The initial "social engineering" contest at the infamous Defcon gathering in Las Vegas shows that smooth talk may be as effective as the ability for software manipulation when it comes to mounting attacks on the computer networks of the world's biggest companies.
By Ed Oswald, BetanewsThe iPhone Dev Team has struck again, this time releasing a Web-based jailbreaking solution that is compatible with all iPhone models, including the iPhone 4. The solution requires only an Internet connection and mobile Safari to complete the hack.It should be noted that this o...
By Tim Conneally, BetanewsCloudmark today announced an update to its e-mail filtering software for Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird 3, Windows Mail, and Windows Live Mail. The software, formerly known as Cloudmark Desktop, is now called Cloudmark DesktopOne, and unlike previous versions, the sh...
Apple's iPhone 4 smartphone has been sold out in Australia. In spite of a number of telecommunications companies saying that they expect new stock to arrive "over the coming days," Apple announced that it expects a delay of three weeks for the shipment of new orders.
By Tim Conneally, BetanewsLeading media research company Nielsen posted a report Monday called "What Americans Do Online..." that details how U.S. Web users spend their time online. According to the research, use of social networks has risen 43% since last year, and they now take up more than a thir...
By Ed Oswald, BetanewsUsage of Windows 7 has eclipsed that of its predecessor Vista for the first time, data from research firm NetApplications indicates. Regardless, Windows XP remains the most commonly used operating system.Share of Windows 7 in July hit 14.46 percent, a hair above Vista's 14.34 p...
Twitter, the microblogging site, has rolled out a new feature that would help users find people of similar interests.
By Tim Conneally, BetanewsMicrosoft's Mac business unit today released the final pricing of Office for Mac 2011 when it is released in late October. The productivity suite will come in three different editions, and will include a couple of multi-pack options. Office for Mac Home & Student Edition wi...
Facebook insiders are saying the world's largest social networking site in terms of users is postponing its initial public offering next year to 2012.
By Joe Wilcox, BetanewsToday, the Windows Blog has a post about Internet Explorer gaining a seemingly minuscule amount of usage share in July. Ryan Gavin cites Net Applications data showing IE gains for the second month in a row against Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox declines. Month-over-month, I...
Ron Bowes, the compiler of a downloadable list of publicly available profile addresses, has gained attention from privacy advocates in spite his claim that his tool is similar to a telephone directory.
Kmart, the retailer, releases a circular advertising Augen's 7-inch tablet that runs on the Android operating system, giving an option to consumers who want easy, on-the-go internet access without the cost of an iPad or a netbook.
Mobile phone use in flight may soon be allowed across Australia after the latest ruling from the national communications watchdog.
By Tim Conneally, BetanewsThursday, at the annual Microsoft Financial Analyst meeting, CEO Steve Ballmer gave a somewhat baffling explanation about Microsoft's position on tablet/slate computing that seems to run contradictory to the strategy of one of the company's biggest manufacturing partners.Th...
Prime Minister Julia Gillard will be in Perth on Friday for the first time in the campaign for the federal election, and will declare that the coverage of the national broadband network will expand from 90 to 93 per cent of the country.
The New Zealand release of the iPhone 4 has been delayed without explanation, leaving people who lined up overnight to purchase the smartphone disappointed
Malcolm McKenzie, an experienced industry consultant and project manager, claims that the cost of the $43 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) could double.
By Tim Conneally, BetanewsAt the National Press Club in Washington, DC Thursday, the X PRIZE Foundation launched its $1.4 million oil spill clean-up competition called the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge. The Foundation, which currently also has a $10 million challenge to develop a 100 mile pe...
By Ed Oswald, BetanewsUsing publicly available information on Facebook, a researcher has been able to gather personal details of nearly 170 million users of the service, or about a third of all users. The data includes names, addresses, e-mails, phone numbers, and birthdays: essentially anything tha...
By Tim Conneally, BetanewsWhile the superstar of the Black Hat USA 2010 security conference in Las Vegas this week was Barnaby Jack from IOActive showing off techniques for "Jackpotting" Windows CE-based ATMs, research from security company Lookout has had a much broader impact on consumers, especia...
Australian digital publishing services provider Realview today confirmed that more than 30,000 editions from over 2,000 publications it produces for clients can now be interactively viewed on the Apple iPad, without having to download anything from the App Store.
Freight company TNT announced in a statement today it had launched a new $6 million depot in East Arm, signalling its expanding international business and ongoing commitment to the Darwin region.
By Joe Wilcox, BetanewsCloud computing dominated the morning's Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting 2010 presentations. COO Kevin Turner and Chief Research Strategy Officer Craig Mundie spent more time talking cloud computing than any other topic. For Mundie, it was a bold departure from previous yea...
By Tim Conneally, BetanewsShaumberg, Illinois electronics company Motorola Inc. on Thursday posted its earnings for the second quarter of 2010. The company's total revenue was $5.41 billion, which beat Wall Street's estimates of $5.19 billion, but was still down against last year's $5.49 billion. Th...
Australian airline company Qantas (ASX:QAN) today launched a trial of its all-new Next Generation Check-in system at its domestic terminal at Perth Airport.
To help it sell five-year bonds, SPI (Australia) Assets Ltd., a unit of Singapore Power Ltd has acquired the services of Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corp.
By Joe Wilcox, BetanewsMicrosoft COO Kevin Turner made the bold statement this morning during the company's annual FInancial Analyst Meeting. "One of the most exciting things about our cloud strategy is that 70 percent of the wins in the cloud that we had in Q4, ladies and gentlemen, were new Micros...
Telstra, the telecommunications and media company, adds to its call centre staff to handle customer complaints. The move comes as the company fires hundreds of its managers and maneuvers to profit from social networking to boost revenue.
Australia's major project development and contracting group Leighton Holdings (ASX: LEI) has secured a five-year $100m contract with Queensland's electricity provider, Ergon Energy.
A fiber-optic cable that connects Australia, New Zealand and the US will be put in place at a cost $US400 million.
