, repetitive jobs to an immense workforce of contributors. More info.

Product name: Triumfant 5.0 Product Suite
Key features: combines Triumfant’s unique, patented malware detection software with new tools that can accurately track malware functionality operating in the volatile memory of the endpoint machine. More info.

Product name: SafeNet ProtectV with Virtual KeySecure on Amazon Web Services
Key features: encrypts EC2 workloads for Amazon Web Services customers and allows them to maintain full ownership of encryption keys, with no need for on-premise hardware. More info.

Product name - WhatsUp Gold 16.2
Key features - New features include integration with wireless network technologies from Meru Networks and Ruckus, Cisco WAP321 wireless access points, and Cisco Nexus data center switches as well as added seed discovery for the IPv6 protocol. More info.

Product name: CylanceV
Key features: is a new cloud and on-premise solution that instantly and mathematically determines what is safe and what is a threat in the broadening “grey list” spectrum of unknown data. More info.

Product name: Intralinks VIA
Key features: improves productivity through greater visibility into and faster access to information. More info.

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The 20 greatest milestones of Android's first five years

The 20 greatest milestones of Android's first five years
Android, this is your life.

Happy birthday, Android! Although you were technically announced six years ago, it wasn’t until October 22, 2008 that you made your debut. Apple tried stealing your thunder this year by hosting an event or something on your special day, so we decided to hold the celebration a day early in order to keep you in the limelight. You’ve had an interesting five years, and it’s only right that we take the time to celebrate one of the most revolutionary things to happen to mobile.

First Android phone released (October 22, 2008)
The T-Mobile G1 (known overseas as the HTC Dream) is the first smartphone to ship with Android. Even though the phone was incredibly clunky, it was pretty well received overall and sold over a million units.

Google announces Cupcake (April 30, 2009)
The first major update to the OS, Android 1.5 Cupcake starts the trend of naming Android updates after desserts and adds support for widgets, video uploads to YouTube, and a virtual on-screen keyboard.

Android Donut unveiled (September 15, 2009)
Android 1.6 Donut rolls out to the small handful of Android phones and brings with it support for more screen resolutions. The update also improves the camera and adds a speech-synthesis engine that lets Android “speak” simple lines of text.

Verizon backs Android (October 26, 2009)
The Motorola Droid is announced for Verizon, making it the first Android phone for the carrier. The phone ships running Android 2.0 Eclair, which includes a better version of Google Maps. Verizon aggressively markets the phone, painting it as the antithesis of Apple’s iPhone.

The Nexus One is released (January 5, 2010)
Google decides to leave the carriers behind by releasing its own unlocked phone. The Nexus One is sold directly from Google with the promise of software updates directly from the search giant, free from any carrier or OEM interference.

Google announces Android Froyo (May 20, 2010)
Android 2.2 Froyo brings Adobe Flash to Android, allowing people to enjoy Flash videos and games on their smartphones.

Android Gingerbread debuts (December 6, 2010)
Android 2.3 Gingerbread adds native support for NFC (near field communications) and a number of other sensors including gyroscopes and barometers. Gingerbread would go on to be the most used mobile operating system in the world.

First real Android tablet announced (February 24, 2011)
The Motorola Xoom becomes the first true Android tablet and is announced alongside Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Honeycomb adds support for multicore processors and replaces the hardware navigation buttons with virtual ones.

Malware in the Android Market (March 1, 2011)
The Google Play Store (known then as the Android Market) suffers from a serious bout of malware. Google ends up pulling more than 50 infected apps, and people start to seriously question how secure Android really is.

Google shows off Ice Cream Sandwich (October 19, 2011)
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich gives the operating system a major makeover, bringing many elements from Honeycomb to smartphones. This version of the OS includes a number of new features including Android Beam, panoramic photos, and the ability to unlock your phone using your face.

Phablets become a thing (late October 2011)
Samsung introduces the Galaxy Note, sparking a trend of smartphones with bigger screens. The phone is panned in the United States but becomes a huge success overseas, outselling many regular-size phones. Copy editors everywhere cringe as people invent a new word for this not-quite-a-phone-but-not-quite-a tablet device.

Amazon makes its own Android tablet (November 15, 2011)
Amazon enters the Android tablet race with its Kindle Fire. The Fire runs a customized version of Android but has access only to Amazon’s heavily moderated app store. The tablet’s low price makes it a huge hit with consumers and the most popular Android tablet of the day.

Google announces the Nexus 7 and Nexus Q (June 27-29, 2012)
At the 2012 Google I/O, the company takes the wraps off a number of products including the budget-friendly Nexus 7 and totally bizarre Nexus Q. The Q unfortunately (fortunately?) never sees the light of day, but the Nexus 7 becomes an instant hit and sells out almost immediately online.

Oh, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (June 27-29, 2012)
What’s a Google product launch without a new version of Android? Android 4.1 Jelly Bean adds the ever helpful Google Now and helps to unify Android tablets and phones. The update also gives the OS a much needed speed boost thanks to the improvements in “Project Butter.”

500 million Androids activated (September 11, 2012)
Android is the most popular operating system in the world, with 1.5 million new devices activated daily.

Nexus 10 and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean announced (November 13, 2012)
Despite its event being canceled by a hurricane, Google goes ahead with announcing Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and the Nexus 10. This new version of Jelly Bean adds Photo Spheres and the ability to have multiple user accounts on tablets. The Nexus 10 marks the first 10-inch Nexus tablet and boasts an eye-meltingly high-resolution display.

