James, Microsoft go their separate ways

After General Motors ended their endorsement deal with Tiger Woods, its Microsoft turn to end its partnership with Cleveland Cavalier star LeBron James.

James and MSN have terminated their contract. As a result, the MSN Web page upon which the two sides collaborated and James’ personal page, LeBronJames.com, have been shut down.

Microsoft warns of attacks on recent flaw

Microsoft has confirmed that they are noticing attacks on the Windows operating system which are connected to bugs they have already fixed. Microsoft is advising that the users should update their copies with the MS08-067 patch if they have not already done so.

Security company Symantec had earlier notified about these attacks. Microsoft has named this latest malware Conficker.a. Symantec calls it Downadup. This malware uses a vulnerability present in the Windows Server service.

MSI Wind set to get WiMAX support

MSI Computer has announced that they are soon going to showcase a version of their MSI Wind Netbook that would feature support for WiMAX 3G networks.

This new model is named U120 and it would be otherwise similar to current generation of MSI Wind.

The company is also doubling the hard disk capacity in this version. It would come loaded with 160GB of storage space.

Samsung Teams up with Hugo Boss for F480

Hugo Boss has collaborated with Samsung to release their own branded handset. The Hugo Boss concept came from the F480 handset and features a 5MP camera, a 2.8 inch touchscreen display, a redesigned touchWiz interface and supports 3G and HSDPA connectivity.

The Handset was redesigned to the specification of Hugh Boss with ringtone that reflects the style of the company.

Nokia to pull out of Japan

As part of its effort to sharpen its business focus and priorities, Nokia will discontinue mobile device sales and marketing activities in Japan. Vertu, Nokia’s line of luxury mobile devices will continue with strong focus on the Japanese market. Nokia substantial global R&D and sourcing operations in Japan will also continue unaffected.

“In the current global economic climate, we have concluded that the continuation of our investment in Japan-specific product variants is no longer sustainable. Moving forward, in Japan, Nokia will concentrate on global R&D activities, focused opportunities like Vertu, as well as further development of Nokia’s sourcing activities,” said Timo Ihamuotila, Executive Vice President, Nokia.

HP ProCurve Announces Integration of Colubris Product Line

HP ProCurve announced the integration of the best-in-class Colubris Networks product line into the existing ProCurve networking portfolio. The new product family adds an 802.11n wireless overlay solution based on Colubris’ industry-first optimized architecture, giving customers a choice of fully integrated and overlay wireless solutions. HP ProCurve also announced the availability of a new 802.11n wireless access point.

The ProCurve mobility solutions expansion is a result of HP’s acquisition of Waltham, MA-based Colubris Networks that closed October 1, 2008.

A result of the rapid integration of the two organizations is a new 802.11n access point, in addition to an updated version of ProCurve Manager that adds the ability to automatically discover, map and initiate management of any Colubris product. The first deliverable in HP ProCurve’s aggressive management integration plans, ProCurve Manager gives customers a single view of their wired and wireless network topology. The HP ProCurve MSM410 single-radio 802.11n access point is an indoor AP, designed for discrete installation inside hotels, hospitals dormitories and office environments.

With the addition of the Colubris product line, HP ProCurve now offers customers a choice of integrated and overlay wireless LAN solutions that leverage investments in existing network infrastructure and deliver broad interoperability with multi-vendor 802.11 client devices. This product line is also scalable to support a range of organizations, from large enterprises to small and medium-sized businesses.

Sony Ericsson launches new exclusive panels for the Xperia X1 multimedia phone

Sony Ericsson has just launched the latest panels for its multimedia convergence phone, the Xperia X1, teaming up with the popular social networking site Facebook and Microsoft Windows Live. These web-centric panels come in addition to the existing connectivity panel from Dashwire, a site which allows you to sync your phone content to the web and share it to a range of popular social networking sites.

The new Facebook application built for Sony Ericsson uses the unique interface of the Xperia X1 to deliver an intuitive version of the site, putting images of your friends onto your phone’s desktop (standby screen) and showing their latest status updates as you touch their images. Touch through to access more Facebook features.

New functions available through the Xperia X1 Facebook panel include:

- An entirely new visual representation of friends’ statuses
- Simple and fast upload of photos to Facebook
- Easy access to Facebook friends list and phone numbers, with click to call capabilities.

As you touch to view different information, icons and links change to give you one touch access to the information you are likely to use – for example, touch the photo icon from your profile page to see your photos, from a friend’s profile page touch the photo icon to see their photos.

Lenovo lets users disable notebooks via SMS

Lenovo announced plans to bring customers a new security defense against unauthorized data access on Lenovo ThinkPad notebooks. The Lenovo Constant Secure Remote Disable feature lets users send a simple text message command via a cell phone to render their PC useless to unauthorized users when the notebook is lost or stolen. Lenovo worked with Phoenix Technologies, a leader in embedded technologies that improve the user experience, to develop this capability. Lenovo’s Remote Disable feature will be available on select ThinkPad notebooks equipped with mobile broadband starting in 1Q 2009.

To activate Remote Disable, users create a simple text message command such as “lockdown now PC” or “PC shut off” that can be used if a notebook PC is lost or stolen. A user sends the kill command to the ThinkPad notebook via cell phone to the PC’s onboard mobile broadband service and the computer becomes inoperable. If the PC is turned off when a user sends a kill command, the PC will automatically disable the next time it registers on the network. Users also receive a confirmation text message that validates when the Remote Disable technology has been successfully executed. To reactivate the disabled PC, a user enters his or her pre-set passcode created during notebook startup.