Technology Trends

ICANN's approval of non-Latin character domains undoubtedly is a game-changing decision in the history of the World Wide Web. With n ew domains scheduled to start popping up in the middle of next year, many people are debating if this digital support for more distinctly international sites balances with potential security threats and fragmentation of the Internet.

Here are a few pros and cons to consider as we move away from the traditional ASCII based-Web.

Pro: World Wide Web Supporting World Wide Language

Let's face it; millions of Internet users speak languages that aren't written using Roman characters. Allowing Web sites to have domains that use other characters will make Web addresses more recognizable to some and make the Web more accessible to millions of new users.

The transition will begin on November 16 when countries can apply for country codes in their own unique character sets.

"The first countries that participate will not only be providing valuable information of the operation of IDNs in the domain name system, they are also going to help to bring the first of billions more people online — people who never use Roman characters in their daily lives," ICANN CEO and President Rod Beckstrom said in a statement.

Con:
Country Codes are Only the Beginning

Generic domains such as .com, .org and .net aren't open to international characters yet, but could be in the next couple of years.

If ICANN decides to open generic domains without extending rights to existing URL holders, international companies and brands might find themselves purchasing URLs in multiple languages to protect the use of their name, points out PC World Tech Inciter writer Tech Inciter David Coursey.

Pro:
Country Codes are Only the Beginning

If done properly, opening generic domains to international characters could be a good thing. If International corporations were granted rights to the .com URLs they already possess it could spell an end to selecting a region before entering the site. For instance, going to intel.com could lead to the English version of the site, while using a Japanese, Russian, or Korean suffix would take you to a version of the site with that language. It would also open doors for smaller Web sites that are just interested in serving a particular language group.

Con: A lesson from 1337 h4ck3r$

Expanding beyond Roman characters also increases potential for site rip-offs that use homoglyphs, characters with identical or indistinguishable shapes. This already occurs to some degree (for instance pointing your browser to google.com takes you to a different site than go0gle.com) but different languages might have characters that are identical to characters in other languages.

Con and Pro: No Latin Base Emphasis

Apparently homoglyphs are drawing some attention at ICANN. Languages that use accented Latin characters aren't being supported at this time, The CBC Reports. They attribute the lack of support to security concerns that accented characters could lead to phishing scams because, "internet users might not at first see the difference between, for example, 'google.com' and 'goógle.com.'"

This is bad news for French, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese speakers — all four languages use accented characters.

But, if ICANN is aware of security concerns that would arise from including these languages, maybe they have some sort of anti-homoglyph trick up their sleeve for other languages, (here's looking at you, Cyrillic.)

Con: Keyboards and Restrictive Access

Adding support for 100,000 international characters would make traditional keyboards insufficient input devices for accessing the entire Internet. As fellow PC World writer Jacqueline Emigh pointed out, it would be next to impossible to produce a keyboard that could support characters from every language under the sun. Virtual keyboards and language packs could possibly help alleviate the problem for some people, but there wouldn't be an easy fix.

ICANN released this video with its announcement, hoping to encapsulate the potential for opening up international character domains.

This must be a joke: A Novell corporate blog item that chastises the City of Los Angeles for recently selecting Google Apps to replace Novell's GroupWise e-mail and calendaring software.

Alas, the PR blog post is very real. And while Novell may (and probably does) have a valid point, how many customers do you think would be happy to see their company mentioned like this on a vendor's Web site?

"Like the LA Police department and others, we continue to doubt the economics and security of the City's decision to move to a Google system. The City Council was presented with clear evidence that Google posed a very significant risk to the security of City and citizen data, much of it highly confidential. In addition, independent financial data showed that the new system will actually cost more, not less.

"With the City facing a massive budget deficit, the speculated budget benefits of switching to this untested application are enticing, but as a recent independent Los Angeles City Administrative Officer report has stated, the proposed system under consideration will actually cost taxpayers an additional $1.5 million in the first year. There are significant costs to migrating, training and securing

Google Apps

."

And if that wasn't damning enough, Novell tries for a zinger on the way out:

"The City of Los Angeles should have opted for this proven product to ensure the security of its data and to save taxpayer money. They have taken a risk with no reward. However, as a valued customer, Novell will continue to offer our world-class support to the City of Los Angeles during the transition."

Sure they will.

Perhaps the most important part of Novell's rant is where it says, "Over 1,200 US agencies use the product, including 47 of the 50 US states."

How many of those CIOs do you think are looking for a graceful way to bail on Novell ASAP, lest they find themselves in the company's crosshairs when change finally comes? If this is Novell's idea of public relations, never mind, it's hopeless.

David Coursey tweets as

@techinciter

and can be

contacted

via his Web site. Thanks to CNET for bringing this story to my attention.

The launch of Google's Chrome browser a little over a year ago brought with it a mountain of hype and expectations, with some suggesting it could be as instantly disruptive and beneficial as Gmail was to the webmail market.

After all, here was Google opening another front against Microsoft with a big and bold move, and also turning into a competitor to its close partner Mozilla, maker of Firefox, the darling browser of techies worldwide.

Positioning itself as a reluctant entrant to the market, Google stated dramatically that it had no other choice given its deep dissatisfaction with existing browsers, specifically with their speed and performance running Web applications.