Andy Rubin leaves Android (March 13, 2013)
The head of Android leaves the project to work on other things at Google. Sundar Pichai is put in charge of the department, tasked with running both the Android and Chrome teams

New Nexus 7 and new version of Jelly Bean revealed (July 24, 2013)
A slimmer, faster version of the Nexus 7 is launched running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. The update includes support for OpenGL 3.0 and Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy.

Hugo Barra leaves Google (August 28, 2013)
In a move surrounded by scandal and mystery, the vice president of Android, Hugo Barra, leaves Google for Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi. Barra was the face of Android and was the one who stood on stage introducing the Nexus 7.

1 billion Android devices activated total (September 3, 2013)
Android continues to grow and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. It’s still the most popular mobile operating system in the world and is starting to make its way into other devices like laptops, TVs, and watches.

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Crowd-backed EFF files to kill off ‘podcast patent’

Public donates $76,000 to take on patent troll

Having amassed a war chest of $76,000 in public donations and identified crucial "prior art," the Electronic Frontier Foundation yesterday filed a formal challenge aimed at killing a patent being wielded by Personal Audio LLC against podcasters such as "The Adam Carolla Show" and "How Stuff Works."

The appeal to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office marks EFF's first legal action since announcing a crowdsourcing effort called "Help Save Podcasting" back in May.

From an EFF press release:

"As we show in our petition, Personal Audio is not the true inventor of this technology and should not be demanding a payout from today's podcasters," EFF Staff Attorney Daniel Nazer said. "If you look into the history of podcasting, you won't see anything about Personal Audio."

Today's petition shows that Personal Audio did not invent anything new, and, in fact, other people were podcasting years before Personal Audio first applied for a patent. In preparation for this filing, EFF solicited help from the public to find prior art, or earlier examples of podcasting. In the petition, EFF cites three examples: Internet Pioneer Carl Malamud's "Geek of the Week" online radio show and online broadcasts by CNN and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

So how does Personal Audio defend its patent and enforcement efforts? Podcaster Ira Glass, host of This American Life, and Zoe Chace of NPR interviewed the company's principals, Jim Logan and Richard Baker, in May, and Logan said: "We didn't use these words back then, but buried within that patent description were ideas such as playlists and podcasting. ... I put my dollars and time and energy on the line. I took the risk."

Here's that interview:

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IT shops share OpenFlow, SDN best practices

Start small, go slow and reap the benefits, users say

NEW YORK -- Two users are putting OpenFlow and software-defined networks through their paces in projects of varied urgency.

Marist College is very bullish on OpenFlow as a way to interconnect data centers over optical fiber. The company is using OpenFlow controllers from NEC and IBM, and optical transport gear from ADVA.

Bloomberg, the business and financial market trading and media enterprise, is a bit more conservative in its implementation. The company is employing OpenFlow for monitoring and tapping, and network virtualization overlays for simplifying and scaling its data center fabric.

Both users spoke at the recent Interop conference and exhibition in New York.

Marist began researching OpenFlow and SDNs two or three years ago for monitoring servers, manipulating flows and moving VMs.

“How far can we take OpenFlow, and what can it do?” said Rob Cannistra, a computer science and IT professor at Marist. “We were a skeptic at first and now a true believer.”

Marist worked with the Floodlight open source OpenFlow controller but found that it needed a GUI. So the college created a GUI for Floodlight to add, delete and modify flows. It also developed a QoS module for the controller to prioritize flows.

The school also used the open source Ganglia tool for monitoring servers. Ganglia helps the school determine how to manipulate flows to move VMs when server resources require or accommodate it.

With these tools, Marist created a host-aware networking module within its data centers, Cannistra said. But the school now wanted to scale this host awareness among data centers, not just within.

Two weeks ago, Marist proved that it could use OpenFlow to spin up and tear down a wavelength between data centers to migrate VM workloads among them. The school tied sites together with optical connections through Internet2. It spun up connections to three different data centers using OpenFlow and SDNs.

The OpenFlow network was turned up in parallel with Marist’s traditional network, Cannistra said. A building or two was brought onto the OpenFlow network and then both networks were interconnected slowly and prudently.

“We have some individual data centers that are on the OpenFlow network, and we’re seeing how it scales,” Cannistra said. “We’re taking a very slow approach to it.”

Marist is still working with OpenFlow 1.0 code, working its way up to 1.3.

OpenFlow is the backbone of a purpose built network for traffic monitoring and tapping of financial application development at Bloomberg. The company didn’t want to clog up its production network with MAC learning conversations, says Truman Boyes, Bloomberg network architect for Research & Development.

Bloomberg is also looking at how an SDN overlay scales for onboarding and off boarding inter-cloud users. But the company is taking a very gradual, deliberate approach with its implementations.

“Most technologies work in small scale,” Boyes said. “Significant results with low impact is the place to start.

“But SDNs are absolutely consumable. You need to take an investment so you can get on that wagon and learn with everyone else. It’s like MPLS 10 years ago.”

Marist’s Cannistra agrees.

“Take baby steps,” he said. “Look at a use case you’re having difficulty attaining with a traditional network.”

“SDN is when protocols don’t cut it,” Boyes adds.

