Ryan Naraine

The push to make MPEG-4 the de-facto standard for digital media distribution will receive a shot in the arm with the expected adoption of the aacPlus, a component that enables the delivery of high-quality audio codecs at half the bit rate of existing technology. MPEG-4, for the uninitiated, allows a single form of compression on […]

For the second time this year, Microsoft has issued a cumulative patch for six new security vulnerabilities in its flagship Internet Explorer browser product, the most serious of which allows an attacker to execute commands on a user’s system. On the heels of Microsoft’s ‘mother of all patches’ issued for IE flaws back in May, […]

Microsoft has tagged a “critical” rating on a security flaw found in Data Access Components (MDAC) used to provide database connectivity on Windows platforms, warning that the vulnerability could lead to code execution by an attacker. A day after saying it would limit the issuing of ‘critical’ bulletins, Microsoft issued its 65th warning this year […]

Looking to add popular usability features to its Websphere Portal Server, IBM has released an upgrade that includes presence management for users. The addition of “presence” to the new WebSphere Portal Version 4.2 lets users portlet interface or working with identical portlets know when colleagues are available for real-time collaboration. Big Blue has also jazzed […]

As it continues to battle the PR nightmare over software security, Microsoft plans to change the way vulnerability warnings are issued, particularly for non-technical end-users. A less technical alerting system has been added to the one used to alert tech professionals, Microsoft director of security assurance Steve Lipner said in an e-mail. “In addition, before […]

Palm Inc.’s PalmSource software unit on Monday announced plans to develop a wristwatch/PDA in partnership with wristwatch manufacturer Fossil . The licensing deal with Fossil comes on the same day Palm clinched a strategic alliance with RealNetworks to turn its Tungsten PDA device into an MP3 player. The deal with Texas-based Fossil calls for PalmSource […]

Dell officially announced its entry into the handheld PDA market, lifting the wraps off a pair of Axim X5 devices running on Microsoft’s Pocket PC 2002 software. Dell’s PDA plans, leaked in the press in recent weeks, puts the PC maker right in the Pocket PC thick of things, forcing market leader Hewlett Packard to […]

Looking to ease data center management capabilities within its N1 computing strategy, Sun Microsystems on Friday closed a deal to acquire start-up Terraspring. Details of the cash-for-stock transaction were not released. Sun plans to use logical server farm software from Fremont, Calif.-based Terraspring to ramp up the virtualization capabilities of its own server and storage […]

The wretched existence of file-sharing service Napster took yet another turn Friday with CD burning firm Roxio announcing it would shell out about $5.3 million to acquire the controversial company’s assets. Napster, which was on the auction block for several months, was snapped up by Roxio in a transaction that included all of Napster’s intellectual […]

The Apache HTTP Server Project has warned that several security holes in the Apache source are being actively exploited on the Internet, urging IT managers to urgently upgrade to version 1.3.27 or 2.0.43 or higher. It is the second warning from the open-source project, which is used by more than 60 percent of Web servers […]

Music and consumer electronic giants Sony Entertainment and Royal Philips Electronics on Wednesday announced a $453 million acquisition of DRM specialists InterTrust. The purchase — done through Fidelio Acquisition Company (owned by Sony, Philips and other unnamed investors — comes at a crucial time for Sony, which is in the midst of the ambitious Movielink […]

Internet Security Systems (ISS) on Tuesday warned that several serious vulnerabilities have been detected in the Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) Server, the most common implementation of the DNS protocol. In a security alert, IIS said the most serious security flaws were found in BIND 4.9.5 to 4.9.10 and BIND 8.1, 8.2 to 8.2.6, 8.3.0 […]