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New Yahoo’s Zimbra 5.0 Suite

Zimbard

Not quite five months after its US$350 million acquisition by Yahoo. Latest News about Yahoo, open source e-mail operator Zimbra Tuesday unveiled its Zimbra Collaboration Suite ZCS 5.0 software.

This next-generation product has features for reading mail and creating documents offline from a Web browser.

ZCS 5.0 enhancements include offline access to Microsoft Webroot AntiSpyware 30-Day Free Trial. Click here. Latest News about Microsoft Outlook 2007 and support for an array of handheld devices, including BlackBerry devices from Research In Motion Latest News about Research In Motion, Motorola Latest News about Motorola Razrs and Apple’s Latest News about Apple iPhones.

The worldwide reach of Yahoo has enabled Zimbra to reach numerous audiences, including universities, Internet service providers (ISPs) and small companies, the company said in announcing the launch.

“We are proud of our achievements in ZCS 5.0 and appreciate the passionate feedback from the 13,500 open source community members and customers that made our most significant release to date a huge success,” said Satish Dharmaraj, Yahoo vice president and Zimbra cofounder.

“Together, we have built one of the world’s premier e-mail and collaboration products and, with Yahoo’s support, are continuing to innovate at a more rapid pace.”
Product Versatility

The ZCS 5.0 also allows e-mail storage in a designated briefcase instead of as an attachment and facilities-sharing briefcase folders. It also allows for sharing of in-boxes and e-mail folders, along with an option of read-only or management access for other users. The software also offers upgraded calendar features, and ships ready to use in 15 languages.

At the time it purchased Zimbra, Yahoo had voiced hopes that it would provide a vehicle for Yahoo Mail as a hosted solution to big accounts like universities as well as to consumers through ISPs.

Zimbra’s Ajax-based e-mail system can be customized for each account, so its software includes calendar and contact-management features that can be used online and offline.

Zimbra’s open source nature allows for the use of Zimlets, software plug-ins that connect e-mail to a variety of other Web services. Zimlets can be used to leverage Yahoo’s entire platform to serve ads to support free accounts.
Long-Term Value

Analysts with an eye on Microsoft’s $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo voiced some skepticism about whether Zimbra’s new software will enhance Yahoo’s value.

“I don’t know that it means much,” Scott Kessler, an analyst with Standard & Poors, told LinuxInsider. “I don’t think people are going to base a decision on buying Yahoo based on Zimbra coming out with a new product. I think this is interesting but it’s hardly material for investment.”

Nevertheless, Zimbra’s new system will be integrated into Yahoo’s e-mail network and other Yahoo properties, including Flickr, Yahoo Local, Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Search.

“Obviously, [Yahoo] paid $350 million, and we’re talking about an acquisition (of Yahoo) valued at, what, $45 billion?” Kessler said. “So, there’s some but not that much material advantage to this, at this point.”

Zimbra’s move, nevertheless, can have some long-term value for Yahoo, Mike Goodman, a Yankee Group analyst, told LinuxInsider.

“I think everything Yahoo does at the moment has to be looked at under the microscope of a potential deal,” he said. “There have been several announcements with Yahoo the last several days that certainly call into question whether these deals will hold if Microsoft acquires Yahoo.”

If the product can stand apart from competitors, it’s likely to be more successful, Goodman said. “I haven’t seen the new product, but you’re always looking for things to differentiate yourself to enhance the value of the product to the consumer. This is certainly a step in that direction.”
A Positive Step for a Struggling Parent?

Any step forward is a positive sign for Yahoo, Goodman noted.

“In Yahoo, you have a company that’s struggling right now,” he said. “Whether they’re acquired by Microsoft or somebody else, they still have to strengthen their business. No matter what happens, nobody wants an ailing Yahoo.”

If ZCS 5.0 proves revolutionary, it would defy recent trends for Yahoo, Goodman said. “They’re sort of in a quagmire,” he said. “When you look at the initiatives that Yahoo is doing, they’re not really going to redefine the marketplace. They’re not big ideas. They’re subtle differences on ideas already in the marketplace.”

source:technewsworld 

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Groqit – Personal Inventory Management Pen

Groqit

Groqit helps you keep track of what you own, and avoid buying it twice, by simply reading the barcodes on items you own.

You can use a Groqit without a computer. Just read the barcodes on items you own and take the Groqit with you. It will tell you when you wand a barcode in a store whether or not it has it already in your own inventory.

As a Groqit owner you can use the groqit.com website to translate barcodes, lookup items by author or title and store a backup copy of your personal inventory online (just in case) for free.

The Groqit is avilable from the groqit.com website for $95.

source :reuters

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Google Releases Code to Make Social Data Portable

Google

Google has unveiled a new API that it hopes will make data created by users of social networks portable.