Unlike Marist, which is allied with IBM, NEC and ADVA, Bloomberg is investing in “the little guys,” Boyes said.

“It’s something new, you both have skin in the game and you can affect the road map,” he said. “Control your own destiny. We take on more risk in trying to roll it ourselves. You have to leverage as much code as possible from the community.”

For those embarking on SDNs, Cannistra recommends picking a controller first of all. Marist started with the open source Floodlight code but then switched to NEC for production use.

“In production, you’re going to have to use some proprietary features,” he said. “Floodlight…was not production ready. Spin it up, get some production traffic on that and then have a path to open standards.”

He said he is looking forward to the OpenDaylight open source controller being built by several vendors and other community members, including partner IBM.

“I have high hopes for OpenDaylight, I’m one of the optimists for it,” Cannistra said. “It’s standards we can all build on going forward.”

The fact that open source SDN code doesn’t have a support infrastructure around it doesn’t scare Cannistra away either.

“Companies built support models around Linux,” he said. “Why couldn’t they do the same with Floodlight or OpenDaylight?”

One of the SDN wrinkles still to be worked out is how it will affect the organizational structure of IT – the siloed server, storage, networking and application departments, the speakers said. Bloomberg and Marist are tackling it their own ways.

“There’s a lot that has to happen,” Cannistra said. “We’re still going to have niche guys but also people with a large-scale view. Those are going to be your powerhouse guys and girls in the enterprise.”

It will be disruptive within Bloomberg, Boyes acknowledges.

“We’re trying to address it at an organizational level by rocking the boat,” he said. “We’re just going to have to figure it out. We’ve put together a cloud team to straddle both worlds, jump start the rest of the organization. That will help us with time to market.”

Despite the uncertainty organizationally, Marist, for one, is all in.

“This is game changing,” Cannistra said. “We need to go full steam ahead.”

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Why 15% of Americans still aren't using the Internet

Most Americans who don't use the Internet are 'just not interested,' a new report has found.

A new Pew report sheds light on the still-significant population of American adults – 15%, in fact – who don't use the Internet.

Among those who remain offline, the most common reason given is that they’re “just not interested,” as cited by 21%. The next most common reason, cited by 13%, is a pretty good one – “I don’t have a computer.”

Pew says the main reason Americans don’t use the Internet is “relevance,” which the research firm defined as the sentiment behind those who are disinterested, think it’s a waste of time, are too busy or just don’t need or want to use the Internet. This accounted for 34% of the survey’s respondents.

A close second, however, was “usability,” which included those who cited difficulty learning the Internet for a variety of reasons and those who were worried about virus, spam and hackers. At 32% of the respondents, Pew says “this figure is considerably higher than in earlier surveys.”

RELATED: UN report highlights massive Internet gender gap

Price was the third-most cited reason. At 19%, it marked a drop from the 21% who claimed price kept them offline when the survey was conducted in 2010. However, just 11% cited price in 2007, as did 16% in 2009, suggesting that cost has become a more significant barrier to Internet adoption in the past four years.

Availability and access to the Internet was an obstacle for 7% of respondents, up slightly from 6% in 2010, but down substantially from the 18% who lacked access in 2009.

As usual, Pew provided demographics for its survey respondents, and they followed a trend that was made clear in earlier editions – older Americans, those with low income and/or poor education levels make up most of the offline population. Forty-four percent of respondents were 65 and older, and another 17% were aged 50 to 64. A combined 10% were aged 18 to 49, according to the report.

In terms of education, 41% had no high school diploma, compared to 22% of offline Americans who had just a high school diploma. Another 8% remained offline despite having completed “some college,” and 4% of respondents had earned at least one college degree.

The respondents largely belonged to lower-income levels, with 24% earning less than $30,000 per year and another 12% between $30,000 and $49,999. Just 4% of respondents earned more than $75,000 per year.

While 63% of respondents say they would need someone to help them if they wanted to go online, another 17% claim to know enough to use the Internet. Indeed, when Pew asked respondents if they would need assistance going online, 13% said they would not want to.
Another 55% of respondents backed up this claim, telling Pew that they have never asked a family member or friend to complete an online task or look something up on the Internet for them, although 44% said they have.

While the total number of American adults on the Internet is up from 78% as of Pew’s report in August 2011, the trends don’t appear to have changed for those in the demographics that have made up the offline population since Pew first began keeping track.

“Those who do not use the Internet often do not feel any need to try it, some are wary of the technology, and others are unhappy about what they hear about the online world,” a Pew report published in September 2000 concluded.

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Microsoft brings longer battery life, faster processors to Surface

Microsoft aims at corporate crowd with Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 overhaul

Microsoft today unveiled Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, the first major overhaul of its tablet/laptop lineup that now feature longer battery life and faster performance, both attractions for corporate customers.

The battery life of Surface Pro 2 has been boosted “so it lasts nearly a full workday” says Panos Panay, Microsoft vice president of Surface in the Surface blog. This is by virtue of a newer generation Intel Core i5 processor that improves battery life by 60%.

Augmented by Power Cover ($199.99) cordless use “lasts more than 10 hours,” he says. Power Cover is an accessory cover/keyboard that contains an extended battery that charges while the device is working or when it’s connected and the computer is turned off.
Microsoft Surface

A second accessory makes the device suitable for business deployment within a corporate site. Docking Station ($199.99) for Surface Pro includes Mini DisplayPort video output so the docked Surface Pro can use an external monitor. It also has an Ethernet port so it can connect to a wired LAN, as well as three USB 2.0 ports and one USB 3.0 port and 3.5mm audio in and out ports.

