Toshiba to show 512GB solid-state drive at CES

Toshiba said Wednesday that it will showcase a 512GB solid-state drive at the Consumer Electronics Show next month and begin shipments in the second quarter of 2009.

To date, this would be one of the largest-capacity solid-state drives for use in laptops and come close to matching the size of mobile hard-disk drives. Samsung has begun mass production of a 256GB SSD and Micron Technology is readying a 256GB drive that will ship in March. Toshiba said it is releasing a broad family of "fast read/write SSDs" based on 43-nanometer Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash technology that will be showcased at CES. MLC technology allows solid-state drive makers to deliver higher capacity drives at lower prices. In addition to the 2.5-inch 512GB drive, the new series of Toshiba drives also includes capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, offered in 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drive enclosures or as SSD Flash Modules, the company said in a statement. Samples of the new drives will be available in the first quarter of 2009, with mass production slated for the second quarter, in the April to June time frame, according to the company. No pricing information was immediately available. The drives achieve a maximum sequential read speed of 240MB per second (MBps) and maximum sequential write speed of 200MBps. This is roughly the same read-write speeds offered by Samsung on its 256GB SSD. Toshiba said it sees SSDs growing to approximately 25 percent of the notebook market by 2012.

Canon PowerShot SX10 IS Review

The Canon PowerShot SX10 IS is the newest 20x ultra-zoom camera on the block, and the first such model from Canon. Offering a massive focal length of 28-560mm, the Canon SX10 also features a sensible 10 megapixels, built-in image stabilisation, tilting 2.5 inch LCD screen, and a full range of manual shooting modes. Gavin Stoker ventured out into the murky grey world of a British winter to find out what the PowerShot SX10 IS has to offer. Website: Canon PowerShot SX10 IS Review

Adobe releases Photoshop Lightroom 2.2

Adobe has updated Photoshop Lightroom to Version 2.2. The latest version extends RAW support to the cameras included in the recent Camera RAW 5.2 release. The latest update also builds-in the camera profiles, previously available from Adobe Labs, that attempt to mimic the camera manufacturers' intended output.

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Pentax announces limited edition white K2000

Pentax has announced a limited edition of the K2000 (K-m in Europe) in white, bundled as a double zoom kit with the camera body and two kit lenses. Both Pentax DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL and Pentax DA L 50-200mm F4-5.6 AL lenses and the K2000 body sport a white finish with black trim. The kit will be made available on a limited basis in February 2009. UK MSRP is £50 above the recommended selling price of the standard K-m. In addition, Pentax has also released an online game for prospective K2000/K-m users to learn more about the camera and have a little fun. UK MSRP: £449 with 18-55mm kit lens, £549 with both 18-55mm and 50-200mm lenses.

Additional features on the newest digital K2000 SLR body include a 10.2 megapixel CCD, a 2.7 inch, 230,000 dot high resolution, wide-view LCD panel, and an ultra compact design that facilitates one handed operation. The body also features the same Pentax-developed Shake Reduction technology found on more advanced K series digital SLRs. Pentax Shake Reduction is compatible with more than 25 million Pentax lenses to deliver sharp images even when handheld at slower shutter speeds. The K2000 also features the powerful Pentax-developed Auto Picture Mode, which selects from Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Action, and Night Portrait modes to tailor the camera settings for any photographic situation. The camera also has a comprehensive Dust Removal system to help keep images spotless. A dedicated programmable help button clearly explains current camera settings to guide and teach the user about digital SLR photography. The lenses included with this Pentax K2000 system are the white versions of a newer series introduced with the DA L designation. This DA L series offers the same optical performance and compatibility as the current smc Pentax DA 18-55mm II and smc Pentax DA 50-200mm lenses. This stylish, limited edition white Pentax K2000 kit will be available on a very limited basis in February 2009 at a price to be announced.

