TECHNOLOGY

The more popular and sophisticated a smartphone becomes, the more susceptible it is to malware, fraud and other personal attacks.

With Apple all but silent on the issue, it has been difficult to determine what may be the source of the problem. However, with the quantity of reports received now numbering over three dozen, a pattern has emerged: every game targeted is a free download, and the fraudulent charges are all due to in-app purchases.

Giant social media firm Facebook acknowledged on Wednesday that it erred in not communicating enough to users that the facial recognition technology currently deployed on its site has been turned on by default.

DigiTimes reports that Microsoft is "considering to launch an own-brand tablet PC that features Windows 8 by the end of 2012 with cooperation from Texas Instruments and Taiwan-based OEMs/ODMs." Companies like Microsoft are "considering" all kinds of things.

Apple revealed on Tuesday its new office blueprint that will house more than 12,000 workers and on the side, aspire as the coolest workplace on Earth.

Sony Corp.'s film studio said yesterday it has provided notice to the approximately 37,500 people who may have had some personally identifiable information stolen during the recent attack on sonypictures.com.

One year ago, we took a look at CounterPath's Bria softphone clients for PCs and mobile devices. Today, CounterPath has released Bria iPad Edition 1.0, which the company believes is a perfect example of effective IT consumerization because it strikes a balance between the feature-heavy, yet immobile desk phone and the versatile, yet feature-light consumer smartphone-based VoIP.

Berlin-based O&O Software GmbH has released O&O Defrag 14.5. Available as a free update to version 14 users, O&O Defrag 14.5, which is also available as a separate 64-bit build, offers a powerful and fast alternative to the basic Windows defragmentation tool, promising to keep hard drive performance running at optimum by keeping fragmentation at bay.

The growth of Twitter has far exceeded the expectations of many people, both in terms of scale and speed.

The Google Maps team on Wednesday announced an update to both Google Maps for Android 1.6+ and Google Maps for desktop that incorporates real-time mass transit data, letting users not only plot their bus and train routes, but also track them in real time.

Software Assurance benefits are so complex that it takes a three-dimensional matrix to describe them. The PDF file that Microsoft gives customers has various benefits down the left column and various licensing programs along the top.

I just called the Best Buy Union Square, which is selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 nine days before the official launch.

Apple is bringing us a laughably monikered upgrade to MobileMe called iCloud, and when you strip away the hype and Steve Jobs reality distortion field, iCloud is a proprietary, convoluted and highly restrictive sync-backup service.

Nintendo Co. unveiled at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, the Wii U, the high-definition video-game console succeeding the market leader Wii.

Listening on your iPod every day? Experts say this could permanently damage your hearing.

While many people are controlling their urges to grab a hold of the iPhone 4 thinking the iPhone 5 will be launched in the near future, the actual release of the highly anticipated smart phone remains a whodunit.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. announces PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita) (PCH-1000 series) as the official platform name for the next generation portable entertainment system (codename: NGP). Wi-Fi model will be available for 24,980 yen (including tax) in Japan, $249 in US and euro 249 in Europe, 3G/Wi-Fi model will be available for 29,980 yen (including tax) in Japan, $299 in US and euro 299 in Europe and successively launch in global market starting the end of 2011.

Parrot, leaders in wireless peripherals for mobile phones, revolutionised the video gaming world by creating the AR.Drone, the first flying object in Augmented Reality piloted through Wi-Fi.

Apple iOS 5, the newest Apple operating system, brings a range of changes to the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch ecosystem, including more than 200 new features. Here are seven improvements that would make you want to upgrade:

Despite initial reactions from analysts that Sony’s new handheld PlayStation Vita is a bit pricey, from $249 for the Wi-Fi version to $299 for the 3G version, the Japanese firm is optimistic that the product will deliver huge profits over the next three years.

BitSum Technologies has updated its process automation and optimization utility, Process Lasso, to version 5.0.0.25.

Even though Windows Phone has been leading the innovation curve for the next generation of all of Microsoft's graphical interfaces --everything from Windows 8 to Xbox Live is expected to adopt the mobile OS' "live tile" system-- Windows Phone seemed to have been lost in the shuffle in Microsoft's E3 keynote yesterday.

Russian security company Kaspersky has dropped the beta tag from Anti-Virus 2012 and Internet Security 2012 products, launching both today.

A portion of Skype users found themselves without service Tuesday after a configuration problem caused the VoIP provider's systems to crash.

Wednesday, June 8 is World IPv6 Day, a day when we're all supposed to check our readiness for the next version of IP, or Internet Protocol, the Internet Layer protocol of the Internet and almost all networks these days. IPv6, of course, is an old story, since it was long ago that we recognized the address space of IPv4 would run out, and we're almost there.

Nintendo debuted its newest piece of gaming hardware, Wii U, a touchscreen tablet and game controller that takes the dual-screen gaming concept of the DS and applies it to the television.

Finland-based Nokia is now facing the challenge to raise its market share amidst debt rating cut to the lowest investment grade by Fitch Ratings due to the declining market share of its Symbian smartphones.

Google has updated its popular open-source browser Chrome to version 12, introducing a number of notable features. Of most importance is a new extension to the Safe Browsing feature, which now screens downloaded files for known malware in addition to warning against potentially malicious or phishing websites.

I can answer that question for you. Apple locks up your past purchases for 90 days, and you can forget that Monopoly game get-out-of-jail free card. But that's OK.