Skype dives deeper into business phone market

Skype is diving deeper into the business phone market with a system that lets companies integrate their existing, open VoIP phone systems with Skype's proprietary VoIP service.

The new offering, called Skype for SIP, uses Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to exchange signaling between PBXes (private branch exchanges) and the free or inexpensive voice service. The latest PBXes support SIP, a signaling protocol designed to span IP-based phones, software clients, and other components of unified communications systems.

Business users will be able to make and take Skype VoIP calls using all the features of their internal switches, according to the company, a division of eBay. Enterprises are widely adopting IP-based phone switches as they replace aging circuit-switched units.

Some vendors already offer equipment or services to link Skype's network to other types of telephone system. Skype's latest move, however, could enable its customers to do without such third-party products.

Skype is letting businesses that have SIP-based IP PBXes to register to test a beta version of the service, but warned that the number of beta testers will be limited. The full version of Skype for SIP will launch later this year. Support for beta testers will only be in English, Skype said.

Businesses can register their SIP address with Skype and pick what calls they wanted routed over Skype, said Ian Robin, heads of sales and marketing of Skype for Business. Those testers will only have to pay for the calls they make during the beta test period, Robin said. Skype hasn't determined how much it will charge after the beta test ends.

Skype will stick to the same international calling rates that it offers for its consumer service. Calls to the United States, for example, are $0.021 or $0.024 including VAT (value-added tax), which is levied in Europe.

Many enterprises that have bought IP PBXes aren't actually taking advantage of VoIP, according to In-Stat analyst David Lemelin. They run hybrid internal voice systems and continue to use expensive leased lines for calls into and out of the enterprise, he said.

About 438,000 IP-enabled PBXes were shipped in 2008, wrote Peter Parkes on Skype's blog, citing figures from analyst IDC.

Companies will be able to manage Skype calls with existing hardware and applications that perform functions such as call routing, conferencing, voice mail and call recording, Parkes wrote.

Skype's business package will also allow companies to put a "click-to-call" button on their Web site. When clicked, a call will be routed via Skype through to the company's PBX system.

Companies will also be able to buy phone numbers from Skype, called SkypeIn numbers. The numbers are available for 20 countries. They allow a business, for example, to have a number with a New York area code but answer the number wherever the receiver is logged into Skype.

Skype says it has 405 million users worldwide, with about 276 million regular users of the service.

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Free BlackBerry Storm Apps: Seven Essential Downloads

release of the Research In Motion's first touch screen BlackBerry, the Storm, on November 21, were unfortunately filled with complaints from users, reviewers and critics alike regarding the extremely poor quality operating system that shipped with the device. And rightly so; RIM and Verizon Wireless rushed out buggy OS code that was simply not ready for prime time, in order to meet previously stated release dates.
However, behind the scenes, a variety of mobile software developers were studiously working those weeks away on new applications for the much-anticipated device. Now, less than a month later, Verizon has updated and improved the Storm OS, and many of those apps are starting to pop up on the Web. Best of all: Many of them are free.

Not all of the following applications were developed specifically for the Storm, but each and every one functions well on the device--with the exception of a few minor bugs. I've mentioned most of the apps in previous free BlackBerry software stories, but that was before the Storm landed and before anyone knew whether or not they'd work on RIM's first touch BlackBerry.

(Note: All of our recommended applications were downloaded and tested using a Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Storm 9530 running OS 4.7.0.75, the latest official Verizon release.)

WeatherBug for BlackBerry Storm: Makin' it Rain

One of my personal favorite free BlackBerry applications, WeatherBug is a unique and valuable mobile weather app. The software creates a dynamic icon on your BlackBerry home screen that updates itself according to your local weather conditions--or the weather conditions in a pre-specified locale. For instance, when it's partially cloudy, your WeatherBug icon displays an image of the sun with a cloud eclipsing it, as well as the current temperature and the day's predicted high and low. And when the weather changes, the icon is automatically modified accordingly.

The software pulls its information from the company's WeatherBug Network, which it claims is the largest, most technologically advanced weather system in the world, at more than five times the size of even the U.S. National Weather Service.

WeatherBug is available for a variety of BlackBerry devices, but the Storm specific-version is different in that you can employ touch-based gestures for navigation. And the app utilizes the Storm's built-in accelerometer to determine the device's orientation--portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal)--and customize the display accordingly.

Additional WeatherBug features include the ability to view a weather summary for the current day, with metrics like dew point, wind chill/heat index and humidity levels; seven day forecasts; maps with numerous overlays including current temperature and precipitation; and local weather alerts.

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Microsoft's new IE8 'kill switch' not enough

move to let users cripple Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) isn't enough to solve its newest antitrust problems with European Union regulators, according to the head of the company that filed the original complaint.

"That's one possible step," said Jon von Tetzchner, the CEO of Opera Software ASA. "But it doesn't really change much, does it?"

A December 2007 complaint submitted by Opera to the European Commission prompted the antitrust agency to charge Microsoft in January 2009 with stifling competition by bundling its browser with Windows. Specifically, the commission said that Microsoft "shields" IE from completion by distributing the application with its operating system.

Two weeks ago, when Microsoft confirmed that it would allow users of the upcoming Windows 7 to block IE from loading, some, including von Tetzchner, speculated that the option was prompted by the recent antitrust action.

"I would not be surprised if it was linked [to the charges]," he said.

Microsoft has declined to comment on whether the decision was connected to the commission's move.

Although the commission has not spelled out what it might demand of Microsoft if its charges stick, it has hinted that the American company might be forced to disable certain portions of IE and/or offer users the choice of other browsers.

von Tetzchner wants to see Microsoft do the latter. "The important thing would be consumer choice," he said. "The quick answer would be to offer other browsers. How exactly that would be done tactically isn't up to us, but consumers should have an equal choice of browsers."

He declined to comment on Opera's opinion about which browsers should be offered to Windows users in lieu of IE, but said they should be restricted to what he called "real browsers."

Google Inc., which has joined the antitrust action as an "interested third party" by virtue of its Chrome browser, declined to comment about Microsoft's new IE option in Windows 7. But like Opera, Google said it wanted the commission to make Microsoft offer users several browsers.

"The Internet was founded on choice and openness and this requires a level playing field with multiple options for accessing it," a Google spokesman said in an e-mail response to questions. "From the moment a computer is turned on, people should be able to access a range of browsers easily and quickly."

Mozilla Corp., the developer of Firefox, also has been given third-party status in the case. Mozilla, however, refused to comment when asked its position on the IE8 "kill switch" in Windows 7.

"The important thing is to make sure that the Web stays open and there is a choice," said Opera's von Tetzchner. "We haven't ensured that we won't lose competition in browsers, and that's something worth fighting for."