The Social Graph API makes information about the connections people have with each other on different Web sites easily available, said Brad Fitzpatrick, a Google software engineer. Once the data is available, developers can solve the problem of requiring users to search for and add friends to new social applications and sites every time they join them, noted Fitzpatrick in a blog post.

“[The new API] makes information about the public connections between people on the Web easily available and useful,” he wrote. “You can make it easy for users to bring their existing social connections into a new website and as a result, users will spend less time rebuilding their social networks and more time giving your app the love it deserves.”

This is better than asking users to search for and add their friends – because they likely will tire of the chore if its required for very social network, he added.

The API, unveiled late last week, crawls the Web to find publicly declared relationships between people’s accounts, just like Google crawls the Web for links between pages, Fitzpatrick explained. But instead of returning links to HTML documents, the API returns data structures representing the social relationships discovered. When a user signs up for a new application, a developer can use the API to remind them who they’re friends with on other sites and ask them if they want to be friends on the new site, Google said.

Social Graph marks Google’s latest effort to make content created on social networks more easily shareable across the Web. Last month, Google and Facebook both announced plans to join the Data Portability Project, which is working on standards to allow user-generated content to be more easily shared among social networking sites.

Josh Catone, a blogger at Read Write Web, noted that the Google API could be an important tool in the data portability movement because “it allows users to find and evaluate their public social connections and take control of that information. As more and more users are beginning to suffer the effects of ‘social networking fatigue,’ anything that helps automate and make easier the process of adding your existing connections to a new network is a useful tool.”

 source:pcworld

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Ultra Slim Credit Card Sized 1GB USB

USB-drive

Anyone who has ever tried to write down the key points raised in a board meeting or a lecture will know that, despite concerted efforts, unless you’re proficient with short hand, its often impossible to document everything in quite as much detail as one would ideally like – and that’s where gadgets such as this ultra slim USB voice recorder can prove extremely useful.

Compact enough to be stored with ease – thanks to the flip out, flush mounted USB connection the device measures in at a mere 6.5mm in thickness and is approximately the size of a credit card – this digital voice recorder comes with 1GB or internal storage which is enough to record up to 69.3 hours and has a battery life of around 4.5 hours for both recording and playback.

Ultra Slim Credit Card Sized 1GB USB Digital Voice Recorder

Supplied complete with earbuds and a neck strap this compact, stylish digital voice recorder can also serve as a standard USB flash memory drive as well as an MP3 player (would could prove especially useful in particularly boring meetings/lectures) and retails for around $70.

source:reuters 

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Cell Phone Watch

Cell-watch

This digital watch comes with the wireless Bluetooth technology and a cell phone with GSM 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz tri-band functionality.

They’ve also managed to squeeze in a 1,3 megapixel camera, support for MP3 and MP4 files and a place for a microSD card up to 2GB in size.

Specifications:

* Screen: 1.3 inch, 128 x 160 pixels, 262K color TFT LCD
* Network: GSM 900/1800/1900MHz Tri-band
* Interface language: English, Chinese
* SIM card: Unlocked
* Touch screen with handwriting
* Camera: 1.3MP
* Audio format support: MP3
* Video format support: MP4
* Memory extension: microSD card up to 2GB
* Data transfer: GPRS, Bluetooth A2DP (headset included)
* Color: black
* Dimensions: 64 x 45 x 18mm

Package Includes:

* Cell phone watch x 1
* Touch pen x 1
* Battery x 2 (700mAh Lithium)
* microSD card x 1
* Earbuds x 1
* USB connector cable x 1
* Bluetooth headset x 1
* Bluetooth charger cable x 1
* Charger x 1

The Cell Phone Watch is available from Global Sources Direct for $154.

source:reuters 

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Antivirus Developers Setting Test Standards

Antivirous

Antivirus software companies and software testers created a new organization Monday with the goal of providing consistent information about the effectiveness of antivirus products.

The distribution of malware — including viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, and Web sites exploiting weaknesses in Internet browsers — is now being driven by organized crime for financial gain, and poses an ever more serious threat.

Anti-malware software developers have developed methods to block these threats, but traditional antivirus tests are becoming irrelevant because they don’t take such methods into account, according to Stuart Taylor of anti-malware software vendor Sophos.

Last year, developers of antivirus software called into question a batch of antivirus tests conducted by independent organizations when showed their products failing to detect many security threats. At a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, last May, representatives of F-Secure, Panda Software and Symantec decided to design a new testing plan.

The creation of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO) is one of the fruits of that work. It brings together around 40 developers and testers of anti-malware tools, with the aim of hosting discussions about testing, publicizing testing standards, and providing tools and resources for such testing.

Organizations present at the inaugural meeting included antivirus software testers such as AV-Comparatives and AV-Test.org, and antivirus software developers including BitDefender, F-Secure, Kaspersky Lab, McAfee, Sophos, Symantec, Trend Micro and Panda Software, which hosted the meeting. IBM and Microsoft also attended.

source:pcworld 

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Yahoo may consider Google alliance

yagoogle

Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay wrote in a research note that “the Microsoft bid of $31 is very astute” because it puts pressure on Yahoo management to take actions that could unlock the underlying value of Yahoo assets, which he estimates are worth upward of $39-$45 a share.

