New Technology Reviews!.: government

Samsung may also be seeking their own OS alternative to Android

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<img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="146" mce_src="http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6528/samsungmobile.jpg" src="http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6528/samsungmobile.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="Samsung Mobile" width="183" />Samsung has a lot on their plates. With the recent failings of HP’s WebOS many have speculated the possibilities of Samsung or even HTC buying up the failed OS by HP. We have seen plenty of reports regarding this exact situation and now with the Apple vs Samsung lawsuits and Google buying Motorola the time for Samsung to make a move might be closer than we think.</div>
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Over at ft.com they even went as far as to say “Samsung needs to hit the reset button.” With the Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned in Europe, Netherlands, parts of Australia and possibly more areas things are getting a bit dire for Samsung. Next on Apple’s sights is the U.S. market and they aim to seek injunctions against the entire Galaxy S and Tab arsenal from Samsung. If things were ugly before, they are only going to get worse.</div>
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Samsung is primarily a hardware manufacturer and they are great at it, but as far as software goes, they are a bit lacking. This is what many consider their weakest link and something that may ultimately cost them down the road. Getting software out isn’t nearly as easy for the company as the hardware aspect of things and small acquisitions like Steve Kondik wont help them in the long run.</div>
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According to rumors, Google’s recent move into the hardware side of things when they acquired Motorola Mobility seriously raises both the stakes and the concerns for Samsung, and they can no longer expect to reply on Android throughout the future. Recent reports out of South Korea suggest that Samsung had been dismissive of the government’s idea or suggestions of building a homegrown operating system – until the Google Motorola acquisition.</div>
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Is Samsung in a difficult position and need to rethink their strategy and plans for the future, or will Android remain open and fair following the Motorola deal? A potential purchase of their own OS to slim down their dependance on Android could be in Samsung’s future and may even be a top priority for Samsung but none of this has been remotely confirmed. Do you guys think the Google-Motorola acquisition will cause issues in the future for other manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC, and LG or is this all just speculation?</div>
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Samsung may also be seeking their own OS alternative to Android

Samsung has a lot on their plates. With the recent failings of HP’s WebOS many have speculated the possibilities of Samsung or even HTC ...

India may ban Blackberry devices if they don’t conform to security demands

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<img alt="RIM logo" class="size-full wp-image-72075 aligncenter" height="108" mce_src="http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/2967/03rimlogo.jpg" src="http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/2967/03rimlogo.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="RIM logo" width="200" />In terms of smatphone platform market share, it’s no secret that Android is in the lead and in a recent study, it revealed that Android currently controls just over 40% of the smartphone platform market share. RIM in the past might have been one of the big boys but according to recent study the company isn’t doing so well and is on the decline.</div>
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India may ban Blackberry devices if they don’t conform to security demands

In terms of smatphone platform market share, it’s no secret that Android is in the lead and in a recent study, it revealed that Android ...

