Pc News

[Rasputin]

Intel's New Core 2 Duo Processors Run Blazingly Fast in PC World Tests

Exclusive PC World tests show that PCs equipped with Intel's new Core 2 Duo processors, formerly code-named Conroe, set new high marks for desktop performance--they're the fastest we've seen by far.

With this chip line, due to launch formally on July 27, Intel decisively reclaims the power desktop crown from competitor AMD.

In our WorldBench 5 test suite, Intel's Core 2 Duo reference system outscored a matching system equipped with AMD's high-end Athlon 64 FX-62 chip by 17 percent. We also tested shipping PCs based on several chips in the Core 2 Duo family, including a water-cooled, overclocked ABS machine that posted a mark of 181 on our WorldBench 5 test--the highest WorldBench score we've ever seen. (See our detailed test results. For full reviews of four new Core 2 Duo-based systems, click the product names in the results chart.)

All of our Core 2 Duo configurations performed impressively, and the higher-end models in particular should allow power users to handle demanding multimedia work on their PCs more quickly and to perform multiple computing tasks at once more efficiently. Gaming, too, will receive an impressive boost from systems equipped with the new chips.

Though its new products are good news for users, things are different for some Intel employees, as the company announced the layoff of 1000 management employees today.


The Core 2 Duo Line
The Core 2 Duo processor line ranges from the 1.86-GHz E6300 chip ($183) with 2MB of cache to the 2.93-GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 chip ($999) with 4MB of cache; all have a 1066-MHz system bus. (Intel leaves the "Duo" designation off of its X6800 CPU.)

Though Core 2 Duo chips use the same Socket 775 interface as current Pentium 4 and Pentium D chips, they require new chip sets, so you'll have to get a new motherboard--you can't just pop a Core 2 Duo chip into your existing Intel-based PC and reap the tremendous performance gains. The Core 2 Duo reference systems we tested used a motherboard with Intel's 975X Express chip set (boards using the P965 Express chip set will also be available); nVidia and ATI have their own Core 2 Duo boards as well.

The new processors and systems will be on sale from various vendors beginning July 27, with some configurations of Core 2 Duo machines checking in at surprisingly reasonable prices.

Our motherboard Core 2 Duo test setup consisted of an Intel 975X Express board, 2GB of DDR2-667 memory, a pair of SATA hard drives configured in a striped array, and an nVidia GeForce 7800GT-based graphics card. We swapped first a 2.93-GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 chip and then a 2.67-GHz Core 2 E6700 chip into that setup to generate scores we could compare directly to an otherwise identically configured system featuring AMD's new DDR2-capable AM2 platform and its top-of-the-line FX-62 processor.

Both of the Intel setups bested the AMD-based system on every test in our WorldBench 5 suite as well as on every one of our gaming tests (see chart below). The improvement on WorldBench 5's multitasking tests, which involve running a Web browsing session in Mozilla while encoding a file with Windows Media Encoder, was particularly dramatic. You'll also see notable gains in Photoshop and similar graphics applications.

Footnotes: 1Tests run at 1024 by 768, 32-bit color without anti-aliasing. fps = frames per second. 2This system was liquid-cooled and overclocked to 3.5-GHz. 3This system ran Windows XP Media Center Edition. 4This system had 1GB of RAM. 5This system ran Windows XP Home. Tests conducted by PC World Test Center. For details on how we test, go to our WorldBench 5.0 page. All rights reserved.
Chart notes: Reference PCs were configured with 2GB of DDR2-667 memory, a pair of SATA hard drives in a striped array, and an nVidia GeForce 7800GT-based graphics card. All systems ran Windows XP Profesional and had 2GB of RAM unless otherwise noted. Higher is better for WorldBench 5 and the gaming tests. Elsewhere, lower is better. Bold denotes best score. Italicized systems are non-Core 2 machines for testing comparison.

[Rasputin]

More Test Details
The Core 2 Extreme X6800 reference system logged a score of 160 on WorldBench 5, 17 percent higher than the 137 turned in by the corresponding system using AMD's $1100 Athlon 64 FX-62. And the PC using the less expensive E6700 chip managed a score of 153 on WorldBench--still 12 percent better than the FX-62 PC's mark.

In addition to our lab-built systems, we tested several vendor-supplied PCs. For example, Dell's $3985 XPS 700, a high-end system based on the 2.67-GHz Duo E6700 processor, came with 2GB of RAM, an nVidia GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual-GPU graphics board with 1GB of SDRAM, and two 320GB SATA hard drives in a Raid 0 array. That system (whose price includes a 24-inch wide-screen monitor) also earned a score of 153 on WorldBench 5, well ahead of the 142 posted by the previous top scorer, a 2.6-GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-60-based Xi system.

