HP is expanding a voluntary recall of batteries from notebooks manufactured from July 2007 through May 2008. The recall began back in May of 2009, with another one taking place in May of 2010. This isn’t a general recall of the notebooks themselves, just the batteries that power them. Five percent of the affected batteries may have problems, and HP will be providing replacements of the batteries. Check out this link to find out if your HP notebook is affected.
Source: HP
Just a few days from being announced at an event in New York, Google’s wireless payment system, dubbed as Google Wallet, is now taking legal heat from PayPal. PayPal filed suit against Google stating that it stole trade secrets from the payment gateway giant via a key PayPal employee that defected after talks between Google and PayPal broke down while trying to adopt PayPal as the payment system for Android. Two Google execs were named in the lawsuit, Stephanie Tilenius, Google’s VP of Commerce, and Osama Bedier, VP of Payments. Bedier was with PayPal until January of this year, and according to the lawsuit, Bedier was the senior PayPal executive accountable for leading negotiations with Google on Android, from the period of 2008 to 2011.
Google for the most part responded quickly to the allegations, stating that “Silicon Valley was built on the ability of individuals to use their knowledge and expertise to seek better employment opportunities, an idea recognized by both California law and public policy. We respect trade secrets, and will defend ourselves against these claims.”
Via: Allthingsd
Source: Paypal
Congratulations to Richard Mamuyac and Paul Nikko Degollado! You’ve each won Ph2,500.00 worth of Draven Shoes GCs! Please wait for our Twitter DMs for further instructions.
Meanwhile, stay tuned for our next #GadgetGiveaway. Its going to be a gadget, and it will surely be worth your wait.
It looks like we’re fighting a new war that can prove more dangerous than gun-wielding soldiers and atomic bombs, perpetrated by a faceless attacker with a bunch of seemingly harmless scripts and characters strewn together —- scripts not many people understand. So how do we protect ourselves, our privacy and our information?
Engineers from TrendLabs, the research laboratory of security firm Trend Micro, have discovered the source of a targeted email attack detected in the wild over the last two weeks. The attack involved email messages sent through Hotmail, where a previously unpatched vulnerability in its content filtering mechanism was exploited through the use of a malicious email message identified as HTML_AGENT.SMJ. The said email message pretended to come from the Facebook Security Team.
Targeted users of the attack receive seemingly innocuous email messages that contain an embedded script, which automatically executes when the user opens the email. The embedded email script then connects to a specific website that downloads another script, JS_AGENT.SMJ.
This last script captures all of the affected users’ emails and forwards them to another email address. It continues to forward messages from targeted users to the author of the malware until the user logs out of their webmail.
Microsoft has already updated Hotmail to fix the vulnerability but not before cybercriminals have found a way to take advantage of it.
TrendLabs Threat Response Engineer Karl Dominguez said that employees who open their personal Hotmail accounts in their offices risk exposing their corporate data to the attack. Among the information that can be stolen are contacts, other log-in credentials, and confidential corporate messages.
Dominguez stressed that companies must also take steps in ensuring that their networks are safe from outside attacks. Cybercriminals are using social engineering to exploit the curiosity and love for social networking sites of office workers in order to gain access to more important corporate data.
“Always patch your browsers, applications, and operating systems; update your security software regularly; only access trustworthy websites; disable scripting or limit it to trustworthy sites; use alternative browsers; and always use original software. These are the most important things that should be remembered in our fight against cybercriminals,” according to Dominguez.
