software

PlayStation 3 hacking dongle that represents a build-your-own kit, PSGroove, has appeared in the Web. 

PSGroove comprises software that can be downloaded and run on a specific type of USB Flash drive and used in much the same way the PSJailbreak dongle can.

As Motorola introduced a hardware eFuse protection that is meant to enforce software restrictions many websites started offering unofficial versions of Froyo updates for Droid X smartphones. Motorola, in turn sent them cease-and-desist letters urging them to discontinue encouraging users to jailbreak.

Google and other industry experts believe that the lawsuit launched by Oracle against Android is not just an attack on the search giant but it targets open source Java community.

Microsoft announced the end of its discount licensing program that has been very popular among companies’ workers wanting cheaper copies of Office products. The Redmond said its Employee Purchase Program (EPP) terminates in November after 7 years.

EPP has been available to customers buying Microsoft's products under its volume licensing programs.

Microsoft cited declining customer demand for its decision to kill EPP, but noted the vast majority — 90 per cent — of licenses purchased were for its Office suite.

More IT professionals are today needed by financial services companies on Wall Street. The firms are looking for strong programming, database and operating system skills to keep their real-time banking and trading systems up and running.

Oracle Corp was sued on Thursday by the Justice Department for defrauding the federal government on a software contract in effect from 1998 to 2006 that involved hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.

According to the allegations in the filing Oracle misrepresented its true commercial sales practices which resulted in that government customers received worse deals than Oracle’s commercial consumers.

ARM and Microsoft Corp. today have signed a new licensing agreement for the ARM® architecture. The partnership of two companies has started in 1997 whenMicrosoft and ARM have worked together on software and devices across the embedded, consumer and mobile spaces, enabling many companies to deliver user experiences on a broad portfolio of ARM-based products. 

IBM is establishing a consortium in association with the European Union and a number of universities to conduct a research into new cloud-computing models in a move to reduce costs for hosting and maintaining Internet-based services.

Japanese IT firm Fujitsu Ltd announced that it would allow software makers to test their programs on its hardware for free so that they could examine performance. The company hopes such testing would boost sales of its computer servers with an aim to double such sales to about 10 billion yen ($114 million) by the financial year starting next April.

Software developers in turn will be able to promote their products to prospective clients such as manufacturers, a Fujitsu spokeswoman said.

A new report from PandaLabs says that the same malware that infects iPhones can easily infect the iPad.

"This doesn't mean we're about to face an avalanche of infections. We have always stated that as Apple increases its market share, cyber-crooks will begin to show more interest in targeting the platform," said Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs.

"However, we are certainly beginning to see more proofs of concept, and so advise all Mac users to follow the manufacturer's recommendations to maximize security on their operating systems."

Today Microsoft is launching its latest version of Office suite simultaneously introducing its Office Web Apps, a freebie version with online access to Word (word processing), Excel (spreadsheet), PowerPoint (presentations) and OneNote (note-taking). In order to avail yourself of this tool you just need to have a free Windows Live account and an Internet connection. It doesn't matter if you've purchased the new Office suite or whether you're running a PC or Mac.

Office 2010 will be sold in three main retail packages two of which are meant for consumers.

Students in the UK will soon be using a new testing system that allows them to stay in their bedrooms or any other place at their homes while taking college examinations. The system developed by the US company Software Secure has already been implemented by some universities in America.

The program was designed to make sure students stay honest while taking the exam by keeping them under surveillance and cutting off any access to cribbing material. The system locks down the use of all files and the internet, other than those specifically needed for the exam.

Adobe warns users of Windows, Mac or Linux systems to be cautiousness as hackers are exploiting critical vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader, Acrobat and Flash Player.

Adobe esteems Adobe Reader and Acrobat version 8.x are not vulnerable, but users of the newer version 9.0 of the software are at risk. The company has published a workaround involving the deletion of a library file connected with processing Flash content in PDF files pending the development of a more comprehensive fix.

As reported by the Reuters paper at an event to be held on Thursday Apple will announced and demonstrate its newest operating system software for the iPhone as it prepares for a widely expected launch of its next-generation smartphone in summer.

Reuters received an invitation for the event at Apple’s corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California, on April 8 where it was offered "a sneak peek into the future of the iPhone OS."

Most analysts expect that in summer Apple will launch its fourth generation iPhone device.

Flash of Genius, a small mobile applications developer was instructed by Apple to remove any mention of Google Android in its product description if wants to continue offering the software on the iPhone App Store website.

Flash of Genius develops applications for students preparing for their college entrance exams. "Flash of Genius: SAT Vocab" debuted on the iPhone, and at the end of last year, a version was introduced for Android as well.