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Apple to ditch Macworld gathering

In a surprise move, Apple said it is to abandon its annual tech gathering Macworld after this January's event. Meanwhile news that the keynote address will not be given by CEO Steve Jobs has reignited speculation about his health following cancer four years ago. Concern was raised earlier in the year when Mr Jobs appeared at the firm's developer conference looking gaunt. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling refused to discuss the issue and said shows like Macworld were no longer relevant. "Apple is steadily scaling back on trade shows and in recent years is reaching more people in more ways than ever before," Mr Dowling told BBC News. "Every week 3.5 million people visit our retail stores. And like many companies, trade shows are a minor part of how Apple reaches its customers." Mr Dowling also said that as the company had scaled back on such shows, it had ramped up "stand-alone launch events like the September iPod launch seen by millions of people on the internet". IDG which runs the show put a brave face on things. "We are on track for a terrific show with strong attendance numbers and nearly 500 exhibitors showcasing their products," Paul Kent, general manager of Macworld Expo told the BBC. "The conference and expo has thrived for 25 years due to the strong support of tens of thousands of members of the Mac community worldwide. We are committed to serving their interests," he said. "Greatly exaggerated" Macworld is regarded as a highlight for Apple fans with new product launches fronted by Mr Jobs.

When Mr Jobs went on stage at Apple's world wide developer conference in June, his physical appearance shocked many. He appeared thin and emaciated and speculation became rife that he had suffered a setback after a bout of pancreatic cancer in 2004. Later in the year, he joked about it on stage in San Francisco when he launched the new range of iPods. At one point in his demonstration he appeared in front of a giant screen that displayed the words "the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated". This was in reference to an obituary that had been mistakenly published. But analysts are again pointing to the possibility that Mr Jobs's health is an issue. "I think Steve's health is a factor," analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray told MarketWatch. "I think it means there's a change of power at Apple... Steve Jobs is playing less of a role. And that is not up for debate. "Apple could have dismissed a lot of rumours by having him give the final keynote and they opted not to." The keynote will be presented by Phillip Schiller who is Apple's senior vice-president of worldwide product marketing.

Hackers 'aid' Amazon logging scam

Hackers have helped logging firms in Brazil evade limits on tree felling, says a Greenpeace report. The hi-tech criminals penetrated a computer system designed to monitor logging in the Brazilian state of Para. Once inside the system, hackers issued fake permits so loggers could cut down far more timber than environmental officials were prepared to allow. Greenpeace estimates that 1.7m cubic metres of illegal timber may have been removed with the aid of the hackers.

Yahoo throws down data gauntlet

Search engine Yahoo is to cut the time it stores personal data from 13 months to three. It is hoping its decision will provide a benchmark for industry. Currently Google stores data for nine months and Microsoft for six months. International data protection officials have been urging firms to do more to protect the data of users. Privacy advocates have welcomed the move and challenged rivals to go even further. "I would challenge industry to move to 30 days across the board. People should demand that their information is expunged as rapidly as possible," said Simon Davies, head of Privacy International. A recent rash of data leaks has left users concerned and organisations embarrassed, he said. "The less time data is online means less risk that rogue companies can establish dangerously comprehensive profiles on users," he added. Yahoo said its decision to cut the time it stores information gathered from web surfing came about following a "review of its data practices". "This policy represents Yahoo's assessment of the minimum amount of time we need to retain data to respond to the needs of our business while deepening our trusted relationship with users," said Anne Toth, Yahoo's head of privacy. As well as anonymising user log data, the policy will also apply to page views, page clicks and ad views and clicks. But the search giant has reserved the right to keep data for up to six months if fraud or system security are involved. Privacy campaigners have argued that firms are currently keeping data unnecessarily. Mr Davies is sceptical about what he described as "mixed messages" from industry. "Only last year, firms were saying that they couldn't go below 15 months but the logic of what Yahoo has done suggests there is no reason why they can't go even lower," he said.

Firefox update

The update is something of an unusual move for Microsoft and underscores the seriousness of the zero day flaw. The company rarely issues security fixes for its software outside of its regular monthly patch updates.

