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BlackBerry 10 OS will have multi-layered security model

May 9th, 2012
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RIM’s upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system is intended to be as secure, if not more so, than the OS running on RIM’s current crop of BlackBerry devices. Mobile security could become a major selling point for the new platform, for enterprises, carriers and end users alike.

Essentially, RIM is blending security elements from its BlackBerry heritage with the security architecture of the new OS, which is based on the QNX Neutrino real-time operating system, acquired when RIM bought QNX Software Systems in 2010. While RIM has not revealed BlackBerry 10 security in detail, Scott Totzke, RIM’s senior vice president, BlackBerry security, talked about the topic generally during a briefing at last week’s BlackBerry World conference.

BACKGROUND: RIM CEO vows to wow with BlackBerry 10

“Security is becoming more complex for consumers than for the enterprise,” Totzke says. The enterprise typically has a security infrastructure in place, often with dedicated security staff. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server lets administrators set hundreds of device and data policies for the BlackBerry phones, and forges an encrypted link for the devices through RIM’s Network Operations Center. “The industry has been promising mobile commerce [to consumers] for years: the idea of using your phone as your wallet. But if that happens, it better be secure,” he says. “If the user can’t trust the [mobile] platform, it’s a tough sell.”

BB10 security will have multiple integrated layers, with the tight, cooperating relationship between hardware and software that’s been a BlackBerry hallmark. For mobile users, there will be a permissions-based security model for apps, in plain, understandable English, coupled with a various OS-level security and safety features borrowed from QNX’s experience in the embedded systems market.

At the OS level, QNX has offered a hardened variant of its OS called Neutrino RTOS Secure Kernel for several years. The secure kernel has been certified under the Common Criteria ISO/IEC 15408 Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) 4+. The Common Criteria is intended to show that a computer security product has been specified, implemented and evaluated in a standard and thorough way. QNX says Neutrino was the first full-featured RTOS certified under this standard.

(In December 2011, QNX announced that Neutrino has also been received a safety certification, under the IEC 61508 standard for Safety Integrity Level 3 (SIL 3). Strictly speaking, this isn’t a security certification, but one intended to reduce the rate of “dangerous failures” to a system.)

But RIM doesn’t appear to be using the Secure Kernel variant. Rather, after RIM acquired QNX, the device maker’s security architects began working closely with the QNX software engineers, according to Totzke. The works seems to be focused on how to exploit the microkernel’s strengths while adding new security features.

This combined group has been focusing on a range of protections, such as:

Blocking root access, which enables a user or hacker to gain administrative access to the OS.
Memory randomization, which in effect “scrambles” where in memory routines may run, making it harder for these to be leveraged by attackers.
Adding security management, including auditing, to the kernel.
It’s a work in progress. Code to jailbreak or root the QNX-based PlayBook OS (so you can load apps apart from BlackBerry App World) is available from DingleBerry.it, specifically Version 3.3, which was a big step up in simplicity and ease of use. A 4.0 version is in development. The PlayBooks will eventually run BlackBerry 10, so if blocking root access is a priority for RIM, then they may be harder to jailbreak with the release of the new OS.

One advance to protect data is already present in the PlayBook OS and will be a key part of BlackBerry 10, according to Totzke. BlackBerry Balance creates separate and secure work and personal “perimeters” at the data level. Corporate apps and data are encrypted in the work perimeter, and can’t be transferred or copied to the personal perimeter. (Encryption for personal data will be available in the next release of the PlayBook OS, he says.)

“But I [as the end user] don’t have to think about this separation,” says Totzke. “There’s a unified presentation to the data [in the user interface], but under the covers, the system separates the data.” There is only one email system and UI, for example, on the device, but work and personal emails are kept separate by the underlying system.

Neutrino’s microkernel architecture keeps an essential set of services in the core, but drivers, applications, protocol stacks, and the file system run outside the microkernel, effectively sandboxed in what’s called memory-protected user space. This means that almost any of these external components can fail and be replaced and restarted without affecting other components or the kernel itself, according to QNX. Presumably malware designed to compromise the kernel likewise will be isolated in these protected spaces.

Another layer of protection lies in QNX Neutrino conforming to the POSIX standard, which specifies an API, and some shells and interfaces, for software compatibility between POSIX-compliant operating systems. “A POSIX API prevents the use of proprietary interfaces with the potential for insecure behavior and misunderstood results,” among other benefits, according to the QNX website. The RTOS was designed from the outset for POSIX support, an approach that eliminates the need for adding a “complex POSIX adaptation layer” that some rivals RTOSs require. The result is faster performance and lower memory requirements for applications, according to QNX.

