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Calabasas-based network testing tools firm Ixia has launched a new product, focused on the network security market, the firm announced today. Ixia said that it has launched IxDefend, which is says is a comprehensive security analysis tool that can assess the security and robustness of software applications, network appliances, and information systems. The firm said its product can be used to identify known and zero-day threats to systems, programming errors, and other security exposures in applications. Pricing and other details of the product were not disclosed. READ MORE>> Tags: programming, software, tools

This probably will make me sound like an old fogey, but I believe you can't fully appreciate the present until you understand the past. This is especially true in the realm of consumer electronics, where innovations move so fast, it's easy to forget where we've been.

I've owned many computers over the years, each more robust than the last. My latest is an absolute screamer, with heaps of RAM, a massive array of hard drives and a blazingly fast dual-core CPU. Quite frankly, it packs more power than I ever imagined was necessary. Yet in a few years, even this won't be enough. Like many people, I've gotten spoiled.

I got hooked on computers relatively late, in 1984, with Commodore 64, the world's best-selling home computer. The basic machine came with a whopping 64KB of RAM, built-in BASIC programming language, a ROM-based operating system, integrated keyboard, sprite graphics and a 3-voice sound chip.

Today, the average cell phone is more advanced than the old C-64, but at the time, it was nothing short of revolutionary. It connected to any TV set, or a 40-column monochrome monitor, if you could afford one. For storage, you were limited to the agonizingly slow Commodore Datassette tape drive, or the 1541 51/4-inch external floppy drive, which held only 170 KB of data per disk.

Despite their now-laughable specs, personal computers weren't exactly cheap back then. If I remember correctly, my C-64 and disk drive retailed for about $800, but that still beat the competition: An Apple IIe cost about $1,400, a Tandy TSR-80 III ran about $1,000 and the original IBM PC cost around $1,350. Yet none of them could touch the C-64 in computing power or fun factor.

I eventually graduated from the C-64 to the Commodore 128, which featured twice the power -- a 2 Mhz CPU,... Tags: mac, programming, software

A consortium of mobile communications giants has released the first version of a Linux-based mobile platform for next-generation smartphones and handsets. The LiMo platform is a plug-in, hardware-independent architecture constructed around open-source standards. It features a secure runtime environment for application downloads.

The technology has been commercially deployed and proven in handsets already on the market, and it is expected to be in more devices later this year, said LiMo Foundation Executive Director Morgan Gillis.

"With Release 1 of the LiMo platform now completed, LiMo Foundation has established a scalable and sustainable mobile-device platform that will spur rapid innovation and contributions from all LiMo members," Gillis said.

Embracing Linux

In the battle for smartphone platforms, LiMo will be going head-to-head with Google's Android and Apple's new iPhone software development kit (SDK). However, the LiMo Foundation, which was founded in January 2007, remains optimistic that its open-source underpinnings will help its platform gain traction.

"The mobile industry is embracing Linux and openness as the key enablers of lower device-development costs, increased flexibility and quicker time to market for innovative services of all kinds," said LiMo Foundation Chairman Kiyohito Nagata, who also represents Japan-based network operator NTT DoCoMo. "LiMo Foundation is driving these trends."

Third-party developers will use LiMo's application-programming interface specifications to field next-generation applications across a global base of mobile devices. Moreover, software designers will be able to implement middleware components for the LiMo platform by drawing on their C or C++ programming skills.

SDKs for Native, Webkit and Java operating environments are scheduled in the second half of this year, the fledgling nonprofit organization said. The consortium is already working on Release 2, slated for introduction by year's end.

TI Weighs In

In slightly more than one year, the LiMo Foundation has consistently rolled out its deliverables on schedule, Gillis noted. And... Tags: design, development, linux, programming, software, technology