Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Leaked HP Memo Tackles TouchPad Shortcomings

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/2011/07/altlantic-international-partnership-headlines-leaked-hp-memo-tackles-touchpad-shortcomings/

Hewlett-Packard is taking mixed reviews for its new TouchPad tablet with webOS pretty seriously, going by a leaked internal memo from the head of HP’s Palm Global Business Unit to staff that declares it will be “a marathon not a sprint” to fix the initial shortcomings of the device.

John Rubenstein, senior vice president and general manager of HP’s Palm unit, sent the memo on July 1, the day the TouchPad was officially released in the U.S. It was apparently leaked by an anonymous tipster to Pre Central, a specialist tech website covering HP’s mobile business.

While the memo cites The New York Times reviewer David Pogue’s opinion that the TouchPad shows “signs of greatness,” Rubenstein also concedes that Pogue and other “reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience.”

That’s a tacit admission that the TouchPad has a long way to go in areas like app availability and user friendliness before it lives up to one HP executive’s pre-release boast that the tablet would take on Apple’s market-dominating iPad and “become better than number one.”

PCMag’s Lead Analyst for Audio and Video Timothy Gideon didn’t disagree with Rubenstein’s assessment (reprinted below), offering up the “general feeling that the good outweighs the bad with the TouchPad.” Our full review of the tablet offers much the same sentiment.

Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard is planning to follow up on its Wi-Fi-only, 16GB and 32GB TouchPads with a “white glossy” model due out in August that sports a more powerful processor and 64GB of internal storage, as well as a 32GB TouchPad with support for AT&T’s 4G HSPA+ network in the same August timeframe, according to leaked HP product roadmap slides, also published this week by Pre Central.

Atlantic International Partnership Headlines: DOJ approves Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/2011/06/atlantic-international-partnership-headlines-doj-approves-microsoft%E2%80%99s-acquisition-of-skype/

Microsoft’s takeover of VoIP operator Skype has cleared one regulatory hurdle: the Justice Department has tacitly approved the deal.

The U.S. Department of Justice has tacitly approved Microsoft’s recently-announced plan to acquire VoIP operator Skype, granting “early termination” to its review of the proposed takeover. The early termination action essentially means that the Justice Department found no reason to believe the acquisition would harm competition or negatively impact consumers.

Last month, Microsoft announced plans to pay some $8.5 billion to take over Skype—the deal values Skype at more than three times the amount equity firm Silver Lake paid for Skype when the operation was spun out of eBay back in 2009. Although Microsoft seems bullish on the idea—and apparently brought founder Bill Gates back into the loop to seal the deal—market watchers are wondering exactly how Microsoft will leverage Skype. Although Skype is by far the dominant player in VoIP communications, the company hasn’t so far hasn’t found a good way to turn its service into a solid revenue stream. Skype does charge for calling services to and from landlines and mobile phones, but since day one many of its users have opted for free Skype-to-Skype communications.

Microsoft so far has announced only non-specific plans to expand the existing Skype brand, and operate Skype as a separate division within the company. Industry watchers have speculated Microsoft will integrate Skype with the company’s digital advertising and business conferencing offerings.

[Correction: The original version of this article said the Federal Trade Commission had approved the acquisition; this was a misunderstanding based on the FTC processing the early termination listing on behalf of the Justice Department.]

Atlantic International Partnership Headlines: DOJ approves Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/?tag=doj-approves-microsoft%E2%80%99s-acquisition-of-skype

Microsoft’s takeover of VoIP operator Skype has cleared one regulatory hurdle: the Justice Department has tacitly approved the deal.

The U.S. Department of Justice has tacitly approved Microsoft’s recently-announced plan to acquire VoIP operator Skype, granting “early termination” to its review of the proposed takeover. The early termination action essentially means that the Justice Department found no reason to believe the acquisition would harm competition or negatively impact consumers.

