NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 18 February
18-02-2010
by Deirdre McArdle
Intune Networks in EU research project | Microsoft, Yahoo alliance gets thumbs up
Security firm Eset is warning Irish PC users about a new fraudulent e-mail attack that is currently flooding inboxes. The e-mail in question claims to be from the Microsoft Security Team and says it is a "Conflicker [sic] .B Infection Alert". This is a fake e-mail, complete with the poor spelling that is characteristic of many of these types of attacks, and it urges recipients to install an attached file to secure their computers. Eset has identified the malware contained in the attached file as Win32/Kryptik.clu Trojan, which makes PCs vulnerable to other malware attacks.
Irish telecoms equipment design firm Intune Networks is part of a consortium of companies and universities that has been awarded a major R&D contract under the EU 7th Framework. The consortium aims to develop a telecoms network for cloud computing. The group includes national telecoms operators Telefonica in Spain and PrimeTel in Cyprus. The consortium also includes Italian software company Nextworks, and the University of Essex and University Autonoma Madrid. "It is a major vote of confidence in Intune's technology to be part of such a high profile EU research grant... This places Intune Networks at the cutting edge of future telecoms network development in Europe," said Tim Fritzley, CEO of Intune Networks.
NUI Galway and University of Limerick have formed an alliance that will see the universities joining forces on research initiatives in the 'green tech' sector; collaborating on software development and internet technology research; and furthering research and education to serve Ireland's biomedical device industry. In order to achieve these objectives the pair will facilitate student exchange between the universities, and will also be jointly developing PhD programmes, as well as other initiatives. "By coming together with a shared vision for the future we will optimise our delivery of world-class research, innovative teaching and service to the community, while being responsive to the needs of our industry partners and to the social, cultural and economic needs of Ireland," said Professor Don Barry, president of UL.
Microsoft and Yahoo's search tie-up has been given the green light by European and US regulators. The pair are now free to implement their search deal, and this is expected to happen in the coming days. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft's Bing becomes the search engine for Yahoo and Microsoft, while Yahoo will act as the global sales force for the companies' search advertisers. The two companies first announced the deal in July of last year.
The number of mobile workers worldwide will jump to 1.2 billion people by 2013, according to research firm IDC. The study shows that the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) will have the highest number of mobile workers by 2013 at 734.5 million, which represents 37.4 percent of its working population. Western Europe will have 129.5 million mobile workers (50.3 percent of its workforce) in three years time, while in the US that figure will come to 119.7 million (75.5 percent of its workforce). Japan's mobile worker population will total 49.3 million in 2013, making up almost three quarters of its working population.
Amazon has launched a free Kindle application for BlackBerry devices. 'Kindle for BlackBerry' will allow customers using BlackBerry devices on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and other US networks wireless access to Kindle books for USD9.99 or less each. The e-tailer rolled out a similar app for the iPhone last year.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 