Europe biggest consumer electronics fair

Samsung Electronics Co has stopped promoting its new tablet computer at Europe's biggest consumer electronics fair after a court-ordered sales injunction in Germany, the latest setback in its global patent battle with Apple Inc. A Dusseldorf court ordered the South Korean company to stop selling Galaxy Tab 7.7 on Friday when the annual IFA electronics show started in Berlin. The move follows an earlier ban on German sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 by the court in late August until its final ruling on September 9. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 is the latest addition to Samsung's range of Galaxy products. It was first unveiled at the show along with 5.3-inch Galaxy Note, which Samsung Electronics hopes to create a new product category with and fill the gap between smart phones and tablets. "The product is not on sale yet but we've decided to respect the court order," Samsung Electronics spokesman Mr.JamesChung said. Samsung Electronics and Apple have been locked in acrimonious battle over smart phones and tablets patents since April as Apple seeks to rein in the growth of Google's Android phones by taking directly aim at the biggest Android vendor, Samsung Electronics. Apple has argued that Samsung had infringed on its patents and the Galaxy line of smart phones and tablets "slavishly" copied its design, look and feel. It is fighting legal battles in the United States as well as Europe, South Korea and Australia. The battle forced Samsung Electronics to delay its tablet sales in Australia twice. Samsung Electronics has counter-sued, arguing Apple infringed its wireless patents. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 is powered by a dual 1.2 GHz processor and uses a 7.7-inch super-bright active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) screen.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched

Want to explore the solar system and follow National Aeronautics and Space Administration space missions in real time? NASA is giving you the chance to through a new interactive Webbased Application tool called Eyes on the Solar System. The space agency said that the tool combines video game technology and National Aeronautics and Space Administration data to create an environment for users to ride along with agency spacecraft as they explore the cosmos. "You are now free to move about the solar system," Blaine Baggett, a manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge, said in a statement. “See what National Aeronautics and Space Administration spacecraft see nd where they are right now all without leaving your computer.” By using a mouse and keyboard your computer, online users can zip through space and explore anything that catches their interest in Aeronautics and space. For example, National Aeronautics and Space Administration in August launched a probe called June that will explore Jupiter. Users can follow the Juno spacecraft and look over its “shoulder” to see what it sees and even look ahead to find out what’s ahead on Juno's five-year journey. Users' point of view can alternate from faraway to close-up, and switch from 2-D to 3-D with the aid of 3-D glasses. Users can also travel back in time because Eyes on the Solar System has National Aeronautics and Space Administration data dating from 1950. Download the tool here (http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes/). A free browser plug-in, available at the site, is required to run it.

SECURITY EXPERTS

SECURITY EXPERTS :-

We've all heard about Trojan horse malware that poses as software you might want to run, phishing scams that send fake e-mail purporting to be from your bank, and identity thieves who can siphon away your money. But an unpleasant new variety of faith-undermining behavior has shown up twice now in recent months: bogus versions of the digital certificates that enable encrypted communications on the Net. How does a bogus certificate hit you where it hurts? Think of the Websites you trust, the ones with the traditional closed lock icon that signifies a secure connection. Fake certificates, in combination with changes to the way in which data is routed around the Internet, can be used to steal passwords and intercept e-mail from use of those websites. The problem is that there are hundreds of organizations called certificate authorities (CAs) that issue certificates, and those organizations may be vulnerable to attack. The certificate authority worry is very real: In March, Comodo issued fake certificates after a successful attack, and in August DigiNotar issued 531 fake certificates for Twitter, Facebook, Google, CIA, and more. Some security experts expect more use of fake certificates, too. In other words, we are running into a breach of trust not just for Websites, but for the organizations set up to to tell us whether we can trust Websites. That's a particularly corrosive type of doubt to have in the back of your mind: it's systemic, with the potential to undermine faith broadly, not just hurt the reputation of one particular website.

The utility of trust : Trust is tremendously useful. It increases the efficiency of transactions, saving time by not requiring every little detail to be verified in advance. It can be hard to establish trust, though. Here's a case in point from my recent move to France: my bank required a phone bill with my new address to prove that I really had moved, and my phone company required a bank statement with my new address before it would give me a subscription. (The situation was more complicated, to be fair, but that procedural deadlock was one very real aspect.) Once the trust is established, though, future transactions get easier. For example, my bank now will send me a replacement debit card or an older bank statement with little fuss. The bank's process is very formal, but I think systems of human interactions naturally incorporate trust more organically. Perhaps it's human nature, in which we evolved to give others the benefit of the doubt to some degree. Perhaps it's that a system with a certain amount of trust is more efficient and spreads more quickly to other people.