Last week, the EU extended Microsoft's deadline to reply to the charges over IE until April 21.

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What Cisco's power play really means

Ever since Cisco's $150 million investment in VMware a few years back, the two companies have reportedly enjoyed a close relationship. But until the Cisco Unified Computing System announcement, little emerged in the way of collaborative efforts, a few virtualized switches and whatnot aside.

Some are hailing the Unified Computing System, which bundles a blade server with networking and server virtualization, as the Next Big Thing. But I find it rather underwhelming.

In the storage area of my lab, there sits a rarity: a 3Com Netserver. Never heard of it? Neither has anyone else. Released in the late 1990s, my model boasts a pair of 200MHz Pentium Pro CPUs, 128MB of RAM, and an odd 3Com SuperStack interface block. It was 3Com's entry into the fixed-purpose server market, designed to run RADIUS and other back-end tools to support 3Com analog dial products and other errata. It reached end-of-lif about a year or so later because commodity servers could do the job as well or better, were cheaper, and came without the proprietary ball and chain.

I see elements of the 3Com Netserver in the Cisco/VMware announcement. Cisco is probably going to be marketing and selling fixed-purpose blades, most likely manufactured by Quanta or another third party, branding them as Cisco devices, and trying to sell them as high-end virtualization platforms. They may have picked a good baseline architecture in the Intel Nehalem foundation, but otherwise, it's still just a blade server with lots of RAM and a tarted-up chassis. It's also likely to be somewhat restrictive when compared to general-purpose blade offerings from HP, Dell, Sun, and so forth. So why bother? Why would Cisco want to get into this relatively highly competitive market where it has no history?

The answer is that the company wants to force the standards it's developed on the rest of the industry. It wouldn't be the first time. I have a few Cisco 7960 Power-over-Ethernet phones that won't work with anything but a proprietary Cisco PoE switch because Cisco tried to force its PoE standard before the 802.3af standard was ratified. This left early adopters in the lurch, with phones and switches that don't work with anything else since they conform to nonexistent standards.

There's little technical detail to be gleaned from the announcement, but the big items are the implementation of VN-Link switching (which will essentially allow VMs to be controlled at the network layer like a physical server would be), aggregation of 10G switching within the chassis, Fibre Channel over IP, and a few other tidbits -- but they're all Cisco's standards, not the industry standards. These technologies are necessary steps along the virtualization development road, but it's generally a good idea to make sure the rest of the computing industry is playing the same tune, especially when you're talking about six-, seven-, and eight-figure investments for the early adopters.

Then there's the centralized management side of the announcement. Forgive me for being a bit leery of that, since Cisco hasn't exactly been a paragon of innovation in terms of management tools, utilities, and frameworks. Why is a networking company offering virtualization management? It's along the same lines as a taco stand offering tax advice.

Interestingly, Cisco's Datacenter blog has tried to preempt any criticism of the announcement (inexplicably referencing the iPod), so I'm certain that it's well aware of the potential for this to fall flat. I'm certainly wary of Cisco's ability to succeed in this market.

Cisco and VMware have said that there will be more detail -- including pricing and availability -- coming in the next few weeks, so perhaps some of my skepticism will become obsolete as more information arrives. I'd love to get more detail on, say, smarter switching for VMs, 10G storage and network aggregation, and so forth. Meanwhile, I'm not going to bet the farm that Cisco's and VMware's vision will triumph.

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GlobalFoundries needs to pay for x86 license, Intel says

the former manufacturing arm of rival Advanced Micro Devices, needs to pay Intel for a license to manufacture x86 processors, an Intel spokesman said Tuesday.

Intel notified AMD on Monday that it believes the creation of GlobalFoundries violated the terms of the cross-license agreement that gives AMD access to the x86 instruction set and other processor technologies owned by Intel. GlobalFoundries is a joint venture between AMD and an Abu Dhabi investment fund.

"AMD has an agreement with Intel and the third party, represented by GlobalFoundries, has no rights unless they sit down to talk with us," said Chuck Mulloy, an Intel spokesman. "We've always been willing to license our technology and our patent rights in exchange for fair value. We need to have that discussion."

However, Intel has not contacted GlobalFoundries to discuss the patent licensing issue. "At this point, it's between Intel and AMD," Mulloy said.

The dispute between Intel and AMD threatens the technology ties that both companies depend upon. In its notice to AMD, Intel warned it intends to revoke AMD's right to use these patents, a move that seemingly aims to either drive AMD out of the x86 processor business or force the company and GlobalFoundries to renegotiate the cross-license agreement on terms more favorable to Intel.

Intel's notice triggers the start of a dispute-resolution mechanism that involves a mediator to resolve differences between the two companies, Mulloy said.

AMD didn't take long to respond to Intel, claiming in a filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday that Intel's notice was itself a breach of the cross-license agreement.

"Its very much a two-way street," said Patrick Moorhead, vice president of marketing at AMD, in an e-mail. "We told Intel that their attempt to terminate our license is a breach of the cross-license which gives us the right to terminate Intel's license."

AMD isn't the only company that would be hurt if the companies lose access to the other's technology portfolios. Losing access to AMD's technology patents would hurt Intel by restricting access to key AMD technologies that the company depends on for its Nehalem family of processors. These and other Intel chips incorporate AMD technology for multicore processors, integrated memory controllers, and 64-bit extensions to the x86 instruction set.

Mulloy dismissed AMD's assertion that Intel's notice had broken the cross-license agreement. "Notifying them that there's a dispute and a breach does not constitute a breach," he said.

The dispute with AMD comes at an awkward time for Intel. Antitrust regulators in key markets outside the U.S. appear to be closing in on Intel, and the company faces a U.S. antitrust action brought against it by AMD.

In its defense against antitrust claims, Intel has repeatedly said that the x86 processor market remains fiercely competitive. But Intel's latest move highlights the significant market power it carries over rivals by taking action that could lead to termination of the cross-license agreement that gives AMD the right to make and sell x86 processors.

Intel said its decision to notify AMD of the alleged breach of the cross-license agreement is not connected to any of the antitrust suits it faces.

"AMD signed a cross-license agreement in 2001. It laid out specifically what their rights were and what Intel's rights were. We're saying they breached that agreement, it has nothing to do with any of the antitrust allegations around the world," Mulloy said. "They signed an agreement and we want to hold them to the terms of that agreement."

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Tests Intel Atom Netbook Processor for 'green' Servers

Microsoft Corp. researchers are experimenting with low-powered servers using Intel Corp.'s inexpensive, efficient Atom processors designed for netbooks.

Though slow compared with state-of-the-art multicore server CPUs, Atom processors draw less electricity to run and cool them -- as little as one-twentieth of the energy required by conventional server processors, according to Jim Larus, director of software architecture at Microsoft Research, speaking at the company's TechFest earlier this week.

