Apple patent filing reignites tablet device rumors

A just-published Apple patent application for hand-writing recognition on pen-based computers has re-ignited speculation the company will soon unveil a tablet device. Technically, the Apple patent application - filed in July but published this week by the U.S. Trademark & Patent Office - is for "acquiring and organizing ink information in pen-aware computer systems." That's a type of device that Apple doesn't currently offer, though hand-writing recognition, dubbed Rosetta, was part of the Newton handheld device and operating system, released in 1993. And, according to Wikipedia, some of that code, renamed Inkwell, was introduced into Mac OS X, for use by peripherals graphics tablets. But if that's Apple's plan, the company may be in a furious race with Microsoft, which is leaking and hinting at details of an innovative small tablet device, Courier, now in development. One of the developers of Inkwell, Larry Yaeger, is named in the newest patent application along with Richard Fabrick II, and Giulia Pagallo.

The Apple filing describes a tablet "input device" that "may be a thin layer of sensing circuitry present either beneath the visible screen/tablet surface…or as part of a thin, clear membrane (not shown) overlying the screen…that is sensitive to the position of the pen on its surface. The worst Apple products of all time One of the first sites to pick up on the filing was Seth Weintraub's daily Apple news site, 9to5Mac.com.  Earlier this month, Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer, declined to comment on the Courier device but made it clear that Microsoft not only hasn't given up on tablets, but thinks the pieces are in place for a breakthrough product. "Today, several factors are coming together that will probably make the concept more resurgent or at least become more mainstream," he said. "It's a confluence of small, light devices with the hybrid touch and writing screen technology that will finally probably result in a tablet-type computer going mainstream." One key question is what operating system Courier might be using: a slimmed down version of the recently released Windows 7, or an early version of Windows Mobile 7, expected next year, with dramatically improved touch support on Windows handhelds. But the Inkwell heritage raises the question of just what kind of "tablet" Apple may have in mind. Engadget's Tom Ricker uses the pen-oriented patent filing to mock Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who famously called the finger the "best pointing device in the world" compared to the stylus, which has been a staple for Windows Mobile devices for years. Most of the speculation for much of this past year has been around a portable device with a notebook-sized screen and, in keeping with the success of the iPhone and iPod touch, a multi-touch user interface. But Apple's patent filing specifically mentions that "A suitable tablet…for use with the present invention includes the Wacom graphics tablets from Wacom Technology Company of Vancouver, Wash." Wacom's products are advanced USB peripherals that plug into a Mac or Windows computers to enable pen or gesture input.

The Intuoas4, introduced in March, can capture subtle differences in pressure, for example. The Bamboo products are pads only, using the host computer's screen; the Intuoas and Cintiq products incorporate their own displays as well. Tablets have been about to "happen" for the last 20 years. Yet today, tablets are relegated to small niches and vertical applications, such as healthcare. Microsoft has tried at least twice, most recently in 2001, to promote them as the next big thing in personal computing, investing time and treasure in creating intuitive digital ink technology, to make using the screen as easy as using a piece of real paper. But the success of the big-screened, Web-browser-equipped iPhone, and the explosion of the netbook, or shrunken notebook, market seems to be reviving interest in finding the Next Big Small Form Factor device.

The video, which seems more like an animation than a recorded live demonstration, shows a device that opens flat like a small book, with each "page" being a screen, each roughly 5x7 inches. Gizmodo in September released a Microsoft-created video that apparently shows a new, small tablet-like device from Microsoft, the Courier. The interface combines a pen and gestures to take notes and work with a variety of what seem to be PIM and Web applications. "[T]he biggest question that popped up for me is whether the pen interface (digital ink) is the right choice for the job," writes Network World blogger, Mitchell Ashley. "Is the pen interface something that belongs in the Tablet PC era, but not in new touch interface devices?... I personally would rather type, even with a simulated digital keyboard, than write with a pen stylus" Maybe the touch keyboard, like [that] used with the iPhone, is the way to go.

