Pre-orders start for Sony’s 6.4-inch phablet

Sony upped the ante for high-end phablets in June by unveiling its Xperia Z Ultra. This phablet has a 6.4-inch screen, the biggest among top-of-the-line handsets, and ranks amongst the thinnest smartphones in the world. Within a month of its global showcasing, rumours have begun that the handset will soon launch in India, and now, even pre-orders have started.

Speculation is rife that the new Xperia Z Ultra will hit India on July 31, though nothing has been confirmed by the Japanese manufacturer. However, the device has been listed on Sony Mobile's India website. Online retailer Saholic has even started taking pre-orders for the phablet at Rs 44,990, with delivery promised within seven days. The website's page for Xperia Z Ultra shows an official price tag of Rs 46,990, though if rumours are to be believed then the device may be priced under Rs 40,000.

Xperia Z Ultra phablet has a full HD display (1920x1080p resolution) with 344ppi pixel density. The quad-core CPU of the handset is clocked at 2.2GHz and is supported by 2GB RAM. This device has the same design language as Xperia Z smartphone and features on-screen keys as well as scratch-resistant and shatterproof glass. Just like the current flagship phone, Xperia Z Ultra is waterproof and dust resistant, even though it can withstand staying in the water for longer duration of time.

The phablet runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) with a customized UI to make better use of the extra screen size. Powered by a 3,000mAh battery, Xperia Z Ultra packs 16GB internal storage and supports microSD card expansion up to 64GB. Connectivity suite of Sony's latest gadget consists of 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and microUSB 2.0. On the back is an 8MPcamera with LED flash, while a 2MP unit is placed in the front.

At 212gram, Xperia Z Ultra is one of the heftiest phablets in the market, but with thickness of just 6.5mm, it finds itself a spot among the slimmest handsets today. Apart from multitouch, users can input data via stylus in this new phablet and pencils.

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Apple developer site remains shut 4 days after hacking

A website that Apple uses to communicate with its community of some 6 million software developers remained shuttered on Monday, four days after a cyberattack that prompted a harried upgrade to prevent future breaches. 

It was not immediately clear what data, if any, was been compromised by the attack. 

Apple said in a notice released late on Sunday that names, mailing addresses and emails may have been accessed by unknown attackers. It added that "sensitive personal information" was encrypted and could not be accessed. 

Security experts said Apple's brief statement made it difficult to assess the severity of the breach. 

"I am not exactly sure what happened. I do not know what to make of this," said Charlie Miller, author of the iOS Hacker's Handbook. 

Miller said he received an email from Apple on Monday warning him about the breach, adding that he hoped none of his personal information had been compromised in an attack. 

Still, he said he had not seen any indications that suggest other attacks on Apple could soon follow. 

"I don't think this indicates any system problems in their security," he said. 

Data breaches are relatively common because hackers are constantly identifying new ways to attack by exploiting software bugs and leveraging mistakes in the way companies configure websites and computer systems. Hackers are also relentless in sending emails with malicious links and attachments to targeted companies. 

Security experts speculated that the site may have been attacked using one of several widely known security bugs in web technology, but there seemed to be no consensus. 

A man claiming to be a Turkish security researcher posted a video on YouTube and sent out comments on Twitter saying that he was responsible for the attack on Apple's developer site and had done so in a bid to publicize a security bug. 

Apple declined comment on his claim, which could not be independently verified. The man could not be reached for comment. 

Other corporate victims of recent security breaches include: Evernote, LinkedIn Corp, LivingSocial and Sony. 

Apple said in its statement to developers that it was completely overhauling the technology on the shutdown site, which it hoped would soon be back online. 

It may be in hot demand as developers are writing and testing apps to run on iOS 7, the next-generation operating system for iPhones and iPads that Apple is planning to release in the fall. 

It was the second security breach that the company has disclosed in five months. In February, the maker of Macs and iPhones said that some Mac computers had been infected by hackers who had also attacked Facebook and other technology companies.