Anonymous Teases NATO Hack, Challenges FBI

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Thursday NATO said it was investigating claims that “hactivist” group Anonymous had breached its security and obtained “scads” of confidential material.</div>
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The group made its latest feat known via Twitter early Thursday morning, claiming to be sitting on 1 GB of sensitive data. It even offered a sample, a NATO Restricted PDF, but the file has sense been removed. Given the sensitivity of its new-found booty, the group actually refuses to publish <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_fixed="1" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">all</span> the data, saying that to do so would be “irresponsible.”</div>
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“Hi NATO. Yes we haz [sic] more of your delicious data,” the group tweeted. “You wonder where from? No hints, your turn. You call it war; we laugh at your battleships.”</div>
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“NATO is aware that hacker group released what it claims to be NATO classified documents on the internet,” a NATO spokseman said in a statement. “NATO security experts are investigating these claims. We strongly condemn any leak of classified documents which could potentially endanger the security of NATO allies, armed forces and citizens.”</div>
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The NATO hack arrives just after the FBI conducted a sweep across the nation on Tuesday, arresting 16 alleged Anonymous members. 14 individuals were arrested in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, and Ohio. Two other individuals were arrested on similar charges in two separate complaints filed in the Middle District of Florida and the District of New Jersey.</div>
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“We want to send a message that chaos on the Internet is unacceptable,” Steven Chabinsky, deputy assistant FBI director, said in an interview with NPR on Wednesday. “[Even if] hackers can be believed to have social causes, it’s entirely unacceptable to break into websites and commit unlawful acts.”</div>
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Both Anonymous and LulzSec followed up with a joint statement to the FBI and Chabinsky on Thursday, listing what the groups deem as unacceptable including government deception, corporations aiding the government and lobby conglomerates pushing for higher profits.</div>
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“These governments and corporations are our enemy. And we will continue to fight them, with all methods we have at our disposal, and that certainly includes breaking into their websites and exposing their lies,” the statement reads. “We are not scared any more. Your threats to arrest us are meaningless to us as you cannot arrest an idea. Any attempt to do so will make your citizens more angry until they will roar in one gigantic choir. It is our mission to help these people and there is nothing – absolutely nothing – you can possibly to do make us stop.”</div>
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“We become bandits on the Internet because you have forced our hand,” the statement concludes. “The Anonymous bitchslap rings through your ears like hacktivism movements of the 90s. We’re back – and we’re not going anywhere. Expect us.”</div>
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Anonymous Teases NATO Hack, Challenges FBI

Thursday NATO said it was investigating claims that “hactivist” group Anonymous had breached its security and obtained “scads” of conf...

British ISPs bicker over plans for fast rural broadband

<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" src="http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/3143/btvisiontunnel200200.jpg" /></p><br/>BT has questioned its competitors' commitments to developing fast broadband across rural Britain, following complaints from other ISPs about BT's control over essential parts of the network.<br/><br/>Other British ISPs including TalkTalk and Virgin Media wrote to government minister Ed Vaizey earlier this month to complain about BT's pricing to allow them to access the necessary poles and ducts.<br/><br/>The aforementioned group of UK ISPs claimed that BT's prices and terms and conditions for physical infrastructure access will limit the government's plans to roll-out fast broadband to rural Britain.<br/><br/><strong>Rural broadband woes</strong><br/><br/>The physical infrastructure access (PIA) process should offer rival broadband providers access to poles and ducts to carry fibre broadband to rural Britain.<br/><br/>BT's prices are said to be five times as high as the actual costs, according to its competitors.<br/><br/>"We are unanimous in the belief that PIA will be a commercial and policy failure if [BT's] Openreach does not revise its prices… the product is unfit to proceed into commercial use," the letter reads.<br/><br/>For its part, BT has been quick to issue a statement claiming it is: "The only company who has installed broadband equipment in exchanges serving the last 10% of the UK and so we would question whether these companies are genuinely interested in serving rural Britain given their track record."

British ISPs bicker over plans for fast rural broadband

BT has questioned its competitors' commitments to developing fast broadband across rural Britain, following complaints from other ISPs a...

UK government calls for block on internet porn

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/computing/internet-and-broadband/images/adsl-broadband-cable-200-200.jpg"><br /><P>The UK government has called for a block on internet porn, in an attempt to protect British kids from seeing inappropriate content online.</P><br /><P>In what is sure to be seen as a misguided PR exercise, Communications minister Ed Vaizey told <EM>The Sunday Times</EM> that he wanted to protect children from being exposed to porn by the content being blocked by default.</P><br /><P>Any internet users that wanted to access XXX websites would then have to opt-in via their internet service provider. </P><br /><P><STRONG>Technological barriers</STRONG></P><br /><P>However, the technological barriers to putting such an 'opt-in' plan into practise don't seem to have been considered in a great amount of depth.</P><br /><P>"This is a very serious matter. I think its very important that it's the ISPs that come up with solutions to protect children," said Vaizey.</P><br /><P>"I'm hoping they will get their acts together so we don't have to legislate, but we are keeping an eye on the situation and we will have a new communications bill in the next couple of years."</P><br /><P>Andrew Heaney, executive director of strategy and regulation for UK ISP TalkTalk's told <EM>The Sunday Times</EM>: "Our objective was not to do what the politicians want us but to do what is right for our customers. If other companies aren't going to do it of their own volition, then maybe they should be leant on."</P><br /><P>A Virgin Media spokesperson added: "We already have an opt-in approach on mobiles. We're able to block sites, so it would be possible to do the same on the internet. It is just about finding the right approach."</P><br /><P>While a BT spokesperson was a little less sanguine about the ease of introducing such a system for its broadband customers, adding: "There are many legal, consumer rights and technical issues that would need to be considered before any new web blocking policy was developed. </P><br /><P>"BT has provided customers with a content blocking system since 2004 which targets websites on a list compiled by the Internet Watch Foundation, an accredited association set up by the internet industry. Sites on the list contain images of child sexual abuse, which are illegal to view in the UK, under the 1978 Child Protection Act."</P><br /><P>No mention of the importance of basic well-considered parenting seems to have been considered in the context of these pie-in-the-sky plans to censor access to porn to UK broadband consumers. </P>

