Google Apps premier vs. Microsoft Office Google unveiled an upgraded version of Google Apps, a hosted suite of business applications. Priced at $50 per user per year, the new Google Apps premier edition is the third version of the suite, which was first launched in August. This version offers guaranteed uptime, IT management tools, technical support, increased e-mail storage and integration with Google Docs and spreadsheets. The latest avatar of Google Apps places it squarely against Microsoft Office, albeit in a software as a service offering. The Procter & Gamble Co.’s global business services unit has been testing the new version of Google Apps, but hasn’t decided whether or not to use it. Google Apps has found its way into Prudential, which has 450 employees, as an alternative to a corporate e-mail service that constantly malfunctioned. Prudential has been using the free Standard version but is willing to pay for the Gmail service. Google believes its premier edition can complement MS Office, and it seeks to tap retail and manufacturing organisations that haven’t been able to justify the cost of offering e-mail to all employees.

Cisco allows Apple to use iPhone name Cisco Systems and Apple have agreed to share the iPhone brand name. The settlement is expected to help both companies strengthen their positions in the increasingly fierce battle to deliver video and other applications directly to consumers at home. Cisco’s lawsuit, which was filed last month in San Francisco federal court, threatened to derail Apple’s use of the iPhone name for its iPod-cellular phone gadget. Cisco has been using the trademark since last spring on a line of Linksys phones that make free long-distance calls over VoIP networks. The lawsuit was filed on January 10, 2007 a day after Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, which operates over cellular networks instead of the Internet. Apple initially called the lawsuit silly and argued that it was entitled to use the name because the phones operate over different networks and would not compete with each other.

World’s tiniest RFID tag unveiled The world’s smallest radio frequency identification tags have been unveiled by Japanese electronics firm Hitachi. The minute devices measure just 0.05 mm by 0.05 mm and to the naked eye look like spots of powder that are thin enough to be embedded in a sheet of paper. Recently, Hitachi unveiled another RFID tag, the Mu-chip, which measures 0.4 mm by 0.4 mm (0.02 x 0.02 in). But the latest chips, which are yet to be named, can hold the same amount of data as the Mu even though they are much smaller. There is a rub, however, for these new chips need an external antenna to work, and the smallest antenna developed so far is about 80 times bigger than the tags. Stores use RFID to track stock in warehouses and shops. Some countries are using the tags to store passport data or for payments in transport systems and they are even being used to identify animals. There have been concerns that the technology poses a threat to privacy, and that it could be used in covert monitoring schemes. The fact that they are becoming smaller and smaller could fuel this apprehension.

BitTorrent to open digital media store BitTorrent is planning to use its software to power a download site, called the BitTorrent Entertainment Network, which will distribute more than 5,000 titles from digital movies, TV shows, games and other media. In the battle for the nascent online video market, BitTorrent could be a competitor. It has an established user base of around 135 million. This move creates competition for YouTube, Brightcove and Joost, a new peer-to-peer service started by the founders of Skype and Kazaa. BitTorrent executives had to make some important concessions, such as wrapping songs and movies on the site in a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system. Among the many challenges the new store faces are proving that the technology can bring movies to users faster than the clunky distribution methods now available and not alienating the millions who have grown accustomed to using BitTorrent to snatch files off the Web with no DRM for free.

VMware gets in the ring with Microsoft VMware, a young Silicon Valley company, is the early leader in a fast-growing market for what is called virtual-machine software. It is on a collision course with Microsoft. In recent months, according to VMware, Microsoft has introduced new restrictions on how Microsoft products can be used in virtual machines in new ways, beyond simply dividing a single physical computer into several virtual ones. This next wave of virtual technology, analysts say, includes software that lets virtual machines move freely across many physical machines, juggling computing chores, so that applications do not crash and response times are faster. Another promising new ability is running desktop personal computers as virtual-machine software, hosted and managed securely from a data centre. VMare sales reached $709 million in 2006, nearly double the previous year’s figure. In the fourth quarter, revenue was $232 million, growing 100 percent from the previous year.

Intel Tablet streamlines Patient Tracking Intel and Motion Computing have teamed up to develop and deliver a new tablet PC for the healthcare industry. The tablet is known as the C5 mobile clinical assistant (MCA). Based on Intel’s MCA platform, Motion’s C5 device is currently in a trial run at hospitals and is already spurring interest in the healthcare community. The C5 contains built-in bar code and RFID readers that let hospitals track and verify patient identification, specimens and medications. The device supports Bluetooth connectivity enabling it to connect directly to other medical devices. It has a built-in camera, which can be used to document wounds or progress, and a fingerprint reader that lets nurses securely and quickly log in and out of the unit. If a hospital uses RFID tags, they could also use RFID as another method for rapid user log-on. The C5 also features handwriting and speech recognition as well as an optional docking station for battery recharging and keyboard or mouse hook-ups.

