CourseCast of the Week

Episode 0039, 03/09/2008

Title: CourseCast 39: iPhone SDK Released, Microsoft R & D, Mobile Malware

Description: iPhone SDK Released, Microsoft R & D, Mobile Malware

Welcome to Course Technology's CourseCast of the week, Episode 39, recorded March 9th, 2008. This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information. This CourseCast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.course.com for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.

Story 1 - Apple Releases iPhone Software Development Kit

Apple has released the Software Development Kit, or SDK, for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This major release will open these devices up to all kinds of new software developed outside Apple. Steve Jobs believes that the new open architecture will turn the iPhone and Touch into true handheld computing platforms. A major upgrade to the iPhone and iPod Touch operating systems to support all the new apps is due out in June. New software developed by third parties will be downloaded wirelessly over the cell phone network or through iTunes. Along with the upgrade, the iPhone will gain the ability to support corporate services such as Microsoft Exchange, calendaring and contacts, virtual private networks, and a remote wipe security feature. Analysts are predicting that the new iPhone will give the Blackberry a run for its money in the corporate market.

Sources: Apple Tops Expectations as iPhone SDK Released (Top Tech News)

Story 2 - Microsoft R & D Expo

Microsoft researchers gathered at headquarters in Redmond this week to show off their latest projects. The one that stole the show was the WorldWide Telescope. The WorldWide Telescope is software that knits together images from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and elsewhere, to provide users with a tour of the universe. The software will be available for free sometime this spring. Other projects presented include one that tracks the feeding habits of bird populations through RFID, another that adds social networking services to Outlook, and yet another that allows touch screen navigation from the back of a semi-transparent handheld device to keep fingers out of the way of the display.

Sources: Microsoft Researchers Show Off Latest (Top Tech News)

Story 3 - Malware Turns to Mobile Devices

Malicious software, called malware for short, is being aimed at mobile devices. Hidden inside legitimate applications downloaded to handsets, the malware is designed to send information about the device and its owner to the malware designer. It also shuts down security software to allow the attacker to access the handset over the Internet. One malware application aimed at Symbian Series 60 phones disables the phone's functionality until the user pays $7 over a Chinese instant messaging service. With 3.3 billion cell phone users in the world, that's three times the number of PC users, and increasing amounts of them connecting to the Internet through their handsets, mobile malware will be a serious and growing concern in coming months and years.

Sources: Malware Attacks Target Mobile Devices (Top Tech News)

 

New Briefs

  • A number of news sources are reporting that the EU will soon approve Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of online marketing giant DoubleClick. (Top Tech News)
  • Internet Explorer 8 has been released in beta, and is the first version of Microsoft's browser that is fully compliant with Web standards, making it easier for Web developers to create online content that looks good across all browsers. (Top Tech News)
  • Google Gears is software that allows users to access Google applications and data even when not connected to the Internet. This week, Google rolled out a version of Gears for Mobile Devices. (Top Tech News)
  • Yahoo has released a new application for mobile devices called onePlace intended to personalize the Internet on mobile devices and keep selected content updated. (Top Tech News)
  • The Pentagon became upset with Google when it discovered pictures of secure military installations available through Google Map's Street View. The images have been removed and Google is working with the Pentagon to censure images that might compromise national security. (Top Tech News)
  • Microsoft has released Office Live Workspace in beta, an online service that allows Microsoft Office users to share documents with others online for free. Microsoft is offering $100 thousand dollars in prizes for users interested in testing their new product. (Top Tech News) (Computerworld)
  • Intel has given the name "Atom" to its new line of tiny dual-core processors that it believes will deliver a "big Internet experience" to the next generation of mobile devices. (Top Tech News)
  • The U.S. Homeland Security Department is testing new video technology dubbed "RealEyes" that will allow law enforcement agents to use cell phones or email devices to stream live video from any location over law enforcement networks. The idea is prompting concern from privacy advocates. (Top Tech News)
  • Microsoft has released a "Prototype Operating System" to computer science researchers called "Singularity" that it believes could be the next generation OS. (Cnet)
  • Between the years 2000 and 2005 college students choosing computer science as a major dropped more than 50 percent from 16,000 nationwide to less than 8,000. Since 2005, the number of students choosing CS as a major has stabilized and more recently begun a slight increase, indicating that the downward spiral has bottomed out and may perhaps be turning around.(Ars Technica)
  • A top DoD technology official has stated that an amazing amount of data was seized in an online attack of the Pentagon's compute network last June. The origin of the attack was traced to computers in China. (Ars Technica)
  • There are currently hundreds of thousands of PCs in the world secretly controlled be hackers and organized into botnet armies. It is believed that six botnets are responsible for churning out 85 percent of all spam (Ars Technica).
  • An international consortium has published a report calling for the creation of an International database to share information on nuclear and radioactive materials to help deter potential nuclear threats. (Reuters)
  • Nokia has signed on to Microsoft's Silverlight technology for its handsets. Apple continues to turn its back on Adobe Flash for its iPhone. Some are wondering if Apple might look to Silverlight for iPhone animation. (Reuters)

That's it for this week's CourseCast. Links to this week's stories and many more news and information resources are provided at the CourseCast Web site at www.course.com/coursecasts. E-mail us with your suggestions for the show at course.coursecasts@cengage.com. Until next time, have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!