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IT managers, engineers hardest to find: Survey

IT managers, engineers, sales representatives and marketing professionals and administrative assistants are just some of the profiles that are hardest to fill in the world, according to a new global study from human capital solutions firm CareerBuilder. The study shows that companies around the world have at least one thing in common: difficulty in filling in-demand jobs.

Employers in the top ten world economies identified which positions their organizations typically take the longest to fill as they struggle to find qualified candidates. IT managers, engineers, accountants, secretaries were considered as profiles that were the hardest to fill in India. The online survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, included responses from more than 5,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals in countries with the largest gross domestic product. 

"Any positions that remain open for an extended period of time can negatively impact both the financial health of a company and its overall employee morale," Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder said in a statement. "We see more hiring managers embracing data tools that can measure market demand and supply of relevant labour in specific geographies, so they can adjust their recruitment strategies and fill vacancies in a timely manner," he added. 

While the positions that take the longest to fill vary from country to country, there are some similarities across the globe. A common thread amongst all ten countries is the extended time it takes to fill engineering and technology positions and revenue-driving roles such as sales and customer service. 

Engineers, IT managers, sales representatives, accountants were also among the profiles that were hardest to fill in the US and UK. In countries like China, HR professionals were also among the most in demand apart from engineers, mechanics and computer programmers.

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Why there are few takers for iGate CEO‘s post

The search for a new head at iGate to replace Phaneesh Murthy -- who was fired mid-May -- is proving more difficult than earlier imagined as stiff challenges facing the Nasdaq-listed company discourage potential candidates. 

The CEO search has been on for about two months now after the board fired Murthy for not disclosing a relationship with a subordinate. Concerns deterring potential candidates include the huge debt that iGate racked up to buy Patni Computer -- a firm three times its size -- in 2011.

The Patni acquisition had left iGate with about $700 million (about Rs 4,200 crore now) of debt in its books. The Fremont, California-based company, which does a majority of its work out of Bangalore, earns a little over a $1 billion (about Rs 5,950 crore) in revenues annually. 

"This is probably a more complicated company to take charge of than many others," said a person who was sounded out but was not too excited about the top job, requesting anonymity. "You have a new problem about what the culture will be after Phaneesh (Murthy). Is it going to be iGate's or Patni's culture?" 

An iGate spokesperson declined to comment on queries related to the CEO search. Executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates has been tasked with the job. 

Former Patni CEO Jeya Kumar, Capgemini's head of application services and financial services business units Salil Parekh as well as Infosys' head of North America business Ashok Vemuri were seen as being the frontrunners for the job. 

In addition to the internal challenges, the new CEO will also have to grapple with the possibility of reduced business from Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), iGate's second-biggest customer contributing about 12% of sales. Following a Canadian government's probe into the bank allegedly outsourcing jobs to iGate at the expense of local employees, experts said RBC could reduce business to iGate over the next 7-10 months. 

iGate has denied that this is the case. In the latest earnings call, interim CEO Gerhard Watzinger maintained it was business as usual. 

"If I were one of the candidates for iGate CEO post, I would think deeply before taking up that job. The company faces a multitude of issues, including high debt, potential loss of business from Royal Bank of Canada and a serious credibility issue in front of clients," said Pradeep Mukherji, head of outsourcing advisory, Avasaant. "They are in a state of flux and it's going to take anywhere between five and six months to settle things down." He said regaining credibility in market will be the biggest challenge for the new CEO. 

iGate is also considering internal candidates, sources said, among them is Derek Kemp, its executive vice-president and head of sales for EMEA, Asia & Australia. Former Aricent CEO and currently its India chairman, SudipNandy, and former Wipro joint CEO, Girish Paranjpe who recently resigned from Bloom Energy, a Silicon Valley-based fuel-cell startup. 

