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That Cisco’s always been prescient. Three years ago, the networking giant predicted a 66-fold increase in worldwide mobile data traffic — a surge that was expected to dovetail with the spread of 4G networks. With us so far? Sounds pretty obvious sensible, right? Well, the company’s got more wisdom to share from its crystal ball: the outfit’s just released its annual mobile data traffic forecast, and the marquee stat is that there will be an estimated 10 billion mobile connections by 2016. And though Cisco expects the bulk of these (8 billion) to take the form of cell phones, it also foresees a rise in tablets: there will be 5 billion of them, the company says, and that’s not even counting all those WiFi-only models floating around (Cisco tallies WiFi traffic in a different forecast, released later in the year). If the market does indeed swell to 5 billion cellular-connected tablets, that would represent a 25 percent jump over today’s global figure. Moreover, Cisco estimates that by 2016 21 percent of those 5 billion tablet owners will be relying solely on mobile data to get their internet fix.

Full story and Press Release here:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/14/cisco-mobile-data-forecast-2012/

While the odd “CUI Error” experienced by some users after upgrading to OS X 10.7.3 earlier this week has garnered a fair amount of attention, it appears that a security update released for Mac OS X Snow Leopard at the same time is also causing major issues for users who rely on older PowerPC applications that run under Apple’s Rosetta framework.

Security Update 2012-001 was released alongside OS X 10.7.3 on Wednesday in order to bring some of the security fixes found in OS X 10.7.3 to users still running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. But as noted in several discussions at Apple’s forums (1, 2, 3) and elsewhere, users are experiencing a variety of problems with Rosetta apps following the update, including repeated crashes when trying to use any commands from the applications’ main dropdown menus.

Users are reporting a significant number of applications being affected by the issue, including Microsoft Office X and 2004, older versions of Adobe Photoshop, Quicken, Filemaker 7, and various other applications that had been written to run on PowerPC chips used in Apple’s older machines.

Full story here:
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/02/03/snow-leopard-security-update-kills-powerpc-apps-using-rosetta/

Seagate Technology said Tuesday that supply of hard disk drives (HDDs) this year will continue to fall short of demand, leading large customers to look to long-term agreements to ensure supply after devastating floods in Thailand.

Shortage of drives by the end of this year is likely to be about 150 million units, it said.

The forecast by Seagate is more or less in line with those of research firms like Gartner which said last month that the major impact of the HDD shortage after the floods will be felt in the first half of this year, and even potentially continue through the year. PC shipment growth could be temporarily affected during 2012, Gartner said.

Western Digital, which had its factories inundated in the floods, said last month that it expects its HDD production capacity to reach pre-flood levels only by the third quarter of this year.

In the December, 2011 quarter, the industry is estimated to have produced 105 to 110 million drives, and shipped 119 million units, which fell short of demand for 175 million units, Seagate said Tuesday while announcing its financial results for the quarter ended Dec. 30.

See the full story here: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9223872/Seagate_Shortage_of_disk_drives_to_continue_through_2012/

It doesn’t sound like a particularly shimmery compliment, but the best thing that I can say about Microsoft’s Metro UI is that after well over a year of using it in various guises, it still feels new. Not like never-breached-my-eyeballs-before new, but new as in the promise of something better, something from the future. But it’s here, and I’m touching it with Windows 8. And it’s going to redefine how like a bajillion people are going to use their computer over the next couple of years.

The Windows 8 beta drops next month. This is a pre-beta—but it’s already dramatically ahead of the developer release from three months ago (a pre-pre-beta?), an embryonic chunk of code that was already deeply impressive in its re-imagining of Windows. Which, even though it’s using the now-established Metro design language that’s become part of Microsoft’s DNA, it’s perhaps the most ambitious design project Microsoft’s ever embarked on, since we’re talking about, well, Windows. And because it’s clear now that Metro is how Microsoft really intends for people to use the next Windows. The Windows you know now, hidden under Metro in case you need it? It’s the past. A fallback. This is your new PC.