But even those notable scores paled in comparison to the performance of the overclocked system that ABS sent us. The $4199 water-cooled ABS Ultimate X9--which shipped with 2GB of RAM, a pair of Radeon X1900 Crossfire graphics boards, two superfast Western Digital 150GB SATA drives configured in a striped RAID array, and a Core 2 Extreme X6800 chip overclocked from 2.93 GHz to run at 3.5 GHz--turned in a WorldBench 5 score of 181. Obviously, this system is not a likely choice for typical buyers, but its score is by far the highest we've seen from a shipping system. And it may indicate how much headroom Intel's Core microarchitecture possesses.
It's unlikely that ABS could have wrung such impressive overclocking performance out of its Core 2 Extreme system if Intel hadn't put a lot of effort into reducing power consumption in the Core microarchitecture.

Intel's previous generation of Pentium Extreme Edition chips drew up to 135 watts of power. The Core 2 Extreme X6800 draws only 75 watts, according to Intel's thermal design specification; and the more mainstream Core 2 Duo parts bump that number down to 65 watts. As a result, ABS had the headroom to dramatically overclock its system. Moreover, the design should enable system vendors to build high-performance PCs in smaller, quieter cases.

Intel developed its Core microarchitecture from the ground up, focusing on multiple CPU cores, high performance, and low power consumption--there's a lot of technology packed onto its 65nm die (shown below). Using lessons learned in building its successful Pentium M mobile CPUs, Intel first improved its mobile line and released the Core Duo CPUs (for details on these chips see "Notebooks Rev Up With Dual-Core Tech"). Then the company set out to strengthen the performance of its desktop chips, while dramatically reducing their power consumption. For example, when your PC is sitting idle or running just a few simple apps, the Core 2 Duo can clock down or shut off parts of its logic to conserve power.

Much of Core 2 Duo's performance advantage over its Pentium predecessors comes from an additional execution unit on each CPU core. (Core 2 Duo chips have four such units per CPU core versus the Pentium D's three per core.) The additional unit per core, plus some clever coding that lets the chip fuse common groups of instructions into single instructions, allows Core 2 Duo chips to outperform Pentium D chips that run at higher clock speeds

A staggering 4MB of L2 cache keeps the higher-end Core 2 Duo chips supplied with the data they need in order to run at full speed, and Intel has carefully tuned their prefetching algorithms, which preemptively cache the appropriate data before the CPU needs it.

While most dual-core chips, including AMD's Athlon 64 line and Intel's Pentium D CPUs, dedicate a certain amount of cache to each CPU core, the Core 2 Duo provides shared access to its entire 4MB of cache. And the chip can distribute that cache between its cores as needed. If one core is churning away at a particularly complex task, it can use most of the L2 cache, while the other core runs a simple task that demands less cache memory.

[Rasputin]

Intel has produced a winner with its Core Duo 2 design; and for the first time in years, the company holds a clear performance advantage over its longtime rival, AMD. But while the short-term performance picture may look bleak for AMD, don't count the company out.


AMD plans to introduce aggressive price cuts this month; and later this year, it will launch 4x4, an enthusiast platform that enables systems to use a pair of high-end dual-core chips. Though applications and games capable of taking full advantage of multiple CPU cores are rare as yet, we expect the performance--and price--of 4x4 systems to be quite high.

Looking further into the future, AMD will open up its HyperTransport bus, allowing other companies to design specialized coprocessors and accelerators and drop them onto the same superfast bus that AMD uses to shuttle data between the CPU, RAM, and other key components in a system. Such coprocessors could be built into a CPU package for multisocket systems or designed as add-in boards for a new slot type dubbed HTX.

This initiative, which AMD is calling Torrenza, will debut on the server side, where multisocket systems are already common and where specialized processors could accelerate Java code or database operations. Desktop and gaming applications are farther away; but if demand is high enough, Torrenza-based physics or graphics coprocessors could appear in the next few years.

Ultimately, however, while 4x4 and Torrenza are interesting technologies, neither is likely to have a large mainstream impact. AMD's true answer to Core 2 Duo will arrive in 2007, when it is scheduled to launch its next-generation CPU architecture, dubbed "K8L." K8L and single-chip quad-core processors will be compatible with 4x4 motherboards, according to AMD.

In the meantime, no matter what their budget, demanding PC users have a high-performance option in the Core 2 Duo line, which should keep their processor-intensive applications humming along.

