UPDATE! Apple, Microsoft and Adobe Front Australian Parliamentary Inquiry

Australia’s parliamentary inquiry into consumer electronics and IT pricing has heard testimony from Apple, Microsoft and Adobe, the testimony however failed to impress. Australia consumers pay up to 90 per cent more for some of the most commonly required IT products, the trap of course is that programs like Adobe’s Photoshop are essential, irreplaceable tools in many businesses. The price discrepancies rely heavily on an enthusiastic abuse of copyright and a heavy handed approach to geo-blocking.

The price gouging by some of the planets largest companies led the parliamentary inquiry to take the unusual step of forcing Apple, Microsoft and Adobe – The Big Three – to front up and explain their obscene pricing policies. The inquiry issued a threatening summons to the world’s technology behemoths, demanding they answer accusations. Committee chairman Nick Champion says the inquiry has heard from many Australian consumers and organisations frustrated at the prices charged for digitally downloaded software, computer games, music, movies, and e-books. Matt Levey, head of campaigns for independent consumer organisation Choice, says Australian consumers should not have to pay so much more.

Microsoft, which employs 800 people in Australia, says attempts to compare absolute prices across different counties is of limited use because there are a range of regional factors that need to be taken into account. The company says it provides recommended retail prices for its products that take into account various market forces, such as the size of the market, and the consumers willingness to pay. Adobe, which sells a wide range of consumer and professional software packages, says most of its business in Australia is conducted through third parties which incur local costs. Adobe told the commission that it charges an extra $1,000 to download software in Australia because it offers a local, bespoke experience, while Apple blames local copyright holders for its iTunes prices, which are 50 per cent higher than in the United States. The inquiry heard examples of an Arctic Monkeys album costing $17.99 on iTunes in Australia but the equivalent of $13 overseas, and the movie Toy Story costing $24.99 in Australia but $10 overseas :: Read the full article »»»»

APPLE HACKED

The consumer electronics and technology behemoth that is Apple, has confirmed that it’s the latest victim of a malicious hack attack.

However, the tech-giant says the invaders malware was repelled before any data was able to be plundered. Apple says a “small number” of its computer systems were infected, but they were isolated from it’s main network.

Apple is working with law enforcement to hunt down the hackers, who appear to be tied to a series of recent cyber attacks on US companies.

The malicious software, or malware, took advantage of a vulnerability in a Java program used as a “plug-in” for web-browsing programs :: Read the full article »»»»

Chinese Military Hack Attacks

Computer security experts from Mandiant say they believe a Chinese military unit is responsible for multiple hacking attacks against US companies.

The secretive security company has released a rare report that identifies ‘Unit 61398′ as the most likely source of attacks on at least 141 organisations, “across a diverse set of industries beginning as early as 2006″.

“The nature of ‘Unit 61398′s’ work is considered by China to be a state secret; however, we believe it engages in harmful ‘Computer Network Operations’,” Mandiant said in the report.

“It is time to acknowledge the threat is originating in China, and we wanted to do our part to arm and prepare security professionals to combat that threat effectively.”

The report says Unit 61398 is located in Shanghai’s Pudong district, China’s financial and banking hub, and staffed by perhaps thousands of people proficient in English as well as computer programming and network operations.

The unit had stolen “hundreds of terabytes of data”.

Clients including The New York Times have hired Mandiant to clean up their systems after cyberattacks :: Read the full article »»»»

Samsung Slips Passed Apple on 4G

The war between Apple and Samsung over design and technology patents has cast Samsung as the underling, while Apple is painted as pushing at the edges of innovation. Ahh what a short sighted world we live in, I’d argue with such commentary, going so far as to say that most commentators have things wrong, very wrong.

While Samsung may have a little eggroll on it’s face over claims of plagiarism, the Korean consumer electronics behemoth is definitely no slouch on the technology front, winning the much more important war on patent innovations, particularly when it comes to 4G and it’s application in the mobile device wars.

4G isn’t so much a new technology but  a better use of existing technologies, Samsung has been working on 4G since 2005 and has pretty much perfected it’s use in mobile devices. The higher and more responsive – up to 10 x 3G – bandwidth of 4G is well suited to tablets and smartphones.

In Australia, Telstra has the largest geographic coverage in 4G and has been upgrading mobile cell towers to 4G since 2010, with a consumer roll-out from late in 2011. The benefits of running mobile devices on 4G are real, the simultaneous speed is pretty outstanding :: Read the full article »»»»

UPDATED! Apple vs Samsung vs Apple vs Samsung

UPDATED! August 28, 2012: Apple is seeking speedy bans on the sale of eight Samsung phones, moving swiftly to capitalise on its resounding court victory over its arch-foe. The world’s most valuable company wasted no time in identifying its targets: eight older-model smartphones, including the Galaxy S II and Droid Charge.

Original Post! Just hours apart, in two separate courts – one in the USA and another in South Korea – two absolutely opposing views on the war that is Apple vs Samsung, – or should that be Samsung vs Apple? – have been handed down.

A South Korean court has handed down a split ruling over Samsungs claim that Apple infringed it’s intellectual property, ruling that some element of the iPhone do indeed use patented Samsung telecommunication technology. The court also ruled however that Samsung had – as Apple has been ranting – copy Apples interface for it’s early Galaxy phones and tabs.

The South Korean court found that both companies shared blame, ordering Samsung to stop selling 10 products including its Galaxy S II phone and banning Apple from selling four different products, including its iPhone 4.

Meanwhile across the pacific in San Jose, California, a US jury has found in favour of Apple in a case that was expected to take years to settle, Apples copycat rant has just landed it a $US1 billion dollar win! However, the US ruling runs much deeper than just a huge compensation payout, BILLIONS of dollars in future sales hang in the balance for both tech-behemoths :: Read the full article »»»»