Surface Pro 2 runs the full version of Windows 8.1 that can handle both traditional Windows business apps and so-called Modern apps customized for touch and enabled by the Windows Runtime API surface.

The Surface Pro 2 has a two-position kickstand, making the angle at which it supports the screen more suitable for using it as a laptop on an actual lap. The original Surface Pro kickstand propped up the device at just one position that wasn’t better adjusted sitting on a desk.

Surface 2 is the upgraded version of Surface RT, the tablet based on an ARM processor and tricked out with its own, abbreviated version of Office. The most significant upgrade for businesses is the addition of Outlook RT, a version of the email, calendar and personal information manager application that comes with the full Office suite.

He claims Surface 2 is much faster than Surface RT and includes 72 graphics cores, a USB 3.0 port (up from USB 2) and double the Internet speed. The processor has been upgraded from an NVIDIA Tegra 3 to a Tegra 4, which boosts speed and prolongs battery life, Microsoft says.

It comes in a color other than black – a metallic hue that is the natural color of the magnesium it is made of.
surface

The device is also “slightly thinner and lighter”, though the blog doesn’t quantify that. It has a 3.5 megapixel front-facing camera, up from 1 megapixel in the Surface RT, and a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, up from 1 megapixel. They’ve been tuned for low-light environments to improve the quality of video calling.

Both devices come with free Skype calling to landlines in 60 countries for one year and free Skype Wi-Fi services for one year at 2 million hotspots. They come with 200GB of free storage in SkyDrive for two years.

Both devices come with their respective upgraded versions Windows 8 – Windows RT 8.1 and Windows Pro 8.1.

The blog says the Touch keyboard/cover ($119.99) is more responsive and more rigid than the original. Touch is a flat, fuzzy device with a keyboard embossed on it that responds to finger tapping but the key areas don’t actually move. It’s been upgraded with backlit keys. It’s 2.75 mm thick, down from 3.25 mm.

Type Cover ($129.99) – which is a thin traditional keyboard in which each key depresses and clicks when tapped –has been modified to click more quietly and is more rigid than the original. The keys are backlit and has proximity sensors so the lights turn on as fingers approach the keyboard. Formerly it came only in black, but now it comes in three other colors, cyan, magenta and purple.

Other accessories include a car charger ($49.99), a Bluetooth mouse (69.99) and a wireless adapter ($59.99) for the Typing Covers so they don’t have to be attached to the tablets themselves.

Surface 2 comes in 32GB and 64GB models, and pricing starts at $449.

Surface Pro 2 comes in 64GB and 128GB models with 4GB of RAM and in a 256GB model with 8G of RAM. Pricing starts at $899.

Both Surface devices will be available for pre-order Sept. 24 online, Microsoft Stores and Best Buy. They can be bought Oct. 22, in Microsoft Stores, and select retail stores in 22 markets Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States on Oct. 22 and China (early November).

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Microsoft working out kinks in Outlook.com's IMAP implementation

The company rolled out IMAP support for the webmail service on Thursday

Getting Outlook.com to work with email client applications via IMAP is proving to be a challenge for some users of the Microsoft webmail service.

A variety of problems have been reported through comments in the blog post Microsoft published Thursday announcing the new IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) support in Outlook.com.

To their credit, Microsoft officials are clearly monitoring the feedback very closely, as evidenced by their frequent replies to the comments being posted.

"We've seen a handful of reports of users running into the error 9 so we're looking into this with high priority," wrote Ben Poon, an Outlook.com program manager with Microsoft, referring to a server timeout error some users are experiencing.

Another common complaint is that messages deleted using IMAP-compliant client applications remain on the Outlook.com Web interface.

The thread of comments, which is now nearing 80, also goes into questions and recommendations about specific configurations under certain scenarios and for particular OSes and email applications.

Matthew Cain, a Gartner analyst, said that scaling up IMAP support, particularly given the various ways IMAP can be interpreted by developers, can be difficult.

"Thorough testing at scale, and testing of all major permutations, is a requirement before any go-live action," Cain said via email.

Microsoft declined to comment on the issues.

In its announcement Thursday, the company said that support for the IMAP email retrieval technology would expand the scope of client software and devices that can interact with Outlook.com.

"With today's announcement, we now have a richer email experience across devices and apps, including those not using EAS (Exchange ActiveSync), such as Mac Mail and Thunderbird on a Mac," wrote Microsoft official Steve Kafka in the blog post.

Outlook.com already worked with EAS, which allows it to be used with devices running the Windows Phone, iOS and Android mobile operating systems, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft was prompted to add IMAP support based on feedback from Outlook.com users who let the company know "loud and clear that this was important," Kafka wrote.

The addition of IMAP also opens the door for third-party developers to create applications for Outlook.com or integrate existing applications with it.

Microsoft detailed in its blog post how several developers have already linked their applications and Web services with Outlook.com using IMAP.

One of them is TripIt, which can now detect emails with travel confirmations in Outlook.com inboxes and import them into a TripIt itinerary.