[Rasputin]

AOL Offers Total Care PC Protection

AOL is set to become the latest company to enter the security software market, releasing a beta of its all-in-one PC health care suite.

Today, AOL expects to release a beta version of Total Care, its soup-to-nuts security and PC performance software suite that will compete with similar all-in-one products from Microsoft, Symantec, and McAfee.

"The Internet is a confusing hostile place for anyone using a PC today," says Andrew Weinstein, an AOL spokesperson. Total Care, he says, is designed to make PC security simple and hassle-free.

Total Care will be available as a premium service to both AOL and non-AOL members when the final version is launched, but the free beta will be available to AOL members only. Pricing and a launch date for the final release of Total Care have not been announced.

The beta version of the suite will be available to AOL members through the company's beta.aol.com site.


All in One
The components of Total Care include virus, spyware, and phishing protection; a firewall; PC backup and remote PC backup capabilities; system tune-up utilities; online, on-site, and telephone tech support; PC rollback functionality; and identity theft protection. The beta release, however, will not include PC online backup functionality or phishing and ID theft protection, AOL says.

AOL is relying heavily on technology partners such as McAfee, which will provide pieces of the suite's antivirus and firewall technology. Other partners, including MarkMonitor, power the antiphishing component, while Iolo Technologies is behind the service's PC tune-up tools.


Not Members Only
This is AOL's first attempt to market a security suite that is available to the public, not just to its members. AOL already offers free antivirus, computer check-up, and firewall tools to its members via the AOL Safety and Security Center section of its AOL proprietary service. Weinstein says that Total Care will be far more robust than its previous tools were.

For example, the existing offerings do not include on-site PC tech support, which is available in Total Care through a partnership with Gurus2go. Total Care customers will be able to secure Gurus2go services at a reduced (but as yet unannounced) price. When obtained directly from Gurus2Go, the service costs $100 for the first hour of onsite support. Total Care will also include free chat-based and phone-based PC tech support options.

AOL watchers say that the release of the feature-rich Total Care is a smart move by the struggling online giant, which lost 850,000 members in the first quarter of 2006. AOL estimates that it currently has 24.5 million members worldwide, 18.6 million of whom are located in the United States.

"If AOL wants to stop losing customers and start attracting new ones it's going to have to offer compelling reasons," says Joe Laszlo, senior analyst with Jupiter Research.


New Threats, New Security Solutions
Total Care will compete with Microsoft's recently launched Windows Live OneCare product, as well as with upcoming suites such as Symantec's Norton 360 and McAfee's Falcon.

All three of these services take a more comprehensive approach, adding PC tune-up tools to their security offerings.

One reason for the move toward these types of suites: Today's PC hazards are multipronged and can't be defeated by virus protection alone, says Amrit Williams, research director for Gartner, a market research firm. Today's threats include adware, viruses, and phishing attacks that attempt to trick you into disclosing personal and financial information. The new, more-comprehensive security suites try to take the guesswork out of repairing PC vulnerabilities and poor PC performance.


AOL Could Shake Up Security Suite Battle
"PC maintenance is getting easier, cheaper, and more comprehensive," says Joe Wilcox, another senior analyst with Jupiter Research. Microsoft has put a lot of pressure on competing security vendors, including AOL, to offer cheaper, feature-rich products, he says.

Individuals can purchase a 12-month subscription to Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare for use on up to three PCs for $50 directly from Microsoft. AOL, McAfee, and Symantec won't discuss the pricing of their upcoming all-in-one PC health products.

Security software prices are forecast to drop even farther over the next year, as more ISPs offer protection from Internet threats for free or at a reduced price, Gartner's Williams says. "Security is something ISP customers are going to begin to expect for free," he says.

ISPs accounted for 14 percent of consumer sales of security software last year, up from 5 percent in 2005, Gartner reports. AOL and Comcast currently offer customers pieces of McAfee software for free. Qwest Communications recently threw in OneCare for free with its Internet service offerings.

[Rasputin]

Share Photos and Stories With Tabblo

I'm torn when it comes to sharing my digital photos. I love to share large collections of images, but I also like to include some text explaining the story behind the pictures. Unfortunately, most of the services out there make me choose between pictures and words. Until now. I've been testing a free new service called Tabblo, launched just last week, and found that it offers a pretty nifty way to share stories and photos.

Tabblo combines features of photo sharing, blog-hosting, and social networking services. It allows you to upload an unlimited number of photos, organize them into an attractive layout interspersed with text, and share the finished results--Web pages called tabblos--with whomever you like. While it lets you add as much text as you want, Tabblo keeps the focus on your photos. It automatically works the text neatly into your layout, keeping everything looking pretty.