UK government calls for block on internet porn

The UK government has called for a block on internet porn, in an attempt to protect British kids from seeing inappropriate content online. I...

First Think City electric vehicles delivered to Indiana government, Leslie Knope calls dibs on all of 'em

<DIV class=separator style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQCPk9H2nHJI4W5O1U2IdNldJolxR-aGJydfAFUmHiYAYEVa6IwHasnDkfUN8XGyMzTfvJvIoiA8vG8ANbVquyl68e337emlrQCXhyphenhyphenLBaUSyZ9v0b4KqzYP4e7Qp5mlmVhSCKgqU28G4/s1600/ron-swanson-think-city.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQCPk9H2nHJI4W5O1U2IdNldJolxR-aGJydfAFUmHiYAYEVa6IwHasnDkfUN8XGyMzTfvJvIoiA8vG8ANbVquyl68e337emlrQCXhyphenhyphenLBaUSyZ9v0b4KqzYP4e7Qp5mlmVhSCKgqU28G4/s320/ron-swanson-think-city.jpg" width="320"></A></DIV>Headed to Pawnee, Indiana anytime soon? Don't lie, it's a place that survives in only two places: your mind, and NBC's studios. The only "Pawnee" in proximity of the Hoosier State lies in Illinois, but it's cool, we can still pretend. After hearing that Think was planning to hawk its City electric vehicle in the Big Apple this year, it looks as if Indiana's government will actually be first to acquire it. Fitting, though, given how Think's primarily manufacturing facility is parked in Elkhart, IN. The first 15 City EVs -- described by the company as "all-electric, zero-emission cars designed in Scandinavia for fleet applications and urban commuters" -- have hit the ground running, delivered to the Department of Administration to be used principally by the Department of Natural Resources in the state's park system. Naturally, Ron Swanson was at the ribbon-cutting ceremony with a mind to swipe one for his own personal use, but once he learned of Think's plans to finally roll out retail distribution in select US cities in the second half of 2011, his conscience got the better of him. Phew.

First Think City electric vehicles delivered to Indiana government, Leslie Knope calls dibs on all of 'em

Headed to Pawnee, Indiana anytime soon? Don't lie, it's a place that survives in only two places: your mind, and NBC's studios. ...