Outlook.com, first unveiled in mid-2012, has replaced Hotmail as the company's webmail service. Microsoft describes Outlook.com as a total reinvention of webmail, from the user interface to the back-end platform. With Outlook.com, Microsoft expects to have a stronger competitor to Gmail and Yahoo Mail.

However, Outlook.com has been hampered by occasional technical problems, including an incident last month in which the product malfunctioned in various ways for several days, as well as a prolonged outage in March.

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How Microsoft can fix the Surface tablet the second time around

Microsoft insists on selling us its Surface laptop/tablet hybrid, but it needs to take user preference into account.

With the announcement of the second version of Microsoft’s Surface tablet coming up later this month in New York City, this might be a good time to ask a pertinent question: What’s really important in a hybrid tablet?

Hybrid devices like the Surface and Surface Pro, the HP Split 13 x2, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11s, along with many others, fall somewhere between a classic iPad-style tablet and an Ultrabook-style laptop like the Macbook Air or Sony Vaio T Series. They are designed to work as both standalone tablets and keyboard-equipped laptops. The idea is that one device can take the place of both, saving money and the hassle of carrying and switching between multiple devices.

The Problem With Hybrids
It’s a nice theory, but the devices haven’t really caught on yet, and I’m pretty sure I know why.

The problem, as I see it, is that most of these hybrid devices are trying to too hard to do it all, and that’s pretty hard to pull off. Hybrid makers would do better to concentrate on one aspect of the device, and then make the other capability a nice add-on for extra functionality.

But here’s the kicker: The laptop, not the tablet, needs to be the core of this combo.

I’ve used many of these devices, including the Surface and Surface Pro and the HP Envy x2, as well as touchscreen "laptops" like Google's Pixel Chromebook. They’re all interesting devices, but none of them is perfect. Working through each one’s compromises, though, made it abundantly clear that for the device to have a chance of replacing a separate laptop and tablet, it had to ace the laptop portion of the test.

A hybrid with a strong laptop function that also works as a mediocre tablet could still find a home in many business users’ kits. After all, having a second-rate tablet at hand is often better than not having a tablet at all.

But if the device can’t cut it as a laptop, all bets are off. What good is a hybrid laptop/tablet if you still have to lug along your laptop to do your real work?

A Tale of Two Surfaces
The differences between the two existing Surface models make the point obvious. The Surface is lighter and enjoys longer battery life than the Surface Pro, but its Quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 chip is underpowered for a laptop. Worse, relying on Windows RT means it may not run all the Windows programs a laptop would. It simply won’t replace a laptop for anyone who really needs one.

The Surface Pro, while bigger, heavier, more power-hungry and much more expensive, sports an Intel Core i5 chip like those in many traditional laptops. If you can live with its relatively small screen and those snap-on keyboards (I could), then it might actually be able to replace a standard laptop for you. And it’s still usable as tablet. Sort of, anyway.

And that’s what these hybrids are all about: Replacing what you absolutely need to have, and doing a good-enough job at the add-ons that would be nice to have. Or, that’s at least what they should be doing. Let’s hope the upcoming Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro do a decent job.

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Best tools for protecting passwords

Passwords are a security weak link, but these products help shield passwords from attackers

For enterprises trying to get a handle on password management, the good news is that there are products that can help implement stronger password policies for end users logging into corporate and personal Web-based services, as well as for employees who share a local server login.

The goal here is to make the password process more secure, and also to let users login to particular resources without having to remember all of their individual passwords.

We looked at six products, ranging from consumer-oriented to enterprise-only. They are: Kaspersky Pure, LastPass Enterprise, Lieberman Enterprise Random Password Manager, 1Password, RoboForm Enterprise, and TrendMicro DirectPass. (Watch the slideshow comparing the products.)

All of these products use a master password vault to store all their information in encrypted form. And all but TrendMicro have a way to generate a complex password and insert it into the login process so users don't have to try to come up with something on their own. This makes life easier for end users and also eliminates the security problems associated with users picking one password for all their logins.

To be included in this review, each product had to have the ability to synchronize passwords across a different collection of clients and servers. For Lieberman, this means synchronizing the logins to internal servers across multiple users who want to share the same password. For the other products, it means having the same user with multiple devices keep track of passwords for Web services.

Because we included such a variety of tools, we can't directly compare the products and didn't score the software programs or declare an overall winner. But here are the highlights:
Click to see: Pricing chart

 LastPass Enterprise offers excellent price/performance and boasts strong management features. LastPass also has the widest desktop and mobile platform support of any of the products we tested.

 Lieberman has the best features for local server password management, and the Lieberman tool was the only one in our tests that worked flawlessly.

 Kaspersky’s Pure offers a basic password manager as part of a larger suite that includes other security tools. The downside is that it is Windows only, which means you can’t sync your vault with non-Windows devices.

 1Password is a consumer-focused product that allows you to store more than just passwords in your vault.

 RoboForm has a nice balance of enterprise features and strong bulk password management, but we had some support issues.

 TrendMicro's software is the least developed, although the next version is expected to fix many deficiencies.

Here are the individual reviews:

Kaspersky Pure

Like other traditional anti-virus vendors, Kaspersky is getting into the password management game. Kaspersky has two products for password management. One is its Password Manager stand-alone software that sells for $25. This doesn't include the ability to synchronize your password vault (although the vendor promises to include it later this fall).