"We allow people to build Web pages that tell their stories," says Antonio Rodriguez, the CEO of Tabblo. The service came about in response to several trends, he says, including the popularity of digital photography, more widespread use of broadband, and the explosion in appetite for online self-expression through things like blogs and wikis. "People want to be the content creator, not just the content consumer," he adds.

When you sign up at Tabblo.com, you're led to the tabblo creation tool. You can select individual photos to add one at a time, or you can use one of the available options for uploading multiple photos. And you can choose among upload utilities that use Java, Flash, or ActiveX. Tabblo also offers a plug-in for Google's Picasa that will upload photos from that application, as well as integration with Yahoo's Flickr service, for adding photos you have stored there.

After your photos are uploaded, you select the layout and theme you'd like to use. This is where Tabblo really shines. Unlike basic photo sharing services, Tabblo lets you create a Web page that displays your photos the way you'd like them to look. You can choose between large and small photos, or mix both in one layout. You can also choose how much text you want to display.

Once you select the basic layout, you're brought to the editing tool that works right in your browser. While it sometimes feels like a browser-based tool--it occasionally stutters when you attempt to resize an image, for example--it works remarkably well. You can drag and drop photos to new locations, zoom in on and pan images, rotate photos, and edit text.

You can create hyperlinks to other tabblos (all of which have a unique URL) and to other Web sites. In some respects, Tabblo is similar to services like Google's Page Creator, which lets you create basic Web pages. For photo sharing, however, I prefer Tabblo. While Page Creator is a handy way to create very basic Web sites, its finished results don't always have the polish of a tabblo--especially when showing off photo galleries.

When you're satisfied with the look of your tabblo (I created my first in less than 20 minutes), you can share it. You can decide whether to open it up to the public or make it available by invitation only. Viewers can leave comments, and can view the original copies of the photos in your tabblo. They can also purchase posters of your tabblo or prints from it--which is how the company plans to make its money for now. There is no advertising on the site, and Rodriguez says there is no plan to add any. Further down the road, the company is eyeing premium services, such as the ability to host a tabblo at your own URL. Tabblo is also looking at adding support for either video or audio content.

Tabblo isn't perfect. It doesn't allow you to create slide shows, and the tools available to edit your text aren't extensive. But if you're looking for an easy way to share your photos and want to tell a story along with them, Tabblo is the service for you.

[Rasputin]

Good News for DRAM Market

The world's largest chip packaging and testing company has tied up with Taiwan's biggest DRAM (dynamic RAM) maker to invest $50 million in a new company, saying the DRAM market has improved after years of oversupply and consolidation.

Chip packager Advanced Semiconductor Engineering will invest $30 million in the joint venture, while Powerchip Semiconductor will contribute $20 million to form Power ASE Technology in Taiwan.

Power ASE will focus on testing and packaging DRAM chips, a business ASE shunned for years because of the boom and bust nature of the market.

"We believe the DRAM industry has become more consolidated than it was in previous cycles, with solid fundamentals, decreasing imbalance between supply and demand, and lower cyclicality risk," ASE said in a statement, adding it expects demand for DRAM to grow in the future.

Since the turn of the century, many companies have avoided the DRAM industry. The bursting of the dot-com bubble caused DRAM sales to fall by a staggering two-thirds in 2001 to $11.9 billion, according to Gartner Dataquest, a far cry from its glory days in earlier years. The industry peaked at $41.8 billion in 1995.

Over the next few years, the market slowly recovered. But many DRAM makers continued to post losses, and the sting of the sharp 2001 downturn caused companies to seek new products such as NOR and NAND flash memory chips, pseudo SRAM (static RAM), image sensors, for profits.

Fortunes have improved dramatically for DRAM makers. Worldwide DRAM revenue is expected to rise to $26.4 billion this year, up 6.2 percent over $24.8 billion last year, according to market researcher iSuppli.

The new investment in DRAM testing and assembly shows companies chip makers outside the memory segment of the industry have regained faith in the industry. ASE used to focus almost exclusively on logic chips, which have garnered a far higher profit margin than memory chips over the past few years. The new joint venture with Powerchip shows the company believes the industry has turned a corner for the better.

"They are saying that the DRAM industry is improving and the risk of investing in new factories is lower," said James Huang, chip industry analyst at SinoPac Securities in Taipei.

[Rasputin]

Sony Aims High With New Camcorders

Sony is expanding its line-up of high-definition camcorders to quickly transition its Japanese sales from standard-definition to HD, the company said Wednesday.