Last month, Microsoft announced plans to pay some $8.5 billion to take over Skype—the deal values Skype at more than three times the amount equity firm Silver Lake paid for Skype when the operation was spun out of eBay back in 2009. Although Microsoft seems bullish on the idea—and apparently brought founder Bill Gates back into the loop to seal the deal—market watchers are wondering exactly how Microsoft will leverage Skype. Although Skype is by far the dominant player in VoIP communications, the company hasn’t so far hasn’t found a good way to turn its service into a solid revenue stream. Skype does charge for calling services to and from landlines and mobile phones, but since day one many of its users have opted for free Skype-to-Skype communications.

Microsoft so far has announced only non-specific plans to expand the existing Skype brand, and operate Skype as a separate division within the company. Industry watchers have speculated Microsoft will integrate Skype with the company’s digital advertising and business conferencing offerings.

[Correction: The original version of this article said the Federal Trade Commission had approved the acquisition; this was a misunderstanding based on the FTC processing the early termination listing on behalf of the Justice Department.]

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Leaked HP Memo Tackles TouchPad Shortcomings

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/?tag=online-blog-comments-and-suggestion-website

Hewlett-Packard is taking mixed reviews for its new TouchPad tablet with webOS pretty seriously, going by a leaked internal memo from the head of HP’s Palm Global Business Unit to staff that declares it will be “a marathon not a sprint” to fix the initial shortcomings of the device.

John Rubenstein, senior vice president and general manager of HP’s Palm unit, sent the memo on July 1, the day the TouchPad was officially released in the U.S. It was apparently leaked by an anonymous tipster to Pre Central, a specialist tech website covering HP’s mobile business.

While the memo cites The New York Times reviewer David Pogue’s opinion that the TouchPad shows “signs of greatness,” Rubenstein also concedes that Pogue and other “reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience.”

That’s a tacit admission that the TouchPad has a long way to go in areas like app availability and user friendliness before it lives up to one HP executive’s pre-release boast that the tablet would take on Apple’s market-dominating iPad and “become better than number one.”

PCMag’s Lead Analyst for Audio and Video Timothy Gideon didn’t disagree with Rubenstein’s assessment (reprinted below), offering up the “general feeling that the good outweighs the bad with the TouchPad.” Our full review of the tablet offers much the same sentiment.

Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard is planning to follow up on its Wi-Fi-only, 16GB and 32GB TouchPads with a “white glossy” model due out in August that sports a more powerful processor and 64GB of internal storage, as well as a 32GB TouchPad with support for AT&T’s 4G HSPA+ network in the same August timeframe, according to leaked HP product roadmap slides, also published this week by Pre Central.

Here’s the leaked internal email:

“Team,

“Today we bring the HP TouchPad and webOS 3.0 to the world. The HP team has achieved something extraordinary—especially when you consider that it’s been just one year since our work on the TouchPad began in earnest. Today also marks the start of a new era for HP as our vision for connected mobility begins to take form—an ecosystem of services, applications and devices connected seamlessly by webOS.

“If you’ve seen the recent TouchPad reviews you know that the industry understands HP’s vision and sees the same potential in webOS as we do. David Pogue from The New York Times says, “[T]here are signs of greatness here.” … You’ve also seen that reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience. The good news is that most of the issues they cite are already known to us and will be addressed in short order by over-the-air software and app catalog updates. We still have work to do to make webOS the platform we know it can be, but remember—it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

“In that spirit, Richard Kerris, head of worldwide developer relations for webOS, reminded me yesterday of the first reviews for a product introduced a little over ten years ago:

“…overall the software is sluggish”

“…there are no quality apps to use, so it won’t last”

“…it’s just not making sense…”

“It’s hard to believe these statements described MacOS X—a platform that would go on to change the landscape of Silicon Valley in ways that no one could have imagined.

“The similarities to our situation are obvious, but there’s also a big difference. Like David Pogue, our audiences get that webOS has the potential for greatness. And like me, they know that your hard work and passion, and the power of HP’s commitment to webOS, will turn that potential into the real thing.”

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Leaked HP Memo Tackles TouchPad Shortcomings

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/?tag=atlantic-international-partnership-article-reviews

Hewlett-Packard is taking mixed reviews for its new TouchPad tablet with webOS pretty seriously, going by a leaked internal memo from the head of HP’s Palm Global Business Unit to staff that declares it will be “a marathon not a sprint” to fix the initial shortcomings of the device.