This browser wasn't a side project, Google said, but rather a serious endeavor with far-reaching implications for the future of its online services and applications.

It was an epic move: the mighty Google, like Achilles, marching into battle. The problem is, Chrome hasn't precisely turned things around as the mythical hero did, mercilessly and unequivocally, on behalf of the Greeks against the Trojans.

With a modest market share of about 4 percent, Chrome, which was launched on Sept. 1 last year, hasn't yet come close to approaching market leader Internet Explorer, nor the second-most-popular browser, Firefox.

"To date, Chrome really hasn't had the success that I suspect Google had anticipated for it," said Sheri McLeish, a Forrester analyst.

As it turns out, Chrome has more than a few Achilles heels.

For starters, it doesn't exist for Mac OS and Linux users, two camps full of technology enthusiasts and early adopters. The Mac OS and Linux versions are delayed. To make matters worse, the doors of most workplaces, particularly large enterprises, remain closed to Chrome because it lacks basic features that IT departments need.

While Google will remedy these two issues at some point, there are other obstacles to Chrome's adoption that may be harder to fix.

One is the widespread ignorance among many consumers about browsers, and their tendency to default to the one that comes with their PC. Another issue goes back to a question asked repeatedly at Chrome's launch: Does the world need another browser? Or put another way: Does Chrome offer enough of an improvement to justify switching to it?

Google certainly didn't help Chrome's chances to sprint out of the gate by releasing it as a beta product that was quite rough around the edges. Not only was Chrome unstable and buggy at first, but it didn't play well with many Web sites, including some of Google's own, because Google made its release a surprise and didn't give webmasters advance notice to adapt their sites.

While Chrome's low adoption in workplaces isn't surprising, its modest popularity among consumers is more worrisome. "We haven't seen any mass exodus from consumers to jump to Chrome from other browsers," McLeish said.

Since Chrome hasn't taken the world by storm, and considering that Microsoft, Mozilla and Apple continue to enhance their respective browsers, should Google stick with this project?

"Google should stay in the game if they think they can innovate and differentiate in the long run and put enough marketing and R&D [research and development] behind the effort," IDC analyst Al Hilwa said via e-mail.

This is Google's intention, according to Brian Rakowski, a Google group product manager in the Chrome team. "There's still a lot of work to do, but it'll be pretty great," he said.

Rakowski takes exception to the idea that Chrome lacks appeal, saying it has about 30 million active users, even though it doesn't yet fully play in the Mac OS, Linux and enterprise IT segments.

"Given the remaining chunk of market that's there, we've done pretty well in a short period of time. If you look at historical browser growth rates, it's a slow process. It takes time," Rakowski said.

A big reason why it takes time is the complacency of consumers. "Most people honestly don't know and they don't care about browsers. They just want to get on the Web," McLeish said. Even Microsoft struggles with this, as many consumers resist upgrading to newer versions of IE, she said.

Hilwa's research reflects a similar reality. Consumers have been conditioned to think of the browser as an integral part of their PC and its operating system, and thus are unlikely to switch.

"Using browsers not supplied with the machine remains the province of power-users, which creates a bit of disconnect in the strategy Google has, which is to bring browser innovation to the masses," Hilwa said. "Ultimately, this might become a war about operating system platforms again before it becomes a seriously competitive browser market again."

Aware of this, Google is planning an attack from that flank with its still-unreleased Chrome operating system, which will be deeply interwoven with the Chrome browser. In addition, Google is making moves to have the browser pre-installed on PCs, as a recent deal with Sony shows.

Still, Google, horrified at consumers' ignorance about browsers, has enlisted its marketing department to help educate people. "There's a large number of people who just don't know what a browser is. That's a huge challenge for us," Rakowski said.

In the meantime, the Chrome team keeps focusing primarily on performance improvements, which are the browser's main selling points and ultimately the key reasons for its existence.

"Everything [in the Chrome browser], from the new Javascript engine to its multiprocess architecture, is designed with heavier, more intensive Web apps in mind," Rakowski said.

While this is a valid effort, the average user cares or understands little about browser speed and performance, so this is unlikely to draw many new users.

"Most of the internal stuff is really lost on the unwashed masses of users who are not going to get into the complexity of browsers," Hilwa said.

Plus, the browser is far from the only element that affects the performance of online applications and services, McLeish said. Local network bandwidth, ISP (Internet service provider) traffic, the user's PC hardware and the landing Web site's server all play a part.

Google argues that the value of the Chrome project isn't limited to its own success. As an open-source browser, Chrome can help spur innovation in browser technology across the board, which is crucial for Google, Rakowski said.

However, it's unclear to what extent it will be feasible for other browsers to incorporate Chrome code, when one hears Rakowski explain why Google decided to build a new browser instead of simply contributing to Firefox.

"There were reasons not to build on existing technology. Some of the architectural changes we wanted to make were so different and disruptive that it would have been very hard to do in existing code base and very disruptive to existing road maps and plans of these teams," he said. "You would have had to put the entire development cycle on hold while you experimented with some of these research-y things."

What's clear is that, as Chrome enters its second year, the Chrome team is moving as fast as it can, eager to release versions for Mac OS and Linux and add enterprise IT features, as well as work its way down its long to-do list.