The two new camcorders are also the first based on the AVCHD format, which was recently developed by Sony and competitor Panasonic. They are promoting AVCHD as a camcorder industry standard and allow for storage of high-definition content on conventional 8cm DVDs. The standard also applies to image storage on hard-disk drives and memory cards.

The cameras both look similar to Sony's HDR-HC3 that was launched earlier this year. That camcorder recorded onto DV tape. The new cameras round-out Sony's initial line by recording onto hard-disk drive (HDR-SR1) and 8cm DVD (HDR-UX1).
Coming Soon
The DVD-based HDR-UX1 will go on sale September 10 in time for Japan's summer school sports season. Camcorder sales typically jump by three to four times during this period, making it a key sales period. The hard-disk drive-based HDR-SR1 will be available one month later on Oct. 10. In the U.S. they will be available at about the same time for $1400 and $1500, respectively.

Consumers will initially be restricted to playback of the AVCHD discs on personal computers. While conventional DVD players can read the 8cm DVDs, the AVCHD specification is not supported by any players at present. Some new players are expected to include AVCHD playback support while software will be available for computers.

Sony is hoping the cameras will help it push its sales ratio of standard to high-definition camcorders to around one to one by the end of this year. In 2005 about 30 percent of the camcorders it sold recorded in high-definition, and the company is keen to push this higher as part of its "HD World." Self-produced high-definition content is one of the last segments of the HD World vision to be realized now that TV broadcasting has made the switch to high-definition and prerecorded video is available on Blu-ray Disc.

Later this year Sony plans to add gaming to this vision with the launch of the PlayStation 3. The games console will also support playback of AVCHD discs, said Sony.

Both cameras have 10X optical zoom, a 3.5-inch widescreen LCD monitor, can record high-definition video at 1080i and sport an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface). They weigh 1.5 pounds for the DVD model and 1.4 pounds for the hard-disk drive model, and can comfortably be held with one hand.


Both hard-disk drive and DVD camcorders are fast catching on among consumers because of their random access capability. Combined sales of standard-definition camcorders based on the two recording media make up more than half of Japan's camcorder market.

Users will derive maximum recording time from the HDR-UX1 by using a dual-layer DVD+R disc. In the camera's highest resolution recording mode, about 27 minutes of video can be stored on one disc. In long-play mode this increases to 60 minutes. Using an 8cm DVD-R, recording time is between 15 minutes and 32 minutes. The HDR-SR1 can store up to four hours of video in its highest quality mode, and up to 11 hours in the lowest quality mode on its 30GB drive.

[Rasputin]

New Build of Windows Vista Released

SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft continues to make changes to Windows Vista as the OS creeps along until its scheduled release later this year. The company today released an interim build of the OS that improves its overall performance and makes specific tweaks recommended by beta testers.

The release, build number 5472, is now available to Windows Vista Technical Beta program participants, select Technology Adoption Program (TAP) customers, and Microsoft Developer Network subscribers. About 500,000 users should receive the build, said Mike Burk, a Microsoft product manager for Windows Client.

Specifics
The build makes setting up and controlling a user account on the OS "less chatty," Burk said. "Testers said there were too many prompts and dialogs, so we reduced the number of those," he said.

The build also improves the Windows Media Center feature in the OS so it more quickly shuts down and starts up, Burk said.

In conjunction with the build, Microsoft also released an updated SDK (software development kit) so developers and software vendors can develop applications on top of the new release, he added.


Vista Release Date Update
Overall, build 5472 of Vista shows some of the final tweaking Microsoft is making for performance and quality as it prepares to finish Release Candidate 1 of Vista, which is due out by Aug. 31, Burk said. Microsoft is still targeting a final release of Windows Vista for business customers in November, with general availability of the OS on PCs in January 2007.

However, Burk echoed similar sentiments expressed by top Microsoft executives that these release dates are only targets, and the "actual and final dates will be based on quality of the product." It's this kind of talk that has led many to believe the release of Windows Vista will be delayed even further.

To add fuel to that belief, Microsoft recently announced that business customers will have to wait until the end of the year for Office 2007, which has been on a similar release track to Vista and was scheduled to reach business customers in October. The company also pushed the consumer release of Office 2007 a few months beyond its scheduled January 2007 release.

[Rasputin]

AOL Offers Total Care PC Protection

AOL is set to become the latest company to enter the security software market, releasing a beta of its all-in-one PC health care suite.
Today, AOL expects to release a beta version of Total Care, its soup-to-nuts security and PC performance software suite that will compete with similar all-in-one products from Microsoft, Symantec, and McAfee.


