Gmail to adopt IMAP

Google Inc. has launched a new IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) service for Gmail that will allow users to sync Gmail with their e-mail clients.

"It keeps the same information synced across all devices so that whatever you do in one place shows up everywhere else you might access your e-mail," said David Murray, associate product manager, in a blog post. "For example, I can read an e-mail in Gmail, then move it to the 'Starred' folder on my iPhone, then archive it by moving it to 'All Mail' in Thunderbird, then see all of those changes on my BlackBerry or any of [these] devices for that matter."

As with many things Google, Gmail's IMAP implementation is not quite finished. It lacks a few important features, and in our initial tests, we found it to be painfully slow.

"Our primary focus is on our users and the user experience," a Google spokesperson says, "and we're focused on building the features that are most important to our users. We'll be updating our IMAP implementation as we go, in response to how our users use it and what they request."

To use the new service, users should click on the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab in their Gmail Settings and turn it on.

Apple OKs Unlock Process

After taking much flak for ‘locking up' its prestigious iPhone, Apple has announced that it would ‘open it up'.
Apple CEO Stave Jobs said on Wednesday that the company would allow third-party applications to work on the iPhone.
There was much fury after Apple issued an update last week which messed up iPhones which had installed other software.
Though Apple meant it as a lesson to those who did not heed its words, consumers were not at all amused.

Computer sales hit peak

Computer sales peaked from July to September this year, mostly driven by the increased demand for laptops.
Reports released by analyst firms IDC and Gartner also showed that Hewlett Packard had surged ahead in PC shipments leaving its immediate rival Dell far behind.
There was a 15.5 per cent increase in global PC shipments in the third quarter. In all, 66.9 million PCs were shipped from July to September this year, while only 57.9 million were sold during the same period last year.
HP has further cemented its number one position by increasing its share in the world PC market to 19.6 per cent, while Dell's share declined and touched 15.2 per cent.
Gartner predicted that the overall growth in global PC shipments this year would be around 12.3 per cent.



Thanks To DC IT Watch

Google- The Boss!

Google Inc. topped global search charts in August, but search engines in China and South Korea are challenging the search company in their own countries, according to Internet research firm comScore Inc.

Google captured roughly 60 percent of the searches conducted worldwide in August, blowing away the field with 37.1 billion of 61 billion queries, comScore said. Five billion of Google's August searches came from the Mountain View, Calif., company's video property YouTube.com.

Yahoo was the second most used engine, followed by Baidu, the Chinese language search engine, the report said.

"Seeing Asian search engines like China's Baidu.com and Korea's NHN ranked alongside Google and Yahoo underscores the fact that search has become a truly global phenomenon," said Bob Ivins, executive vice president of international markets at comScore, in a statement.

Mozilla preps a Mobile Firefox

Mozilla has recently hired two new developers to help work on the project and plans to release Mobile Firefox some time in the next year or two.

"People ask us all the time about what Mozilla's going to do about the mobile web, and I'm very excited to announce that we plan to rock it," Mike Schroepfer, a Mozilla developer known as "schrep," wrote on the Mozillazine blog.

Mozilla's plans include making mobile devices a first-tier platform, shipping a version of Firefox designed for mobile devices that also supports extensions and XUL application development, and expanding the team of full-time mobile Firefox developers. The problem for Mozilla is that there are already some entrenched players in the mobile space, and dislodging them is bound to be difficult.

The new Mozilla hires who will contribute to the mobile Firefox initiative are Christian Sejersen, who recently worked for Openwave Systems Inc., and Brad Lassey, who worked for France Telecom R&D, which has been very active in mobile Linux initiatives.

Microsoft-XBox offers complementary gift!

Microsoft on Monday has announced release of two Xbox 360 bundles that will come with two games-Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Forza Motorsport 2 packed in.

The games, which Microsoft lists as a $90 value, will be included with every $450 Elite system and $350 Pro system sold this holiday, beginning at the end of October. The games will not be included with the limited-edition $400 "Halo 3" version of the console.

Microsoft is counting on this holiday season to provide the Xbox 360 with plenty of momentum to fend off Sony and Nintendo. The company has said it expects at least seven upcoming and recently released Xbox 360 games to break the million-unit sales mark, including Madden NFL 08, BioShock, Halo 3, Project Gotham Racing 4, Mass Effect, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

'Internet Explorer 7' for all (legally)!

Microsoft has released a new version of its Internet Explorer 7 Web browser that does not require Windows Genuine Advantage validation to install.

"Because Microsoft takes its commitment to help protect the entire Windows ecosystem seriously, we're updating the IE7 installation experience to make it available as broadly as possible to all Windows users," Microsoft Program Manager Steve Reynolds wrote in a blog post.

Flaws in Windows Genuine Advantage have reportedly resulted in millions of Windows users erroneously being reported to Microsoft as software pirates. A Chinese student has gone so far as to sue Microsoft over the issue.

Microsoft is clearly hoping the update will boost adoption of IE 7, which debuted last year for Windows XP and was updated in January for Windows Vista. Despite the releases, Explorer's market share has declined slightly over the past year as competition emerges from Firefox, Safari, Opera, and other alternative browsers.

Yahoo, ebay and Paypal to fight against Phishing

Yahoo Inc, is working with auction leader eBay Inc and its PayPal payments unit to block fake e-mails to users purporting to be from eBay and PayPal, hoping to spur on an industry that has been slow to fight the scourge of so-called phishing attacks.

Phishers use forged e-mail messages that purport to come from brand name services like eBay or PayPal to dupe computer users into clicking on Web links that lead to phony Web sites. Unsuspecting consumers may then enter personal or account information and passwords under false pretenses. Phishers typically use this information for fraud or theft.

To prevent phishing messages from reaching users of Yahoo Mail, the companies are now using Yahoo's Domain Keys technology in the U.S. to block e-mail messages that claim to come from eBay or PayPal but really originate elsewhere. Yahoo expects to make the system available globally in the next few weeks.

Over the past decade, phishing has been clogging the inboxes of e-mail users worldwide with ever more sophisticated attempts to fool users into clicking on fraudulent sites or giving up personal financial details to commit fraud.

Beware of Video files!

Hackers are depending more on online videos to introduce malicious code into computers. They have chosen this mode since most users are wary of opening suspicious looking emails. But nobody thinks twice about clicking a video link to You Tube. A report on Internet threats released by Georgia Tech Information Security Centre the other day termed the use of online videos a major threat. One code opens a booby trapped website as soon as the user opens a media file. Another malicious programme installs spyware by way of a video link. Social networking sites, blogs and wikis are also becoming fertile terrain for hackers.

MS-Office goes 'Online'

Microsoft has revealed more of its software-plus-services plan to better compete with online competitors, announcing new hosted services targeted at enterprise customers and small businesses.

In the coming months, Microsoft will roll out "Live" and "Online" service offerings, with the former aimed at consumers and small businesses, and the latter at larger businesses.

"The distinction between Live and Online was made in response to larger businesses asking for better articulation of the vendor's services strategy", said Eron Kelly, director of product management in Microsoft's business online services group.

Users are now invited to pre-register for Office Live Workspace, which allows those with Microsoft Office to access their Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents online.

Also Microsoft announced the start of Microsoft Exchange Labs, a research and development program intended to produce next-generation messaging and communication technologies. It will involve select universities and school districts, Microsoft said.