"They're not as powerful, so you may require many more of these servers in the data center, but since each one consumes less energy, the data center as a whole can be more efficient and get more work done for the same amount of energy," he said.

Data center operators are keenly aware today that the cost of the energy to power a data center over time is far greater than the cost of the server hardware itself.

In the video, Larus shows a prototype server rack holding 50 Atom systems, which, because of the low heat generated by the Atom, doesn't require a powerful fan for cooling the rack, though there are still fans for each individual Atom CPU. These could be used in Microsoft's massive data centers alongside conventional servers and servers deployed in shipping containers.

Microsoft is also working on software tentatively called Marlowe to take advantage of the Atom's fast sleep/wake features, according to an interview with Dan Reed, director of scalable and multicore computing at Microsoft.

Because they were designed for laptops and netbooks, Atom CPUs can be quickly put into sleep/hibernate states and then quickly woken up, said Dave Ohara, a consultant who runs the Green Data Center blog, unlike desktop and server CPUs.

According to Microsoft, today's average server sits idle 75% of the time. Putting idle Atom servers to sleep could cut their energy usage by another 90%, says Microsoft, to about 3 to 4 watts for the entire system.

Judging by the $300 to $400 cost of Atom-based netbooks, Ohara said that racks of Atom-based server blades could be made for even less.

"Intel hates this, because they want to sell you more expensive multicore Xeon processors," Ohara said. "But sometimes small is more beautiful."

Intel did not immediately return a request for comment.

Microsoft isn't the first to look at Atoms for servers. Last May, Tranquil PC Ltd., a Manchester, England-based PC maker, began selling home servers using the Atom.

SingleHop Inc., a Chicago hosting provider, began leasing dual-core Atom servers to customers in October. According to a post at SingleHop's blog, the Atom server is "faster than a Pentium 4" and uses 75% less power.

While Microsoft is looking at Atom servers for its own massive data centers, Ohara says Atom servers would be potentially more useful for small to medium-size businesses that prefer retaining security and control of their own servers over storing their data and using the applications of a cloud-based service such as Salesforce.com or Amazon.com Inc.'s S3.

"If you have a low-load situation, like most SMB servers are, an Atom can work fine," he said.

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Mac loses February's Market-Share Race, Windows Win Again..

Windows' market share rebounded last month as fewer users ditched Windows XP and more started running Windows 7, an Internet measurement company said today.

Meanwhile, Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X lost ground in February as its online share dropped by its largest amount in more than a year and a half.

In February, 88.4% of users who connected to the Web sites monitored by Net Applications Inc. did so from systems powered by Windows, an increase of 0.22 of a percentage point over January. The increase was the largest for Microsoft Corp.'s operating system since June 2007, when it gained 0.40 of a percentage point.

Although Windows XP lost share again last month -- the 20th consecutive month it has done so -- it slipped only 0.09 of a percent point, just a tenth of its 12-month average decline. In February, Windows XP computers accounted for 63.7% of all the machines that connected to Net Applications' sites.

Contributing to Windows' uptick was Vista, which ended the month with a 22.8% share, up 0.31 of a percentage point, and Windows 7, the not-yet-ready successor to Vista. The release of a public beta six weeks ago has put Windows 7 on 0.18% of all computers, an increase of 0.07 of a percentage point over January's share.

Windows 7's share is now within striking distance of the much older Windows 98 (0.21 percentage point), but it still trails by a large margin the almost-as-old Windows 2000 (1.35 percentage points).

The boost to Windows' share followed a record three-month decline in which the operating system lost 2.2 percentage points, and it marked the first time since October 2008 that Microsoft's operating system showed an overall gain.

But while Windows increased its share, Mac OS X's fell for the first time since October 2008, dropping 0.32 of a percentage point to end the month with a 9.6% share. That was the biggest one-month decline since June 2007, according to Net Applications' data, when Apple's software fell 0.45 of a percentage point.

February's slide didn't erase the 1.7 percentage point gain of the November-January stretch, also a record, but it did knock Mac OS X off its path toward a 10% share, pushing it back to December 2008 levels.

Net Applications' operating system market-share data can be found on the company's Web site.

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Koobface worm to users: Be my Friend in Facebook

A worm that hit Facebook last December has resurfaced, a security researcher said today, and is now hijacking user accounts -- not only for that social networking service, but also for MySpace, Friendster, LiveJournal and others.

The Koobface worm is again making the rounds on Facebook, said Jamz Yaneza, a research project manager with Trend Micro Inc. "But this is an improved version with some interesting functions," he said.

Like the variant that hit Facebook late last year, the newest Koobface tries to dupe users into clicking on a link that's included in a message from a friend. Clicking on the link displays a fake error message claiming that Adobe System Inc.'s Flash is out of date, and prompts the user to download an update.

The update is nothing of the sort, but is instead an executable file that installs the Koobface worm.

"Koobface.az," as Trend pegged the worm, rifles through a compromised PC, sniffs out browser cookies associated with 10 different social networking sites, uses the usernames and passwords within those cookies to log on to each service, searches for the infected user's friends, and then sends those people messages that include a link to the worm.

It looks for cookies connected to bebo.com, Facebook, Friendster, fubar.com, hi5.com, LiveJournal, MySpace, myYearbook, Netlog and Tagged.

Much of the message processing takes place on a remote server, said Yaneza, which the hackers control. That server communicates with each infected PC, receiving data and sending instructions. "This is pretty serious stuff," Yaneza said.

Trend Micro has identified more than 300 Internet protocol (IP) addresses hosting the worm, and although some have been blocked, others are still online. Those addresses are located in Asia, Yaneza said.

"This is maybe only in its early stages," he added, referring to the small but growing number of infections. "I'd call it fairly active at the moment."

Koobface.az isn't the only piece of malware to have struck Facebook recently. Trend, as well as other security vendors, have noted a pair of scams in the past week that targeted users of the popular service. The most recent sent messages to users claiming that friends had turned them in for violating Facebook's terms of service; when people clicked on the included link, they downloaded an application that spammed all friends with a similar message and may have harvested information from each Facebook account as it did so.

"I don't think this is a coincidence," said Yaneza, speaking of Koobface coming hard on the heels of other attacks against Facebook users. "[Cyber criminals] are looking at how these services are being used, and more importantly, their sizes," he said.

"Users need to be very, very careful about what they install when they're on these [social networking] services," Yaneza advised. "And they should be careful about how they use social networks and what information they put on them. The criminals are gleaning all the information they can and using it against you."

