| by Jordan Richardson on January 27, 2012
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In today’s hustle-and-bustle world, videoconferencing has become an invaluable tool in many board rooms and offices around the world. It’s a convenient way to connect with people who may otherwise not be able to make it in to the location in person, but new questions are being raised about the security of videoconferencing setups.
According to HD Moore, the chief security expert at Rapid7, tens of thousands of videoconferencing setups the world over are vulnerable to spying and hacker attacks.
Moore, using scanning tools, surveyed a small percentage of the Internet to discover videoconferencing hardware that used what is known as the H.323 protocol – the most commonly used protocol for videoconferencing equipment. Two percent of all videoconferencing setups using the protocol were at risk of hacker infiltration.
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| by Matt Klassen on January 27, 2012
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The day after Apple posted massive profits in its latest fiscal report, the working conditions along the Cupertino technology giant’s supply lines, particularly those found in the Foxconn factories littered across China, have once again come under scrutiny in a NY Times exposé; not because something new has happened, but because nothing old has changed.
Amidst Apple’s record breaking iPhone sales, the continued growth of the dominance of its iPad, and the resurgence of its Mac computer brand, the company has been plagued by ongoing concerns about inhumane working conditions along its supply line, including workers enduring exorbitantly long hours and an unsafe work environment, conditions that if questioned by the employees themselves have led to threats and even physical punishment. Further, several have been killed and dozens injured in factory explosions this last year, saying nothing about the rash of well-publicized suicides the year before.
So who’s to blame for this ongoing crisis? While there are several prime candidates the truth of the matter is that we, the Apple crazed consumer, are largely at fault, as one anonymous Apple executive explains, “Right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China.”
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| by Jeff Wiener on January 26, 2012
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Gaming on a Quad-Core Mobile Processor
Work it, make it, do it, Makes us harder, better, faster, stronger! While I’m told this line is part of the lyrics to a popular Kanye West song (and for the time being I’ll pretend to know who that is), more importantly it seems to be the anthem for smartphones around the world…that is if smartphones could rap I suppose.
Joking aside, according to industry analysts 2012 will likely be the year the smartphone will indeed get significantly better, faster, and stronger as it looks like the popular handheld computing platform is set to receive the much anticipated mobile quad-core processor.
Although this year’s CES didn’t show much in the way of quad-core smartphones, many are looking to next month’s Mobile World Congress to be the real unveiling for the next generation of smartphone processors. In fact, thanks to an over abundance of leaks and inside source material, it seems that the coming of the quad-core smartphone is imminent, and its arrival will mean big changes for what your smartphone can do and how fast it can do it.
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| by Jordan Richardson on January 26, 2012
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The term of Konrad von Finckenstein has come to an end and the CRTC is moving forward, appointing Leonard Katz as the interim chair while the search for the next head of the regulator goes on.
Katz has been the CRTC’s vice-chairman of telecommunications and previously served as the executive director of broadcasting and telecommunications. He also has 30 years of private sector experience, having served in senior and executive roles with Rogers Business Solutions and Digimerge Technologies.
The CRTC has been in the crosshairs of just about everyone involved in the telecommunications sector as of late. Politics has become par for the course, especially with controversial issues like usage-based billing and the upcoming spectrum auction dotting the horizon.
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| by Matt Klassen on January 26, 2012
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Is the new iPhone 4S the latest innovative mobile device or simply an incremental upgrade over its predecessor? It’s a question I asked following what I considered to be the unveiling of the relatively lacklustre iPhone 4S back in early October of last year. I was thoroughly convinced that the general public would simply not be hoodwinked into purchasing an Apple device that was, in essence, a carbon copy of its predecessor with a few minor tweaks and upgrades…and I couldn’t have been more wrong.
If it wasn’t the long lines at Best Buy, the fiscal reports from carriers showing the burden of iPhone 4S subsidy fees, or the fact that Chinese Apple fans rioted at the release that proved to me that the iPhone 4S wasn’t a lame duck device, its certainly this…the iPhone 4S has rocketed Apple back into the corporate stratosphere.
In its Q4 report released yesterday Apple posted huge earnings, watching its overall capitalization reach a staggering $418.8 billion (to put it in perspective that’s double the value of Wal-Mart). With more money than Scrooge McDuck (minus the money bin to put it in) the only real question is, what’s Apple going to do with it all?
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| by Jordan Richardson on January 25, 2012
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Research In Motion may have removed Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis from the top of the company totem pole, but investors haven’t changed their minds about the Waterloo company’s fortunes. While it certainly would be optimistic to consider corporate fortunes to have shifted immediately following the announcement of COO Thorsten Heins’ promotion to chief executive officer, seeing the company lose about $1 billion in market value over the last two days has to come as a bit of a shock.
Shares in the company plunged nine percent on Monday and another 3.2 percent today to land at $15.17 in Toronto. Trading was up slightly before markets opened on Monday, mind you, but the upswing reversed once investors got wind of the fact that Heins planned on keeping things “business as usual.”
“The words they heard from the incoming CEO were not exactly reassuring,” Paul Taylor said, chief investment officer for BMO Harris Private Banking. “It seemed to imply a lack of recognition that broader change would be a good thing and they didn’t necessarily need a plan to make that change, but a plan to get a plan.”
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In today’s hustle-and-bustle world, videoconferencing has become an invaluable tool in many board rooms and offices around the world. It’s a convenient way to connect with people who may otherwise not be able to make it in to the location in person, but new questions are being raised about the security of videoconferencing setups.