"As soon as we get some time to breathe we'll add those things and that'll enable us to reach a whole other set of users," Rakowski said.

And when that happens, it will be not a moment too soon.

After slapping a restraining order on the Spam King last March, Facebook walloped notorious Sanford Wallace, yesterday winning its $711 million lawsuit for Wallace's violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act , the California Anti-Phishing Act and the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM). While these offenses and crippling fines are nothing new to Wallace, Facebook seems to believe that the latest ruling against Sir Spamalot will be a heavy deterrent against future spam artists. But will it actually make a difference?

Wallace's history of spamming is long and torrid. He's been sued multiple times — the previously most prominent case ending in a $230 million win by MySpace. Now that Fac ebook has upped the ante, and with Wallace facing jail time, it appears his career in flooding e-mail inboxes with sexy ads that are oh-so-appetizing but oh-so-dangerous has reached an end.

The case against Wallace is not Facebook's biggest battle. Last year Facebook nabbed a cool $873 million from a Canadian shilling pharmaceuticals and sex products.

So how much of this $711 million can Facebook expect to see? Little, if any. Wallace filed for bankruptcy back in June. Also, the likelihood that he's anywhere near a court or has any intention of doing the right thing is thin.

Spamming is a lucrative business, and as long as e-mail accounts exist, spam will persist. While the judgment against Wallace will surely cause some spammers to second-guess their vocations, it's doubtful that it will put a serious dent in a profession so rife with money. Facebook has every right to be proud, but has no reason, at the moment, to be haughty — watching The Spam King go down in flames won't prevent phony Facebook wall posts or malware-ridden bulk e-mail messages.

Canonical on Thursday updated its Linux distribution for netbooks, simplifying the interface and adding new programs that the company says will make it easier for users to access and use Web content.

The Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook Remix is designed to run basic Web and office applications typically used on netbooks. Netbooks are cheap and lightweight laptops characterized by limited computing resources and small screen sizes.

The OS, codenamed Karmic Koala, centralizes applications and bookmarks under a single interface to quickly access programs and Web sites. The new version has a "newer, simpler, more beautiful interface" and is easy to install on the popular netbook models, Canonical said in a statement.

The simple interface includes a left frame that lists program categories, which include favorites, Internet, office, games, and sound and video. Clicking on a category brings up a list of related programs in a window on the right. The Netbook Remix OS differs from standard Ubuntu Linux distributions for desktops and servers, which have powerful interfaces that gives users more flexibility in using the OS.

The OS is an upgrade from Canonical's first netbook OS version, Ubuntu Linux 9.04 Netbook Remix, which was released in April. The OS also updates software tools like Firefox Web browser and tools for voice, video and text communication.

After the release of the original Netbook Remix, Canonical said it would focus on improving battery life and boot times in the OS. The company wasn't available to comment on those topics.

Canonical for the first time is also offering its online storage and file-sharing service called Ubuntu One by default in the OS. Users can back up, share or sync data with other One users through the Ubuntu One Web site. The service gives 2GB of online storage free, with an additional 50GB costing US$10 a month.

Netbooks became a hit after their original release in 2007 for their low prices and portability. A number of companies are designing operating systems for the devices, including Intel, Google and Microsoft. Microsoft recently released a version of the Windows 7 OS for netbooks, while Google is developing the netbook-specific Chrome OS, which is based on Linux and is due to appear in netbooks next year. Intel is a big driver behind the development of Moblin, another Linux-based OS designed for portable devices.

Canonical also released final versions of Karmic Koala for desktops and servers on Thursday. Built on the latest Linux 2.6.31.1 kernel, Ubuntu 9.10 offers faster boot times, an improved user interface and programming tools for easier software development, according to the company. The OS by default has shifted to a new filesystem that supports more data storage.

Karmic Koala also includes an updated "Ubuntu Software Center" from which users can easily add or remove programs. In addition to an improved interface, the repository offers more tools to find related program for systems.

Canonical is offering versions of the OS with a variety of desktop environments, including Gnome, KDE and XFCE. These environments, built on top of the Linux kernel, have unique graphical user interfaces and integrated software.

An impressive feature of Google's new Android 2.0 mobile device operating system is Google Maps Navigation, a turn-by-turn navigation application that's not only free to use, but is fairly easy to learn as well.

The application is included with Motorola's new Droid handset for Verizon Wireless, introduced earlier this week as the first Android 2.0 device on the market.

Google Maps Nav's Extras

While driving directions via Google Maps has been available on many mobile devices for years, including Apple's iPhone and iPod devices, Google Maps Navigation raises the ante by adding spoken turn-by-turn direction, something available only with extra-cost additions to the iPhone. Google Maps Navigation makes good use of the almost bottomless text and image resources of Google's search database and takes advantage of user input to make changes to its maps as necessary.

Turn-by-turn navigation solutions for the iPhone include products live CoPilot Live for iPhone from ALK Technologies ($35) and TomTom Interna tional BV's TomTom app for the iPhone ($100). Both products include maps of the U.S. and Canada that are stored on the phone. Maps of other countries and regions are available, but at extra cost. Both offer customizable voices and detailed 2D and 3D maps with thousands of points of interest, access to weather, and traffic data; and provide the iPhone with clear information with large fonts for easy reading.