Much of this security infrastructure will be invisible to end users. But if mobile payment technologies actually find some traction, security or at least the need for it may become more pressing for end users. RIM been an enthusiastic adopter of near-field communications (NFC) in its BlackBerry smartphones, to support using them for “contactless” mobile payments. U.K.-based The Inquirer reported this week that RIM says it accounted for 80% of NFC phones shipped to U.K. retailers in the first quarter.

“I think that’s where people want to go,” says Totzke. “I sometimes forget my wallet, but I never forget my phone.”

“Security has to become a little more in the forefront for consumers and a lot more in the forefront for device makers and app developers,” he adds.

Source:http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/424018/blackberry_10_os_will_multi-layered_security_model/

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Asus Transformer Prime: The two-in-one device

March 23rd, 2012
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Asus’s Transformer Prime is a tablet that thinks it’s a PC that runs a tablet OS that aims to do the things that a laptop lets you do on hardware that’s almost notebooklike with a processor that’s possibly faster than what you have on your desktop, but one that is still meant for slates.

Comprendez?

Simply put: If you’re looking for a single gadget that lets you swipe when you want and speed-type when you need to, then this device could be it. The operative phrase being ‘could be’. So, can Transformer Prime do a double duty as a laptop and a tablet? We find out.

Prime as a tablet
Make no mistake: The Prime, which runs on Android 4.0-aka Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS)-is primarily a tablet. And its brushed aluminium ‘metallic spun’ design, with buttons and ports that are smartly integrated into its curved sides, makes it a very good-looking one at that.

It sports a 10.1-inch capacitive screen protected by Gorilla glass. Its Super IPS+ display is very bright – and this helps during outdoor use. Its colours, though not as punchy as what is found on Super AMOLED screens, are pleasing to the eyes. And as is typical of IPS panels, the viewing angle on this slate is fantastic.

As for its camera, the 8MP rear shooter on the Prime is capable of detailed photos. And this makes Prime the tablet with the best camera in the Indian market at the moment. Videos, which can be shot in 1080P (full HD) resolution, are not as sharp, but are better than what has been seen in other tablets so far.

On the software front, the device is a mixed bag. When compared to other Android tablets, most of which run Honeycomb, its performance is superb: Scrolling is smooth, apps open in a jiffy, and there is virtually no stutter or sluggishness in the user interface.

ICS retains all the goodies for which Android is famous. The web browser, with support for tabbed browsing and modern web standards, is very good. Multitasking has been improved and, not surprisingly, the support for various Google services like Gmail is top-notch.

Given its Tegra 3 processor, the tablet makes for a good video player. In our tests, it handled full HD movies in formats such as MKV, AVI and MP4 with ease.

The tablet, however, lacks quality third-party utilities. Android may have lakhs of apps but the ones that can utilize the large screen and better hardware on this slate are few. Also, when compared to the quality of offerings for the iPad, the app experience on Android still has room for improvement.

What is noticeably lacking on the Prime, however, is 3G connectivity; a factor that limits its usefulness as an anywhere-computing device.

Prime as a laptop
As Asus will tell you, the real appeal of Prime is in its keyboard dock. Just like the tablet, the dock is built with brushed aluminum and feels solid.

The key with Prime is that unlike what others tablet makers sell, Asus’s dock is not just a keyboard. It also has a battery in it, which recharges the tablet when Prime is plugged into it. The dock also has a slot for USB devices, including pendrives, and a SD card reader. If a user wants, a mouse can be connected to the device through USB port.

Asus claims Prime can be transformed into a laptop. But we found the reality is more nuanced. Prime The laptop, just like Prime the tablet, is a mixed bag.

Asus has spent lots of time on the dock. There are no function keys like F1 and F5 – Android doesn’t need them. But in their place Asus has put keys that allow a user to control settings like brightness, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and lockscreen etc. There is even a key that mimics the function of the ‘back’ button on Android.

The keys are better than what cheap laptops and netbooks have. Despite the thin profile of the dock, they have some degree of feedback. This helps in accurate typing. Touchpad, however, is average.

It works well and Asus has even enabled two-finger swiping to mimic touchscreen experience, but we would have preferred one with a smoother surface. Also, we felt that there was a hint of lag in cursor movement when we used touchpad. The same cursor responded well when controlled with a mouse.

