February 8, 2012

Cybercrooks are hooking in victims with a supposed Valentine’s Day theme for their Facebook profiles, according to IT security firm Trend Micro, which said the new attack begins with a post on affected users’ walls inviting other users to install the theme into their profiles.

“Clicking the Install button on the page will prompt the download of the malicious file, FacebookChrome.crx, which Trend Micro detects as TROJ_FOOKBACE.A. When executed, TROJ_FOOKBACE.A executes a script that is capable of displaying ads from certain websites,” Trend Micro said in a blog post.

Trend Micro noted the attack works only on Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers. Once the malicious browser extension is installed, it…

South Korean consumer technology giant LG said it is offering its customers a free 30-day coupon for its LG Smart TV app, K-Pop Zone, for every purchase of LG Cinema 3D and Smart TVs from February 1 to March 31, 2012.

Customers can also get a free K-Pop 3D Blu-ray Disc for every purchase of an HX906 & HB806 LG 3D Home Theater System.

LG’s Cinema 3D TV offers 3D technology made accessible with Smart TV experience. The Cinema 3D TV is built with Film Pattern Retarder (FPR) technology that produces flicker-free 3D images with virtually no eye strain.

Coupled with battery-free and light 3D glasses that do not require recharging, users…

The next billion mobile connections will mainly come from remote rural areas in emerging markets, with most users in these areas willing to invest in the right device and service combination, according to research firm Ovum.

In a new report, the telecoms analyst firm stated that while users in these areas typically don’t have access to basic infrastructure or utilities, they are aware of the transformative potential of mobile phones and are eager to invest in a convenient device.

Shiv Putcha, Ovum telecoms analyst and author of the report commented: “Emerging markets will account for the bulk of the next billion connections, and despite increasing awareness of smartphones, these users will…

Mobile operator Smart Communications has launched a bucket offer dubbed “All Call” to allow its subscribers to make calls cheap calls to all local mobile and landline networks, as well as international numbers.

Exclusive to Smart prepaid subscribers, the All Call bundles allow users to call any Smart, Talk ‘N Text, Sun, Globe, Touch Mobile, or any landline in the country, plus landline or mobile numbers in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

The ‘All Call 100? bundle offers 30 call minutes, valid for five days for P100 or about P3.33 per minute for both domestic or international calls.

Another variant, ‘All Call 250?, provides 100 minutes, or only P2.50…

Saying he was victim of electoral fraud in 2007, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III is pushing for an enhanced version of the OMR (optical mark reader) technology that will be used in next year’s elections.

Pimentel

Pimentel on Wednesday launched an initiative called i-PCOS, an acronym for Improved Precinct Count Optical Scan (i-PCOS) machines that would require the Commission on Elections to improve the PCOS’ application, efficiency, and transparency.

“i-PCOS is a call to the Comelec as well as a challenge for it to do a better job of guarding and ensuring the integrity of the will of the Filipino electorate,” said Pimentel.

“Respect the automated election law by observing all the minimum…

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the UK’s largest manufacturer of premium vehicles, has announced it is deploying EMC Isilon scale-out NAS to simplify storage for its “big data” capacity and performance.

The demand for new products in shorter timeframes while reducing dependency on physical testing had put pressure on JLR engineers to improve and streamline virtual simulation processes and deliver actionable analysis to the manufacturing teams.

JLR depends on advanced Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) and High Performance Computing (HPC) to develop, deliver, and verify each new design to ensure that every vehicle is optimized across a range of customer attributes such as safety, quality, robustness, dynamics, aerodynamics, and performance and economy.

In 2010,…

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has presented for validation newly completed digital maps of Mindanao during the “Topographic Mapping for Peace and Development in Mindanao” 2nd Technical Coordinating Committee (TCC) Meetings held recently all over the island.

Yutaka Kokofu, Topographic Map Project Team Leader-JICA, reported the production of new digital topo-maps covering all regions of Mindanao, copies of which were distributed to LGUs and line agencies for validation.

Recipients of the maps were asked to validate the names of barangays, rivers, lakes, mountains, and other data as these will be incorporated in the maps before finalization.

The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) expects the submission of the maps by end of February.

The…

The Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) has announced its new board of directors and officers for 2012, who were elected during the group’s board planning session on January 23.

Terrado

The elected officers are:

President – Noya Terrado (Headstrong Philippines) Vice President & Government Relations Chairperson – Bettina Quimson (Navigator Systems/Appgeekz) Corporate Secretary & Technology Council Chairperson – Calen Legaspi (Orange & Bronze Software Labs) Treasurer – Dod Peralta (IBM)

2012 Committees and Special Interest Groups (SIG)

Capability Development Committee Beng Coronel, Committee Chairperson (Pointwest Technologies) Alvin Gendrano (Microsoft) Ray Maranon (Accenture) Simon Villalon (HP) Calen Legaspi (Orange & Bronze Software Labs)

International Marketing/Marketing and Communications Committee Joey Gurango, Committee Chairperson (Gurango Software) Alvin Gendrano (Microsoft) Arup Maity (BlastAsia)

Information and Research Committee Arup Maity, Chairperson (BlastAsia) Tae Abion…

The Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) has submitted a resolution to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) recommending that an outstanding legal issue of the current consolidation/canvassing system (CCS) be resolved prior to adopting it for use in the upcoming 2013 elections.

Casambre

RA 9369, the law creating the CAC and its mandate, stipulates particularly that systems used in the automated elections “must have demonstrated capability and been successfully used in a prior electoral exercise here or abroad”.

CAC chairman and ICTO (Information and Communications Technology Office) Executive Director Louis Casambre said that, “The current CCS is a locally developed system, and we respect the Comelec’s initiative in producing it, however, it is now…