We decided to review Pure, which is Kaspersky's security suite. Pure includes a variety of tools, including anti-spam, backup, parental controls, data encryption, advanced browser protection and password manager. This latter module does synchronize passwords using the cloud-based accounts maintained on Kaspersky's website.

The Pure password manager covers the basics well, with a complex password generator and options to close the vault automatically after the PC has been idle. You can also store text notes and contact information in the vault.

Pure also has modules that improve browser security, and this is probably more of a reason to purchase it than just for password protection and management. For example, the SafeMoney module sets up protected browser sessions for online banking and ecommerce sites, and another module can securely erase your browser history or analyze your Internet Explorer settings.

Pure will run on Windows 8 in addition to earlier versions back to Vista. The password manager module is only for 32-bit PCs, however. On the other hand, there is a long list of supported browsers, some of which we have never even heard of. Given its Windows-focus, this means that the synchronization feature is of limited value since you can't transport your vault to your smartphone or move between Macs and Windows PCs. Pure is priced at $65 for licensing on up to three PCs.

LastPass Enterprise

LastPass is an enterprise-grade product that comes with a separate management console. This software is Web-based, which is also a nice touch. It comes with the widest collection of clients supported, ranging from Windows (including both 32-bit and 64-bit and from XP to Windows 8) to various smartphones. There is also a Web client where you can view your password vault contents. It also combines the best features of a consumer product with a solid enterprise flavor.

The best enterprise security products have flexible policy creation and administration tools, and this is the case here. For example, you can set up a policy to override the default auto logoff protections for PC shutdown, or when in screensaver mode, or when idle, or when the computer is locked. There are dozens more policies to choose from, including support for multifactor tokens such as Yubikey, its own "Sesame" tool, and Google Authentication one-time passwords. You can also strengthen your online access to your vault by restricting access to specific countries, and excluding any access from anyone using the Tor file-sharing network.

You can also federate your LastPass logins across other cloud services such as Wordpress, Salesforce.com, Box and others using SAML. There is a long list of potential notifications that can be setup, including users who have a certain number of duplicate or blank passwords. These come with pre-written warning messages that can be easily customized for your circumstances. The tool also has a few simple reports available from the admin console. There is API access to its reporting engine, which is a nice touch.

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Identifying performance bottlenecks on a .NET windows app. Part II Using Native Images with CAB, reviewing Fusion Logs

We left off on the previous post with a newer version of NHibernate and a different mapping that avoided the byte per byte comparison of our byte arrays, however our application start up was slower, about 20 seconds and showing some screens for the first time was taking 10 seconds, not acceptable.

The performance decrease was gone but the start up was not good enough.

We got our hands on ANTS profiler again to see what was going on whenever we invoked a screen for the first time:

CPU usage:



Jitted Bytes per second:



and IO Bytes Read:




From these images we deducted there was quiet some Just-In-Time compilation going on when the screen was loaded. How to solve that? Using Native Images for our assemblies in order to avoid JIT compilation, see this MSDN article for this.

All in all that was quite easy to narrow down, we used NGen, installed the native images and voila!, let’s profile again…

I wish it were that quick, we kept seeing JIT peaks :-O

Alright, let’s use some heavier artillery and see why it’s still JITting.

This is where we got our hands on Fusion logs. Fusion is the engine (DLL) in charge of loading and binding assemblies. The Fusion Log Viewer is the tool to see the logs for this DLL and troubleshoot loading problems. This tool is part of the SDK and can be downloaded from here. We aware that it’s a heavy download. In order to use this tool once the SDK is installed:

1. Open in Fuslogvw.exe in folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\Bin
2. If it shows up any entry click on the list box click on Delete All.
3. Click on Settings and choose Log all binds to disk and check Enable custom log path
4. And in the Custom log path edit box type C:\FusionLog
5. In C: drive create a new folder and name it FusionLog
6. Now run the application and execute scenarios where we are seeing JIT-ing
7. Now when you browse to C:\FusionLog you would see couple of folders.

We were unable to install the SDK in our production clients, so we ended up doing a registry edit in order to collect the logs. If you don’t want to install the SDK, do the following:
1) Go to regedit
2) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Fusion
3) Click on the right pane and new -> string value
4) Name it LogPath,click it in the value write C:\MyLog
5) Again right click the right pane
6) go for new DWord value,name it ForceLog
7) click it and give Value “1″
8) Then create a folder in C drive with the name MyLogs
9) Run the app and logs will be created

The logs are created as HTM files in the folder you decide. reviewing our logs we found out one of our main modules wasn’t loading from its native image although the native image was on the native image cache. Why?

Let’s give some more background information, we use CAB.

The Composite UI Block from Patterns and Practices had a main release on December 2005, there’s been other releases for WPF and the most recent Prism project, but apart from the Smart Client Factory addition, the CAB framework has stayed pretty much the same for Windows Forms.

CAB is known for its Module Loader Service and was highly welcomed by windows developers as a framework that allows loose coupling with it’s Event Publishing/Subscription mechanism, it’s Services module and its MVP implementation.

All that is very good for the developer and for maintainability but the performance is not the greatest if you have quite a few publications and subscriptions going on and if you have a few modules loaded at start up. There are quite a few posts regarding this on CodePlex’s CAB forum.