Elpida signs on another Taiwan DRAM maker

Elpida signed another Taiwanese DRAM maker, Winbond Electronics, to a manufacturing and technology partnership on Wednesday, putting an end to rumors that the company might join a rival alliance that uses technology from U.S.-based Micron Technology. Elpida will provide Winbond with advanced DRAM manufacturing and product technology as part of the deal. "The outsourcing agreement is the first step of a business partnership the companies intend to pursue further," the statement says. Winbond will begin producing GDDR3 (graphics double data rate, third generation) and GDDR5 for Elpida by the end of this year, the companies said in a joint statement. Elpida has moved fast to shore up support for its technology in Taiwan, where over-building among DRAM makers led to a glut in DRAM chips and inability to repay loans early this year.

Consolidation efforts have caused companies on the island to rally around two main foreign technology providers, Elpida and Micron. The Taiwan government stepped in to help companies delay loan repayments and worked to encourage consolidation among DRAM makers on the island. The agreement with Winbond puts four Taiwanese DRAM manufacturers in Elpida's camp, versus two for Micron. Elpida and Powerchip also operate a joint venture DRAM manufacturer in Taiwan, Rexchip Electronics. Winbond joins ProMOS Technologies, which inked an outsourcing deal with Elpida last week, and Powerchip Semiconductor, a long time Elpida partner.

Micron has signed up Nanya Technology, and together they operate joint venture Inotera Memories. Winbond began seeking a new technology partner early this year when Germany's Qimonda, which previously worked with Winbond, filed for bankruptcy.

Sidekick's lessons: Why backup for mobile phones is crucial

After the Sidekick near-disaster, mobile phone users might be wondering if they should ever trust any cloud services to protect their vital data. The obvious lessons: 1. Back up your mobile phone's critical data independently - on a laptop, a desktop or a thumb drive. 2. Raise questions about cloud computing and related services. 3. Find out how your mobile device stores data, and make sure you understand it. 4. When in doubt, refer to number 1. Forrester Research analyst James Staten said the Sidekick incident should serve as a reminder to users to back up critical data. "You can't rely on these [cloud] services to be 100% available all the time," he said in an interview. "This is not the first time something like this has happened and it won't be the last time." Not only is a backup of critical data imperative, users need to have a way to retrieve the backed-up data. "You need to think about the value of your data and what happens if the service is not available," he said. On the face of it, there are some obvious lessons to be learned from the Sidekick snafu, even as Microsoft Corp. reported today that most of the data that was missing will be recovered from servers at its Danger Inc. subsidiary. There are many Internet-based services that can be a second backup version to the original backup, such as Plaxo, he said.

At larger companies, data backups are commonplace and often include information contained on wireless phones as well as desktop computers, analysts said. Having the second one drastically reduces the odds of total loss. The issue becomes more difficult when IT shops trust users who put critical company data on personally-owned wireless phones that aren't backed up. Nearly every major smartphone provider is working on some version of cloud computing to back up data from smartphones and other cell phones. Despite urging users to back up critical data, Staten joined three other analysts in remaining faithful to the mobile phone industry's strong push for cloud computing services, noting that the Sidekick case was relatively isolated. All those services could be vulnerable to data loss, and the Sidekick example is likely to prompt a broad re-examination of internal server backup procedures, Staten said. "I'd say that any lesson that says not to trust cloud computing is too aggressive," said Kevin Burden, an analyst at ABI Research Inc.

It's a risk you run." As a result of the industry trend toward cloud computing, and in particular, Google Inc.'s determination to offer many services that way, Burden warned users against overreacting in light of Sidekick's and Danger's relatively isolated problems. "I don't think anyone should react and say, store all the data on your phone or PC," he said. "Doing that would push the mobile industry backward, and the industry is not prepared to go backward. Wireless phones generally come with limited internal storage and some have removeable storage cards, but "they do rely more on backend services and servers in the cloud to provide information." Burden noted that Nokia's Ovi, Research In Motion's BlackBerry Internet Service (for small business users), Motorola's MotoBlur and others are all backend services that "open you up to having data potentially lost, stolen or replicated somewhere that you don't have any knowledge of. We all want our data to be accessible wherever we are, and that's the motivation for cloud computing. No." Ramon Llamas, an IDC analyst, agreed. "I don't think this problem is a warning to anybody to not trust cloud computing. Do you think this incident scares Google?

