Apple Has News And Updates For Fanbois

Today brought a number of things from the Apple world. First, Apple released an update that addresses that “Mac Defender” marware that’s been floating around. The full details can be found here, but here’s the highlights. It kills “Mac Defender” and it updates a little known OS X feature that detects known malware. Mac users should download this as long as they’re running OS X 10.6.7.

The other piece of news is the impending appearance of God Steve Jobs at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next Monday in San Francisco:

Apple® CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software – Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.

So we now know what’s on the table. Hopefully it will blow the socks off the fanbois. Chances are that the mere presence of El Jobso will do that and everything else will be gravy.

Hey IT Nerd: Can I Have Two Wireless Routers On My Network?

I got this question via e-mail from a frequent reader of my blog:

“I have a question about routers.  I have a wireless router on my main floor and I have a wire running to the basement.  Problem is that the wire is located in a part of the basement that I do not use.  I was thinking of putting another wireless router there.  First, is it possible to have 2 wireless routers working off the same internet connection?  Second, how would I go about doing that?”

Thanks for the question!

The way that I would do based on what your e-mail said it is to not put a second router down there. Instead you should look at a wireless access point. The whole point of these devices is that it allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using WiFi. It’s a great way to extend wireless access to difficult to get to places such as your basement. I can think of two such devices from Linksys and D-Link that do exactly what you’re looking for. There are others as well, so you should look around and see what fits your needs.

Another option for those who have an Apple Airport Extreme, is to add an Airport Express to the mix. It has the ability to take an existing wireless network and extend it wirelessly. That’s right, no wires required. The process is brain dead simple.

Finally if you do have a couple of routers, some routers may have an access point feature built in. The process of configuring this is tricky, but here’s an example of how to do just that. If you feel like experimenting, this could be an option.

Hope that helps!

Review: Asante Voyager I IP Security Camera

My Axis security camera which was instrumental in alerting me to a break in almost two years ago decided to bite the bullet. So I went looking for a new one. I finally settled on the Asante Voyager I as it had a couple things that my Axis didn’t have. First, it has 6 IR LEDs in it to give it a form of night vision. The catch is that it’s only good for about 5 to 6 feet away from the camera. Second, it does up to 1280X1024 resolution. My previous Axis did half that. As a result, the images are pretty clear and sharp. Not only that, I have a bit more of a view of my condo. The kicker was the price, it was under $200 Canadian which is dirt cheap compared to the Axis. So I plunked my hard earned dollars down for one.

Setup wasn’t difficult and I was able to get it going quickly. But one thing that I should note is that if you want to see the camera from the Internet, you need to open two ports on your router. Both port 80 and 554 need to be open as it uses Quicktime for streaming. Other than that, it wasn’t hard to get it working. The camera is easy to configure and in my case, I have it set up to e-mail images to my Blackberry if anybody comes through my door as it has motion detection. Though you can also record to a SAMBA based device like a NAS device as well. If you’re interested in sound, it has a built in microphone as well as a connection for a speaker so that you can do two way audio.

While it does have support for 3GPP so you can see video on a smartphone that supports 3GPP, Asante only has apps for the iPhone and HTC phones. So I guess it sucks to be me as I have a Blackberry. One of the things is that I could do with the Axis is to arm and disarm it via my Blackberry before I step into my condo using the Blackberry web browser. So far, I have been unable to do that with the Asante. That means that I have to run into my condo, log into one of my computers, log into the camera and disarm it. That’s a bit of a #fail. Asante needs step up to the plate with Blackberry support seeing as there’s so many of them out there. While I’m on the subject of arming and disarming the camera, accessing the camera via a web browser is really slow. Even over a gigabit network with seperate 802.11N and G networks (the camera does G), it’s really slow. I’m not sure what Asante did to make it so slow, but that’s another #fail.

I had some questions about the camera, so I had to use Asante’s tech support via e-mail. I got same day responses to my queries which is good. But if you want to call them, they only have limited tech service hours that are only available Monday through Friday (although their tech support number is toll free). They also have some basic troubleshooting info on their website and they have some more advanced documents that seem to be for different versions of the Voyager I. That’s going to be problematic for less technically savvy users. If I were them I’d adding their level tech support to the same list that has Blackberry support on it.

So, would I recommend the Voyager I? It’s a low cost solution for those who want a video based home security solution. The resolution that it is capable of makes up for its shortcomings. The bottom line is that it’s worth considering, but you may want to cross shop it against something from Axis just in case.

RIM Gets Slapped With Class Action Lawsuit

As if RIM doesn’t have enough problems at the moment, it has a new one. A class action lawsuit has been filed against RIM claiming that the company misled investors regarding its financial condition and business prospects. It sounds like someone lost some cash in the market and now wants to get paid:

The Waterloo, Ont.-based maker of the BlackBerry smart phone and PlayBook tablet device said the suit claims RIM’s leadership made materially false and misleading statements about its financial condition and business prospects.

The suit the claims investors were misled over about a four-month period between Dec. 16 and April 28.

To add to the fun, RIM came out with a press release saying all you need to know in one sentence:

RIM believes that the allegations are without merit.

Oh really? We’ll see when this goes to court.

Samsung Wants To See Apple Prototypes…. Just Like Apple Wanted To See Theirs

In a move that is typical with these patent lawsuits, Samsung wants access to Apple prototypes. If that sounds familiar, it should. They’re mirroring Apple’s access to their prototypes:

Samsung claims that it needs to see Apples future products because devices like the Droid Charge and Galaxy Tab 10.1 will presumably be in the market at the same time as the iPhone 5 and iPad 3, and Samsungs lawyers want to evaluate any possible similarities so they can prepare for further potential legal action from Apple.

