Nexcom announced two open-frame panel PCs, designed to be incorporated in devices such as ATMs, kiosks, and vending machines. The 15-inch OPPC 1520T and 17-inch OPPC 1720T have resistive touchscreens, dual-core Atom D525 processors, CompactFlash and Mini PCI Express slots, and bays for 2.5-inch hard disk drives, according to the company.

According to Nexcom, the open-frame design of the OPPC 1520T and OPPC 1720T saves space and allows device designers to create their own customized bezels. Unusually, the panel PCs can be attached to systems from the front, or from the rear via VESA-compatible mounting holes, the company adds.

Nexcom's OPPC 1520T and OPPC 1720T are designed for devices such as ATMs
(Click to enlarge)

Both systems share the same computing component, whose coastline is visible in the image below, as well as screens with resistive touch functionality. They differ only in that the 15-inch OPPC 1520T provides 1024 x 768 pixel resolution, 700-nit brightness, and a 700:1 contrast ratio, while the 17-inch OPPC 1720T has 1280 x 1024 resolution, 380-nit brightness, and 1000:1 contrast ratio, according to the company.

Nexcom's OPPC 1520T and OPPC 1720T share a common computing component
(Click to enlarge)

The OPPC 1520T and OPPC 1720T both include Intel's dual-core Atom D525 processor, which is clocked at 1.8GHz and has a 10-Watt TDP, plus the ICH-8M I/O controller. The devices' single SO-DIMM socket supports up to 2GB of DDR3 memory, Nexcom says.

According to Nexcom, the systems run fanlessly, cooling being aided by a full-width heat sink. Fixed storage is catered for by a 2.5-inch bay for SATA drives and a CompactFlash slot, and each panel PC also has two Mini PCI Express slots, the company adds.

External I/O (visible in the image earlier above) includes two gigabit Ethernet ports, four USB 2.0 ports, two RS232/422/485 ports, a PS/2 keyboard/mouse port, and VGA output for a second display. The OPPC 1520T and OPPC 1720T also have audio jacks for mic in, line in, and line out, says Nexcom.

Nexcom rates the watchdog timer-equipped OPPC 1520T and OPPC 1720T for operating temperatures from 23 to 122 deg. F, and storage between -4 and 167 deg. F. The back housings on the panel PCs are metal, while the plastic fronts meet IP65 standards for resistance to liquids and dust, according to the company.

Finally, it's said the PCs can operate on input power ranging from 12 to 30VDC. They're supplied with 12VDC, 60-Watt AC adapters, Nexcom adds.

Specifications listed by Nexcom for the OPPC 1520T and OPPC 1720T include:

Processor -- Intel Atom D525 clocked at 1.8GHz Chipset -- ICH-8M Memory -- up to 2GB of DDR3 memory via single SO-DIMM slot Display: OPPC 1520T -- 1024 x 768 pixel resolution, 700-nit brightness, and 700:1 contrast ratio OPPC 1720T -- 1280 x 1024 resolution, 380-nit brightness, and 1000:1 contrast ratio Storage -- 2.5-inch bay for SATA devices, CompactFlash slot Expansion -- 2 x Mini PCI Express slots Networking -- 2 x gigabit Ethernet Other I/O: 4 x USB 2.0 2 x RS232/422/485 1 x PS/2 VGA Power -- 12~30VDC; 60W AC adapter Operating range -- 23 to 122 deg. F Dimensions: OPPC 1520T -- 13 x 11 x 2.65 inches (329 x 280 x 67.4mm) OPPC 1720T -- 15 x 12.7 x 2.8 inches (385 x 323.2 x 70.4mm) Weight: OPPC 1520T -- 8.8 pounds (4kg) OPPC 1720T -- 12.3 pounds (5.6kg) Further information

Nexcom did not cite pricing or operating system support for the OPPC 1520T or OPPC 1720T, but both devices should be compatible with just about any x86 OS. More information may be found on the OPPC 1520T product page and the OPPC 1720T product page .

Jonathan Angel can be reached at jonathan.angel@ziffdavisenterprise.com and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense .

The Arch Linux team has released the first new all-in-one update for its minimalist, rolling-release Linux distribution in 15 months. The Arch Linux 2011.08.19 installation features support for Linux 3.0 and the syslinux bootloader, and offers experimental Btrfs and NILFS2 file-systems, and more flexible source-file selection, says the team.

Arch Linux is a rolling-release distro (as is Gentoo ), making packages available to the distribution shortly after they are released upstream. Since Arch Linux doesn't draw attention to itself with release announcements, it's easy to forget about it.