See the full impression at Gizmodo: http://gizmodo.com/5875391/the-new-windows-8-first-touch-this-is-windows

It’s taken the pair a fair few months to hammer down the details, but it’s finally official: Seagate now holds the figurative keys to Samsung’s hard drive business. According to the press release, Seagate will retain some Samsung employees as well as gaining access to the electronics manufacturer’s solid-state storage for future products. Samsung will hold onto a 9.6 percent stake of Seagate and cash money said to total around $1.375 billion. You can still expect to see remnant Samsung hard drives floating around next year while Seagate decides how it’s going to further its storage business — hopefully involving more than just shrinking warranties.

See full article and Press Release here: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/20/seagate-shores-up-its-hard-drive-business-finalizes-samsung-pur/

Simplifies Management of Smartphones and Tablets for Business and Government

Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today introduced BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion – the Company’s next-generation enterprise mobility solution and RIM’s entry into the multi-platform Mobile Device Management (MDM) marketplace. Building on years of leading enterprise mobility management solutions from RIM, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion will simplify the management of smartphones and tablets running BlackBerry®, Google® Android® and Apple® iOS® operating systems.

“We are pleased to introduce BlackBerry Mobile Fusion – RIM’s next generation enterprise mobility solution – to make it easier for our business and government customers to manage the diversity of devices in their operations today,” said Alan Panezic, Vice President, Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research In Motion. “BlackBerry Mobile Fusion brings together our industry-leading BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology for BlackBerry devices with mobile device management capabilities for iOS and Android devices, all managed from one web-based console. It provides the necessary management capabilities to allow IT departments to confidently oversee the use of both company-owned and employee-owned mobile devices within their organizations.”

RIM is the leading provider of enterprise mobility solutions with over 90 percent of the Fortune 500 provisioning BlackBerry devices today. The enterprise market for smartphones and tablets continues to grow in both the company-provisioned and employee-owned (Bring Your Own Device or BYOD) categories. BYOD in particular has led to an increase in the diversity of mobile devices in use in the enterprise and new challenges for CIOs and IT departments as they struggle to manage and control wireless access to confidential company information on the corporate network. This has resulted in increased demand for mobile device management solutions.

Full Press Release:http://crackberry.com/rim-introduces-blackberry-mobile-fusion-next-generation-enterprise-mobility-solution-blackberry-andr

Western Digital has secured conditional approval from the European Union’s competition regulator to purchase Hitachi’s hard disk drive business for $4.3 billion, after it agreed to sell several production operations.

Western Digital, the world’s second-biggest player in the hard disk drive (HDD) sector, and Hitachi, the third-biggest, unveiled the deal in March, which is aimed at giving the U.S. company an edge in developing next-generation information storage technology.

The decision by the European Commission confirmed a Reuters story last week.

“The proposed divestiture will ensure that competition in the industry is fully restored before the merger is implemented,” EU Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement.

Western Digital promised to sell essential production assets for the manufacture of 3.5-inch disc drives, including a production plant, the Commission said, citing reduced competition in the sector after Seagate Technology bought Samsung Electronics’ hard disk drive business.

The company also agreed to transfer or license intellectual property rights to the business to be sold off. It will also transfer staff and the supply of HDD components to the unit.

Western Digital cannot complete the deal until it has found a buyer for the unit, which will need to be approved by the regulator, the Commission said.

Full Story Here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/23/us-hitachi-westerndigital-idUSTRE7AM10Y20111123

Security firms are fanning the flames of fear about mobile malware and viruses, while others accuse such firms of being scammers. Who’s right, and who’s wrong.