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AMD delays chip plant spin-off vote because of low turnout

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. was forced to give its stockholders another week to weigh the chip maker's plan to spin off its manufacturing operations, after too few shares were voted at a meeting held this morning.

AMD announced that 97% of the shares voted at the meeting, which was held in Austin, were cast in favor of the spin-off plan. But votes were cast for only 42% of the company's shares. To reach a quorum, a majority of the shares needed to be voted.

As a result, the company decided to adjourn the meeting until Feb. 18 to give stockholders more time to vote on the plan, under which AMD's chip plants would be taken over by a new entity that will temporarily be called The Foundry Co.

The spin-off would be majority-owned by an investment firm controlled by the government of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. AMD would hold a 34.2% ownership stake, down from the 44.4% that it was originally due to own — a decrease that the parties agreed to in December after a drop-off in the value of AMD's stock.

Asked about the low number of votes that were cast at today's meeting, AMD said that it moved too quickly to close the deal and didn't give stockholders enough time to vote.

"In essence, we pursued too aggressive a timeline for the vote," AMD spokesman Michael Silverman said via e-mail. "All parties remain fully committed to closing the transaction and, pending the stockholder vote, expect to close the transaction in the next few weeks."

Doug Freedman, a financial analyst at Greenwich, Conn.-based Broadpoint AmTech, accepted the company's explanation. "I just think the timetable on the proxy to vote was too tight," Freedman said.

However, Wall Street punished AMD for the delay. The company's share price was down nearly 12% this afternoon, to less than $2.10 per share.

AMD has been struggling financially for several quarters, and the spin-off deal is intended to help turn around its fortunes by offloading the company's costly manufacturing operations and the substantial debt it has accumulated there.

If the deal is eventually approved by stockholders, AMD would essentially be broken into two separate parts. AMD itself would continue to design and market its chips, while the spin-off would own and operate the company's manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Germany.

AMD has cleared the major regulatory hurdles to the deal, making the stockholder vote its last big obstacle. The company expects to complete the spin-off within a few days of getting stockholder approval, according to company executives.

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Microsoft Exchange 14 Webmail to get Gmail-like threads, Firefox support

Exchange 14, the next version of Microsoft Corp.'s market-leading corporate e-mail server software, will add support for Google Inc.'s Gmail-like conversation view, full support for the Firefox and Safari Web browsers, and integrated instant messaging, the company said Thursday.

The features will all be part of Exchange's revamped corporate Webmail service, Outlook Web Access (OWA), according to a blog and video posted by Microsoft's Exchange development team. OWA will be renamed Outlook Live in Exchange 14.

Microsoft has not set a release date yet, but it said last month that it had been beta-testing Outlook Live for more than a year with 3.5 million students and faculty at 1,500 schools.

Outlook Live is the Web-based counterpart to Microsoft's Outlook desktop e-mail client software. It is meant for users who are on the go or logging in from a smartphone. It is different from Windows Live Hotmail, Microsoft's consumer Webmail service.

OWA has been criticized by users for lacking the features of both Outlook and Gmail.

Besides adding full support for Firefox and Safari (in addition to its own Internet Explorer), Outlook Live will add an optional "conversation view" similar to Gmail's. E-mails will be grouped by senders and recipients, and can be hidden underneath the most recent one for a cleaner look.

Microsoft has not said whether e-mail threading will be available in the next version of the Outlook client. That feature is already available from a third-party software maker, ClearContext Corp.

Outlook Live will also let users see the "presence" of people such as co-workers on their contact lists, when those users are managed on the same Exchange 14 server. Users can then send IMs to people on the same network.

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Acronis True Image Home 2009

Acronis True Image Home 2009, merupakan solusi backup dan recovery yang cukup handal, mampu memproteksi PC setelah sati click program ini, dan memudahkan Anda untuk recover PC dari virus, download software yang tidak stabil, dan harddisk yang error atau rusak. Software ini akan membuat copy dari PC, termasuk system operasi, aplikasi, user settings, dan semua data, lalu mengembalikannya dari kerusakan hanya dalam beberapa menit, atau mem-backup file yang penting dan mengembalikannya dengan cepat. Untuk men-download Acronis True Image Home 2009 atau meng-upgrade-nya bisa langsung ke situs penyedia software ini (www.software.com), dengan harga $42.49.

Acronis True Image Home 2009 menyediakan fleksibilitas yang maksimum untuk memastikan PC user terproteksi, dan dapat melindungi PC dari semua event yang yang tidak terduga, seperti virus, software yang error, dan kerusakan harddisk. Jika system PC user rusak atau terkena serangan virus atau kerusakan lainnya, maka user dapat me-restore seluruh system disk dalam hitungan menit.

Acronis True Image Home 2009 juga akan mengembalikan semua settings untuk Microsoft Office, iTunes, Windows Media Player dan semua aplikasi yangtelah terinstal. User juga dapat menentukan apakah akan backup otomatis dari harddisk atau ke drive lainnya. Software Acronis True Image Home 2009 ini memiliki interface yang cantik, dan dapat bekerja di system Windows XP dan Vista.

Acronis True Image Home 2009 memiliki salah satu kelebihan dimana capat menemukan atau mem-backup file yang bertipe .zip. Program Acronis True Image Home 2009 ini juga support untuk menerima data dari dokumen di harddisk dan USB secara bersamaan. File di USB dapat disimpan sementara di Acronis TIB, format kompresi data yang powerful di Acronis, atau dalam format ZIP atau format file biasa.

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SSD SanDisk G3, 5x

SanDisk Corporation hari ini telah merilis SSD (Solid-State Drive) yang menggunakan teknologi flash memory NAND multi-level. SanDisk G3 Series, membangun benchmark dalam performace dan kepemimpinan SanDisk dalam industri SSD. Didesain untuk mengganti keberadaan hardisk (HDD) dalam PC notebook, terdapat dua tipe family SanDisk G3 ini, SSD C25-G3 dan SSD C18-G3, dengan standard dimensi bentuk masing-masing, 2.5 inch dan 1.8 inch. Masing-masing tipe akan dilengkapi dengan interface SATA-II, dengan kapasitas 60GB, 120GB dan 240GB, dan dengan harga perkiraan masing-masing $149, $249 dan $499.

SSD SanDisk G3 juga memiliki kecepatan lima kali lebih cepat dibandingkan harddisk 7,200 RPM, dan dua kali lebih cepat dibanding SSD di tahun 2008. SSD G3 memiliki clocking 40,000 vRPM1 dan performance sequencial 200MB/s read dan 140MB/s write. SSD G3 menyediakan LDE (Longterm Data Endurance) sebesar 160TBW (Terabytes Written) untuk SSD G3 versi 240GB.