The cloud is mobile's direction. The cloud is not just a nice thing to have; it's a basic expectation." Llamas said more services are emerging to offer mobile backup, including Best Buy's recent offer to store data for free, called mIQ . Both Llamas and Burden also said the Sidekick snafu should provide a lesson to mobile phone users to be aware of how their phones work and how their data is stored. Smartphones are very much about data, data, data, and everybody is going to want a record of what they do. To that point, they noted that the Sidekick has never been advertised as a phone for business users. "It's not up to snuff as compared to a BlackBerry or iPhone," Llamas said. It doesn't have a third-party application development platform and doesn't offer a high-level operating system or a fast process to handle FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) certification, which supports stringent security requirements, the way smartphones typically do, he said. "The Sidekick was never targeted to the business professional, and is really for the hip-hop generation and youth," Burden noted. "Security and secure storage was never its selling point." Danger originally owned the device, calling it the Hip Top, until the device was sold through T-Mobile-USA and the name became the Sidekick.

In fact, Burden said he doesn't consider the Sidekick a true smartphone, mainly because it derived as a single purpose device for voice calls about seven years ago into a voice device with texting added on. Subsequently, Microsoft bought Danger in 2008. "This recent incident exposes some of the deficiencies of the Hip Top/Sidekick," Burden said. "Certain things are not shored up because of the types of users they were going for." While it originally became a texting device atop a good voice phone, it has added other functions but not some of the security basics, Burden said. And after them, everybody else will wonder, 'Could that happen to me?,'" Llamas said. "Imagine if this happened across an entire carrier's servers. Still, Llamas said the problems with the Sidekick will resonate for a while and should give mobile phone users pause about securing their data. "The incident will make people owning a Sidekick question using a Sidekick, and then those who are thinking of getting one. For Verizon Wireless that could be 90 million people. Everybody should think twice if these services could really save your data up in the cloud," Llamas said.

iPhone GPS app market heating up

The iPhone GPS app market unleashed by the release of the iPhone 3.0 software update is getting more interesting by the day, with several developers in an arms race to add new features to their initial offerings. My own in-car navigation box doesn't even speak street names (other than numbered freeways), and it sure makes a big difference. Taking the lead in the GPS app race is Navigon MobileNavigator, which recently added support for spoken street names-a major failing in the three apps that I previewed in a Macworld Video last month.

Last week, I got to spend a little bit of time with Navigon's Johan-Till Broer, who showed me the next version of MobileNavigator, due as a free App Store update sometime in October. The traffic update also does a better job of estimating the speeds of various roads without live traffic data. It adds live traffic to the party, downloading traffic updates over the digital cell network and rerouting you around slow spots. The end result should be that MobileNavigator will do a better job of suggesting the fastest route you should take to your destination, based on both current conditions and the time of day you're traveling. I've found Sygic Mobile Maps to be a solid app, although it feels more like a port of a standalone GPS device than a native iPhone app. Sygic, maker of the Sygic Mobile Maps GPS navigation app, recently updated its app to support spoken street names, as well as catching up with the other apps by integrating the addresses of the contacts in your iPhone's address book.

However, you can't beat the price-Sygic is trying to drive sales of its updated app by reducing the price (temporarily, at least) to $40 for an app containing only United States maps and $60 for the app containing maps of all of North America. TomTom's promised car kit for the iPhone, which promises a mount, speaker, and improved GPS reception, has yet to arrive here in the States. (Our friends at Macworld UK are reporting that the car kit is available for order on that side of the Atlantic, with shipping times listed as "two to three weeks.") As for the TomTom app, the company promises "several updates by the end of 2009," but hasn't given details. While Navigon and Sygic are not familiar names to most Americans, TomTom is a strong brand and its iPhone app has sparked a lot of interest, although the iTunes charts would suggest that it may have fallen behind Navigon in terms of sales. Presumably spoken street names and live traffic are high on the agenda. Look for a comprehensive comparison of iPhone GPS apps from Macworld in the near future.

