Information Technology World

Apple iPhone, iPod touch Security Patch: What's Fixed    Apple on Tuesday released an updated version of its iPhone OS software for the iPhone and iPod touch. The new version 3.1.3 patches several security holes, provides a few bug fixes and minor enhancements, and is available via iTunes download. The five security fixes are related to CoreAudio, ImageIO, Recovery Mode, and WebKit. The CoreAudio patch prevents "maliciously crafted" MP4 audio files from wreaking havoc, such as terminating programs or running rogue code. The ImageIO fix blocks malicious TIFF images from performing similar voodoo when users view them. The Recovery Mode update prevents someone with physical access to a locked iPhone or iPod touch from bypassing the passcode and accessing your data. It corrects a memory corruption glitch in the handling of a USB control message that allowed the security breach. WebKit gets two patches. One corrects an HTML 5-related problem that may cause mail to load...

Nexus One Gets Multi-touch, but Not Droid Google is finally letting the Nexus One use multi-touch for maps, photo galleries and the Web, but that's of little consolation to owners of Motorola's Droid and T-Mobile's G1. Don't get me wrong, it's great that at least one more Android phone is getting pinch-to-zoom gestures, and it's never been clear why certain phones don't include the feature. Rumor has it Apple requested that Google avoid multi-touch  back when the companies were cozy, but Google may no longer want to comply now that the relationship has soured.   We don't know the terms of the arrangement -- or whether it actually exists - so it's unclear whether Google could ever add multi-touch to older phones. For all we know, there may be issues with the Droid and G1 that preclude Google from releasing a simple update, regardless of whether Apple's involved. Whatever the reason may be, the Droid and the G1 lack mu...

Apple's iPhone Takes a Hit   Apple may be touting the release of its iPhone OS 3.1.3 update this week, but new research shows the iPhone is actually starting to slip when it comes to smartphone market share. The shift is no big surprise -- analysts have been expecting the iPhone to begin losing its stronghold to Android for some time now -- but this is one of the first concrete signs suggesting the trend may actually be upon us. Apple's iPhone Fall The new numbers come from ABI Research, an analytics firm based in New York. ABI measures sales of smartphones from quarter to quarter and works with manufacturers to ensure its data is in line with the companies' own estimates. According to ABI, Apple's iPhone accounted for 18.1 percent of global smartphone sales in the third quarter of 2009. In the fourth quarter, that number dropped to 16.6 percent. The change itself isn't enormous, but what's noteworthy is that, while Apple's sales g...

MSI Targets The Top 10 Slot In The Notebook Market Motherboard manufacturer, Micro Star International (MSI), which entered India market in 2005, wants to be among the top 10 notebook vendors in the country by 2011. To drive this growth, company is putting a lot of thrust on its channels.   The Taiwan-based company recently launched 14 new notebooks and netbooks. The new launches are across five series including high-performance G-series gaming notebooks, the Classic series, the E-series entertainment notebooks, the extra-lightweight X-Slim series and the ultra-thin U-series Wind Netbooks. While the netbook range starts from Rs 19,000, the gaming range, with Intel’s latest Core i7 Quad core CPU, starts from Rs 88,000.   Company’s newly appointed Managing Director for India , Tony Yang, said, “Initially, we will focus on the top 10 cities in the country. We will open exclusive MSI stores in the four metros this year. Our market strategy is two-fold. In ord...

 Dell Pips HP In Notebook Sales In Q4 2009 Dell India has shocked both partners and analysts, with a strong show in the India notebook numbers for Q4 2009, according to market research agency Gartner. For the first time in almost seven years, HP had to surrender their pole position as far as notebook numbers go. According to Gartner, 7,59,412 notebooks were sold during Q4 2009, with Dell clocking an impressive 1,81,852 units, followed by HP with 1,71,200, and Acer being a distant third with 1,10,500. “It has been a strong quarter for Dell, and it’s seems some of their strategies in past have paid rich dividends. We believe Dell has done exceedingly well last quarter in consumer notebook sales, and enterprises have also rallied behind Dell,” said Diptarup Chakraborti, Principal Research Analyst, Gartner Technology and Service Provider Research group. “There was a gap of close to 36,000 units a quarter between HP and Dell, during Q1 2009, and it’s a remarkable turnaround...