“SSD SanDisk G3 juga akan memenuhi permintaan user dengan kapasitas 120GB dengan harga $250. Terdapat tiga kunci fitur SanDisk, algoritma SSD yang baru yang diberi nama ExtremeFFSTM, yang mampu membuat performance write secara acak untuk menambah 100 kali kekuatan dibanding algoritma tradisional. Fitur lainnya seperti 43nm multi-level cell (MLC) all bit-line (ABL) NAND flash, dan pengontrol SSD SanDisk, yang akan menyatukan NAND dan algoritma tersebut.” kata Rich Heye, wakil presiden senior dan general manager unit bisnis SSD di SanDisk.

SSD SanDisk G3 akan hadir di pertengahan 2009, dalam konfigurasi 2.5 inch PATA, dalam website sandisk.com. “Dengan kapasitas yang besar dan harga yang agresif, SSD nantinya akan menguasai dunia notebook corporate di tahun 2009. Menurut Web-Feet Research, yang telah menguji kehandalan SSD ini, notebook dengan SSD akan menambah cepat waktu booting, loading aplikasi, dan responsive user, yang semuanya kurang bisa dilakukan oleh harddisk.” jelas Heye.

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Suara Music Video Hilang Pada Youtube

Rabu lalu, YouTube bermaksud menyeimbangkan kebutuhan pemegang hal cipta musik dan content-nya dengan pengguna YouTube, hingga YouTube memberikan pilihan bagi siapa saja yang ‘membajak’ atau bahkan mendengarkan lagu dari musisi seluruh dunia, maka harus bersiap untuk ketidaknyamanan dalam menikamti videonya. Hasilnya ratusan video akan keluar tanpa suara, walaupun gambar masih tetap ada. Tindakan YouTube ini merupakan tanggapan dari permintaan Warner Music Group di bulan Desember lalu, dimana YouTube menghapus akses video musik dari Warner. Permintaan tersebut datang setelah adanya negosiasi mengenai persetujuan lisensi.

Setelah perjanjian lisensi tersebut disahkan, YouTube buru-buru memperingatkan user, bahwa mereka tidak akan bisa menonton video dengan musik yang dimiliki Warner Music Group, karena YouTube telah memblokirnya. “Lisensi music bisa sangat membingungkan, namun kamu mencoba membuat pengalaman menikmati video dan music untuk user, menjadi lebih simple. Kami inigin user memikirkan terlebih dulu sebelum men-download video dengan music, terutama menyangkut video dan music orang lain.” ungkap pihak YouTube.

Tindakan YouTube sempat membuat para ‘penggemarnya’ menjadi berang. Salah satu member YouTube, KariWolf, dalam blog-nya mengungkapkan, bahwa apa gunanya melihat video musik, jika tidak bisa mendengarkan lagu tersebut. Member lainnya bernama HispanicImpression, menyatakan YouTube suka menghapus video, dan bahkan sekarang malah menghilangkan suara music dalam video. HispanicImpression bahkan juga mengajak member dan pengguna YouTube lainnya untuk memboikot industri music, hanya membeli CD audio, dan tidak perlu men-download dari situs music online.

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Prototype Dikembangkan

Mungkin karena terinspirasi oleh jubah tak kelihatan dari film Harry Potter, para peneliti di Universitas Duke mengatakan pihaknya kini sedang mengembangkan sebuah prototype yang bisa membuat orang tidak kelihatan (invisible). Prototype tersebut yang biasa digunakan di fil fiksi Harry Potter untuk menyusup ke hall sekolah Hogwarts dan memata-matai musuhnya tanpa kelhatan, salah seorang peneliti, David R. Smith, mengungkapkan prototype tersebut bisa digunakan untuk improvisasi komunikasi wireless dan pelindung gelombang seismic.

Para peneliti Universitas Duke tersebut mengungkapkan kreasi terbaru mereka akan memuaskan daripada prototype simple yang pernah mereka kembangkan di tahun 2006. Prototype baru tersebut menggunakan rangkaian algoritma dan berbagai material untuk membuat gelombang elektromagnetik di sekitar object, dan memunculkan gelombang elektromagnetik di sisi lain, seperti menembus apapun, kecuali udara.

“Device yang kami kembangkan dapat menutup spectrum gelombang yang luas, hampir tak terbatas. Material dalam device prototype ini dapat membelokkan gelombang elektromagnetik. Ketika gelombang dibelokkan di sekitar material prototype, maka prototype akan muncul, jika object tidak berada dalam prototype.” ungkap Smith.

Duke mengatakan, fenomena prototype invisible ini sama seperti imajinasi atau khayalan. Sama seperti sewaktu melihat genangan air di jalan ketika siang yang terik, namun sebenarnya adalah refleksi dari matahari di langit. Prototype yang didesain para peneliti di Duke ini berukuran 20 inch x 4 inch dan dengan tebal kurang dari 1 inch. Prototype tersebut dibuat lebih dari 10,000 potongan yang disusun dengan baris parallel. Setiap potongan mengandung material fiberglass yang digunakan di board circuit dan disisipi dengan tembaga. Smith menjelaskan algoritma dalam prototype akan membentuk prototype dan ditempatkan di setiap potongan.

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Kolaborasi Mac dan Windows

Microsoft Corp hari ini mengumumkan akan merilis software Macintosh yang baru di akhir tahun ini, yang dapat memudahkan pengguna Office 2008 di Mac dapat berkolaborasi dengan pengguna Office 2008 versi Windows. Microsoft membuat pengumuman di Macworld Conference & Expo, dimana Apple Inc. yang ikut untuk pertama kalinya tanpa membawa Steve Jobs.

Document Collaboration Companion akan merilis tester Office 2008 untuk Mac, dalam versi beta tersebut. Namun, Microsoft tidak akan men-deadline kapan tanggak final rilis software tersebut, dan hanya mengungkapkan bahwa software tersebut akan dirilis di akhir tahun ini. Juru bicara Microsoft menyatakan program Office 2008 untuk Mac tersebut akan memudahkan user untuk men-download dan meng-upload dokumen untuk server enterprise, yang berjalan menggunakan SharePoint, atau layanan online gratis Office Live Workspace. Document Collaboration Companion juga menyediakan tool berbasis Mac yang memudahkan pengguna Office untuk melakukan share document.

Microsoft akan membuat ‘rombongan’ dari software Office 2008 untuk Mac tersebut untuk digunakan di mail client. Untuk itu, Microsoft akan memberikan Office 2008 gratis, yang akan menjadi transisi ke Exchange Web Services (EWS) untuk terkoneksi dengan Exchange mail servers.