Instead of generic maps, however, Google Maps Navigation can lead you to your destination using real overhead and street-level photos. You can allow the application to overlay your route over a satellite view — a feature not available in most standalone GPS devices.

As you get close you your destination, the navigation screen switches to Google's Street View, an interactive, street-level photograph complete with arrows. This view can be reassuring in cases where, for example, you're looking for a specific building number but can't see the sign from your car.

Testing the Maps

When tested with a the location of a Rite Aid drugstore in New York City, the navigation ended accurately with a Street View of White Plains R oad beneath the elevated tracks of the No. 2 subway line in the Bronx, which has a stop just above the store.

Of course Google doesn't have Street View images for all locations. In these cases, the best available maps, overhead or otherwise, are used.

Once the Droid is inserted into its optional car window mount, it automatically switches to "Car Home" mode, which provides quick access to the features of Google Maps Navigation. The main menu includes five large icons labeled View Map, Navigation, Voice Search, Contacts, and Search; and a smaller Home icon that gets you back to the phone's home page.

In practice the voice search worked well, properly understanding the names of streets and landmarks. If the application isn't sure of which location you mean, it offers a list of choices. Aside from giving it addresses, you can say the name of a store ("Walgreens" or "Rite Aid," for example) or a type of business ("Chinese food," "gas station," "copy shop," etc.) and the application will find a handful of locations and let you choose from a list. It had a little trouble with "CVS," however, not understanding that it was the name of a store and not just three letters.

The top of the Google Maps Navigation screen glows green, yellow or red to give you a hint of what traffic is like ahead of you. The directions barked out by the female voice was distinct and understandable on the Droid and included warnings like "GPS signal has been lost."

The user experience is about the same as with a standalone GPS device except for the fact that the Droid (like the iPhone) has its own Internet connection, as opposed to a GPS device which would need a Bluetooth connection to another device to get on the Internet.

Droid's Friend

The Droid's powerful 550MHz processor and hardware-accelerated graphics allows for smooth scrolling of the navigation maps as long as there's a good 3G data connection. While the iPhone's 480-by-320-pixel display is more than adequate for maps, the Droid's ultra-sharp 480-by-854-pixel screen clearly gives it an advantage with photographs.

Of course the key advantage of Google Maps Navigation over the iPhone solutions is that it's free. No subscription is needed and since all of the mapping data is on the Web, there are no files that need to be updated on the phone.

Google Maps Navigation is clearly a work in progress, however. The first screen you see when you access it on the Droid is a terse reminder of how new the product is: "Google Maps Navigation is in beta. Use caution. Do not manipulate this application while driving. Traffic data is not real-time, and directions may be wrong, dangerous, prohibited, or involve ferries. Keep your eyes on the road!" Enough said.

Store shelves will host cool gadgets that could be good buys as the holiday season rolls in. Some new cameras, including the Flip MinoHD from Cisco Systems and LifeCam Cinema from Microsoft, are lightweight devices that can shoot high-definition video. Another portable device, TwitterPeek, is a unique mobile messaging device exclusively for Twitter fans. For Apple's iPhone, Shure has released new earphones that can control video and music.

The Flip HD video camera

Cisco this month released an updated Flip MinoHD handheld digital camera, which has a larger screen and is smaller in overall size than its predecessors. A user can hold the device with one hand to shoot video, which can be played back on a 2-inch screen. This device fits easily in the pocket, giving it a size advantage over full-featured cameras, which could be difficult to carry.

The Flip device can record two hours of video at a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels. A built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to two hours of run time. The battery can be recharged by plugging the device into a PC's USB port. An HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) output allows videos from the camera to be played directly on TV sets.

At US$229.99, the device may seem a bit expensive, but it is great for quick, in-the-moment videos seen on sites like YouTube. But video could be choppy if the hand shakes when shooting.

The Flip MinoHD provides an easy way to shoot quality video, but if you are looking for something more substantial, buy a more conventional video camera that can shoot stable video at higher resolutions.

Microsoft's LifeCam Cinema

Microsoft last month started shipping the widescreen LifeCam Cinema webcam, which includes a sensor to shoot high-definition video. Besides using it as a webcam for videoconferencing, you can use the device to shoot quality video for upload to sites like YouTube.

In tests, the webcam shot high-quality video — in some cases as good as video shot by standard video cameras — and did a good job capturing images in low-light conditions. The camera caught a wider angle of pictures than traditional webcams, while a microphone caught sounds from meters away.

However, the device often blurred video when I moved an object as it readjusted light. Despite software adjustments, I couldn't resolve the problem. That could be an issue for people seeking consistent picture quality. The webcam also had trouble fitting on top of a laptop because of a weak grip, so it needs to be placed on flat surfaces.

Nevertheless, the $79.95 webcam is more powerful than standard 1.3-megapixel webcams built into most laptops and netbooks today. This is a good device for online videoconferencing and basic video shoots, and software helps upload videos to video-sharing sites by clicking one button.

Tweet on the street

Want messages from Oprah and Ashton Kutcher at your fingertips? Peek is offering TwitterPeek, which the company called the first dedicated Twitter mobile messaging device. The lightweight, always-connected mobile gadget allows users to write, post and read messages on Twitter's Web site.