John Rubenstein, senior vice president and general manager of HP’s Palm unit, sent the memo on July 1, the day the TouchPad was officially released in the U.S. It was apparently leaked by an anonymous tipster to Pre Central, a specialist tech website covering HP’s mobile business.

While the memo cites The New York Times reviewer David Pogue’s opinion that the TouchPad shows “signs of greatness,” Rubenstein also concedes that Pogue and other “reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience.”

That’s a tacit admission that the TouchPad has a long way to go in areas like app availability and user friendliness before it lives up to one HP executive’s pre-release boast that the tablet would take on Apple’s market-dominating iPad and “become better than number one.”

PCMag’s Lead Analyst for Audio and Video Timothy Gideon didn’t disagree with Rubenstein’s assessment (reprinted below), offering up the “general feeling that the good outweighs the bad with the TouchPad.” Our full review of the tablet offers much the same sentiment.

Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard is planning to follow up on its Wi-Fi-only, 16GB and 32GB TouchPads with a “white glossy” model due out in August that sports a more powerful processor and 64GB of internal storage, as well as a 32GB TouchPad with support for AT&T’s 4G HSPA+ network in the same August timeframe, according to leaked HP product roadmap slides, also published this week by Pre Central.

Here’s the leaked internal email:

“Team,

“Today we bring the HP TouchPad and webOS 3.0 to the world. The HP team has achieved something extraordinary—especially when you consider that it’s been just one year since our work on the TouchPad began in earnest. Today also marks the start of a new era for HP as our vision for connected mobility begins to take form—an ecosystem of services, applications and devices connected seamlessly by webOS.

“If you’ve seen the recent TouchPad reviews you know that the industry understands HP’s vision and sees the same potential in webOS as we do. David Pogue from The New York Times says, “[T]here are signs of greatness here.” … You’ve also seen that reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience. The good news is that most of the issues they cite are already known to us and will be addressed in short order by over-the-air software and app catalog updates. We still have work to do to make webOS the platform we know it can be, but remember—it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

“In that spirit, Richard Kerris, head of worldwide developer relations for webOS, reminded me yesterday of the first reviews for a product introduced a little over ten years ago:

“…overall the software is sluggish”

“…there are no quality apps to use, so it won’t last”

“…it’s just not making sense…”

“It’s hard to believe these statements described MacOS X—a platform that would go on to change the landscape of Silicon Valley in ways that no one could have imagined.

“The similarities to our situation are obvious, but there’s also a big difference. Like David Pogue, our audiences get that webOS has the potential for greatness. And like me, they know that your hard work and passion, and the power of HP’s commitment to webOS, will turn that potential into the real thing.”

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Leaked HP Memo Tackles TouchPad Shortcomings

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/tag/online-blog-comments-and-suggestion-website/