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Turunkan Harga Processornya Hingga 48%

Pada hari Minggu yang lalu, Intel mengumumkan pemotongan harga processor-processornya, seperti processor Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Duo, Pentium dual-core, Celeron, dan jajaran processor Xeon. Penurunan harga ini menurut beberapa pihak merupakan reaksi atas peluncuran processor Phenom II "Dragon" dari AMD (Advanced Micro Devices).

Penurunan harga processor Intel lebih diperuntukkan bagi processor quad-core miliknya, seperti Q9650 (3.00GHz) yang harganya turun 40% menjadi $316 dari harga semula $530 untuk mengatasi keluarnya processor AMD, Phenom II. Namun processor generasi Celeron juga mengalami penurunan harga. Misalnya processor mobile Celeron 570 (2.00GHz) yang turun 48% dari $134 menjadi $70. Beberapa processor andalan Intel lainnya, seperti seri Xeon juga mengalami pemotongan harga yang cukup signifikan, yaitu sekitar 40%, seperti processor Xeon X3370 (3.00GHz) yang turun dari $530 menjadi $316. Tak ketinggalan seri Pentium dual-core E5200juga terkoreksi harganya sebesar 24% dari $84 menjadi $64.

Untuk seri processor mobile Core 2 Duo P8600 tidak banyak mengalami penurunan harga, hanya terkoreksi sekitar 13 persen dari $241 menjadi $209. Di waktu yang sama, selain memotong harga jual processor-processornya, Intel juga meluncurkan seri processor terbarunya, seperti seri desktop processor Core 2 Duo E7500 (2.93GHz) yang dijual seharga $133 dan seri Core 2 Quad Q9550s (2.83GHz), yang mempunyai konsumsi daya lebih rendah.

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Photoshop Lightroom 2

Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 semakin menambah maraknya tool editing dan organizer foto yang dikembangkan dari lingkungan family Lightroom. Walaupun Interface software baru ini sama dengan sebelumnya, namun Adobe telah membuat beberapa improvisasi yang tentunya menarik bagi professional desainer, seperti pencarian yang cepat dan lebih customizable. Harga software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 ini dibandrol dengan harga $299.

Kehandalan Lightroom 2 ini lebih banyak ke kemampuan untuk memproses gambar dan membantu user untuk mengorganisir dan menjaga track dari koleksi fotonya. Terdapat Library Filter yang ada di Lightroom 2 memudahkan user dalam pencarian tidak hanya dengan keyword, namun juga berdasarkan metadata, seperti caption, tanggal pengambilan gambar, lokasi, kecepatan dari proses sorting untuk view dan share image.

Jika user memiliki dual display, maka Lightroom 2 juga telah support dengan dual display, sehingga user dapat membagi pekerjaan antar dual monitor. Dengan Lightroom 2, user dapat memilih menampilkan atau menyembunyikan display kedua. Printing, Slideshow dan output web semuanya telah mengalami improvisasi di Lightroom 2. Dalam modul Print, user dapat drag-and-drop gambar ke dalam grid, gambar bisa dipertajam, juga ukuran kertas yang dapat diubah sesuai keinginan. Output web menawarkan pilihan penajaman gambar. Sedangkan fitur Slideshow dapat memudahkan user menambah warna yang bisa digunakan untuk mengganti warna background gambar.

Fitur editing yang non-desktruktif juga dimiliki oleh Lightroom, sehingga memudahkan user ketika user juga menggunakan Photoshop. Ketika menggunakan Adobe Photoshop CS3, user tidak perlu mengekspor gambar sebagai TIFF atau PSD lagi, namun Photoshop akan membuka format gambar tersebut, sehingga user dapat mengedit atau membuat sebuah panorama, kemudian gambar akan dikirim kembali ke Lightroom tanpa perubahan file yang asli.

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Lewat MySpace, 160.000 Orang Cari Kerja

Krisis keuangan dunia telah berlangsung sejak beberapa bulan lalu hingga mengakibatkan PHK besar-besaran di berbagai perusahaan di dunia. Untuk itu, MySpace dan situs jejaring social lainnya, ingin ‘merangkul’ mereka. MySpace yang dimiliki oleh konglomerat media International, News Corp, bernama Rupert Murdoch mengatakan kepada Reuters, bahwa situs pekerjaan di MySpace telah mengalami kenaikan traffic yang besar selama beberapa tahun terakhir, khususnya setelah menurunnya kondisi financial dunia.

Sejak beberapa tahun lalu, traffic MySpace telah meningkat, menurut laporan dari Angela Courtin, wakil presiden senior bidang marketing, entertainment dan content di MySpace. Menurut Courtin, jumlah pengunjung unik yang mengunjungi MySpace untuk mencari pekerjaan memiliki range usia 21 hingga 34 tahun. Jumlah pengunjung unik naik menjadi lebih dari 160,000 orang di bulan November 2008 lalu dari jumlah 83,500 di periode yang sama tahun lalu.

Rata-rata jumlah pengunjung di tiap menitnya meningkat menjadi 7 orang di bulan November 2008, dari angka satu per menit dalam periode yang sama tahun lalu. Pencarian kesempatan kerja adaah sesuatu yang sering bergantung dengan yang dinamakan “hubungan”, dan situs jejaring social seperti MySpace dan LinkedIn, telah menyediakan link hubungan tersebut.

Namun, MySpace bukanlah satu-satunya situs jejaring social yang menyediakan fitur lowongan kerja. LinkedIn tahun lalu memperlihatkan memebrnya telah naik sekitar 31 juta orang dari jumlah 18 juta orang di awal tahun 2008. Jumlah tersebut biasanya mencari koneksi untuk mencari pekerjaan dalam kondisi yang sulit.

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Lewat My160.000 Orang Cari Kerja

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Cari Pengganti Jerry Yang

Bagaimana kabar Yahoo pasca pengunduran diri co-founder sekaligus CEO-nya, Jerry Yang? Rupanya salah satu perusahaan raksasa Internet setelah Google ini sedang sibuk mencari pengganti Jerry Yang.

Hingga kini dari dalam intern Yahoo sendiri setidaknya telah mucul dua kandidat kuat pengganti Yang. Mereka adalah Carol Bartz, yang kini menjabat sebagai CEO of AutoDesk; dan Susan Decker, yang kini menjabat sebagai President. Lebih lanjut mengenai pencalonan dua kandidat ini, juru bicara Yahoo, Kim Rubey menolak memberi keterangan dan berspekulasi lebih lanjut.

Sementara itu di tempat terpisah, Colin Gillis, direktur riset TheStreet.com mengatakan bahwa Yahoo membutuhkan seorang pimpinan yang kharismatik, optimis dengan visi kepemimpinan yang kuat, karena perusahaan ini baru saja mengalami keterpurukan sehingga pimpinan yang baru diharapkan dapat mendorong moral karyawan untuk bangkit dan memenangkan kompetisi, serta kembali merebut hati masyarakat.