But if I have a smartphone with a Twitter-related app, why would I need such a device? There is "no need to own a smartphone, download a clunky app or pay for an expensive data plan," a company spokeswoman said. The $199.95 device connects to Twitter servers over a high-speed wireless data network in the U.S., and users never have to pay a fee for using the data network.

The device comes with a color screen, a QWERTY keyboard and a battery that can run for up to four days. It measures 2.7-by-0.4-by-4 inches (6.86-by-1.02-by-10.16 cms). TwitterPeek will be released on Nov. 3 and will be available on Amazon.com and on the TwitterPeek Web site.

The device works only in the U.S. for free, the company said. It is usable internationally, but "for a fee," the spokesman said, without providing specific details.

A Shure approach for the iPhone

Shure this month introduced the versatile SE115m+ earphones for iPhones, which can do a lot more beyond play music. A three-button panel located on the cable has buttons to adjust volume, change songs, or answer or end calls without having to remove the earphones. Users can listen to music and switch to a phone call with the click of a button.

The earphones work with the iPhone 3G S and certain iPod models, the company said. iPhones use proprietary headphone jacks, which is why Shure released the $120 earphones specifically for the mobile device.

The product will only be available this month through Apple's stores and on its Web site through the end of the year. Availability will expand to retailers outside Apple next year.

Oracle has provided new details about its plans for certain key Sun Microsystems technologies, including the GlassFish application server and the NetBeans application development toolkit.

The software giant announced plans to buy Sun earlier this year, but the deal is on hold while European authorities conduct an antitrust review. Meanwhile, users have questioned the fate of Sun software and systems under Oracle, with particular concern centering on the MySQL open-source database.

Oracle plans to "continue evolving" GlassFish, which is a competitor to its WebLogic application server, as well as provide active support to the GlassFish community, according to an updated FAQ on the acquisition.

In addition, Oracle "plans to invest in aligning common infrastructure components and innovations from Oracle WebLogic Server and GlassFish Enterprise Server" to benefit customers in both camps, according to the FAQ.

It was not clear Thursday when the document was updated. An Oracle spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The FAQ expresses a much more lukewarm commitment to NetBeans, saying only that it is expected to provide "an additional open source option and complement" to Oracle's tools, which include JDeveloper and Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse. JDeveloper is part of Oracle's Fusion Middleware portfolio, which underpins the company's next-generation Fusion Applications. An initial Fusion Applications suite is expected next year after a protracted delay.

Sun's OpenOffice productivity suite will also see continued development and support as an open-source project under Oracle, according to the FAQ. The suite will "create a compelling desktop integration bridge for our enterprise customers and offers consumers another choice on the desktop," Oracle said. Like Sun, Oracle plans to offer "a typical commercial license option" for customers that want "extra assurances, support, and enterprise tools."

Oracle is also planning to preserve Sun's lineup of desktop virtualization software, which includes VDI, Sun Ray, Secure Global Desktop and VirtualBox, according to the FAQ.

Sun's identity management and SOA (service oriented architecture) software will be integrated into Fusion Middleware, the FAQ adds.

Finally, Sun's Ops Center system management product is "highly complementary" to Oracle's Enterprise Manager, and they are "expected to combine and deliver to customers the most complete top-down application and systems management environment from applications to hardware."

The FAQ, which is only a "general product direction" and "not a commitment to deliver any material, code or functionality," provides no new information about MySQL. Oracle has said it plans to continue developing the database and will spend more money than Sun did on it.

But MySQL is far from the only Sun technology with a loyal and concerned following.

"Many people have been wondering about GlassFish and NetBeans, especially the second," said Michael Coté, an analyst with Redmonk. "While NetBeans fell behind in the Eclipse/NetBeans battle long ago, in recent years there's been some nice innovations in the NetBeans world. … It would be a shame to see it die on the vine."

While many users have expressed concern over the fate of MySQL, others have pointed to the various MySQL offshoots, such as the Drizzle project, as evidence the database's future is sound.

It's hard to say whether NetBeans has the same support, according to Coté. "I wouldn't think so, but there might be a passionate NetBeans fork-group I don't know about."

Meanwhile, with GlassFish, Oracle "stops just short of saying they're going to mingle the code bases," Coté said. "There's no universal, technical definition of what 'aligning' means. … I'd assume they mean make them work with each other or somehow friendly with each other."

But others expressed skepticism over the pledges contained in the FAQ.

"I hope I'm wrong, but I am afraid this will only last (most likely) till the first quarter when Oracle fails to meet financial expectations," wrote a commenter on the Java developer blog Javalobby. "Cuts will have to follow and guess who will be up first. That's just how it works. Oracle can't maintain 2 or 3 competing product lines (and I can only imagine the amount of internal politics between JDeveloper and NetBeans teams, Glassfish vs Weblogic teams, etc)."

In an unexpected move, Nintendo says it plans to launch a jumbo-sized version of its DS handheld in Japan with twin screens nearly twice the area of those found in the current models. The new system, dubbed the DSi LL, will hit the streets on November 21 and sell for ¥20,000 or about $220 USD. Specific timetables weren't offered on other market launches, but a company spokesman says the device will go on sale overseas (it'll be called the DSi XL) in the first quarter of 2010 according to our correspondent in Japan.