The title up there is not a typo. An independent researcher has found a way to grab your log-in credentials when you use any version of Internet Explorer (yes, that includes IE 9). “Any website. Any cookie. Limit is just your imagination,” said Mr Rosario Valotta, an independent Internet security researcher based in Italy. The flaw allows hackers to grab your cookies, basically packets of data that has your log-in credentials. The spoof requires a fair amount of finagling on the hacker’s part, because it only works when the victim drags and drops an object across the PC’s screen. Mr. Valotta maintains that it’s fairly easy to do, and to prove this, he’s made a Facebook app that n which users are challenged to “undress” a photo of an attractive woman. “I published this game online on Facebook and in less than three days, more than 80 cookies were sent to my server,” he said. “And I’ve only got 150 friends.” Microsoft said there is little risk a hacker could succeed in a real-world cookiejacking scam. “Given the level of required user interaction, this issue is not one we consider high risk,” said Microsoft spokesman Jerry Bryant. “In order to possibly be impacted a user must visit a malicious website, be convinced to click and drag items around the page and the attacker would need to target a cookie from the website that the user was already logged into.” Sure Microsoft, because people rarely get duped into scams like that in sites, oh say like Facebook.
Source: Today
NVIDIA’s 3D Vision Tech allows gamers to play games with stereoscopic 3D, and now it seems that it’ll allow you to watch YouTube clips in 3D as well. All the previous hardware requirements for 3D Vision still applies (3D Vision kit and capable display, NVIDIA GPU) you also need to use Mozilla’s Firefox browser to access YouTube. The whole shebang is powered by HTML 5, and according to Jonathan Huang 3D Product Manager at YouTube “we’re excited to introduce HTML5 and WebM support to the thousands of 3D videos available on YouTube. By embracing these open standards, NVIDIA 3D Vision users now have a great way of experiencing YouTube’s library of 3D content.” VP of Products at Mozilla Jay Sullivan agrees, saying “Firefox with 3D Vision creates a stunning and smooth 3D video experience using HTML5 video based on open standards. 3D Vision from NVIDIA is a great example of the rich, innovative experiences that are being built on top of the speed and graphics power that Firefox delivers to the Web.”
To further showcase the new YouTube stereoscopic 3D video streaming capabilities and some of the latest professional and user-generated 3D YouTube videos, NVIDIA is now hosting the top YouTube stereoscopic 3D videos on its 3D web community site at www.3DVisionLive.com/YT3D.
With all the talk of tablets and notebooks, we shouldn’t forget that Asus started life out as a PC parts manufacturer, up to this day still makes excellent boards and videocards for PC enthusiasts around the world. Asus is giving back to their loyal buyers via their Cash Back-To-School promo. Want to know how? Check out their contest mechanics below.
Customers get a chance to win back the money they spent for every purchase of any ASUS motherboard from any ASUS-authorized dealer store from June 1-June 30, 2011.
At our ASUS Gilmore Roadshow Booth, customer will need to present their official receipt to the ASUS representative, then draws from the Cash Back-To-School pot once. If a customer gets a ‘’Cash Back’’ slip, the customer is eligible for a 100% refund of the motherboard bought as stated on the official receipt. To get the refund, the winning customer must present a photocopy of the official receipt and the cut-out serial number from the motherboard box. Customer can also get a “‘free Starbucks GC” from the money back pot. To claim, customers just need to surrender a copy of their OR to the ASUS booth. Those who purchased ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, P8P67 PRO, P8H67-M LE, P8H61-M LE motherboards will get two chances of drawing and twice the chance of getting their cash back!
On ASUS Philippines Facebook Page, customer should be a fan of ASUS Philippines Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/ASUSph , before they can join. Customer must upload a picture of them with their new motherboard at the ASUS Philippines Facebook Wall. Then, they must email their name, address, contact number and scanned copy of Official Receipt to [email protected] with the e-mail subject: ASUS CASH BACK-TO-SCHOOL! Customers who bought ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, P8P67 PRO, P8H67-M LE, P8H61-M LE motherboards get two chances of drawing, twice the chance of getting their cash back! ASUS Philippines will draw winners on June 30, 2011 and announce it on Facebook. Like in Gilmore Roadshow Booth, they also get a chance to win Starbucks Gift Certificates. To claim the prize, customer must surrender a photocopy of their Official Receipt and cut-out serial number from the motherboard box at Asus Philippines Ortigas Office to refund the full amount according to the winner’s receipt.