Meanwhile Mozilla has released a scheduled update for its open source Firefox web browsers for at least 10 different vulnerabilities. The bugs in the browser could have been "used to run attacker code and install software, requiring no user interaction beyond normal browsing," said Mozilla. It is also reissuing calls for users to upgrade from Firefox 2.0 to Firefox 3.0 as soon as possible and said it is "not planning any further security and stability updates for Firefox 2". This means Mozilla will no longer support the Firefox 2 browser against future online scams and attacks.

Microsoft issues patch to fix IE

Microsoft has issued a security patch to fix a critical vulnerability in its Internet Explorer browser it said has attacked over 2m Windows users. The flaw is believed to have already infected as many as 10,000 websites. The "zero day" exploit let criminals take over victims' computers by steering them to infected websites. Microsoft's Christopher Budd said the software giant "encourages all IE customers to test and deploy this update as soon as possible". He also said the threat lead Microsoft to mobilize security engineering teams worldwide to deliver a software cure "in the unprecedented time of eight days". The company's security response team said the patch consists of more than 300 distinct updates for more than half-a-dozen versions of IE in around 50 languages. "Even with that, the release Emergency Response process isn't over," said Security Response Alliance director Mike Reavey. "There is additional support to customers and additional refinement of our product development efforts." Microsoft stressed that the flaw was proven to exist only in IE 7 on all applicable versions of Windows, but that IE 6 and the "beta" release of IE 8 were "potentially vulnerable". Users who have automatic updates turned on will receive the patch over the next 24 hours while others can access it via a download. "Wildfire" The AZN Trojan has been making the rounds since the beginning of December but became public knowledge in the last week . Unlike other exploits, users only have to visit a malicious site with Trojans or other malware in order to become contaminated. Once an infected web page is opened, malicious downloaders are installed on the computer designed to record keystrokes and steal passwords, credit card details and other financial information. The sites affected are mostly Chinese and have been serving up programmes to steal passwords for computer games which can then be sold for cash on the black market. Internet Explorer is the world's most widely used web browser with nearly three quarters of the market share. Microsoft estimated that one in every 500 Windows users had been exposed to sites that try to exploit the flaw and the number of victims was increasing at a rate of 50% daily. Researchers at the software security firm Trend Micro said attacks were spreading "like wildfire". "This vulnerability is being actively exploited by cyber-criminals and getting worse every day," said the company's advanced threat researcher Paul Ferguson. Microsoft labelled the bug as "critical," the most serious threat ranking in its four-step scouring programme.

Serious security flaw found in Internet Explorer

Users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer are being urged by experts to switch to a rival until a serious security flaw has been fixed. The flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of people's computers and steal their passwords, internet experts say. Microsoft urged people to be vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch to resolve it. Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of the world's computer users.

"Microsoft is continuing its investigation of public reports of attacks against a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer," said the firm in a security advisory alert about the flaw. Microsoft says it has detected attacks against IE 7.0 but said the "underlying vulnerability" was present in all versions of the browser. Other browsers, such as Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, are not vulnerable to the flaw Microsoft has identified. Browser bait "In this case, hackers found the hole before Microsoft did," said Rick Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro. "This is never a good thing." As many as 10,000 websites have been compromised since the vulnerability was discovered, he said. "What we've seen from the exploit so far is it stealing game passwords, but it's inevitable that it will be adapted by criminals," he said. "It's just a question of modifying the payload the trojan installs."

Said Mr Ferguson: "If users can find an alternative browser, then that's good mitigation against the threat." But Microsoft counselled against taking such action. "I cannot recommend people switch due to this one flaw," said John Curran, head of Microsoft UK's Windows group. He added: "We're trying to get this resolved as soon as possible. "At present, this exploit only seems to affect 0.02% of internet sites," said Mr Curran. "In terms of vulnerability, it only seems to be affecting IE7 users at the moment, but could well encompass other versions in time." Richard Cox, chief information officer of anti-spam body The Spamhaus Project and an expert on privacy and cyber security, echoed Trend Micro's warning. "It won't be long before someone reverse engineers this exploit for more fraudulent purposes. Trend Mico's advice [of switching to an alternative web browser] is very sensible," he said.