The company's dual-camera DSi was just released in April with 3.25-inch screens, a quarter-inch larger than the original DS's 3-inch pair. The DSi LL will weigh in with comparably jumbo-sized 4.2-inchers, a hair's breadth smaller than the standard PSP's 4.3-inch LCD and actually larger than the PSP Go's which measures 3.8-inches.

The upside: Battery life will be three hours, or about 30 minutes longer than the DSi and on par with the DS Lite.

The flip side: The DSi LL's resolution will remain 256 x 192, meaning games will appear larger, but so will those pesky pixels. Compare the DS's discrete screen resolutions with the PSP's single 480 x 272 LCD. True, the DS has to manage dual outputs, but most games pipe the action to just one of those, feeding complementary information to the other. If you thought DS games looked blocky on the DS Lite or DSi, the DSi LL only exacerbates the issue.

Then there's the question of weight. The DS Lite weighs 218 grams. The DSi weighs 214 grams.

The DSi LL? 314 grams. That makes it 14 grams heavier than the original Nintendo DS (300 grams). You know, the chubby one launched back in 2004.

(Incidentally, we know what DSi XL means, but what's 'LL' stand for? 'Lu-Lu'? 'Laterally Longer'? 'Lots Larger'?)

Surely all that extra plastic space means they've reintegrated the Game Boy Advance slot? Nope. No dice. The DSi LL is just a Whopper-sized DSi, absent GBA-cart slot to boot.

We don't need another DS, Nintendo. Really. Not this side of the pond. I can't imagine anyone being for it, having already bought millions, and presumably upgraded once or twice. The next handheld you release deserves to go toe-to-toe with Sony's PSP or Apple's iPhone in screen real estate. Something to complement the long overdue processing update. And yes, it's time for an update. Something that'll accommodate a little pocket-sized Conker's Bad Fur Day or Zelda 64.

Besides, the DSi's already in the sweet spot. Its dual screens don't need to grow a millimeter. Its got just the right heft to feel solid and durable without causing fatigue from holding it up during extended play sessions. I can fit a 214 gram flip-top handheld in my pocket and slip it into an iPod sock.

But I'm not toting a 314 gram mini-brick anywhere.

Follow me on Twitter @game_on

A U.S. law that would require businesses to report data breaches to potential victims could help law enforcement agencies fight the growth of cybercrime, a U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation official said Wednesday.

If U.S. businesses were required to share information about their data breaches, law enforcement agencies could link those attacks to others and potentially stop similar attacks at other organizations, said Jeffrey Troy, chief of the FBI's Cyber Criminal Section.

A data-breach notification bill "would help us tremendously, particularly in terms of efficiency in conducting investigations," Troy said during a cybersecurity discussion in Washington, D.C.

Companies need to think beyond their walls when dealing with cybersecurity issues, Troy said. "They have to recognize that the Internet has become a global platform for commerce," he said. "The people that are stealing information from you … are going after the money."

Attacks used against one company will likely be used against other organizations, Troy said. "We're really looking forward to getting all this data," he said.

Some members of Congress have pushed for several years to pass data breach notification bills, without success. Although about 45 states have passed their own data-breach notification bills, Congress has yet to pass a federal law.

Data-breach notification will be part of a comprehensive cybersecurity bill that the Senate Judiciary Committee will try to move to the Senate floor this year, said Lydia Griggsby, chief counsel for privacy and information policy at the committee. The Personal Data Privacy and Security Act, sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, would also limit how data brokers can use personal information and would establish data security rules for interstate businesses that collect personal data.

Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will hold hearings on the bill later this year, Griggsby said.

A national data-breach notification law is a top legislative priority for cybersecurity products vendor Symantec, said David Thompson, the company's CIO. It's difficult for companies to comply with 45 different state laws, he said.

With revenue down slightly during its latest fiscal quarter, Symantec said Wednesday that it was starting to see some stabilization in enterprise spending.

Symantec reported revenue of US$1.48 billion for its second fiscal quarter, which ended Oct. 2. That was ahead of the consensus analyst estimate recorded by Thomson Reuters, but down 3 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Excluding charges, Symantec's earnings were also ahead of expectations at $294 million, or $0.36 per share, the company said.

Symantec's consumer business did well, and while its storage and server management division saw sales drop 9 percent year-over year, IT spending is strengthening, said Symantec CEO Enrique Salem in an interview Wednesday.

"We're definitely seeing the U.S. market stabilize," he said. "We've seen China and parts of Asia continue to do well, and we're seeing some weakness in western Europe."

Salem's comment that IT spending appears to be stabilizing echoes those made by other enterprise IT vendors such as IBM in recent weeks.

Server sales were down about 30 percent last quarter, according to data from research firms IDC and Gartner, and that decline has hit Symantec too, Salem said during a call with financial analysts. "Server market deceleration continued to put pressure on the business, particularly in new-license sales on the Sun platform," he said.

Symantec's storage products are popular on Sun's Solaris OS, but customers have held off buying new equipment as Sun waits for its Oracle buy-out to be approved by regulators.