Computer controlled pigeons Controlling animals using computers may sound like science fiction but a few scientists from east China have already successfully controlled the actions of pigeons. They embedded micro electrodes in their brains and using these electrodes, scientists were able to control the birds’ movements. Using signals send by the computer, different areas of pigeon’s brain can be simulated to make it follows a scientist’s commands. This unique experiment was performed by Scientists at the Robot Engineering Technology Research Centre at Shandong University of Science and Technology.

Google adds traffic information in maps Google has added real-time traffic data for users of Google maps. This service is available for more than 30 American cities including San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago and New York. This colour coded traffic updates tell users which routes to avoid. Green means no congestion; yellow is for minor holdups; and red equates with significant slowdowns. This information is collected from several sources including sensors, car and taxi fleets. Google’s maps show only traffic flow, however, and not specific incidents as shown by Yahoo! maps.

World’s fastest silent graphics card TUL Corp has announced the PowerColor X1950 SCS3, touted as the world’s fastest silent graphics card. This card runs passively, at the same time, maintaining its original specifications, which includes a 575 MHz core engine, 1380 MHz effective memory speed, 256 MB GDDR3, and 36 pixel processors. The X1950 SCS3 comes with VIVO, HDCP, and is Windows Vista ready. PowerColor has partnered with Arctic Cooling to provide a noiseless cooling solution. The specially designed silent cooler features 4 heat pipes, a special voltage regulator heat sink, memory cooling, and taller fins. The noise level reaches zero sone (measure of loudness), as compared to the original stock cooler’s 2.5 sone. The temperature level also dips to 63 C vs the original stock cooler’s 67 C. The PowerColor X1950 supports dual-link DVI with High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP), a digital right content protection technology for transmitting and receiving digital entertainment. Key specifications of the PowerColor X1950 SCS3 parameters includes passive cooler designed by Arctic Cooling, Video-in/Video-out (VIVO), support for DirectX 9c, open GL 2.0, and shader model 3.0, H.264 playback with ATI’s Avivo video and display engine; and Windows Vista ready.

IBM supports Google Gadgets in WebSpere IBM has announced that it now lets users create, customise and use Internet applications with free Google gadgets, as ready-to-use services, for its WebSphere Portal and WebSphere Portal Express Version 6.0 customers. Users will now be able to choose from nearly 4,000 Google Gadgets such as language translators, package delivery tracking, Podcast searches, Wikipedia information and YouTube postings among others. Customers can easily assemble Google Gadgets utilities and services with IBM and IBM business partner applications to apply consumer applications with pre-configured portal business and industry solutions. Users will also be able to create links that increase the content value stored in Google gadgets. Users can also customise Google Gadgets with WebSphere Portal and can view and customise Google Gadgets directly inline from the WebSphere Portal user interface. The IBM Portlet for Google Gadgets will be available in April via IBM WebSphere Portal catalog. WebSphere Portal Version 6.0 customers, including those using WebSphere Portal Express and WebSphere Portal Server Version 6.0 are entitled to use Google Gadgets, free of charge.

Verizon Wireless kicks off mobile phone TV Verizon wireless, the second-biggest US mobile phone provider, launched television services on its phones, run by Qualcomm in 20 US markets. Verizon wireless, a venture of Verizon and Vodafone is charging $15 a month for the service, which includes eight channels that broadcast full-length TV shows to phones 24 hours a day. Verizon wireless and its rivals have been pushing services such as video and music with an aim to boosting revenue, as the price of traditional mobile phone calls keeps falling. But mobile video services have been slow to take off due to high prices and poor quality compared to home televisions. Mobile video services, first launched in the US in 2004, have only about seven million customers out of about 232 million mobile subscriptions.

New hacker trick may expose Oracle databases It was previously thought that an attacker needed high-level privileges on the database to exploit the so-called PL/SQL injection vulnerabilities. With a new attack technique, that is no longer true. Oracle is aware of the new attack technique. In the past, PL/SQL injection flaws often required a “create procedure” privilege on the database, which most users do not have. Using the cursor injection technique, anyone who can connect to a database can exploit such flaws. In the future, Oracle should no longer list the privilege requirements as a mitigating factor of PL/SQL flaws. Such mitigating factors may lead Oracle customers to postpone patching, which puts them at risk.

New computer virus threatens biz nets A disgruntled hacker with a personal grudge against Symantec, which provides anti-virus software to leading Fortune 500 companies, could be behind a new, crippling computer virus that has already hit a division of at least one big US corporation on Thursday. If it spreads, technology experts warn the latest strains of the insidious RINBOT computer virus could hijack network systems of businesses worldwide. Once it’s in, the virus quickly spreads and takes over many computers with the intention of turning the network into a botnet, or a zombie network and executes its intention stealthily.

BBC strikes Google-YouTube deal Three YouTube channels - one for news and two for entertainment will highlight short clips of BBC content. BBC hopes that the deal will help it reach YouTube’s monthly audience of more than 70 million users and drive extra traffic to its own Web site. The corporation will also get a share of the advertising revenue generated by traffic to the new YouTube channels. The deal with Google, non-exclusive and set to run for several years will establish three different YouTube services such as BBC, BBC Worldwide and BBC News. The news channel, which will be launched later this year, will show about 30 news items.