Stories by John Blau

Storage software market up again in Q3, IDC says

Demand for storage software products continues to grow, with revenue up 10 per cent in the third quarter, marking eight consecutive quarters of double-digit year-over-year growth, according to data published by IDC in its Worldwide Quarterly Storage Tracker.

US, EU remain at odds over net governance

Both the US and the European Union are claiming victory in an agreement reached late yesterday New Zealand time over internet governance, viewed as one of the most contentious issues being debated at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis.

Trojan masquerades as bird flu warning

Virus writers, forever in search of opportunities to distribute their malicious code, are exploiting interest in the avian flu by circulating an email with an attachment that contains information about the bird flu epidemic — and a Trojan horse tucked inside.

Trojan calls on Skype users

After making a big splash in the news through its US$2.6 billion deal with eBay, Skype Technologies can't be happy about a malicious Trojan horse that is circulating as an e-mail attachment and purports to be the newest release of the company's Internet telephone software.

T-Mobile launches world's first Flash-OFDM service

Slovakia is home to what Flarion Technologies Inc. is calling the world's first commercial launch of a new broadband wireless technology designed to compete with Wi-Fi and 3G (third-generation) networks.

World soccer body warns of phishing scam

The world's governing soccer body, FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), is warning fans and others that its name is being abused in a global phishing scam.

EBay to acquire Skype for $3.7 billion

Online auction site eBay has agreed to acquire internet telephony company Skype Technologies SA for US$2.6 billion (NZ$3.7 billion), the companies announced overnight.

Skype, Tom Online to launch Chinese joint venture

In a move to carve out a chunk of China's nascent market for Internet telephone services, Skype Technologies SA has expanded its partnership with Beijing-based Tom Online Inc. by creating a joint venture that will develop and deliver premium services.

Cisco mulls acquiring Nokia, report says

Internet equipment maker Cisco Systems is interested in acquiring Nokia, the world largest manufacturer of mobile phones, according to several media reports citing the Sunday Business newspaper.

German teenager admits in court to creating Sasser worm

German teenager Sven Jaschan confessed at his trial on Tuesday to creating last year's Sasser computer worm that crashed hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide after spreading at lightning speed over the Internet.

New Trojan can knock out Symbian phones

Users of Symbian Series 60 smart phones should be aware of a new Trojan horse that, if not removed within one hour, can cause complete data loss in their wireless devices, security experts warned.

New .xxx domain will be reserved for porn

Numerous groups, including several outspoken US politicians, have been demanding for some time a separate Internet domain for pornography in a move to prevent sexually explicit content from landing on the screens of young Net users. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) took a big step Wednesday to meet that demand by approving a plan for pornographic Web sites to use new addresses that end with ".xxx."

PalmOne acquires Palm brand name

In a move to secure a household name in the personal organizer sector, PalmOne Inc. has agreed to pay PalmSource Inc. US$30 million for full rights to the Palm brand name.

[]