Consumer revenue was up 6 percent year-over-year and Salem said he did not expect third quarter sales to be affected by Microsoft's free Security Essentials antivirus software, which became available earlier this month.

For its third quarter, Symantec said that earnings should be around $0.36 or $0.37 per share on revenue of around $1.5 billion — estimates that are largely in-line with analyst expectations.

Also Wednesday, Symantec said it would buy back $1 billion in company stock. "We did authorize a $1 billion share repurchase and that's because we have a lot of confidence in our business model and our cash flow," Salem said.

Symantec's stock (SYMC) dropped $0.43, trading at $15.73 on after-hours markets, after the earnings results were made public Wednesday evening.

Motorola's Droid, available next week from Verizon, has generated the most excitement of any smartphone since Apple's introduction of the iPhone. How do the two compare?

This is a follow-up to yesterday's column, in which I predicted a window will open with the introduction of a new iPhone, perhaps next June, when many iPhone users will be "in play" and willing to consider the Droid.

As an iPhone user who is more than a little interested in the Motorola's newest, I have compiled a personal scorecard comparing important features of the two phones. Your scores will likely differ from mine and this is a work in progress.

(If you want to learn more, here is our excellent hands-on Droid report from the intro in New York).

Here goes:

Hardware — Android Wins

The Droid, with its 5 megapixel camera, slide-out keyboard, and larger screen, has the edge here. The Droid also has a removable and replaceable battery, which seems more important than it probably turns out to be.

The slide-out keyboard may or may not be a win for Android. I have come to appreciate the iPhone's on-screen keyboard and may not like the feel of the Droid's keyboard. This could be a tiebreaker later on.

Operating System — Android Wins?

It is hard not to look at or read about Android 2.0 and not see a better operating system than what Apple reveals of its iPhone OS. Android is fully multitasking, for example, a feature Apple provides only for the iPhone apps whose icons appear permanently at the bottom of the screen.

The proof of this superiority, however, will have to be borne out by the quality of applications that can be built for each OS.

Right now, Android appears to be the better smartphone operating system, but it is too early to tell. Apple could make big changes here and rebalance the game.

(What to know more? Here is our complete Android primer).

Applications — iPhone Wins

To paraphrase the old Elvis album title, "100,000 iPhone apps can't be wrong!" And, yes, today the iPhone has an approximately 10x lead on Android apps. That seems to be changing, which I wrote about yesterday, and it will not take 100,000 apps for Android to have its bases covered.

The Droid has Microsoft Exchange support, which is very important to many business users, but not to me.

If I were a big Google apps user, I would be more interested in the Droid right away. However, my Gmail account merely forwards messages to the iPhone and I am happy with that.

However, today's introduction of Google's new turn-by-turn navigation service, available only on Android, opens the possibility that Google will preferentially develop apps only for its own operating system. That could become important if it occurs, which I think is likely.

Right now, iPhone wins the apps battle. However, Google and the Android development community could neutralize the issue within a year to 18 months. And, I badly want the new Google turn-by-turn navigation service, only available–for now–on the Droid.

Until then, however, the lack of Android apps makes me a committed non-purchaser.

User Interface — Toss-up

I am flexible and thing most users are, too. There are things to like dislike about any UI, but both Droid and iPhone do well on this score. I will update this when I have Droid-specific experience to relate.

Ecosystem — iPhone Wins

The iTunes Music and App stores are an incredible source of strength for the iPhone. Google could match Apple, but is hampered by not actually wanting to be in the business of selling music, videos, or applications.

Apple will exploit this strategic weakness.

Control Issues — Android Wins

Apple's biggest strength is that Steve Jobs is a control freak. Google is more of an open systems company. In the real world, freedom often beats totalitarianism, though it can take a while.

Google choice to not control app sales and have an open development environment should pay dividends. Nevertheless, Apple retains the ability to closely focus and build products, like the iPhone and Macintosh that are products of attention to and control of everything.

The Verdict

Today, the Droid is an attractive handset that is on my "someday list." As excited as I am by the Droid, if I had to purchase my first smartphone today it would still be an iPhone, if only based on available applications.

However, if I need a second phone, it will be a Droid.

My real decision won't come until Droid reaches a critical mass of applications, at which point Apple's hardware had better be fully competitive or I could easily be lost.

David Coursey tweets as @techinciter and can be contacted via his Web site.

The official newspaper of China's ruling communist party has accused Google of seeking "malicious revenge" after a malware warning appeared by one of its Web sites in Google's search results.

The Google notice, which said the books section of the People's Daily site could contain malware, appeared last week and prevented some visits to the Web page because its link redirected to a Google warning, according to a local media report also posted by the People's Daily. A site representative was cited in the report as blaming "malicious revenge from Google" and saying the paper would take actions against such "vile behavior" by the company. The paper would not rule out legal action, the representative was cited as saying.

The paper's statements are the latest negative press Google has received this year in China, where its share of the user search market began slipping in recent months. Chinese authorities and state media earlier this year slammed Google for allowing pornographic links to appear in its search results. Google's book scanning project has also come under fire in China in recent weeks as local authors have begun voicing concerns about copyright violation by the search engine.