Reviewing these apps is hard, requiring a lot of driving (and a dedicated driver so the reviewer doesn't cause an accident!), and the features of the apps keep updating at a rapid pace. In the meantime, check out my video above if you'd like to see the apps in action. From my perspective, right now Navigon MobileNavigator is the best choice available, but this game is far from over.

Company hosting Joe Wilson fundraising site recovers from DDoS attack

A company providing online payment-processing services for U.S. Rep. The attack on Piryx began Friday afternoon and lasted into the early hours of Saturday morning and temporarily disrupted a Wilson fundraising effort that was underway at that time. Joe Wilson (R-S.C) is back online after being disrupted by a distributed denial-of service attack over the weekend.

Piryx CEO Tom Serres said. Piryx is a nonpartisan Austin, Texas, based start-up that provides services to help political candidates and nonprofits manage online campaigns and fundraising. It also knocked out services for about 150 other Piryx clients, Serres said. Serres said the company was contacted by Wilson's office last week and asked to manage online donations from supporters rallying behind the congressman after he shouted "You lie!" during President Obama's address to Congress on health care reform Wednesday. Such attacks are designed to render servers and networks inaccessible by flooding them with useless traffic.

Hours after the company began hosting Wilson's homepage on its servers, Piryx found itself the target of a distributed denial of service attack, Serres said. The attacks appear to have been directed at the joewilsonforcongress.com site, Serres said. Initially, the traffic generated by the DDoS attack was manageable but soon Piryx began noticing "massive bandwidth spikes" that knocked its servers offline, Serres said. At the time the attacks started, the site was handling about 100 transactions per minute and had already collected more than $100,000 from people who wanted to contribute to Wilson's campaign, he said. The data center hosting Piryx's servers confirmed that it was the victim of a DDoS attack.

After several failed attempts at mitigating the attacks, filters to block the traffic went into place early Saturday morning. At its peak, the DDoS flood generated about 1 gigabit of traffic per second, which is about 1,000 times the normal traffic on Piryx, Serres said. Service has been normal since then, he said. The incident appears to be one of the rare instances of a politically motivated attack against a Web site in the U.S. said Kirsten Dennesen, an intelligence analyst with Verisign Inc.'s iDefense Labs. It's not known from where the attacks originated, but Serres said it appears to have been initiated by those opposed to Wilson's comments, he said. "It was clearly politically motivated to take down Wilson's ability to raise funds online," Serres said. The attention attracted by Wilson's comments, especially through social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter, appears to have contributed to the attack, she said. "One question is whether there are going to be any response attacks," she said.

Open source security project could get a boost with Metasploit buy

Rapid7 is buying Metasploit, and promising to advance open source penetration testing and the Metasploit Project, which develops exploits against known vulnerabilities. Rapid7 says the deal will provide it with better data about exploits so its customers can discover and fix vulnerabilities that could lead to successful attacks against their networks, the company says. Hottest tech M&A deals of 2009 The upside for Rapid7, a commercial security testing company, is that it will use Metasploit resources to expand capabilities of its NeXpose vulnerability management software. The parties are not saying how much Rapid7 paid for Metasploit.

He will also be Rapid7's chief security officer. "Rapid7 has committed to keeping the project open source, with no plans to change the license or the community development model," Moore says in his blog. "What will be changing is how fast we add new exploits, integrate new features, and release new versions."  With the new resources from Rapid7, the project will make great leaps forward within a few months, he predicts. "They may not be exploit developers, but they understand business and how to make a marriage with Metasploit increase their own bottom line without destroying the value of project in the process," he says. Meanwhile, the all-volunteer Metasploit Project will gain a full-time development staff led by its originator H.D. Moore, who becomes chief architect for the project supported by an exploit developer, a user-interface designer and a quality assurance engineer, according to his blog. These advances will include expanding Metasploit's exploit library and increasing the number of publicly available exploits, Rapid7 says.