Lebih lanjut menurut Gillis, penunjukan Bartz sebagai CEO akan dapat memberikan satu sinyal positif ke Wall Street bahwa Yahoo serius dalam mengupayakan pengembalian citra perusahaan dan dominasi Yahoo di dunia Internet.

Sedangkan mengenai Decker, Gilliss tidak banyak memberikan pendapatnya mengenai kesempatannya untuk posisi CEO. Menurutnya Susan Decker tidak akan memberikan awal yang baru bagi Yahoo, banyak anggota pemegang saham yang melihatnya sebagai ’orang dari rezim lama’ yang telah membawa Yahoo dalam keadaan seperti saat ini.

Walaupun, Bartz dan Decker adalah dua kandidat utama untuk saat ini, namun Gillis melihat adanya kemungkinan untuk munculnya kandidat ketiga. Mengenai hal ini Gillis berspekulasi bahwa kemungkinan besar kandidat ketiga akan muncul dari anggota pemegang saham dari Carl Icahn's group. Dari Icahn's group sendiri menurut Gillis ada 2 nama kandidat, yaitu pejabat CEO Nextel Partners, John Chapple; dan Frank Biondi, yang sekarang memimpin WaterView Advisors private equity group sekaligus juga direktur dari beberapa perusahaan seperti Hasbro, Amgen dan Cablevision.

”Jika sampai Frank Biondi atau John Chapple terpilih, maka kita akan melihat kesepakatan antara Yahoo dan Microsoft segera berlangsung”, kata Gillis.

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Harddisk External 500GB

Selasa lalu, Toshiba telah meluncurkan harddisk eksternal setengah terabyte untuk consumer, menurut rencana akan digunakan sebagai device backup portable yang mudah untum library music digital, home video, dan file lainnya. Menurut Toshiba, harddisk yang masih ‘rahasia’ ini memiliki USB 2.0 dengan finishing hitam yang glossy dan gambar putih, juga menawarkan operasi ‘ultra tidak berisik’.

Kapasitas penyimpanan harddisk Toshiba ini mampu menampung 142,000 foto, 131,000 file music, dan 222 jam untuk memutar dalam kualitas video DVD atau 58 jam dari video high-definition. Harddisk terbaru milik Toshiba ini dipadu dengan tiga versi model yang stylish, yakni model electric blue 400 GB dan carbon grey 320 GB, juga hot-rod red 250 GB. Bobot produt harddisk ini sekitar 6 oz dan memiliki sensor shock-internal untuk melindungi mekanisme drive dan memberikan pelindung anti slip. System yang bisa diinstal di dalam hardisk Toshiba ini kompatibel dengan Windows XP, Windows Vista dan Mac OS X 10.3.9 atau di atasnya, tentunya dengan harga yang cukup sesuai, $180.

Tidak hanya Toshiba yang menciptakan hardisk eksternal berkapasitas besar, seperti Western Digital yang juga menawarkan My Passport Studio dengan kapasitas 320GB hingga 500GB, juga power USB dan anti benturan. Vendor lainnya yang bergerak di bidang yang sama dengan Toshiba, termasuk Cavalry, Iomega, LaCie, Maxtor dan Seagate.

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Minta Maaf Atas Link Porno

etelah beberapa waktu lalu Cina berniat memblokir situs Google dan Baidu akrena adanya content porno dan vulgarisme, kini sepertinya kedua situs tersebut menyadari kesalahan mereka. Google dan Baidu, search engine paling populer di Cina telah meminta maaf karena tidak segera menghapus link ke materi pornografi, berdasarkan pemberitahuand dari pihak pemerintah Cina, Senin lalu, yang mencoba melacak content ‘vulgar’ di web.

Perdana menteri keamanan public Cina sebagai pemimpin kampanye nasional untuk memerangi perusakan moral public dan kesehatan fisik juga mental bagi anak muda, menyatakan telah mengkritik 19 website dan operator Internet, termasuk Google, Baidu dan Sina Corp., karena tidak memperhatikan peringatan mengenai content web mereka yang dianggap vulgar.

“Pemerintah Cina akan tetap melanjutkan mengekspose, menghukum ataupun mematikan website tersebut untuk mengingatkan kesalahan mereka. Aksi selanjutnya akan segera dilakukan untuk membersihkan ‘lingkungan’ Internet.” Ungkap Cai Mingzhao, deputy director State Council Information Office.

Sementara itu, Baidu dalam website-nya hari ini menyatakan bahwa pihaknya merasa bersalah, dan meminta maaf kepada pengguna Internet untuk adanya efek negative yang diberikan dari Baidu. Sedangkan Sina Corp. juga mengungkapka hal yang sam, dan menunjukkan kesedihan yang mendalam atas kerugian yang dilakukannya kepada pengguna Internet.

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Adobe Creative Suite 4

Aplikasi Adobe CS4 Master Collection dilengkapi dengan interface dan integrasi untuk mendesain, juga mengedit image, halaman web, situs mobile, aplikasi desktop, animasi, film, layout print, dan support untuk format digital terbaru. Namun Adobe Creative Suite 4 ini merupakan aplikasi dengan tugas berat, dan membutuhkan waktu lama ketika menginstal, sulit untuk dipelajari, dan menghabiskan resource yang banyak. Terdapat aplikasi seperti Photoshop yang menawarkan upgrade terbaru untuk pengguna.

Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection mengandung setiap aplikasi di dalam Adobe Cretaive Suite. Master Collection ini juga menawarkan toolbox digital yang handal bagi professional. Terdapat aplikasi untuk editing pixel digital dan graphic vector, layout print, video, dan animasi, juga content untuk mobile device.

Jika dibutuhkan software Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection ini untuk bekerja, maka CS4 merupakan upgrade dari CS3. Jika Photoshop bisa digunakan untuk content 3D, sedangkan Illustrator digunakan untuk mengatur multi dokumen. Sementara Flash biasa dipakai untuk membangun animasi. Untuk Premiere, digunakan untuk menangani batch encoding dan foto dari camera, sekaligus bersama Soundbooth dapat digunakan untuk meng-convert rekaman pembicaraan ke dalam text.

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Add-On Firefox Super Cepat

SiteLauncher merupakan ad-on dari Firefox yang memberikan jalan super cepat untuk membuka website favorit hanya menggunakan keyboard. Satu kunci special akan mengaktifkan Launcher, yang diikuti oleh kunci unik untuk launching situs. SiteLauncher sangat ebrguna sebagai metode super cepat untuk membuka website yang sering digunakan user, sebagai contoh user mungkin ingin menambahkan situs Google, Gmail, Facebook dan Twitter ke SiteLauncher, dimana SiteLauncher akan memberikannya dengan cepat.