The revenge accusation is "wrong and without merit," a Google spokeswoman said in an e-mail. Google regularly scans the Web pages in its index and tacks warnings on those that appear to distribute malware. It deletes the warning if the malicious content is removed from a Web site, the spokeswoman said.

"Our scanners have very high accuracy," she said. Attackers can sometimes place malware on a Web site without the knowledge of the site owner.

Google was not displaying a malware warning for the People's Daily book news site on Wednesday, and its record for the site said no malware had appeared on the site in the last 90 days.

The top headline on the book news site on Wednesday led to a collection of stories about local opposition to Google's book scanning program. "Is the Google library an angel or a devil?" read one headline near the top of the page.

Move along folks, nothing to see here. I know that the headlines have been overflowing with the breaking news that Google will now let you use Google Voice with your existing cell phone number, but the limited functionality of the new Google Voice option is hardly anything to get excited about.

Google developed the new Google Voice option to cater to those who want the features and benefits of Google Voice, but without having to switch phone numbers. People spend years sharing contact information and expanding their social network by sharing their mobile phone number, so it is understandable that some are reluctant to change the primary phone number people should use to contact them.

The problem is that the new Google Voice option is lacking any of the features that make Google Voice worth using. Its sort of like Apple offering an iPhone for wireless providers other than AT&T, except that it can't actually make or receive phone calls, won't sync with iTunes, and doesn't have a touch screen display.

A quick look at the Google Voice site provides a complete list of the differences between regular Google Voice and the new Google Voice where you keep your phone number. The keep-your-number plan is lacking call forwarding, recording calls, SMS messaging, call screening, blocking callers, and conference calling. It is also missing the single most defining feature of Google Voice–the ability to simultaneously ring multiple phones with an incoming call and/or redirect calls to specific phones based on the caller.

About the only thing you get out of adopting the new Google Voice is that you get to keep your phone number, but Google Voice will intercept and transcribe your voicemail messages. Woo hoo?

I have Google Voice. The voicemail transcription is at the bottom of the list of Google Voice features worthy of coveting. The transcriptions are so bad that they are generally comical, bordering on useless. You could make a drinking game out of trying to decipher what the actual voicemail message was supposed to be based on the gibberish in the transcribed message.

Bottom line: the new Google Voice option defies the point of using Google Voice in the first place. Google Voice has a lot to offer, especially for a free service, but ff you are that attached to your mobile phone number, by all means keep it. This new Google Voice option isn't worth the hassle or the hype though.

One added thought though–if you can get the invitation to join Google Voice, let go of your mobile phone number and embrace Google Voice. So you have to share a new number with people. Its an opportunity to weed out some people you wish you hadn't shared your mobile phone number with, and the benefits of Google Voice are worth it.

Tony Bradley is an information security and unified communications expert with more than a decade of enterprise IT experience. He tweets as @PCSecurityNews
and provides tips, advice and reviews on information security and unified communications technologies on his site at tonybradley.com
.

T-Mobile is launching a new phone– the Sony Ericsson Equinox. Unlike most headline-making mobile phones, the Equinox is not trying to be the next iPhone-killer. The Equinox isn't even trying to be a smart phone.

The Equinox is a feature phone, which is a polite way of saying its not a smart phone, which is a nice way of saying it's a dumb phone. The Equinox looks like it might make the feature phone fun again though. Just because your phone doesn't have an app for that doesn't mean it can't have some cool features.

The Equinox has a 3.2 megapixel camera, built-in FM radio, Bluetooth connectivity, and an integrated GPS. The device has colorful lights which flash for incoming calls and can be coordinated with the T-Mobile My-Faves list so that each individual on your list can flash their own unique color.

One of the upsides to a feature phone is that you aren't obligated to subscribe to an expensive data plan in addition to the monthly service plan from the wireless provider. The tradeoff though is that most feature phones lack anything but the most rudimentary tools like a calculator, or an alarm clock. The Equinox puts some excitement back in the feature phone and delivers more compelling features without the smart phone.

The Equinox is a divergence from other recent additions to the T-Mobile portfolio. The Samsung Behold II and Motorola Cliq are both Android-based smart phones that will compete against devices like the Apple iPhone.

T-Mobile is the low-man on the wireless provider totem pole, lagging a distant fourth behind companies like Verizon and AT&T. It has been more aggressively expanding its portfolio though and there have been rumors that it could be bought, or even that it could buy rival provider Sprint.

The Equinox is no iPhone, and its not a potential threat to the iPhone like the Verizon Droid . But, the Equinox could be a success because it provides an alternative for cost-conscious user or users who reject the idea that the mobile phone should be a mobile personal computing and communications device. T-Mobile is offering the Equinox for only $50 (and without the data plan) on a 2-year contract.

T-Mobile has suffered from negative publicity lately related to the Sidekick data debacle. Arguably, T-Mobile had little responsibility in the matter, but it still took most of the heat. Exciting new devices like the Equinox can help T-Mobile shift the story and put the focus back on innovating and competing to claw its way out of fourth place.

Tony Bradley is an information security and unified communications expert with more than a decade of enterprise IT experience. He tweets as @PCSecurityNews
and provides tips, advice and reviews on information security and unified communications technologies on his site at tonybradley.com.