The problem is that it's easy to get ahead in the short run if you're willing to abuse trust. The September 11 attacks took advantage of some built-in goodwill in pilot training, aircraft security, and air traffic control. Other examples of abuses: fabricated news stories, fraudulent scientific results, investment funds that are actually Ponzi schemes, and the patron who stiffs the restaurant. If everybody skipped out on paying bills, you can bet that all restaurants would demand payment in advance, but for now, we generally get the flexibility of being able to add dessert and a coffee onto the bill at the end of the meal. Happily, human systems repair themselves because overall the advantages of trust are pretty high, too. The stock market, airline industry, news media, scientific research community, and restaurant business all have surmounted plenty of trust-based challenges.

Hidden tax on the Net : What worries me about the Internet is that it operates at a massive scale and with greater automation. Even though the overall Net will keep on humming, a large number of individuals could suffer. Consequently, we're seeing a gradual rise in technical countermeasures. That means a tax on the Net's use, one way or another. Here's one example: I use Google two-factor authentication, and it's a pain. For one thing, I have to have my phone around to provide a verification code when I log into my account from a new browser. Given that I have two phones, two tablets, three computers, and at least a dozen browsers in regular use, that's a lot of work. Just as inconveniently, two-factor authentication means I have to generate passwords for apps that use Google services--Gmail and Google+ on my Android phones and tablet, Mail on my Mac and iPad, Chrome settings and iTunes-Google sync, and more. I've thought about ditching two-factor authentication on many occasions, but each time I ponder the risks and leave it on.

Likewise, my bank makes me jump through hoops to sign on--but in today's world I grit my teeth and put up with it. When I sign up for new services, I worry that I'm adding one more potential way that some identity thief or fraudster will find a way into my life. Browsers, the gateway to the Web, are on the front lines of this battle. There are encouraging signs here that browser makers are getting more serious. Google has modified Chrome so that for particular domains such as Gmail, it will only use certificates from a short list of certificate authorities it deems solid. That won't stop all abuse, but it was useful enough to flag the DigiNotar problem. Browser makers are also making it harder for add-ons to add themselves without user permission, asking difficult questions about balancing new features' utility and risk. More broadly, Google is pushing the use of secure Web connections, not just for Gmail but also for search.

No longer naïve : This isn't the first time trust took a hit on the Net, of course, and computing systems continuously evolve away from their early, naive designs. Gone are the days when it was possible to break into servers with the username "guest" and an empty password, as described in Cliff Stohl's 1989 book "The Cuckoo's Egg." The trouble is that the Internet is increasingly essential to school, business, politics, and our personal lives. The damages of breaches of trust are worse than ever. It's great that the Net's technologists are responding. But there's no miracle cure here, and malicious hackers are advancing the state of the art at the same time. Governments and armed forces, not just thieves, are getting involved as cyberwar becomes just a facet of ordinary war. It's a great time to be on the Net, and I'm confident that ultimately it will withstand this current hit to its trustworthiness. But the time being, I'm keeping the annoying, heavy-duty Google authentication.

communications technology companies

Department of Communications : Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind BlackBerry, has responded to the Department of Communications call for the decryption of BlackBerry Messenger, saying it will continue to work cooperatively with the local authorities. Deputy communications minister Mr.ObedBapela said yesterday that following the implementation of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA), criminals have turned to Black Berry due to its Black Berry Messenger service. “The devil minds have begun to abuse this communication for planning their crimes. So the time has come to visit Black Berry Messenger.” Research In Motion says: “Like other companies in the technology and tele-communications industry in South Africa, Research In Motion BlackBerry complies with privacy laws as well as RICA. We will continue to work cooperatively with all the appropriate authorities in South Africa.”