After using it for over a week, we felt Prime, with its dock, is better than a netbook. It has a better build quality, better display and the goodness of touchscreen, which is easier to use while web browsing instead of relying on trackpad.

But it is not as good as a laptop. Though that’s understandable. Android is primarily a smartphone and tablet OS. It not only lacks the flexibility of a full-blown PC operating software but also the rich apps that are available on computers and laptops.

Sum of it all
Seen separately, Prime The tablet and Prime The Laptop are fine devices. But not exceptional. iPad is a better tablet. And a cheap laptop will work better as a PC.

But when seen in its entirety, Prime is a product with enough merit in it to stand out in the crowded tablet market. Anyone who is looking to get something that is better than a tablet and better than a netbook, will find Prime – and the prospect of carrying just one device instead of two – very appealing. It’s unique. It’s fun to use. Besides, it has a stellar battery life of around 15 hours when used with the keyboard dock (10 hours without) on web browing, push email, social networking and video.

At the same time, we can’t help but feel Prime could have been a more compelling proposition. Instead of Rs 49,999 Asus could have been a little more aggressive on the pricing. And of course, there is the curious case of the missing 3G, which limits the usability of the tablet on the go.

Vital specs
Processor: 1.3 Ghz Quad-Core Tegra 3, Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) 8MP primary camera, LED flash, 1.2MP front-facing camera, 1GB RAM, 10.1-inch Super IPS+ screen (1280×800), 263×180.8×8.3mm, 586 grams (1.1Kg with dock), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, Mini HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack, micro SD card port; also 1 USB port and card reader in the dock.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/gadgets-special/Asus-Transformer-Prime-The-two-in-one-device/articleshow/12356502.cms

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Virtual Desktop vs. PC OS Standoff Looms

March 22nd, 2012
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“If I had a billion dollars in the bank I’d take them to court tomorrow … I’ll appear in court and shout and scream ‘antitrust, anticompetitive behavior.’”

Have a guess who the “them” in question is.

There are no prizes for getting the right answer — it’s Microsoft, a company that’s no stranger to these type of accusations.

Microsoft has clearly got the goat of the person who uttered those words, and that person is Guise Bule — the CEO of a company called tuCloud, a California-based firm that offers virtual desktops from the public cloud.

Here’s why he’s incandescent with rage: tuCloud, like many other companies, wants to offer virtual desktops running Windows 7. However, based on Microsoft’s licensing terms, Windows 7 desktops can be hosted only in the public cloud if they are run on separate server virtualization hardware for each customer, and if the customer buys Windows 7 licenses for the desktops from Microsoft. That’s the rules — the terms that everyone has to stick to to create a level playing field that fosters competition. Except in Bule’s opinion the playing field is very far from level.

That’s because gaming company OnLive has recently announced a desktop-as-a-service offering for iPads Bule doesn’t believe complies with Microsoft’s rules at all, but which Microsoft seems content to allow. OnLive’s CEO is a former Microsoft executive — draw whatever conclusions you like from that, and indeed Bule does. Even analysts at Gartner agree something appears not quite right in a research note titled “OnLive Links iPad Users to MS Office, but With Potential Licensing Risks.”

“Organizations and end users should note that OnLive Desktop Plus may present Microsoft licensing risks for organizations if consumers install the product on company iPads or use it to edit company documents from personal devices. Neither Microsoft nor OnLive has provided clear guidance on how users of these DaaS products must comply with Microsoft licensing requirements.”

Now maybe OnLive’s offering does comply with Microsoft’s licensing requirements somehow, but as yet neither company is explaining how, which hardly makes for a level playing field, either.

But Bule aims to find out by launching a proxy war, using a new company called DesktopsOnDemand to do battle with Microsoft. Essentially, the plan is for the company to launch a service identical to OnLive’s, based on VMware’s vSphere hypervisor, and then wait and see what happens. “Unless I receive a lawyer’s letter from Microsoft clarifying their position and threatening legal action, I will build a service to match OnLive’s and compete directly with them in the form of DesktopsOnDemand,” Bule told Ars Technica this week. “Any other business that launches that platform will get sued by Microsoft, which is kind of what we’re hoping because we want to have that conversation with them in court. This (i.e., DesktopsOnDemand) is not a serious business by any means.”