After Portaling through numerous walls and going through countless test chambers, you may have had your fill of Valve’s latest gaming masterpiece, Portal 2. If you haven’t, allow us to give you another sampling of pure, unadulterated Portal 2 awesomeness via the game’s original soundtrack. Keeping to their title of best developer ever, Valve has released the entirety of Portal 2’s original soundtrack, as well as ringtones for both Android and iPhone phones if you feel the need to profess your love for the game in public. We’ve posted the link to download the OST below, as well as the game’s trailer for the guys who haven’t tried it, or god forbid, haven’t heard of it (yeah right).
Source: thinkwithportals
Photos are a favorite and accurate way to capture, keep, and remember precious moments, but in this day in age where online uploading and posting is short-lived and you’re only as memorable as your next post, many of those photos are lost and forgotten.
Instagram photos, too will lose shelf life once they are buried under more photos and other content. That’s why the Barbarian Group came up with Screenstagram, a screensaver that collects all of Instagram photos of one person’s social network as well as the most popular Instagram photos and stitches them together.
“In a nutshell, Screenstagram displays photos from Instagram. It can show you your friends’ photos or photos from the Instagram popular feed, which contains highly rated photos from across the Instagram community.”
Facebook may soon be further enhancing its social networking site with the addition of Spotify, an online streaming music library.
Slated to be called either Spotify on Facebook or Facebook Music, once the deal between the two companies is solidified, users may have music on their social networking accounts as early as a couple of weeks.
It is rumored that Spotify will appear as an icon in Facebook’s newsfeed, and once a user activates it, they will be able to stream songs which they can listen to on their own or together with their friends that are also online.
When this deal is officially set into motion, it is another major step towards transforming Facebook into the only site that people will need to fulfill all of their social and media needs.
We’d be lying if we’d said we weren’t lusting over the Samsung Galaxy S II. The mere fact it’s running a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor in a 8.49mm body is enough to make our inner geek nod in approval. Well, seems like the wait’s about to end – Samsung Electronics Philippines Corp has just gotten word to us via email that the Galaxy S II will make its Philippine debut in June. Aside from the dual-core goodness and anorexic proportions, the Galaxy S II also brings a massive 4.3-inch AMOLED screen to the table, as well range of enterprise mobility solutions, expanding the business capabilities of the Samsung GALAXY S II making perfect for both business and pleasure. Sadly, there’s no word on when exactly the Galaxy S II will hit dealers near you nor a mention of price, but as soon as we get the word, we’ll pass it on to you.
While we certainly do our best to convey what extra features and benefits you get from Western Digital’s storage offerings, there’s really no substitute to experiencing them yourself. That’s why Western Digital has opened its first WD Digital Life store in the Philippines earlier today in the 4th floor of the Cyberzone located in SM North EDSA Annex.
The concept store allows potential WD customers to be able to touch and play with the different external storage devices available and see what’s right for them.
To celebrate the launch, Western Digital is giving a special price for the WD MyPassport Essential 750GB. Ordinarily retailing at Php 5,100, they are now offering it at Php 3,900 for today only. The offer will start at 3PM, May 25 and is limited to only to the first 20 units.
Microsoft has just unveiled the next update to its smartphone platform, Windows Phone 7. Codenamed Mango, the new release isn’t just an incremental update – it brings a ton of new features (over 500 according to Microsoft) to the platform, including Google goggle-like functionality, location aware services and better app integration. “Seven months ago we started our mission to make smartphones smarter and easier for people to do more,” said Andy Lees, president of the Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft. “With ‘Mango,’ Windows Phone takes a major step forward in redefining how people communicate and use apps and the Internet, giving you better results with less effort.” Users will now be able to keep all relevant conversations with one person in one thread regardless of the method used to communicate (IM, SMS or whatnot). Additionally, Twitter and LinkedIn feeds will be integrated into contact cards, allowing for better integration. Internet Explorer 9 will also be making an appearance. The update will be available for free for users when it launches in Q3, and new Windows Phone 7 devices that start shipping from that time period will have the update built-in. We’ve embedded a video of Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President for Windows Phone Program Management doing a demo of Mango below.
