Tech News

AP - Like millions of motorists, Eric Hanson used a GPS unit in his Chevrolet TrailBlazer to find his way around. He probably didn't expect that prosecutors would eventually use it too — to help convict him of killing four family members.

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CNET - DENVER--Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said on Thursday that the Internet gave presidential candidate Barack Obama the ability to bypass traditional media and claim the Democratic nomination.No tag for this post.

AP - First an iPhone price cut left early buyers feeling foolish, and then came reports that some iPods were spitting sparks. Now the new iPhone 3G has been marred by bugs, spotty service, disappearing programs for the device and a veil of secrecy over software developers trying to broaden its appeal.

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AP - The only golfing Tiger Woods is doing these days is in video games.No tag for this post.

NewsFactor - The second beta release of Internet Explorer 8 is now available for download by developers and consumers alike on Windows-based PCs running Vista, XP, Server 2003 and Server 2008.No tag for this post.

AFP - The Ifa, Europe's top consumer electronics show, is normally all about gadgets that make life more entertaining with the latest flat screen televisions, stereo equipment and the like.

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Apple's publicity nightmare keeps growing worse. The latest twist is more serious than dropped calls or lost e-mail -- it's a security flaw in the iPhone that could dial up trouble for users.

The flaw isn't a new issue. Apple first addressed what is known as the passcode flaw last January. The fix prevented unauthorized users from circumventing the password-protected locking feature in an early version of the software. But the problem has reemerged in new versions of the iPhone software.

The flaw apparently allows attackers to bypass the passcode locking feature by touching "Emergency Call" on the password-entry screen and then double-tapping the Home button. An attacker would then have access to the iPhone users' frequently called contacts list, which includes both addresses and phone numbers.

An attacker could also use the breach to access the iPhone's e-mail application and gain access to e-mail addresses or Web sites, as well as the user's Safari browser. The flaw is reportedly present in iPhone software versions 2.0 and 2.0.2. The issue also affects the iPod touch.

Are There Other Security Flaws?

It appears that the security update Apple issued for iPhone 1.1.3 in January didn't make it into later versions of the handset's software. That January update offered three security patches for several vulnerabilities.

Besides the passcode, other issues included a memory-corruption issue in Safari's handling of URLs and a WebKit that allowed a page to navigate the subframes of any other page. There is no evidence that the latest versions of the iPhone's software continue to have these two issues. Apple could not immediately be reached for comment, but offered this explanation of the passcode flaw in January:

"The Passcode Lock feature is designed to prevent applications from being launched unless the correct passcode is entered. An implementation issue in the handling of emergency calls allows users...No tag for this post.

In advance of its WiMAX rollout this fall, Sprint announced Thursday a lineup of mobile partners to localize its customer's 4G experience. In what the company calls "geobrowsing," XOHM users will get local news, weather and many other localized networking features delivered to their laptops and mobile devices.

The WiMAX service is expected to kick off in Baltimore in September, with Chicago and Washington, D.C., to follow before the end of the year.

Location, Location, Location

GPS in the XOHM system continually updates the user's position and feeds it to back-end applications. This feature is added by California-based Open Wave. Using uLocate as the foundation for the service, Sprint has tested and implemented a number of applications before rollout.

The partnership between Sprint and uLocate includes building the entire XOHM localized experience, with APIs provided to third-party developers for their applications. Some big names will be part of the launch.

Yelp will provide local business news all the way through local restaurant reviews. Eventful service will not only list events for XOHM users but will also map the locations. NAVTEQ will stream up-to-the-minute local traffic information, while Google will serve up localized searching and map features.

John Polivka, spokesperson at Sprint, explained the difference between the XOHM user experience and using the Internet. "With Internet access you could go to each vendor now as a separate interaction; but with XOHM, the services are aggregated into a service package that correlates them due to the intelligence in the network; for example, plotting friend locations on a map, identifying a restaurant or entertainment venue from local search, and sharing plans to convene with the benefit of weather, traffic or ticket-purchase convenience."

XOHM users will have standard Internet as well. Polivka noted that there is no charge for third-party developers to become part of the program, but there would be...No tag for this post.

After eight years of litigation, accused British hacker Gary McKinnon is set to be extradited to the United States to stand trial.

Shortly after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, computer break-ins at more than 90 U.S. military and governmental agencies caused severe security compromises and data destruction. In 2002, U.S. investigators reportedly tracked the software used for the attacks to an e-mail account belong to McKinnon's girlfriend. Since that time, the United States has sought McKinnon's extradition.

On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights -- where appeals had escalated the case -- finally gave the OK to send McKinnon to the United States. But in what some see as a last-ditch effort to keep McKinnon on British soil, reports are circulating that the 42-year-old has just been diagnosed with Aspberger's syndrome. Aspberger's is often described as a form of high-functioning autism. In itself, this diagnosis wouldn't prevent his trial in the United States, but British law may see things differently.

The Crime

McKinnon has already admitted publicly that he broke into U.S. government computer systems, but he maintains he did no damage. Justice Department officials charge, however, that he compromised and deleted records at a key naval-operations center in New Jersey and repeatedly crashed systems belonging to NASA and the Pentagon. McKinnon claims he was snooping for evidence of a UFO cover-up by the U.S. government.

Allegedly, McKinnon posted the following message on a military computer system during his months-long spree: "U.S. foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism these days ... It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year ... I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels."

McKinnon and his lawyers rejected several plea offers by the...No tag for this post.

In a stunning example of a journalistic screwup, financial news wire service Bloomberg published Steve Jobs' obituary Wednesday. The Apple cofounder and CEO is very much alive.

It's common procedure for news organizations to pre-write obituaries for politicians, sports figures and titans of business, but the premature release of Jobs' obituary is stunning because Jobs has been struggling with pancreatic cancer.

Bloomberg quickly issued a retraction, which neglected to note the seriousness of the blunder or even that the story was about Jobs. The retraction said in its entirety: "An incomplete story referencing Apple Inc. was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27 p.m. New York time today. The item was never meant for publication and has been retracted."

Is He 'Cured'?

The Gawker blog, which originally reported the mistake, noted that, "Jobs' battle with pancreatic cancer, and speculation over his health, jarred Wall Street earlier this year and continues to be the subject of speculation."

Jobs' only public discussion of the subject came in a 2004 commencement address at Stanford, where he said, "No one wants to die. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it."

He told the graduates that he had been diagnosed with a tumor on his pancreas and that his doctors gave him six months to live. Later that day, a biopsy revealed he had a rare form of cancer treatable with surgery. "I had the surgery and I'm fine now," Jobs told his audience, adding, "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."

'Private Matter'

But a New York Times column in July revealed that Jobs had been diagnosed with the cancer nine months before he had the surgery, and that he had been hoping to cure himself with...No tag for this post.