But, really, this whole business is a serious matter. Much as how the music industry and the movie industry were slow to realize that you can’t uninvent the Internet, the software industry has been slow to accept that you can’t uninvent virtualization technology and cloud computing. Thus, if customers want desktops provided from the public cloud, then that is what they’ll get, one way or another.

Software companies (or music or movie companies) that desperately cling to their existing licensing models instead of providing what customers want in the light of new technology are bound to fail eventually. If Microsoft won’t make remote Windows 7 desktops practical and affordable, then customers will find something else instead.

So who knows what’s going on with Microsoft and OnLive? Perhaps it’s the first sign that Microsoft has finally begun to understand that virtualization technology changes everything, and it can’t expect to license its products as if the technology didn’t exist. Heck, Microsoft even sells virtualization technology in the form of Hyper-V. Talk about trying to have your cake and eat it too!

Source:http://www.serverwatch.com/server-news/virtual-desktop-vs.-pc-os-standoff-looms.html

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Telefonica signs up for Mozilla’s mobile Web OS

February 28th, 2012
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Mozilla took a big first step in making something real out of B2G, its browser-based mobile operating system, by signing on mobile network operator Telefonica as a partner.

In addition, the Firefox maker discussed another step, a close relationship with mobile processor maker Qualcomm to create the hardware for the first phones, expected to launch later in 2012.

Those are two very important steps. But they’re only one of dozens that it must take to create an operating system competitive with Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, much less one that fulfills Mozilla’s grander ambition. The nonprofit organization wants to break down the barriers that make it hard for people to switch among iOS, Android, Amazon, and other technology realms.

A big part of the B2G sales pitch is price. With component cost of only about $50, Mozilla can tap into “the opportunity to convert a large part of the world from [lower-end] feature phones to smartphones,” Brendan Eich, Mozilla’s chief technology officer and the initial inventor of the JavaScript programming language that’s universal on the Web, said in an interview.

“A lot of people can afford the kind of phone we’re building,” Eich said. “These are not fat, high-end smartphones,” but he believes the Web apps will run fast on lower-end hardware so manufacturers won’t have to spend so much to achieve good performance.

Cost appeal

That rationale apparently struck a chord at Telefonica. Here’s the official statement from Carlos Domingo, Telefonica Digital’s director of product development and innovation:

Telefonica’s objective is to drive HTML5 adoption across the industry. For the first time the capabilities of HTML5 and the open Web have been fully leveraged to create an entirely new mobile platform. From our experience in Latin America we know that a huge part of the market is not being catered for by current smartphones. With new open Web devices we will be able to offer a smartphone experience at the right price point for these customers.

As expected, Mozilla announced the B2G partners here at the Mobile World Congress.

B2G stands for Boot to Gecko; Gecko is the engine that renders Web pages and runs Web apps in Firefox. Under the covers, B2G includes a version of Linux–a variation of the open-sourcedd Android software–but it’s invisible to programmers. They write Web apps using Web technology such as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), JavaScript, and WebGL.

Ultimately, Eich believes that programmer pressure will coax Apple and Google to advance their Web foundation, too. And that will mean programmers have even more incentive to build Web apps that span many devices, not just native apps that work on one ecosystem or another.

Uphill battle
The smartphone world needs a new mobile operating system like it needs a hole in its head. The troubles of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry OS, the fizzling of HP’s WebOS, and Microsoft’s extraordinarily expensive push behind Windows Phone shows that it’s not easy catching up to the two dominant operating systems.

Mozilla, though, has a leg up because of its Web-app focus. Many native iOS and Android apps these days actually use a browser engine to render their user interfaces, and those will be an easy fit for B2G phones.

“We take apps already being built for mobile devices and desktops, and let them run with a little bit of extra goodness on your phone,” Eich said.

That extra goodness takes the form of a host of interfaces Mozilla is working on with World Wide Web Consortium’s Device API group. Mozilla wants everything standardized so that Apple or Google could build Boot to WebKit–the browser engine they use–and Microsoft could build Boot to Trident, Eich said.

Hardware interfaces

Hardware interfaces to let browser apps handle lower-level hardware are in different states of maturity. “NFC [near-field communications, used for tap-to-pay systems] is on our agenda, but it’s farther out. It’s not yet a hot item. But definitely telephony, controlling the camera, and vibration” are important areas now. Samsung, another WebKit user, put its weight behind the interface for telling the phone to vibrate, Eich said. “Geolocation and accelerometer support [for determining a phone's position and location] are there. Gyro and compass support is part of our plan. Bluetooth and USB is, even.”