I could go on and on about the beauty of CAB and despite its performance issues, I do believe it offers more advantages than disadvantages to the windows developer. IMHO, being able to give modules to develop to different teams and being able to plug them into the application without any major compilations, only a configuration change is a big big plus, see these posts on CAB Module Loader Service (CAB Modules on Demand) and Dynamically Loading Modules in CAB)

The main reason for this module not loading from its native image is due to the Reflection mechanism currently used in CAB’s Module Loader Service:
(namespace Microsoft.Practices.CompositeUI.Services)
assembly = Assembly.LoadFrom(file.FullName);

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iPhone 6 rumor rollup for the week ending August 23

Putting price(s) on the cheap Apple iPhone, the Golden Age dawns

With the Next iPhone(s) announcement barely three weeks away, the iOSphere hungered and thirsted for data, for facts, for truth about iPhone 6, iPhone 5C, and iPhone 5S.

Instead, it got five different definitions of what “cheap” means for the expected plastic iPhone 5C.

And it got gold.

You read it here second.

__________

“Personally, I don’t give a hoot about a gold iPhone. Mashable will continue to report on gold iPhone rumors, since our readers seem to care. I will not be making a big deal of it otherwise. Except for writing this post. Which is really about how I don’t care about the gold iPhone. Is that clear?”
Lance Ulanoff, editor in chief, Mashable.com, on why he, and we, don’t need no stinkin’ colors, even though his dumb readers seem to believe otherwise.

__________

iPhone 5C will be priced at, uh, less than the not-5C

If you’re already convinced that Apple is launching a cheap or low cost or less expensive iPhone, usually now called iPhone 5C, then the only question left, really, is: what price Apple will slap on it?

[IPHONEYS: The iPhone 6 & iPhone 5 edition]

This week the iOSphere was rife with answers. And when you add them all up, the answer is…that no one knows. Check our own coverage: Pricing a low-cost iPhone: How 'cheap' is cheap?

At KnowYourMobile, Clare Hopping assured readers that iPhone 5C will be priced at full retail between $400 and $500, based on speculation by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Currently, the prices for iPhone 5 at Apple.com for an unlocked iPhone 5 are $649 for 16GB, $749 for 32GB, and $849 for 64GB. Typically, with a new iPhone, Currently, the unlocked iPhone 4S, in keeping with Apple’s practice, sells for $549.

Kuo also puts forward the novel theory that the plastic-bodied iPhone 5C will replace the aluminum bodied iPhone 5, which will no longer be sold. “We’ve learned that the iPhone 5 line will be terminated from 4Q13, while the iPhone 4S line will carry on,” Kuo says, according to KnowYourMobile. “From this, we infer that iPhone 5C is launched to replace iPhone 5.”

Meaning “the 5C model will be positioned as midrange,” according to Kuo. His breakdown of pricing: iPhone 5S, $600 to $700; iPhone 5C, $400 to $500; iPhone 4S, $300 to $400.

Another pricing option, suggested by John Gruber at his DaringFireball blog last week, is a lower-cost iPhone that essentially is based on adding a cellular radio to the iPod touch. The touch starts at $229 for the 16GB model, which has only a low-end video camera; and $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB, both of which have a 5 megapixel main camera. The cellular radio would add something to those prices, but Apple might be able to offer a plastic-bodied phone starting under or just over $300.

Another analyst, Citi Research’s Glen Yeung, offered his own pricing speculation, according to Brooke Crother’s CNET post summarizing Yeung’s conclusions. “Based on this assumption [that the iPhone 5C costs about $50 less to build], we estimate that the wholesale selling price of iPhone 5C will be $390 and the retail selling price will be $450.”

So there you have it. The iPhone 5C will be $300, $360, $400, $450, or $500. Somewhere in there for sure.

In a post at TechPinions, Ben Bajarin argues that an “entry level iPhone,” is or ought to be a “strategic move to acquire customers who seek value but not at premium price points and [to] get them into Apple’s ecosystem.”

In other words, Apple wants to attract those customers who are willing to spend money on apps, music, and other services that it offers to iOS users. The “key point for Apple and an entry-level priced iPhone is how low does it need to be to still acquire a customer who will spend money and add value to the ecosystem,” Bajarin says.

Evidence for Bajarin’s argument comes from an assessment by Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty, as reported by Apple 2.0 blogger Philip Elmer-DeWitt, at Fortune.

In a note to investors, Huberty outlined the results of proprietary survey of 2,000 Chinese mobile phone owners. Perhaps the most intriguing result is this: “Chinese consumers consider US$486 to be an acceptable price range for the lower-priced iPhone”; that’s 22% higher than Huberty’s own estimate of Apple’s final price for the 5C. And needless to say far higher than what most advocates of a “cheap” iPhone had in mind. By comparison, “the acceptable [to these buyers] price ranges for Samsung [Galaxy] S4 Mini and HTC One Mini were lower than the expected price.”

Those results seem to suggest that a significant number of potential Chinese buyers are willing to pay significantly more for a lower-end iPhone than for comparable Android phones, because of the iPhone’s higher perceived value.

iPhone 5S will be available in a “gold” color

There will be gold.

Of course it’s not actually gold, as in the 24-carat kind. It’s a gold color. Or goldish, anyway. There is some confusion on that score. Would Apple really create a gleaming yellow slab that looks like something worn on “Real Housewives of Orange County?”

The Consensus iOSphere Hivemind currently is that “champagne” gold is much more…Appleish.

