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Facebook has apparently become a choice distribution channel for several malicious applications and a new variant of a pernicious piece of malware originally detected in 2008. The popular social networking site has been hit by at least three separate security issues in the last week -- two phony applications and the latest variety of the Koobface worm, according to security research firm Trend Micro...

Facebook has revamped its online classifieds page. Its new look and feel is -- surprise, surprise -- very reminiscent of a Web 2.0-style community, with features that allow for more conversation and networking Facebook previously had a classifieds page, Facebook Marketplace, which it launched about 18 months ago, but the site decided to pull it and...

Roughly 50 million households in Western Europe have adopted broadband services over the past three years. Regulatory reforms in the UK and France in particular have helped boost penetration by creating strongly competitive markets. As a result, a large and growing number of households can now view video online, and the door is open to alternative forms of video distribution. ...

Last week Salesforce.com marked its 10th year in business. To celebrate, the company held a conference call to discuss its earnings, and CEO Marc Benioff brought presents for his investors The big announcement was that Salesforce had succeeded at generating just over US$1 billion in revenue for its fiscal year -- the first time in history that any...

Many large enterprises still run critical applications on legacy Linux and Unix platforms. Much like the fabled Energizer Bunny, these old computing OSes keep going and going and going. Some of these are not even in production any more Upgrading these systems is no simple matter, partly because the organizations using them cannot simply turn off se...

When it comes to disasters, companies have two choices: Be prepared, or be prepared to fail. Unfortunately, disasters are not a matter of if. They're a matter of when. Many people think of major disasters that hit the national news, but there are other types of events that can result in a Total Building Loss (TBL) disaster such as fires, floods, tornadoes and robberies. According to a study by McGladrey and Pullen, every year, one out of 500 data centers will experience a severe disaster. That same study reveals that a full 43 percent of companies who experience a significant disaster never re-open, and 29 percent close within two years. Unless companies have a solid disaster recovery (DR) plan, they are at risk...

Intel is revealing the mysterious workings of its Atom processing chip to Taiwan Semiconductor in a bid to break into the smartphone, netbook and TV set-top box markets This marks the first time the world's largest semiconductor company has agreed to share the underlying technology behind its X86-based chips, suggesting that Intel has placed a high...

Microsoft has tipped its hand, perhaps intentionally, with the leak of screenshots revealing Kumo -- the renamed, revamped version of its Live Search. The screenshots were accompanied by a memo penned by search executive Satya Nadella, asking Microsoft employees for feedback. The new search engine appears to be slated for release in the second par...

There appears to be a new netbook maker on the block. Always Innovating has announced a new touchscreen netbook that purports to offer users four devices in one. The new Touch Book from the Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup weighs in at less than two pounds with an 8.9-inch screen and has a battery life roughly three times longer than most netbooks, according to the company...

Industries thrive on competition. The IT industry is a prime example. IT hosts numerous bloody competitions ranging from product-by-product throwdowns, to broader vendor vs. vendor cage matches. Generally, such comparisons, especially at the product level -- pitting PC, handset or networking specialists against one another -- make eminent sense. But often, comparisons at the company level continue long after they should have gracefully retired.

This year promises to be one of the most challenging in recent memory for online retail. The strategies and tactics that online retailers have relied upon in the past will not work in this harsher, new consumer climate This year will clearly separate winners from losers. Winners will have the wisdom and discipline to eliminate distractions and focu...

TeeDroid Caddy, an application for Android phones with versions for BlackBerry and iPhone, is available on the Android Market as a free trial. The premium services subscription costs US$19.95 per year after a two-week free trial period....

The expression, "Inside the Beltway" is often used in a pejorative sense -- as a vague insult referring to an amorphous group of politicians, policy wonks, nonprofits, think tanks -- basically, anybody who revels in the nuts and bolts of federal legislation Given what's currently happening on Capitol Hill and Pennsylvania Ave. -- the still-smoking ...

Satellite television provider Dish Network and its former parent, EchoStar, reported fourth-quarter financial results on Monday Dish Network reported revenue of US$2.92 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2008, a 1 percent increase compared with $2.89 billion during the same period in 2007. Net income totaled $217 million, compared with $175 mil...

Amazon has backed off from the brewing legal controversy surrounding the text-to-speech function in its Kindle 2 electronic book reader. The feature allows users to hear the text of a book read aloud, although not in the dramatic -- or even conversational -- style of typical audio books. The Kindle 2 uses a computerized voice translator to deliver a robotic rendering of the material...

Getting a head start on the PMA '09 photography conference, which officially kicks off in Las Vegas Tuesday, Samsung has announced a new so-called hybrid digital camera. The new camera, the NX Series, is designed to provide the photo quality of large pro and prosumer DSLR (digital single lens reflex) cameras in the body of a small point-and-shoot.

Occasionally when some new and disruptive technology comes on the market, my friends and colleagues phone me up to ask, "How is this new technology going to change your world?" They know I will feign indifference and my comeback will be that CIO means "career is over!" The secret answer is, innovation is what makes this role fun (yes, I said fun), and new and disruptive technologies do not really change the CIO role, they just alter your planning. ...

You wouldn't guess there's a recession under way -- at least, not if you were going by RightNow Technologies' recent earnings. By any measure, the Software as a Service vendor closed the year on a high note, completing seven million-dollar-plus deals in the last quarter. In fact, CEO Greg Gianforte told CRM Buyer, "our sales teams delivered the hi...

A few weeks ago I compared the Obama Stimulus package to what Intel was doing to prepare for the future, and I didn't find out until later that the people at Intel were following advice that Andy Grove, their most famous CEO, had given years ago. That advice was that companies that try to save out of a recession generally fail; you have to invest in your future if you want to survive.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has taken over the stumbling company's main consumer electronics business after removing Ryoji Chubachi from the helm Stringer, who has been with Sony since 1997 after a long career in television, will replace Chubachi as president....