To help with software sales and distribution, Mozilla is answering the Apple App Store and Android Market with the Mozilla Marketplace–an app store that can integrate with others app stores by exchanging digital receipts. Going hand in hand is an identity system; the two together will ensure that software bought at one app store won’t have to be re-purchased at another.

The B2G components include Gecko in the middle, the Gonk Linux layer hidden beneath, and the Gaia user interface at the top for things like the traditional grid of icons to launch apps. Gaia is basically just a Web page, and it’s easily substituted if a company wants to present a different look.

Indeed, that’s exactly what Telefonica is doing with called Open Web Device (OWD), Eich said. The B2G approach makes it easier for companies to build a consistent interface across multiple devices, he said.

Of course, that variety means some potential for confusion among customers. And programmers–already saddled with multiple native OSes and varying degrees of fragmentation within each–will have yet another potential set of headaches.

With B2G, Mozilla hopes to increase the clout and capability of Web apps. That would to lead to a mobile world where it doesn’t matter so much if you’re using an iOS, Android, or other device, much as today it doesn’t matter much if you’re using a browser on Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X.

It’s an ideal the organization hopes customers will appreciate. But Mozilla knows it has to build something compelling on its own, just like Firefox caught on because of its practical merits more than its principled stance.

“The majority use Firefox because it’s an excellent browser that does what they want it to do,” said Jonathan Nightingale, director of Firefox Engineering. With B2G, “the way we take it to market is by having a compelling service people want to use.”

Source:http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-57385412-78/telefonica-signs-up-for-mozillas-mobile-web-os/

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What is Post-PC? I’m thinking mobile OS vs. desktop OS

February 27th, 2012
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My test to leave the laptop/desktop behind for an extended period is going well so far. I haven’t missed having a real laptop or a desktop for work even a little bit. Many following this experiment are missing the point of the attempt by getting caught up in the terminology. Perhaps I was mistaken in terming this a “Post-PC experiment” which has lots of folks ignoring what I am trying to do and instead concentrating on what the definition is for “PC”, and in some cases even for a “laptop”.

Using the term Post-PC has a simple connotation for me, and that’s the premise behind my test. A more accurate explanation for what I consider a Post-PC scenario concerns the OS, not the hardware. I believe a Post-PC device is one which uses a mobile OS, not a full OS written for a desktop. In simple terms a Post-PC device is any running Android, iOS, or any other purely mobile OS. Anything running Windows or Mac OS X is of the old-school PC variety.

The point I am trying to address with my test is whether a mobile device of any ilk, running a mobile OS, can be used for extended periods without compromise. That’s all I am trying to do, and the whole purpose of my test. I am not trying to declare the death of the PC, either laptop or desktop, or that the tablet is the next major hardware format. It’s not, and the desktop OS isn’t going anywhere either for a while.

No, I’m testing whether the mobile OS has evolved to the point that makes it possible for me, not anyone else, to leave the device running a full desktop OS behind for business trips, and just bring the mobile OS along. That’s the sole purpose of my test, and it’s a valid one for me. The less I have to bring on trips the better I like it, but only if it doesn’t compromise the professional job that I do.

This simple definition of Post-PC is going to get stretched to the limits by Windows on Arm (WOA), as that’s a purely mobile OS based on a full desktop OS. I guess we’ll have to address that once it gets released and we see how it works in the field.

I suspect some folks get perturbed at the use of the term “Post-PC” since it was coined by the late Steve Jobs. That’s not fair as I feel it is a genuine term for what I describe — the evolution of the mobile OS to the point that devices previously considered incapable of being someone’s primary computer can now do so. That’s not a reach, it’s already working fine for me so far.

Source:http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/what-is-post-pc-im-thinking-mobile-os-vs-desktop-os/6965

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Apple OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: important features

February 21st, 2012
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Apple has introduced the developer preview of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, a prime update to its seven-month old OS X 10.7 Lion for Macs. The new version of Mac operating system has come with several impressive updates and improvements. The Mountain Lion is set for public release this summer. Indeed, the next version of Apple’s MacBook Airs and other flagship Mac computers will run the new operating system. Here is everything you should know of the OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.

‘Mac’ in ‘Mac OS X’ is no more
Apple announced that it has removed ‘Mac’ in ‘Mac OS X.’ It means the company will call the new update ‘OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion,’ not ‘Mac OS X 10.8.’ It looks like that ‘Mac’ will now be only a term to indicate hardware. ‘OS X’ will represent the software from now onwards. The rebranding is certainly sensible as people used to address various Apple computers with a simple term ‘Mac.’