Lawyer and social media specialist, Mr.PaulJacobson, says the proposed decryption of BBM by the Department of Communications is the same sort of issue as a proposed clampdown on social media mooted recently in the UnitedKingdom following the riots. “The Department of Communications says there are high levels of criminal use of the service but this is conjecture unless the Department of Communications has actually cracked BlackBerry's encryption,” says Jacobson. “The Department of Communications seems to be riding the wave of fear and hype after the London riots in an effort to gain access to users' data. “On the one hand, the RICA legislation gives the state the ability to intercept communications but there are procedures to be followed to get authority for this. “The Department of Communications faces a practical challenge here if it can't get through BlackBerry encryption so the access it seeks may be necessary to give effect to the Act. On the other hand, if this is a fishing expedition, the Department of Communications may face some serious privacy concerns.”

Worrying times : According to Mr.ObedBapela, care will be taken to ensure user privacy, and decryption of BBM would only be demanded in cases where police investigations indicate Black Berry Messenger was used for criminal activity. These records will only be accessed via court orders. “It will just be these isolated cases and the privacy of other users is guaranteed. So it's not a blanket opening of spying on people.” While the department is yet to start negotiations with Research In Motion, Mr.ObedBapela says it will begin this as soon as the cyber security policy goes to Cabinet. “In SA, while the threat of terrorism is low, crime is a major issue,” said Mr.ObedBapela. “We don't want to get into a situation where we would have to block BlackBerry Messenger.”

Global standard : According to Research In Motion, BlackBerry company has four core principles in its approach to providing carriers the capabilities to address lawful access requirements in their respective countries. These capabilities are limited to the context of lawful access and national security requirements, as governed by the country's judicial oversight and rules of law. Research In Motion also says: “The carriers' capabilities must be technology- and vendor-neutral, allowing no greater access to BlackBerry consumer services than the carriers and regulators already impose on Research In Motion competitors and other similar communications technology companies.” The third principle also states that contrary to any rumours, RIM BlackBerry cannot make changes to the security architecture for BlackBerry Enterprise Server customers. “The security architecture is the same around the world and RIM truly has no ability to provide its customers' encryption keys. “Also driving Research In Motion position is the fact that strong encryption is a fundamental commercial requirement for any country to attract and maintain international business anyway, and similarly strong encryption is currently used pervasively in traditional VPNs on both wired and wireless networks in order to protect corporate and government communications.” RIM BlackBerry adds that it maintains a global standard for lawful access requirements, and will not make special deals for specific countries.

information technology companies

After getting the nod for information technology and IT-enabled companies at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Gujarat Financial Tech-City is all set to ready its first building in three months. The GIFT Company Ltd (GIFTCL) and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), official partners in the Gujarat Financial Tech-City project, will be constructing 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh sq feet space at the cost of Rs 30 crore. This is likely to generate over 1,500 jobs in four months of it becoming functional, Gujarat Financial Tech-City sources said. GIFT has identified an area of 886 acres, of which 673 acres has already been acquired. Gujarat Financial Tech-City SEZ will be spread over 261 acres. The estimated cost of entire Gujarat Financial Tech-City project is Rs 70,000 crore. GIFT will initially target information technology and IT-enabled companies along with Business Process Outsourcing and Knowledge Process Outsourcing units in Gujarat and Mumbai, as most of these companies’ contract with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), a government of India initiative to help IT companies get tax waiver, is over.

Companies who are into export of products or services have an advantage shifting to GIFT’s SEZ, the sources said. There are 30,000 companies in Mumbai and about 3,000 in Gujarat that had registered under STPI. Gujarat Financial Tech-City Director Mr.RamakantJha said, “Many companies have approached us to know the SEZ’s status. One of the major reasons is STPI not extending the tax benefits. We thought of offering temporary facility on Gujarat Financial Tech-City - SEZ campus to these companies who can begin work immediately.” Mr.RamakantJha said the companies will be given ready facility and when the regular building comes up in two years they will be shifted there. Under the proposed Direct Tax Code, the SEZ benefits will be available only to those units who begins operations before March 31, 2014, he said. Mr.PranitBanthia, CEO of Hi-Tech Outsourcing, told Mirror, “For big companies who are into export, Gujarat Financial Tech-City - SEZ is surely a blessing. However, for small companies distance may prove to be problem.” Mr.PranitBanthia said that unless facilities like Metro or BRTS are extended till Gujarat Financial Tech-City premises, small information technology and Business process outsourcing companies will find it difficult to operate.