Earlier this week, Juniper Networks lit a fire with its report claiming that the amount of mobile malware has jumped 472% since July. According to Juniper’s numbers, the number of malware samples collected in October jumped 110% compared to September, and 171% over what was collected in July. (Click to see their report’s infographic)

“These days, it seems all you need is a developer account, that is relatively easy to anonymize, pay $25 and you can post your applications,” the company wrote in a blog post. “With no upfront review process, no one checking to see that your application does what it says, just the world’s largest majority of smartphone users skimming past your application’s description page with whatever description of the application the developer chooses to include.”

Earlier this year, Symantec, too, warned of mobile malware in the Android Market. In its own blog post, Symantec said, “Android malware is on the rise. Android.Pjapps is another example of a Trojan with back door capabilities that targets Android devices. As seen with previous Android threats, it is spreading through compromised versions of legitimate applications, available on unregulated third-party Android marketplaces.”

Symantec, of course, sells security software for both PCs and mobile devices.

Let’s not leave out Kapersky Labs (which also sells security software.)

“When it comes to attacking smartphones, there were clear signs that cybercriminals have made Android their platform of choice,” the company said in a blog post on Thursday. “Increasingly sophisticated operations by malicious programs were also noted in Q3 along with some tried-and-tested methods: innocuous QR codes are now being used to conceal malware and computers are facing threats even before their operating systems start as cybercriminals revisit BIOS infection methods.”

Are you scared yet, Android smartphone owners?

Are you quaking in your boots? Are you ready to buy antimalware and antivirus software from these companies? Should your corporate IT department be licensing protection schemes in bulk?

Hold on just a minute.

Google’s open-source Guru, Chris DiBona, had some harsh words about these reports and the companies that generate them…

Full article:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/231903411

With operations disrupted at more than a dozen hard disk drive (HDD) factories due to flooding in Thailand, PC manufacturers should prepare for significant supply shortages, market research firm IDC said Thursday.

Worldwide HDD shipments could suffer a 20% decline beginning in the middle of this month and extending well into the first quarter of 2012, according to a new IDC report.

In the first half of 2011, Thailand accounted for 40% to 45% of worldwide HDD production. As of early November, nearly half of Thailand’s production was directly affected by the flooding. While production at some factories was halted due to flooding, the industry also faces work stoppages due to poor access and power outages.

The full extent of the damage to hard drive industry factories will not be known until the floodwaters recede, “although it’s already clear that there will be HDD supply shortages into the first quarter of 2012,” IDC stated.

Full story: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9221717/PC_makers_should_brace_for_drive_shortages

Some of the largest and most popular tech companies in the world are throwing their support behind a bill that could lead to censorship on the Internet.

Apple, Microsoft and Adobe are just a few members of the Business Software Alliance, which has thrown its support behind the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), according to The Next Web.

SOPA, along with the PROTECT IP act in the Senate, give content-producing companies the right to order a take down for a website that they believe is infringing on a copyright. If you even host links to content that infringes on a copyright, you have to take it down.

If not, the copyright owner can request that the infringing site has its advertising and transaction revenue cut off. Or it can request that a domain name — like businessinsider.com — be blacklisted and rendered inaccessible.

Here’s the statement by the BSA on SOPA:

The Business Software Alliance today commended House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) for introducing the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (H.R. 3261) to curb the growing rash of software piracy and other forms of intellectual property theft that are being perpetrated by illicit websites.

And here’s a list of companies on the Business Software Alliance, according to The Next Web’s report:

Adobe

Apple

Autodesk

AVEVA

AVG

Bentley Systems

CA

Cadence Design Systems

CNC Software – Mastercam

Compuware

Corel

Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation

Dell

Intel

Intuit

Kaspersky

McAfee

Microsoft

Minitab

Progress Software

PTC

Quark

Quest

Rosetta Stone

Siemens PLM Software, Inc.

Sybase

Symantec

TechSmith

The MathWorks

Full Story:http://www.businessinsider.com/you-would-never-expect-these-tech-giants-to-back-that-bill-to-censor-the-internet-2011-11