Potential candidates could also be deterred by the fact that private equity investor Apax Partners, which came in at the time of the Patni acquisition, would want an exit after three-four years. Having an "on sale" board usually makes it harder to win business and acquire new clients. 

"Ideally, there should be a succession plan, but most organizations don't have one in place," said CK Guruprasad, principal of global technology & services practice at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles. He pointed out that the search could be time-consuming. "Even after the candidate is finalized, it could take another 8 to 12 weeks to serve the notice period."

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Intel to launch low-power version of Xeon server chips

Chipmaker Intel said it is planning to launch a low-power version of its brawny server processors, potentially heading off competitors hoping to expand into the data centre with energy efficient-chips based on smartphone technology. 

Intel has already launched a line of its Atom mobile chips that are tweaked to work as low-power server chips. 

The announcement, which was made on Monday at an event with industry analysts and media, means Intel will go a step further by offering a low-power version of its powerful Xeon processor with built-in features including connectivity and memory. 

It also reflects the willingness of CEO Brian Krzanich, who took over in May, to make major changes to how Intel approaches its different markets. 

By launching lower-power chips for servers, Intel is trying to stay ahead of Advanced Micro Devices, Applied Micro Circuits and other smaller rivals hoping to disrupt the top chipmaker's dominance of the data centre with upcoming components designed with low-power smartphone technology licensed from ARM Holdings. 

"Intel's announcements demonstrate they will try to defend their turf against ARM-based servers and specialty processors," said Pat Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "Up until today, it was a bit of a guessing game for Intel that today has at least 95% server market share." 

Diane Bryant, in charge of Intel's data center business, said the new component, based on the upcoming Broadwell version of Intel's Xeon high-performance chips, will launch next year. 

Energy-sipping chips similar to those used in smartphones and tablets lack the horsepower of traditional server processors made by Intel. But data centres that combine many low-power chips instead of just a few heavy-duty processors may provide more computing power for less money and use less electricity. 

Microservers have yet to gain serious traction with traditional corporate customers like banks and manufacturers, and the potential size of the market remains unclear. 

The new version of Broadwell is part of Intel's move to integrate more features onto its chips, like memory and graphics. "System on chips," as they are known, are already widely used in smartphones and tablets, but less in the data center. Intel is also beginning to make "system on chips" for laptops. 

Intel dominates the PC and server markets, but it was slow to design chips for the mobile market, where chips using technology from ARM Holdings have become ubiquitous.

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Cloud-based app to end mobile telephony woes

Connecting to phone numbers is crucial to get things done. It could be an apartment resident trying to get a clarification about his home loanfrom a bank. Or it could be a Good Samaritan reaching out to a hospital for an ambulance to help an accident victim. 

The person punches one number after another listed in the directory; and is often greeted with just recorded messages or gets directed and redirected to the wrong people. After many frustrated attempts, caller gets to the right person. 

The delay, besides being a hassle, can be crucial. For businesses, a missed call could mean loss of a contract worth hundreds of thousands of rupees. 

This was precisely the problem that led Sundeep Misra and his team to launch the MCube solution, based on cloud telephony. The app, developed by Bangalore-based VMC Technologies, helps both individuals and enterprises resolve the problems relating to fixed and mobile telephony. 

It enables employees of a company to work with a wide variety of mobile and fixed line devices allowing them to have full flexibility and mobility. It also enables the company to analyse the nature of the incoming calls, under various parameters and keywords used by callers, and understand their customers better. 

"On my return from the US, I found that the way many companies managed incoming calls was inefficient," says Misra. "If there was a way to handle the incoming calls better, connect potential customers to the employees more efficiently , it would boost the productivity of the company a lot." 

One of the solutions is MCube X, which has been deployed by RMV Hospital, Bangalore. When a person calls for an ambulance, often he also needs to know when the help will arrive. MCube X allows the caller to be put on hold, while the frontdesk connects to the driver and reassures the caller that the help is on the way. 