"The Internet is a confusing hostile place for anyone using a PC today," says Andrew Weinstein, an AOL spokesperson. Total Care, he says, is designed to make PC security simple and hassle-free.

Total Care will be available as a premium service to both AOL and non-AOL members when the final version is launched, but the free beta will be available to AOL members only. Pricing and a launch date for the final release of Total Care have not been announced.

The beta version of the suite will be available to AOL members through the company's beta.aol.com site
All in One
The components of Total Care include virus, spyware, and phishing protection; a firewall; PC backup and remote PC backup capabilities; system tune-up utilities; online, on-site, and telephone tech support; PC rollback functionality; and identity theft protection. The beta release, however, will not include PC online backup functionality or phishing and ID theft protection, AOL says.

AOL is relying heavily on technology partners such as McAfee, which will provide pieces of the suite's antivirus and firewall technology. Other partners, including MarkMonitor, power the antiphishing component, while Iolo Technologies is behind the service's PC tune-up tools.


Not Members Only
This is AOL's first attempt to market a security suite that is available to the public, not just to its members. AOL already offers free antivirus, computer check-up, and firewall tools to its members via the AOL Safety and Security Center section of its AOL proprietary service. Weinstein says that Total Care will be far more robust than its previous tools were.

For example, the existing offerings do not include on-site PC tech support, which is available in Total Care through a partnership with Gurus2go. Total Care customers will be able to secure Gurus2go services at a reduced (but as yet unannounced) price. When obtained directly from Gurus2Go, the service costs $100 for the first hour of onsite support. Total Care will also include free chat-based and phone-based PC tech support options.

AOL watchers say that the release of the feature-rich Total Care is a smart move by the struggling online giant, which lost 850,000 members in the first quarter of 2006. AOL estimates that it currently has 24.5 million members worldwide, 18.6 million of whom are located in the United States.

"If AOL wants to stop losing customers and start attracting new ones it's going to have to offer compelling reasons," says Joe Laszlo, senior analyst with Jupiter Research.


New Threats, New Security Solutions
Total Care will compete with Microsoft's recently launched Windows Live OneCare product, as well as with upcoming suites such as Symantec's Norton 360 and McAfee's Falcon.

All three of these services take a more comprehensive approach, adding PC tune-up tools to their security offerings.

One reason for the move toward these types of suites: Today's PC hazards are multipronged and can't be defeated by virus protection alone, says Amrit Williams, research director for Gartner, a market research firm. Today's threats include adware, viruses, and phishing attacks that attempt to trick you into disclosing personal and financial information. The new, more-comprehensive security suites try to take the guesswork out of repairing PC vulnerabilities and poor PC performance.


AOL Could Shake Up Security Suite Battle
"PC maintenance is getting easier, cheaper, and more comprehensive," says Joe Wilcox, another senior analyst with Jupiter Research. Microsoft has put a lot of pressure on competing security vendors, including AOL, to offer cheaper, feature-rich products, he says.

Individuals can purchase a 12-month subscription to Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare for use on up to three PCs for $50 directly from Microsoft. AOL, McAfee, and Symantec won't discuss the pricing of their upcoming all-in-one PC health products.

Security software prices are forecast to drop even farther over the next year, as more ISPs offer protection from Internet threats for free or at a reduced price, Gartner's Williams says. "Security is something ISP customers are going to begin to expect for free," he says.

ISPs accounted for 14 percent of consumer sales of security software last year, up from 5 percent in 2005, Gartner reports. AOL and Comcast currently offer customers pieces of McAfee software for free. Qwest Communications recently threw in OneCare for free with its Internet service offerings.

[Rasputin]

Microsoft Offers Some New Money

can't help but think that if I actually used software to track and manage my finances--instead of just making a yearly resolution around tax time--the family budget would be better managed. But whether I actually use it or not, finance software is one of the core apps for many smart PC users, who tend to enjoy a significant payoff for their conscientiousness. Those people--and even wannabes like me--tend to take note when new versions hit the market. So Microsoft got my attention with the release of four members of its popular Money family of personal and business finance apps.
An intriguing newcomer is Microsoft Money Essentials, a $20 download for the more casual or entry-level personal finance customer. It focuses heavily on the online banking user and offers tools for monitoring balances and keeping track of debts and spending. Microsoft says it's easy to set up and gives you access to "thousands of financial institutions nationwide," Money Essentials promises to categorize your spending and keep you apprised of upcoming bills. It may provide a low-cost admission to the personal finance arena for fence sitters who don't think they'll need all the power-user features of the more expensive packages.

