Update: Cisco Announces upgrade but no set top box and no telepresence. Three out of five of this report announced by Cisco. Reactions were not that favorable. Update (March 8 2010): Cisco's Future Is Already Here -- Looks like Verizon, Juniper Networks, NEC, and Finistar are demonstrating trials on the eve of Cisco's big announcement reported by FierceTelcom, Information Week, and released by Verizon today. The announcement came as Cisco was preparing a major announcement for Tuesday, believed to be its entry in the 100G race. Google has already said it plans to test 100G networks in selected regions. You can take the 100G piece out of the Cisco equation and the notion that Verizon will be standing with Cisco at their podium.

When Google discovered it had been hacked it quickly pointed the finger at sophisticated hackers acting on behalf of the Chinese government and vowed to hit back by stopping censoring its search results in China. But was Google really the victim of highly expert Chinese hackers? Nick Farrell, on TechEye, reports that it could have been the work of amateurs. According to a new report from McAfee the Operation Aurora attack targeted the source code management systems of companies, allowing them to siphon source code as well as modify it. ... According to the paper, the hackers gained access to software configuration management systems (SCM), which could have allowed them to steal proprietary source code or surreptitiously make cha

MG Siegler on Techcrunch mentioned the other day that the location-based software company Foursquare is airing their first commercial on cable TV channel Bravo. Are we ready for that? While it is true Google has added that feature to their new product Buzz  and Maps, the question remains whether we really need to show and check where everyone is? I added that function to my in-laws' smartphone because they were always calling me asking directions to certain destinations while enroute to the place. Connecting them to Google's Latitude was the logical step to them and me. I'm not so sure that same practicality applies with Foursquare, though. Just the fact that sites inciting crime are brave enough to capitalize on location based a

Loren Feldman, the publisher of 1938Media, a New York city based web site, has published the names of the companies that were the subject of 100 posts written by former TechCrunch writer Daniel Brusilovsky. [Unpaid Techcrunch Reporter Sacked For Bribe Attempt] Michael Arrington, the publisher of Techcrunch, said that Mr Brusilovsky was sacked because he requested a Macbook Air in exchange for writing a post about a company. [An Apology To Our Readers] Mr Brusilovsky said that he had not received any computers. Mr Feldman said he has direct knowledge that three companies on the list, did deals in exchange for coverage. Until this gets fully cleared up and aired out, every one of these companies, many irrelevant but others you might n

As the world already knows, Google and a few other prominent US companies got severely hacked around Christmas time last year. Sophos has an interesting analysis of the exploit. Web malware and a zero day vulnerability in IE6 were essential to the exploit. For security folks, this was a meaningful event. The level of sophistication of the attacker was unprecedented. The attack was carefully crafted. The breach was severe. For tomorrow's cyber historians, however, the breach may prove to be a tipping point. In fact, it may even change the way the world approaches cyber security and cyber warfare. So, what makes the Google hack such a game-changer? Could it be the magnitude of the attack, the significance of the targets or even the rumored

Recent hearings before the House on the proposed merger between Comcast and NBCU drew both accolades and skepticism for regulators on Feb 4, 2010. The skepticism seemed to come from what was perceived as inconsistencies in previous statements by CEO’s Roberts and Zucker from what was being purported in the public meeting. Robert’s Inconsistencies   Specifically, Senator Al Franken, (D-Minn.) called out Comcast’s Roberts for being inconsistent in his statements to Franken privately, regarding program access rules, while Comcast lawyers were challenging these rules in Federal Court. Zucker’s Inconsistencies Congressman Rick Boucher (D-VA) questioned NBU’s Zucker who seemed to contradict himself on the question of Hul

Ok, Techcrunch is known for breaking tech news first and MG Siegler is known for the new kid on Techcrunch's block with spunk, but iPad part II, really? Would Apple tease us with an entry level iPad for the Mainstream and then hit us at WWDC with a bigger MAC OS version? I truly hope so because as much as some bloggers try to fit the word "Amazing" around the new iPad, it's not. It's under powered and too simple to use in any real business fashion, seriously. It's a relevant question though because today I was cornered by two users asking if my "powers that be" will consider giving them tablets to work with instead of laptops. Let's entertain that thought. If the Mac Tablet is to be a reality in the business world,

The New York Times recently reported that Britain's spy agency, MI5, warned British executives that were doing business with China, about Chinese attempts to hack into their company systems. This was more than a year ago. The story also said that the Chinese spying efforts combined hacking with attempts at blackmail over "sexual relationships and other improprieties." Here's the quote in context (by John Ward): British business executives dealing with China were given a formal warning more than a year ago by Britain's security service, MI5, that Chinese intelligence agencies were engaged in a wide-ranging effort to hack into British companies' computers and to blackmail British businesspeople over sexual relationships and o

My first impression of Apple iPad is that its low price of $499 is due to the fact that it's basically a storefront for Apple's iTunes and iBooks online store. It looks like there is no Adobe Flash video support, or Microsoft Silverlight video support, which means no Hulu, no BBC iPlayer, no Netflix Direct. You won't be able to stream video from anyone but Apple. Belt-and braces DRM... By using the iPhone OS and its own proprietary hardware, Apple has managed to build a solid belt-and-braces digital rights management (DRM) system, that is the platform itself. Applications and media designed to run well on the iPad will be optimized to run on the Apple iPhone OS and also, on its proprietary hardware, the A4 microprocessor. This provid

We all know by now about the horrific Haiti quake and how it has decimated that already impoverished country's infrastructure last week. I have been spending time looking into how our own charitable infrastructure is holding up in getting funds and manpower to the relief effort. So far, the efforts have been mixed, to say the least, although not lacking in the best of intentions. Various relief agencies, including the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Doctors Without Borders, and others have collected millions of dollars seemingly overnight. Many of these groups are using the tech services of either mGive.com or the Mobile Giving Foundation. I have seen numbers for the total collected with these providers at more than $20 million. Considering