“Yes, there will be a gold iPhone,” announced MG Siegler at TechCrunch.

“At first, I couldn’t believe Apple would break from the tradition of offering the simple choice: black and white (or “slate” and “silver” if you prefer for the iPhone 5) for their flagship device,” he confides. “Gold simply seemed too gaudy, perhaps even tacky. But a few compelling arguments countered my disbelief. And now, upon checking, sure enough, there will be gold.”

There will be gold.

IMore’s Rene Ritchie also backed away from gaudiness, swapping a gaudy mockup for the much more restrained champagne version.

“According to our own Ally Kazmucha, who's no stranger to the process, gold is among the easiest colors to anodize onto an iPhone,” Ritchie said. “It involves simple chemical reaction, with the possible addition of dye depending on the exact color they want to produce. (True black, conversely, is the hardest, and takes the most time, which is likely why we currently have "slate" instead.)”

But what’s the motivation, Ritchie wonders?

“Given how popular gold is as an aftermarket option for color-treatments, and how many gold cases there are - including but certainly not limited to the Asian markets - it could simply be the decision to offer supply where there's demand,” he concludes.

Or Apple could be pandering to another audience entirely. “Given the ignorant boring comments Apple had to endure after introducing the completely re-built iPhone 5 last year, gold would give the market the superficial appearance of change they seem to crave,” Ritchie said.

Later in the week, TheVerge, among others, posted “leaked” photos of The Gold iPhone, pulled from their original posting at a Japanese-language website.

“Photos purporting to show the phone have trickled out online, though the images published today on Japan's ASCII website look far more convincing than earlier leaks,” explained TheVerge’s Amar Toor, oblivious to the fact that we live in the Adobe Photoshop Age, or to online workshops on “How to Draw a Photorealistic iPhone 4 in Photoshop,” which have far more convincing results.

And still more photos, a veritable tsunami of images, appeared on the eponymous website, SonnyDickson.com, named for a Melbourne, Australian who is trying to make a business of posting photos of Apple prototypes. His latest batch shows rear housings, screens and various unnamed parts of both The Gold iPhone 5S side by side with a robin’s-egg-blue plastic iPhone 5C.

Perhaps predictably, the blizzard of posts and pictures sparked a reaction. Mashable’s editor-in-chief, Lance Ulanoff, let it be known that “This fascination with iPhone colors confounds me.”

It’s “irrational,” he says. “[I]t’s only a stinkin’ color.”

And we don’t need no stinkin’ colors.

“It’s a fashion statement….If that’s the case, what does a gold iPhone 5S say about you? That’s you’re classy? Fun? Rich? Perhaps it’ll also say 'you’re lucky,' since the gold iPhone 5S will probably be murder to get ahold of for its first few months.”

“Call me old school, but I like to think about what’s inside the phone,” Ulanoff says. Judge a smartphone not by its outward appearance, or at least by its stinkin’ color.

“Personally, I don’t give a hoot about a gold iPhone,” Ulanoff hoots. “Mashable will continue to report on gold iPhone rumors, since our readers seem to care.” The bane of online editors-in-chief everywhere: being forced to cover those things that irrational, color-crazed, fashion-obsessed, superficial, fickle, and let’s face it stupid readers demand to know about.

“I will not be making a big deal of it otherwise,” he vows. “Except for writing this post. Which is really about how I don’t care about the gold iPhone. Is that clear?”

[Ulanoff simply doesn’t appreciate the mystical hold of color. As is clear in the 2010 satire, “iMoby: the hunt for the great white iPhone,” by Herman Cox.]

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Microsoft Sued Over 'Misleading' Surface RT Statements

Microsoft has been hit with a class-action suit that accuses Redmond of hiding poor Surface RT sales, which resulted in huge losses for company shareholders.

Microsoft issued "materially false and misleading financial statements and financial disclosures for the quarter ended March 31, 2013," according to the suit, which was filed in Massachusetts district court. "These false and misleading statements materially misrepresented the true financial effect that Surface RT was then having on the company's operations."

Gail Fialkov, a Microsoft stock holder, is listed as the sole plaintiff at this point, but the law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd is encouraging others to join the case in the next 59 days.

A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment.

The Surface RT tablet debuted in October alongside Windows 8. Last month, Microsoft revealed that Surface revenue was $853 million between Oct. 2012 and June 2013. That might not seem too shabby, but Microsoft recently incurred a $900 million charge for Surface RT inventory adjustments, and boosted advertising costs for Windows 8 and the Surface by $898 million.

The lawsuit, however, said Microsoft knew that its Surface RT was struggling months before that disclosure.

"Microsoft's foray into the tablet market was an unmitigated disaster, which left it with a large accumulation of excess, over-valued Surface RT inventory," the suit said. But Redmond delayed "Surface RT's day of reckoning" until June, which "eviscerated about $34 billion of the company's market value," according to the suit.

The lawsuit seeks to "recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Microsoft common stock during the Class Period" between April 18, 2013 and July 18.

In recent months, Microsoft has dropped the price of its Surface tablets, shaving hundreds off the price of the RT version and $100 off the Surface Pro tablet.

Asus recently dropped support for Windows RT tablets, though Nvidia isn't quite ready to throw in the towel.

For more, see PCMag's review of the Microsoft Surface with Windows RT and the Microsoft Surface Windows 8 Pro.

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