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.

Symantec Launches Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition

Symantec Corp. makers of Norton security software, announced the availability of Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition, a new offering designed specifically with the gaming community in mind. From protecting assets earned on massive multi-player games to keeping malware at bay, Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition is fast and light on system resources, and never compromises the gaming experience.

Key features of Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition

- New Gamer Mode keeps you protected but won’t bother you while you’re in the middle of a game. Suspends updates, alerts, and other background activities and is automatically enabled when system is in full screen mode, or easily manually enabled;
- Smart scheduling holds resource intensive actions such as system scans for when the computer is idle;
- Industry-leading protection from viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, keyloggers, bots and infected web sites;
- Customizable security settings allow gamers to reach the performance and protection balance they require; and
- Performance driven release installs in under a minute, uses less than 6MB memory, adds less than 1 second to boot time and averages scans in less than 35 seconds.

Twitter rejects Facebook buyout offer

Twitter’s founders Evan Williams and Jack Dorsey turned down the $500 million stock buyout offer from Facebook.

Williams and Dorsey said they have not explored the full potential of their site thus they consider selling the company to Facebook premature. Twitter has more than six million users sending messages, known as Tweets, among friends within the Twitter community.