Jumbo Kids, a pre-school chain in Karnataka, is using the MCube X app to connect all their 34 branches in the state. With so many branches, it became difficult for the management to monitor the results of advertising for each branch and the performance of their customer service. MCube X collapses all the branches into a single point of contact for customer queries. 

The MCube solution is also being tried out by Project Vishram which provides support services to the elderly. Once it's launched, senior citizens covered by the project will be easily able to reach out for any service by calling just one number. "Using MCube, Project Vishram will provide the the 'last mile' connectivity between the service provider and the user without creating a separate infrastructure," explained coordinator Wg Cmdr Thomas Verghese. 

In offices, mobile numbers function as an employee's extension number, and therefore, no incoming calls is missed. "Our solution allows not only automatic, efficient routing of multiple incoming calls, helping customers, but also enables businesses know which calls have been answered, who attended them, which calls have been put on hold, call duration, origin etc. There are features to analyze the keywords to give valuable input to the businesses to scale up their productivity," says Misra. 

Misra has more than 22 years of industry, technical and management experience. Prior to VMC, he worked for Goldman Sachs as vice-president where he led several technology initiatives and managed global teams. VMC is self-funded.

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Beware! Beebone PC virus on the prowl

A new and deadly variant of computer virus called 'Beebone' has been detected in Indian cyberspace and internet security sleuths have warned users to safeguard their systems against its attack which leads to unauthorised entry of malware. 

'Beebone' belongs to the notorious family ofTrojan malwares which get a "privileged access" into a users computer by faking its identity and deploying smart and corrupt techniques to attack vulnerable computers. 

The latest virus detected on the country's internet network is so notorious and lethal that it acquires as many as 20 aliases or masks to infect and attack a vulnerable computer system which is low on security features. 

"It has been observed that new variants of Trojan win32/Beebone are spreading widely. This is a trojan downloader family which silently downloads and installs other malware and programs without user consent," an advisory issued by the national Internet and computer security sleuths organisation, the Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-In), said. 

The cyber security sleuths have suggested a host of countermeasures and defences to beat 'Beebone' attacks. 

"Exercise caution while using external/removable storage devices, disable autorun functionality in Windows, keep upto date patches and fixes on the operating system and application software, do not visit untrusted websites, keep upto date anti-virus and anti-spyware signatures at desktop and gateway level, use strong passwords and also enable password policies and avoid downloading pirated software," are some of the security features recommended by the agency to Internet and computer users in the country. 

For computer technology geeks, the agency has put out the names of aliases acquired by the virus. 

Some of them are-- Trojan.Win32.Jorik.Fareit.qru (Kaspersky), W32/Autorun.worm.aaeh!gen (McAfee), W32/VobFus-BX (Sophos), Trojan horse ( Symantec), Trojan-FBZZ! 41E0B7088DD9 (McAfee), Trojan.Win32.SelfDel.aqhh (Kaspersky), Trojan.Win32.Jorik.Fareit.qsl (Kaspersky), Beebone-FMQ! 039FA2520D97 (McAfee), W32.Changeup! gen40 (Symantec) and Worm.Win32.Vobfus.dxpf (Kaspersky).

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Buyer‘s guide: Wi-Fi router within Rs 2,500

I want to buy a Wi-Fi modem routerwithin a budget of Rs 2,500 to use with myMTNL connection. Please suggest a few models. 
—Sameer Sahu, Shubham Aggarwal, Kunal Rane 

If your broadband connection is from BSNL or MTNL, you will need an ADSL router which allows the line to be used for internet browsing and voice calls at the same time. These routers come with an RJ11 port into which you can connect your phone cable. For use within the confines of a single room you will be well-served by the ADSL modem routers that come from the service provider at a nominal fee and a fixed monthly rental.