One wonders if Samsung’s strategy is to force Apple to cough up prototypes which is something that you know would make El Jobso’s head explode. Thus to keep things secret, they might back down. All have to say is good luck with that because the Apple iLawyers will be doing their best to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Google Gets Sued By PayPal

Fresh off of announcing Google Wallet, Google has a new problem. A lawsuit. Paypal decided that they need to sue Google as well as two former employees [Warning: PDF] for violating contractual obligations and theft of trade secrets in the case of the two individuals, and it charges Google with interfering with PayPal’s contractual relations. Here’s what Paypal’s mouthpiece senior director of global communications Amanda Pires had to say via a blog entry:

We spend a lot of time and energy creating the things that make PayPal unique and a preferred way to pay for almost 100 million people around the world. We treat PayPal’s “secrets” seriously, and take it personally when someone else doesn’t. So we made a decision today. We filed a lawsuit against Google and two former colleagues who now work there, Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius.

You can read the entire lawsuit for yourself, but here’s the highlights:

• Stephanie Tilenius gets hired by Google in June 2010 and became Google VP of commerce and payments. According to PayPal, she agrees not to steal solicit PayPal employees until March 2011
• PayPal then claims that Tilenius contacted Osama Bedier in July 2010 and tried to convince him to join Google. Bedier after meeting with top Google execs ultimately resigned from PayPal in January 2011.

Paypal then wants you to connect the dots when it comes to the rest. Both these individuals then supposedly used what they learned at PayPal to help create Google Wallet. Thus, faster than you can say “Charlie Sheen loves goddesses,” you have a lawsuit being filed by PayPal.

My only thought on this is as follows. How much of this is about PayPal being wronged, and how much is about PayPal potentially being put out to pasture by the titan known as Google? Sure the fact that the way the two individuals ended up at Google is a bit questionable at best. But everything past that can be argued six ways from Sunday.

As usual, expect this to take years and expect to have the lawyers coming out on top.

Hackers Grab Data On Thousands Of Honda Canada Customers

What do Honda Canada customers and Sony customers have in common? Their personal data has been swiped by hackers. In the case of the former, Honda Canada let them know that this is the case:

The company said the information accessed was related to a program in 2009 that encouraged customers to register at the myHonda website.

In an alert posted on its website, Honda said details such as customer names, addresses, vehicle identification numbers and in some cases Honda Financial Services account numbers were accessed.

The company said the information didn’t include data typically used for identity theft or fraud, such as birth dates, credit card numbers and bank account numbers.

Oh joy. While this isn’t as bad as the Playstation Network hack, this info can still be used to do very bad things. It’s also the second time in a week that Canadians have been the victims of a high profile hack. Hopefully the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is paying attention and gets involved in this because it’s becoming clear that companies operating in Canada aren’t taking adequate steps to safeguard the personal information of Canadians.

Review: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – Part 5

So I’ve had the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play for a week. What do I think of it? I was impressed by the speed and the capabilities of the phone. Not to mention that I was impressed by some of the design touches. The fact that it’s a great gaming platform is a plus if you’re into games. For the most part it was impressive. My only quibble was with the lack of 720P video. Sony should have really thought that through because if they did, it would make this phone perfect.

So there’s two questions left to answer. First, is this a threat to the iPhone? If people try this phone and enough games get ported to it, I think that is a legitimate threat. The fact that they leverage the Playstation name which has a lot of clout in the marketplace… If you overlook their <ahem> issues of late…. can only help. The second question, would I buy one? The answer is no, but not because it’s a bad phone. The gaming functions do nothing for me personally as I’m not a serious gamer. So I’d likely look at the Xperia Arc if I wanted something from Sony Ericsson. But if you want a smartphone and you want superior gaming capabilities along with all the usual stuff that you get from the Android OS, you should take a serious look at the Xperia Play. I think you’ll be impressed.

Google Announces Google Wallet In NYC

In a press conference today Google announced a new mobile payment system. Called Google Wallet, the system will allow you to pay for anything with your smartphone. Here’s what the Google Blog had to say:

You’ll be able to tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC). We’re field testing Google Wallet now and plan to release it soon.

Google Wallet is a key part of our ongoing effort to improve shopping for both businesses and consumers. It’s aimed at making it easier for you to pay for and save on the goods you want, while giving merchants more ways to offer coupons and loyalty programs to customers, as well as bridging the gap between online and offline commerce.

The first trials of this system will take place in NYC and Portland via Sprint, but expect it to expand elsewhere. It sounds interesting and I’d love to see it in action. So perhaps Google can show Canadians some love?

Review: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – Part 4

I finally had a chance to try out the camera today. I took a trip to the zoo in Toronto’s High Park to try the still and video camera functions. First the stills, here’s a couple of sample snaps that I took:

The picture quality is actually quite good considering it’s “only” 5 megapixels. The colors are impressive and there’s very little if any noise in any of the photos. I have to say that it’s one of the better cameras that I’ve see on a smartphone lately. It crushes the camera in my Blackberry easily.

Now the video. Here’s a couple of examples of the video capabilities of the Xperia Play:

The video is filmed at 800×480. If that resolution sounds weird, it’s likely due to the fact that we live in a world of 720p video capable smartphones. Therefore 800×480 in this day and age is a #fail. I’m not sure what Sony Ericsson was thinking when they green lighted that feature. But they really should have given that a second thought. In any case, the results are pretty good despite that oversight. It was overcast today when I filmed this and the camera handled it well. The microphone picked up a ton of ambient sound as well which I was impressed with. If this smartphone had a higher resolution, this would be an outstanding phone when it comes to video.

Tomorrow, I’ll wrap up this review with my final thoughts.