The bread-and-butter version is Microsoft Money 2007 Deluxe. (Is it just me or does this sound like this one should be the high-end version instead of the basic package?) Well, any confusion about naming conventions aside, this $50 version has the basic features expected from a personal finance app, including tools for balancing your checkbook, improving your credit rating, decreasing high-interest debt, and managing investments. Deluxe also includes a basic tax estimator. A new feature for this version and its two higher-priced siblings is Savings & Spending Budget, with tools for avoiding overspending, reducing debt, and planning savings goals.

The top member of the Money personal finance clan is the 2007 Premium edition. For $80, it has everything the Deluxe version has plus extra tools for retirement and long-term-financial goals planning (ouch! you're behind on that one too?). It also promises to guide you in maximizing investments and choosing the right approach with "tax smart investment decisions." Microsoft says that Premium includes "$300 of free financial services." Among the freebies are an Experian credit report and a year's monitoring, a tool for managing capital gains, H&R Block's Deduction Pro donations tracker, and a year's online backup of Money.

Then there's the $90 small business-capable member of the family: Microsoft Money 2007 Home & Business, which branches out with capabilities for automatic online bank account consolidation, inventory tracking, and payroll management. There's a new feature in the package's Invoice Designer that includes a dropdown menu and ruler that's intended to make for easier navigation, organization, and creation. This package comes with "$1300 in free financial services." Notable additions to the Premium edition offerings include PayCycle online payroll for a year, and Salary.com's data on the compensation market. Microsoft touts a $30 mail-in rebate at introduction on this product as well as the Premium package and offers a $20 rebate on Deluxe.

All of the new products announced today are available for download now. Although we haven't had a chance to try these new products yet, they are among the most well-known finance products out there. Keep an eye on PC World for coverage of these and other types of software. Who knows, one of these days, I might actually carry through on my yearly resolution to install and use a finance application--and start using my PC for one of the main things it was designed for.

[Rasputin]

Fake Google Site Hides Trojan Horse

Scammers have set up an exact copy of the download page for Google's Toolbar plug-in in an attempt to lure users to download a Trojan backdoor.

Reported by security outfit Surfcontrol, some versions of the scam even spoof the correct Google Toolbar web address for Internet Explorer, using Google's own redirection service in an attempt to hide the real, non-Google address.

The Trojan itself--W32.Ranky.FW--is designed to turn the PC into a bot zombie, and is spread using the conventional technique of asking recipients of a spam e-mail to follow an embedded link.

According to Surfcontrol, the version detected by the company fails because of poor programming of defective compilation, but it remains a proof-of-concept in how to attack users using a simple combination of convincing elements.

Clever Combination
Outwardly simple, the scam has a clever combination of tricks. Although using parts of established Web sites is standard in phishing scams, it is relatively unusual to go to the length of reproducing en entire page precisely, in combination with a convincingly-spoofed web address.

The fact that the spammed e-mail appears to come from Google could convince recipients to follow the link.

Assuming that a re-engineered version appears--highly likely--once infected, users will notice nothing untoward, although their PCs will have become part of a bot-controlled network.

Google has been attacked in similar way before. Last September, scammers faked the Google search page itself in order to aid the spread of a worm.

More recently, a Trojan attacked the company's adsense advertisements, replacing them, in-browser, with fake ones on any PC infected with the malware.

[Raiden]

Yeh...I've heard about this, and google aint the first Company to be framed this way...

[Rasputin]

Motorola Expands Razr Lineup

Motorola, high on the success of its Razr clamshell phones, unveiled several new devices this week as it kicked off its annual analyst conference in Chicago.

The popular family of thin handsets, which has now sold more than 50,000 units, have done much to power recent market share gains by the Schaumburg, Illinois, company. Motorola is now aiming for sales of 500,000 Razr devices, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Zander said in an opening speech monitored via a Web cast.

The Krzr (pronounced "craze-er") is a variation on the Razr made narrower in response to requests from youth, women, and customers in Asian countries, said Ron Garriques, president of Motorola's mobile devices business. The phone is one centimeter narrower than the Razr, according to the company. It features a glass surface on top and brushed magnesium on the bottom, and is equipped with up to 1GB of removable memory and a 2-megapixel camera with an 8X zoom lens.

The Krzr will come in GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) versions. The CDMA phone, with high-speed EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) capability, will include a dedicated key on the outside of the phone for controlling an integrated music player. Both versions of the Krzr are being tested now and heading for launch in the third quarter, Garriques said.