Update: Australian government takes Wikileaks off banned website list

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/computing/internet-and-broadband/images/internet-generic-200-200.jpg"><br /><P><STRONG>UPDATE</STRONG></P><br /><P>Back in May 2009, the Australian government put Wikileaks on its banned list. </P><br /><P>As of 29 November and <a href="http://www.zdnet.com.au/wikileaks-removed-from-acma-blacklist-339307604.htm?feed=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">according to ZDnet</A>, this is no longer the case.</P><br /><P>"Currently, the ACMA list of prohibited URLs that is notified to accredited filter providers does not contain any URLs within the Wikileaks website," said the ACMA. </P><br /><P>"Since April 2010, the ACMA has investigated two complaints about specific pages of content on the Wikileaks website, which both resolved to content found to be not prohibited."</P><br /><P>Wikileaks <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/wikileaks-hacked-prior-to-latest-diplomatic-leaks-911423">hit the front pages</A> this month, with a new release of government documents that show the inside goings-on of diplomacy in the US.</P><br /><P>In the dosuments our very own Prince Andrew is namechecked, as is the governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King.</P><br /><P><STRONG>ORIGINAL STORY</STRONG></P><br /><P>The Australian communications regulator has issued a stark warning that websites who link out to 'banned' hyperlinks are liable to fines of up to Aus $11,000 a day. </P><br /><P>The news comes after web forum Whirlpool was threatened with the fine for posting a hyperlink to a blacklisted anti-abortion website</P><br /><P><STRONG>Wikileaks blacklisted</STRONG></P><br /><P>One of the newest additions to Australia's 'blacklisted hyperlinks' list is Wikileaks; the website that publishes anonymous submissions of sensitive info on everything from corporations, religion and governments.</P><br /><P>The blacklisting of certain pages of the site has come about after Wikileaks posted a list of websites at the tail end of 2008 that comprised the 'secret internet censorship' list for Denmark. On this list were over 3,500 sites that were censored or banned in the country.</P><br /><P><STRONG>Disturbing picture</STRONG></P><br /><P>While Australia's list of blacklisted sites currently stands at 1,370, the <EM>Sydney Morning Herald</EM> is reporting that that list could increase to around 10,000 sites – most of which are of illegal pornographic content, but could also includes sites that house incendiary political discussions.</P><br /><P>"The Government is embarking on a deeply unpopular and troubling experiment to fine-tune its ability to censor the internet," said communications spokesman Senator Scott Ludlam of Australian opposition party Greens.</P><br /><P>"If you consider this kind of net censorship in the context of Australia's anti-terror laws, it paints a disturbing picture indeed."</P><br /><P>On its website, <a href="http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Australia_secretly_censors_Wikileaks_press_release_and_Danish_Internet_censorship_list,_16_Mar_2009">Wikileaks</A>, which leaked the news that the government had banned it for leaking information, simply said: "The first rule of censorship is that you cannot talk about censorship."</P><br /><P>Currently, it is not illegal for internet users in Australia to click on the sites found on the web blacklist. The people targeted by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) are webmasters linking out to the sites that the government have flagged up as inappropriate.</P><br /><P>This could all change, however, if a mandatory internet filtering censorship scheme is implemented – something that is being debated at the moment.</P>

Update: Australian government takes Wikileaks off banned website list

UPDATE Back in May 2009, the Australian government put Wikileaks on its banned list. As of 29 November and according to ZDnet , this is no l...

Google sues US government

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/computing/internet-and-broadband/images/google-crop-200-200.jpg"/><p>Google is suing the US government over what it claims is unfair competition with the likes of Microsoft, over a tender for a five-year contract to upgrade an email system for the Department of the Interior.</p><p>The lucrative US government contract is worth around $59 million. </p><p><strong>'Arbitrary and capricious'</strong></p><p>Google filed its complaint in late October, claiming that the government department had acted in an "arbitrary and capricious" way by only considering proposals that were using Microsoft email technology.</p><p>Google clearly wants to start selling its own email and productivity apps to the government.</p><p>The search giant claims that the Department of the Interior's decision on only looking at Microsoft tech went against "assurances to Google representatives that DOI would conduct a full and open competition for its messaging requirements."</p><p>"The RFQ (request for proposal) specified that only the Microsoft Business productivity Online Suite-Federal ("BPOS-Federal") could be proposed," Google's complaint added.</p><p>The Department of the Interior has not commented on Google's lawsuit.</p><p>Google launched Google Apps for Government back in July this year, a specially-developed productivity suite certified under the Federal Information Security Management Act, which means it is secure enough to handle sensitive government information.</p>

Google sues US government

Google is suing the US government over what it claims is unfair competition with the likes of Microsoft, over a tender for a five-year cont...

Google sues US government

Google sues US government

Google is suing the US government over what it claims is unfair competition with the likes of Microsoft, over a tender for a five-year cont...