Hewlett-Packard is taking mixed reviews for its new TouchPad tablet with webOS pretty seriously, going by a leaked internal memo from the head of HP’s Palm Global Business Unit to staff that declares it will be “a marathon not a sprint” to fix the initial shortcomings of the device.
John Rubenstein, senior vice president and general manager of HP’s Palm unit, sent the memo on July 1, the day the TouchPad was officially released in the U.S. It was apparently leaked by an anonymous tipster to Pre Central, a specialist tech website covering HP’s mobile business.
While the memo cites The New York Times reviewer David Pogue’s opinion that the TouchPad shows “signs of greatness,” Rubenstein also concedes that Pogue and other “reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience.”
That’s a tacit admission that the TouchPad has a long way to go in areas like app availability and user friendliness before it lives up to one HP executive’s pre-release boast that the tablet would take on Apple’s market-dominating iPad and “become better than number one.”
PCMag’s Lead Analyst for Audio and Video Timothy Gideon didn’t disagree with Rubenstein’s assessment (reprinted below), offering up the “general feeling that the good outweighs the bad with the TouchPad.” Our full review of the tablet offers much the same sentiment.
Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard is planning to follow up on its Wi-Fi-only, 16GB and 32GB TouchPads with a “white glossy” model due out in August that sports a more powerful processor and 64GB of internal storage, as well as a 32GB TouchPad with support for AT&T’s 4G HSPA+ network in the same August timeframe, according to leaked HP product roadmap slides, also published this week by Pre Central.
Here’s the leaked internal email:
“Team,
“Today we bring the HP TouchPad and webOS 3.0 to the world. The HP team has achieved something extraordinary—especially when you consider that it’s been just one year since our work on the TouchPad began in earnest. Today also marks the start of a new era for HP as our vision for connected mobility begins to take form—an ecosystem of services, applications and devices connected seamlessly by webOS.
“If you’ve seen the recent TouchPad reviews you know that the industry understands HP’s vision and sees the same potential in webOS as we do. David Pogue from The New York Times says, “[T]here are signs of greatness here.” … You’ve also seen that reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience. The good news is that most of the issues they cite are already known to us and will be addressed in short order by over-the-air software and app catalog updates. We still have work to do to make webOS the platform we know it can be, but remember—it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
“In that spirit, Richard Kerris, head of worldwide developer relations for webOS, reminded me yesterday of the first reviews for a product introduced a little over ten years ago:
“…overall the software is sluggish”
“…there are no quality apps to use, so it won’t last”
“…it’s just not making sense…”
“It’s hard to believe these statements described MacOS X—a platform that would go on to change the landscape of Silicon Valley in ways that no one could have imagined.
“The similarities to our situation are obvious, but there’s also a big difference. Like David Pogue, our audiences get that webOS has the potential for greatness. And like me, they know that your hard work and passion, and the power of HP’s commitment to webOS, will turn that potential into the real thing.”

Altlantic International Partnership Headlines: Jailbreak artists exploit unpatched Apple iPhone, iPad bugs

http://updates.atlanticinternationalpartnershipreviews.com/tag/jailbreak-artists-exploit-unpatched-apple-iphone/

Computerworld – Developers today said they used a pair of unpatched vulnerabilities in Apple’s iOS to “jailbreak” the iPhone and iPad, including the first-ever hack of the iPad 2.

Some security experts immediately said the unfixed flaw — and the fact it’s essentially been released into the wild for miscreants to exploit — posed a danger to iPhone and iPad owners.

“If they exploited the same vulnerability in a copy-cat maneuver, cybercriminals could create booby-trapped webpages that could — if visited by an unsuspecting iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad owner — run code on visiting devices,” warned Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with U.K.-based Sophos, in a blog post.

“All eyes now turn to Apple to see how quickly it can secure its users,” said Cluley. “Leaving asecurity hole like this open is simply inviting malicious hackers to exploit it.”

“Jailbreaking” refers to hacking iOS to allow an iPhone or iPad to install software not sanctioned by Apple and not distributed through its official App Store channel.

To jailbreak an iOS device, users must visit the JailbreakMe website with an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch running the current version of iOS, then install JailbreakMe 3.0.

The hack was released by a team led by someone identified only as “comex,” and is the latest in a string of exploits that have circumvented Apple’s App Store-only model, including one issued by the same group last August, just weeks after Apple rolled out iOS 4.

Ten days after JailbreakMe 2.0′s 2010 debut, Apple patched the two vulnerabilities used by comex.

Charlie Miller, the only person to win prizes four years running at the Pwn2Own hacking contest, and a principal research consultant for Denver-based Accuvant, said it was likely Apple would react quickly to the newest jailbreak.

“This one is a remote code executable vulnerability,” said Miller of one of the two bugs exploited by JailbreakMe 3.0. “Apple will probably patch this in a couple of weeks at the most.”

Like Cluley, Miller was concerned by the bugs and exploits. “They’re certainly a threat, and would be easy to make malicious,” he said.

Miller also noted that because comex released a patch for the vulnerabilities at the same time as JailbreakMe 3.0, the situation wasn’t serious. “For anyone worried about security, they can jailbreak their iPhone and then apply the patch,” Miller said.

Comex published the fix, dubbed “PDF Patcher 2,” on the Cydia app store, a popular site for downloading applications that run only on jailbroken iOS devices.

“Due to the nature of iOS, this patch can only be installed on a jailbroken device,” said comex in a short FAQ on JailbreakMe. “Until Apple releases an update, jailbreaking will ironically be the best way to remain secure.”