Slider Cell Phone
Motorola also unveiled what Garriques called its first major product with a "slider" form factor in which the keypad slides down from behind the display when needed. The phone, called the Rizr, features a 2-megapixel camera, music capability, and removable memory.

A processor using Arm Ltd.'s Arm 11 architecture will deliver high performance on a couple of Motorola's upcoming UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) phones. Both will support HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and allow two-way video calling. The Razr XX, announced Monday, will have an integrated music player, Garriques said. The Razr Maxx is packed with features including external touch-sensitive music player controls, a 2-megapixel camera and a micro SD slot that can hold 2GB memory cards. Both are due in the fourth quarter of this year.

Also Monday, Motorola announced a version of the Slvr handset, called the Slvr L7c, that can use EV-DO networks. It also has streaming audio and video capabilities and integrated GPS (Global Positioning System) technology for location-based services. It is expected to ship in the fourth quarter.

[Raiden]

RedWine I'm not starting a fight but did u really come up with these stuff yourself or just got a frm a site?

[Rasputin]

Using Illegal Software May Not Pay

Business Software Alliance collects millions from companies caught using software illegally.

The Business Software Alliance, a watchdog group representing the nation's leading software manufacturers, today announced it has collected over $2 million in settlements from 19 U.S. companies that were running illegal software.


In addition to making the payments, each company agreed to delete any unlicensed copies of programs it was using, purchase any needed replacements, and strengthen software management practices, the BSA said.

"We hope that these announcements will encourage other businesses to re-examine and update, if necessary, their software management systems," Jenny Blank, director of enforcement at the BSA, said in a statement. "Businesses should be certain that using fully licensed software is part of their corporate responsibility checklist."

Software piracy is illegal, and companies can be fined up to $150,000 for each software title copied, the BSA said.


Turned In
Blank said most investigations begin with a call to BSA's hotline or with an online report to the BSA by a company's current or former workers. "Once we have that information, we review it and assess it to make sure it's something we should act on," Blank said. "Then we contact those companies, generally through our attorneys, and invite them to cooperate with us by doing a self-audit, as opposed to being involved in a court lawsuit."

That process can take anywhere from two weeks to several months, Blank said. "These companies decided to settle because it made sense to find an amicable resolution rather than go to court," Blank said.


Who Paid?
Some of the companies that settled with the BSA:

Arcadian Healthcare, a Cranford, New Jersey-based provider of home oxygen therapy and clinical respiratory care, paid BSA $150,000 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Microsoft, Symantec, and McAfee software installed on office computers.
BioTrove, a Woburn, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, paid BSA $82,443 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe Systems, Apple Computer, Microsoft, and Symantec software on office computers.
Dimensional Innovations, a Shawnee Mission, Kansas-based design and specialty fabrication firm, paid $80,000 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Microsoft, and SolidWorks programs on office computers.
Goodman Networks, a Farmers Branch, Texas-based telecommunications equipment services company, paid $295,000 to settle claims that it was using unlicensed copies of Bentley Systems, McAfee, and Symantec software.
King Venture, a Southfield, Michigan-based family-restaurant acquisition, management, and development company, paid $85,000 to settle claims that it used unlicensed copies of Microsoft and Symantec software.
LinkShare, a New York online performance-based marketing company, paid $89,000 to settle claims that it was using unlicensed copies of Adobe, McAfee, Microsoft, and Symantec programs.
Monterey Mushrooms, a grower, shipper, and marketer of fresh mushrooms in Watsonville, California, paid $165,000 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Autodesk, Borland Software, Microsoft, and Symantec programs on office computers.
Noble Systems, an international call-center software, computer telephony, and customer contact technology company in Atlanta, paid $80,000 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Microsoft, and Symantec software installed on its office computers.
PCB Piezotronics, a Depew, New York-based manufacturer of electronics for the measurement of dynamic pressure, force, and vibration, paid the BSA $175,000 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Autodesk, Borland, Microsoft, The Mathworks, SolidWorks, and Sybase software on office computers.
The Polo Club Boca Raton Property Owner's Association, a social and sporting community club in Florida, paid $85,000 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Microsoft, and Symantec software on its computers.
Superior Production Partnership, an automotive and appliance dies manufacturer in Columbus, Ohio, paid the BSA $140,000 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Autodesk, Microsoft, and Symantec programs installed on its computers.
U.S. Manufacturing, an auto industry axle housing maker in Warren, Michigan, paid BSA $300,000 to settle claims that it had unlicensed copies of Adobe, Microsoft, and Symantec software on office computers.