Separately, Google Inc fired back on Sunday at Microsoft Corp’s bid to acquire Yahoo Inc, accusing Microsoft of seeking to extend its computer software monopoly deeper into the Internet realm.

David Drummond, a Google senior vice president and its chief legal officer, said in a blog post that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo could undermine competition on the Web and called on policy makers to challenge the combination.

Microsoft responded to Google’s arguments by saying that a merger with Yahoo would create a “compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising” to market leader Google.

“The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet,” Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said in a statement.

Drummond argued that Microsoft’s power stems from decades- old monopolies in Windows — the software operating system used to control most personal computers — and Internet Explorer, which is the dominant browser consumers used to view the Web.

Microsoft’s proposed merger with Yahoo would combine the No. 1 and No. 2 suppliers of Web-based e-mail, instant messaging (IM) and portals, which act as starting points for hundreds of millions of users seeking information on the Web.

The Google executive argued in an official blog post that Microsoft could be looking to favor Microsoft and Yahoo services by pushing customers to other Web services they own instead of letting customers elect to use rival services.

“Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors’ email, IM, and Web-based services?” Drummond said in a blog at googleblog.blogspot.com.

 source:reuters

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Lab on a single Chip Medical Breakthrough

Medi-chip

It’s common knowledge that to carry out genetic tests, one would need expensive, state-of-the-art laboratory. But that might soon change thanks to a group of Canadian scientists who’ve developed a “lab-on-a-chip” device to conduct these tests. What is interesting about the device is that it’s supposed to be portable, inexpensive, and efficient.

Hailing from the University of Alberta; Professor Christopher Backhouse and Professor Linda Pilarski (Department of Oncology), along with research student, Govind Kaigala, have developed a $1,000 device the size of a shoebox that can conduct genetic tests and deliver results in less than half an hour.

Elaborating on the innovation, the researchers said that miniaturization is the key factor that has drastically brought down the cost of this gadget.

The Canadian Press quoted Professor Backhouse as saying that like computers, which in their early days, were inaccessible; somewhat like million-dollar beasts who formed a roomful, yet one needed a Ph.D. to to be able to operate one of them.

Similarly, the Professor said Life Science technologies do exist but aren’t being utilized optimally because they’re very expensive. Hence, the key to this mini-laboratory was to integrate, shrink, and automate. The ability of the device to implement a very wide range of tests on a standard platform quickly and inexpensively would make it indispensable for the future.

The research team believes that their miniature lab-on-a-chip will provide Cancer patients with quick genetic tests, in turn speeding up treatment processes. The team also believes the device may be useful in finding genetic signatures for particular viruses or bacteria or for testing the quality of water, and so on.

source:techtree 

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Ipods will not kill you

ipod

THE US Food and Drug Administration has decided that running an Ipod is unlikely to interfere with heart pacemakers.

Apparently this had been a great fear amongst those who had pacemakers. It could be a bit of an inconvenience if you are sitting next to someone playing Coldplay on their iPod on the train and suddenly keel over.

Last year heart experts ran an Ipod during a patient’s examination and claimed they had seen interference with the pacemaker.

At issue was was whether or not an iPod produced enough of a magnetic field to tigger a pacemaker.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, FDA researcher Howard Bassen set up a complex experiment involving a bag full of salt water to simulate the human body and a coil sensor designed to pick up electromagnetic emissions.

They tested four different Ipod models and measured the voltages delivered to the inside of the pacemaker by the magnetic fields from the devices.

All their measurements indicated the Ipods could not affect cardiac pacemakers. Particularly if you are made of salt water.

One thing that is odd is that the FDA only tested Apple gear. It was almost as if it had been lobbied to give Ipods the all clear.

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Microsoft warns users against using vLite

vlita

THE GLORIOUS empire of the Vole, upon which the sun does not set, is miffed that people would want to slim down its flagship operating system, Vista.

Earlier this week we mentioned a third party application, called vLite that offered to turn Vista from an over-bloated slug into something a bit closer to British Medical Association guidelines on obesity.

Speaking to News.com, a huffy SpokesVole did not bless such changes that strip out applications from Windows Vista prior to installing it on your system.

He hinted darkly that one day you might need one of those applications and your cut down operating system will fail you in your hour of need.

Future Windows updates and service packs could be impossible to download and your system will become unstable.

Apparently, the Vole does have a project as part of its Windows 7 development process, to create a slimmed-down Windows kernel called MinWin. Pity about the name as any Goon fan knows Min was an ancient crone who seems on the verge of breaking down. In ancient Egypt the God of fertility, Min, also had huge gonads.