Dibandingkan dengan bookmark standard, address bar dan sebagainya, SiteLauncher mampu menampilkan paling cepat dan mudahuntuk navigasi ke situs yang diinginkan. SiteLauncher memiliki penampilan yang minimalis, hanya akan tampil ketika user menekan hotkey atau kunci tertentu saja. SiteLauncher hadir dengan shortcut default dan user tidak perlu menghafalkan masing-masong shortcut, karena setiap menekan hotkey maka akan tertampil SiteLauncher.

Beberapa situs populer yang ada di default SiteLauncher yakni Amazon (link afiliasi), Google Calendar, Dictionary, Digg, eBay (link afiliasi), Facebook, Gmail, Google, IMDB, LifeHacker, MySpace, Reader, Wikipedia, dan YouTube. User dapat menambah website yang diinginkan atau menghapus website tersebut. SiteLauncher (www.donesmart.com/sitelauncher) telah support dengan semua versi Firefox 2 dan 3, juga system operasi Windows (dites XP dan Vista), berbasis Linux (dites di Debian), dan OSX X (dites di Tiger dan Leopard).

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Index.dat Analyzer

Index.dat Analyzer, merupakan tool atau software untuk melihat, menguji dan menghapus content di file index.dat. File Index.dat adalah file yang tersembunyi di computer yang mengandung semua track aktivitas online, ketika user mengakses Internet, semua situs yang dikunjungi, list URL, serta file dan dokumen yang baru saja diakses user. File Index.dat telah tersimpan di computer yang berpotensi mendapatkan ancaman privacy, yang dapat ditemukan hacker tanpa sepengetahuan user.

Menurut Microsoft, dibuatnya Index.dat Analyzer ini digunakan untuk menyimpan website yang dikunjungi dan mempercepat kinerja Internet Explorer. Namun, Index.dat Analyzer ini tidak sepenuhnya menyimpan web cache, tetapi hanya informasi kebiasaan browsing user, dan Index.dat Analyzer ini dapat dihapus dengan cara biasa, serta tidak ada yang membuktikan bahwa Index.dat Analyzer dapat mempercepat kinerja Internet Explorer. Index.dat Analyzer hanya ‘duduk’ diam tersembunyi dan me-record situs mana saja yang dikunjungi user.

User dapat men-download dan menginstal Index.dat Analyzer, dan tidak akan mengganggu system operasi user ketika diinstal, dan semua akan berjalan normal, walaupun suer menghapusnya. Cara penggunaannya sangat mudah. Pilih satu dari tiga category dari menu, History, Cookies atau Cache. Tandai checkbox untuk masukan yang diinginkan untuk dihapus dan tekan tombol “Delete Checked”. User dapat men-cek dan uncheck semua masukan dan menggunakan filter yang dapat membantu mengurutkan list untuk menemukan yang dicari. Product Index.dat Analyzer ini akan dijual gratis oleh Microsoft dan berfungsi hingga 30 hari, dan Microsoft memiliki proteksi privacy yang dinamakan Shadow Professional, dengan pilihan dapat menghapus masukan index.dat.

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Processor Quad-Core untuk Apple by Intel

Sekarang ini semuanya tampak memerlukan multi chip atau dual-core. Namun, Intel telah mempersiapkan pilihan lainnya, Mac Pro dengan fasilitas satu atau dua chip Intel Xeon quad-core. Setelah disahkannya aturan dari Gordon Moore, co-founder dan Chairman Emeritus dari Intel Corp., perusahaan pembuat processor tersebut lantas melanjutkan peluncuran chip baru pada minggu ini.

Namun, faktanya Acer telah lebih dahulu merilis notebook pertamanya dengan fasilitas chip processor Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000, yang berjalan dengan kecepatan 2GHz. Laptop Acer yang dinamakan Aspire 8930G-7665, memiliki screen 18.4 inch, merupakan laptop kelas gamer dan pengganti desktop, seharga $1,799.

Sedangkan Intel juga menciptakan chip mobile lainnya, type 2.93GHz T9800, 2.66GHz P9600 Core 2 Duo, 2.66GHz T9550, dan 2.53GHz P8700, dengan range harga $241 hingga $530. Intel, yang tentu saja telah menjadi supplier Apple yang eksekutif, memiliki kesempatan bagus untuk memperpanjang kerja sama dengan Apple. Denganadanya empat core, maka Q9000 tersebut akan dimasukkan ke laptop MacBook Pro 17 inch, dan chip Intel lainnya akan menjadi kandidat untuk seri MacBook di tahun 2009.

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Apple Mulai Jatuh

Saham Apple mulai jatuh, Selasa lalu, setelah adanya berita bahwa CEO Apple, Steve Jobs tidak akan hadir sebagai keynote address di MacWorld Expo minggu depan, karena adanya masalah dengan kesehatannya. Dalam sebuah blog Gizmodo, Apple menyanggah bahwa pihaknya akan memilih strategi lain, dengan memegang keynote tanpa Jobs, yang memang mengalami masalah kesehatan. Namun, Apple tidak berkomentar mengenai apa yang tertulis di blog tersebut dan tidak merespon permintaan IDG News untuk konfirmasi.

AAPL (Apple's Nasdaq stock) telah ditutup di angka $86.61, Senin lalu, kemudian jatuh lagi 2 persen sekitar $84.72. Apple juga mengumumkan tangal 6 Desember lalu bahwa pada MacWorld Expo, 6 Januari mendatang, Phil Schiller, wakil presiden senior di San Fransisco, akan menggantikan Steve Jobs menjadi keynote address. Telah puluhan tahun sejak Schiller kembali ke Apple di tahun 1997, Jobs-lah yang memberikan pidato dan Apple menggunakannya untuk launching platform product yang penting, termasuk iPhone di tahun 2007 dan MacBook Air di tahun 2008.

Pada waktu yang sama, Apple mengatakan akan menghentikan pameran di MacWorld Expo setelah event bulan Januari. Apple menyatakan bahwa trade show tersebut telah menjadi bagian minoritas dalam strategi marketingnya. Kemudian berkaitan dengan kesehatan Jobs, sejak tampilnya ia di Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference di bulan Juni lalu, beberapa pengamat yang hadir mengatakan bahwa Jobs tampak kurus.

Bahkan bulan Oktober lalu, Apple sudah mengalami penurunan lebih dari 10 persen setelah adanya masalah kesehatan kanker pancreas yang diderita oleh Jobs. Untuk itu, Apple kemudian buru-buru mengkonfirmasi dari section “citizen journalist” yang tidak terfilter di website CNN, bahwa kasus anjloknya pendapatan Apple, bukan karena alasan sakit Jobs.

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