If you want to buy your own, you could opt for any of the following ADSL models: TP-LINK TDW 8951ND (Rs 1,700), Buffalo Wireless N150 (Rs 2,100), Asus DSL-N 10E (Rs 2,200) and D-Link DSL-2750 U (Rs 2,300). All these modem routers come with a 3-year warranty; operate in the 2.4GHz range; support wireless speeds of up to 150Mbps; DSL modem speeds of 24Mbps; come with 4 LAN (RJ-45 ) ports and one for WAN (RJ-11 ) - and sport external antenna. The D-Link model is also equipped with a USB2.0 port to which you can connect external storage or even a printer. 

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Suggest a good PC graphics card

I am an avid gamer, and would like to buy a new graphics card. Could you please suggest a few options worth considering? 

—Brenton Sequeira, Pavan Makhija, Ritesh R

Since you haven't specified a budget, we will list some cards that stand out under different price points...

Under Rs 10,000
For gamers on a budget, we suggest the AMDHD 7770 (1GB), which sells for around Rs 8,500. This card can handle most games at FullHD resolution, though with offerings like Crysis 3 you may have to sacrifice graphics effects for smoother game play.

Between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000
The AMD HD 7790 (2GB) with a price of around Rs 11,000 gets our vote here.

Between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000
The Nvidia GTX 760 (2GB) offers fantastic 'value for money' at Rs 20,000. It supports all contemporary games with maximum graphics settings, and has enough horsepower to stay relevant for the next couple of years.

Between Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000
None. No card in this price bracket offers any advantage over the GTX 760.

Above Rs 30,000
If you intend to play a game on a 30-inch or 27-inch FullHD monitor, consider the AMD HD 7970 GHz Edition (3GB). Also, the additional RAM in this card could help in future games that might have such memory requirements.

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How to connect your camera to PC without installing software

Manufacturers often include manuals, how-to videos, utility programs and software drivers on discs when you buy a new camera, but you may not actually need to install any of it. Most modern computer operating systems automatically recognize the camera or memory card. 

If you connect the camera to the computer with the USB cable and the memory card pops up as a new external drive, you can open it and copy the photo files to the hard drive manually, usually from the card's "DCIM" folder. 

If the computer does not recognize the connected camera or offer to import photos, check the manual and install the camera's driver software. 

If the computer has a built-in memory card reader, or you buy an external USB card reader, you can stick the camera's card in the reader and copy the photos without connecting the camera. 

Some discs include software for processing, editing and organizing photos imported from the camera. If you already use a program like Adobe Photoshop Elements, Google Picasa or Apple iPhoto to import pictures, you do not have to install anything new.

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Cisco to buy cybersecurity co Sourcefire for $2.7bn

US computer network giant Cisco Systems announced plans to buy cybersecurity firm Sourcefire in a deal worth $2.7 billion.

"Sourcefire aligns well with Cisco's future vision for security and supports the key pillars of our security strategy," said Cisco vice president Hilton Romanski.

"Through our shared view of the critical role the network must play in cybersecurity and threat defense, we have a unique opportunity to deliver the most comprehensive approach to security in the market."

Sourcefire specializes in "continuous and pervasive advanced threat protection" for all types of computing devices and in the internet cloud.

Cisco will pay $76 per share in cash for Sourcefire and assumeoutstanding equity awards for a total of $2.7 billion under the deal, which has been approved by the board of directors of each company.

"The notion of the 'perimeter' no longer exists and today's sophisticated threats are able to circumvent traditional, disparate security products," said Cisco vice president for security Christopher Young.

"Organizations require continuous and pervasive advanced threat protection that addresses each phase of the attack continuum. With the acquisition of Sourcefire, we believe our customers will benefit from one of the industry's most comprehensive, integrated security solutions -- one that is simpler to deploy, and offers better security intelligence."

Sourcefire, based in Columbia, Maryland, was founded in 2001 and went public in 2007. It has 650 employees and its 2012 revenues were $223 million.

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