A new Safari
During OS X Mountain Lion announcement Apple has revealed no more features of the OS. However, it has announced a developer preview of Safari 5.2 for 10.7 Lion with some Mountain Lion UI enhancements. Analysts hope the new Safari will also appear on Mountain Lion, Apple has introduced many features including a Chrome-style universal search bar and several others. Safari certainly requires some advanced changes to compete with Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

Mountain Lion drops support for older Macs
It is a disappointing thing for the owners of older Macs. The new version of OS X Mountain Lion will not support many previous models. The list includes iMac (mid 2007 or later), MacBook (13-inch aluminum, 2008 and some other models), MacBook Pro (13-inch, mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, 2.4/2.2 GHz) and (17-inch, late 2007 or later), Mac Mini (early 2009 or later), MacBook Air (late 2008 or later), Xserve (early 2009) and Mac Pro (early 2008 or later) and so on.

At a glance, it looks like Intel’s older chips (GMA 950 and GMA X3100) are to blame for the support issues of Mountain Lion. However, since Macs with ATI Radeon and Nvidia GeForce solutions currently run Lion but won’t run this Mountain Lion build, we think there’s more to the story. The late 2006 iMacs (ATI Radeon X1600) and MacBook Pros (Mobility X1600), as well as the original Mac Pros (Nvidia GeForce 7300) are all on the chopping block too — at least for the time being,” says Jeff Blagdon of The Verge.

AirPlay Mirroring
The much-touted iOS feature for wireless streaming of content is to appear on OS X Mountain Lion. Well, AirPlay has been one of drastic iOS features ever. Users can stream contents of their MacBook Air notebooks and other Mac computers to HDTVs or large other screens. There is no need to connect your computer using cables now.

Notification Center
Apple introduced an advanced Notification Center on iOS 5 last year. The new feature helps users have a quick look at all notifications such as texts, e-mails, calls, friend requests and others on their handsets. Of course, Notification Center has been one of flagship features of iOS. It is now to appear on OS X with the Mountain Lion version. Well, you can keep an active notification center on the home screen of your iMac and MacBook Air also.

iMessage
It is yet another tremendous iOS 5 feature. The iMessage is meant for free delivery of texts between iOS 5-enabled gadgets over internet connectivity. The new OS X Mountain Lion is to tout iMessage as one of key features.

Sum-up
Apple is obviously designing the Mountain Lion with more simplicity and perfection. Consumers want more user-friendly and feature-rich operating systems. From this year onwards, Apple also intends to update OS X yearly. It is to utilize the growing trends in technology and also to keep consumers satisfied always.

“That’s partially to match the breakneck pace of iOS development, but also to capitalize on the growing popularity of the Mac in general — Mac sales have outgrown the general PC market for something like six years now, and Apple says it’s investing heavily in the platform to build on that trend,” says Nilay Patel of the Verge.

Source:http://nvonews.com/2012/02/20/apple-os-x-10-8-mountain-lion-important-features/

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Apple loses bid to seal already public OS information

January 5th, 2012
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A federal judge has denied Apple’s effort to seal information related to its copyright infringement case against Psystar, ruling that information already publicly available on the Internet and in print is no longer protectable.
Apple had attempted to seal documents containing information about its Mac OS X operating system and computer products as a trade secret, presumably to keep others from modifying Apple’s OS to run on unauthorized hardware. Apple argued that because it was not the source of the information that the trade secret protection still existed.
However, U.S. Federal District Judge William Alsup disagreed in a ruling today, noting that the software information was available on the Web site of a book on the OS and a decryption code was available on MacBook Air laptops.
“Apple cannot have this court seal information merely to avoid confirmation that the publicly available sources got it right,” Alsup said, according to a Bloomberg report.
Representatives of Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
Apple filed a copyright-infringement lawsuit against Psystar in 2008 after Psystar bought copies of the Mac OS on the market and began selling its Mac clones. Psystar countered that Apple was misusing its Mac OS X copyright by requiring customers to run the software only on its own brand of computers.
A U.S. District Court sided with Apple in 2009, ruling that Psystar “violated Apple’s exclusive reproduction right, distribution right, and right to create derivative works.” Apple was awarded a permanent injunction against Psystar in December 2009.

Source:http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57351770-37/apple-loses-bid-to-seal-already-public-os-information/

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