Source: Microsoft
Globe Telecom, the first Philippine carrier to be certified by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF 9), adds MEF 14 to its growing list of certifications. MEF is the defining body for Carrier Ethernet, which aims to accelerate its adoption globally. Globe was also the first Philippine carrier to join MEF and its over 150 members that includes the world’s top service providers and major equipment vendors, back in 2009.
With enterprises operating in multiple locations around the world they require interconnection among their service providers as they expect the same service function and performance in all their branches. Carrier Ethernet is currently the leading technology for mission-critical, real-time services including VoIP, disaster recovery, conferencing and enterprise applications.
Globe supports its Carrier Ethernet services with enough bandwidth and capacity to provide for the needs of BPOs, multinational companies and large enterprises with foreign affiliates. Only Globe has a purpose built, dedicated network for high-speed SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy), Ethernet and wavelength services. Its DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) network carries fast Ethernet services that are pre-provisioned in key buildings and IT parks where most businesses locate. A dedicated data network enables focused servicing of enterprise customers, brings operational efficiencies to improve service level agreements, and enables network management systems to enhance monitoring and after sales support.
To establish a solid foundation for Carrier Ethernet ubiquity and interoperability, Globe passed numerous compliance tests independently conducted by the MEF-approved certification test laboratory Iometrix. The MEF 9 ensures the conditions required for delivery of services have specific Ethernet User Network Interface and Ethernet Virtual Connection service attributes so businesses get seamless end-to-end Carrier Ethernet offerings. The MEF 14 includes performance criteria which prepares carriers’ for Global Interconnect, the standards-based interconnection with other service providers, and assures enterprises that the Carrier Ethernet services they get perform within international service level standards.
“Globe has been known as a pioneer in the telco industry and true to form we are proud to have initiated MEF certification in Carrier Ethernet offerings in the Philippines. We have embraced MEF standards to deliver reliable, high quality and technically consistent Ethernet services to our customer base,” said Jesus C. Romero, Head of Enterprise Segments at Globe Business.
He added, “We remain committed to our thrust of achieving excellence in service delivery as we continue to raise the level of quality we provide enterprises. The MEF 14 certification came on the heels of our MEF 9 certification, which demonstrates our relentless efforts to fulfill our brand promise of offering superior customer experience.”
With its MEF certifications, Globe assures enterprise customers that its Carrier Ethernet services measure up to international specifications accepted globally. These also demonstrate the commitment of Globe to MEF’s mission to promote Carrier Ethernet interoperability and deployment worldwide.
The ongoing battle between Apple and Samsung has arrived at an interesting crossroads. If you aren’t familiar with the situation, the white giant is currently suing the Korean corporation over alleged patent infringement in their Android range. Now, the federal court in the US has forced Samsung to literally hand over their new phones to Apple so that the latter may use it as evidence to back up these accusations.
The particular products to be handed over are the Samsung Galaxy S2, Infuse 4G, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Droid Charge. The first two have recently gone on sale in the UK and US, while the remaining three have yet to be released. The only positive that Samsung enjoys in this situation is that only Apple’s legal team will be privy to the sneak peek.
This legal clash began when Apple accused Samsung of blatantly borrowing heavily in both design and packaging from the iPad and iPhone. Samsung then retorted that it was the California-based company that stole their designs. And of course, Apple had to respond to that accusation, and so the childish back-and-forth-blame-game began.
The irony lies in the fact that Samsung provides the LCD panels and semiconductors for iPads and iPhones. In fact, Samsung processors where used in the first generation of iPhones and until today, Apple is actually the Korean company’s top client. It will be interesting to see how this current legal warfare will affect both companies, with regards to the quality and design of their future products.
Source: TechRadar