Yet, since the last time we checked in on Arch Linux , the command-line driven distro has grown into a formidable contender. In fact, it is currently listed as the sixth most popular Linux distribution on DistroWatch over the last year, and fourth most popular in the last month, based on hits to its catalog of Linux distro profiles. (See farther below for more background on Arch Linux.)

Arch Linux
Source: DistroWatch

Most of the additions made available in the 2011.08.19 installation media had been gradually folded into the distribution since the last installation overhaul arrived in May 2010. But some, such as the Linux 3.0 support, are obviously brand new. In fact, Linux 3.0's arrival seems to have inspired the new installation release.

The previous version "yields broken installations if you do a netinstall," due to changes in Linux 3.0, explains Dieter Plaetinck in his announcement. Specifically, configuration formats have been changed to support Linux 3.0, as well as the latest rc.conf configuration file for Arch-specific settings.

Other major changes include support for the syslinux bootloader, in addition to the existing grub support. In addition, there are now experimental releases of the Btrfs and NILFS2 file-systems.

The AIF installation package is now said to make selecting source files more flexible by supporting multiple local and/or remote repos. Among other installation changes, descriptions are now shown when installing packages, and installations can now be run with debugging and logging enabled by default, says the team.

Meanwhile, changes to the bash-based "libui.sh" UI framework include easier presentation of long checklists in CLI mode, says the team. In addition, initialization is now said to be more flexible.

The "Archiso" image builds, meanwhile, are marked by the inclusion of version 3.5.4 of the distro's "pacman" package manager. Other revisions include glibc 2.14, initscripts 2011.07.3, and netcfg 2.6.7, says the Arch Linux team. In addition, Arch Linux's mkinitcpio -- a dynamic initramfs file-system creator -- has been updated to 0.7.2.

One major overhaul is the swapping out of aufs2 for dm-snapshot, says the team. Other additions include full support for booting from custom USB media, new serial console support, and support for booting from memdisk. In addition, XZ compression has been added to SquashFS and initramfs file-systems, says the team.

Arch Linux background

Arch Linux is billed as a "simple, lightweight GNU/Linux distribution targeted at competent users." If this sounds somewhat paradoxical, it's obviously a paradox that does not trouble its growing legion of users. Yet make no doubt about it -- while the elegant distro is paired down to essentials in many ways, this is a distro for advanced users who know their way around a command line interface (CLI).

Based in part on the minimalist CRUX distribution, Arch Linux was launched by Judd Vinet in March 2002, according to Wikipedia . The Arch Linux site itself offers a good overview of Arch basics , noting that the distribution is built around binary packages, which are compiled for i686 and x86_64 architectures.

The pacman package manager is promoted as being lightweight, with a minimal memory footprint. It lacks an official graphical front-end. Instead, users call upon configuration files and use shell scripts.

As the Arch website describes in a separate comparison of Arch with other distros , the distro is similar in many ways to the minimalist Slackware , in that both use BSD-style init scripts. In addition, the Arch Build System, billed as a ports-like system, as well as the AUR (Arch User Repository) collection of PKGBUILD build scripts submitted by users, have fairly close analogues in Slackware.

Availability

More information on the latest Arch Linux 2011.08.19 installation media release, with links to ISO downloads, may be found in the 2011.08.19 announcement .

Fujitsu and Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo will next month release an Android tablet you could use in the bathtub, featuring a 10.1 inch touchscreen and dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP4430 processor, according to the Datacider.com website. Meanwhile, Toshiba's poised to release a slimmer followup to its chunky Thrive, according to a Notebook Italia report.

Ruggedized Android tablets designed to resist liquids and dust have already appeared. A Toughbook-branded Toshiba device was revealed in June, and promised for the fourth quarter of this year, and a seven-inch Motorola offering was leaked back in March.

But Fujitsu is preparing a device that is apparently slimmer and lighter than either of these, according to a detailed Aug. 29 posting by Datacider.com . It looks as though it could be the solution for those of us who like to take reading material into the bathtub!

The Fujitsu Arrows Tab F-01D
Source: Datacider
(Click to enlarge)

Citing a leak that appeared on the Japanese Chan Two forum, Datacider says Fujitsu's "Arrows Tab F-01D" will be offered in September by NTT DoCoMo, featuring not only waterproofing but also GSM and LTE (long-term evolution) cellular connectivity.

Just how waterproof the F-01D will be is a mystery, since Datacider cites both IPX5 and the more-stringent IPX7 standard. Our guess is the tablet will survive water splashes and an accidental drop, but we'd fish it out of the drink before hunting for the soap bar.

Apart from this, the Arrows Tab F-01D will run the "Honeycomb" version of Android, and has all the hardware goodies you'd expect (except for an HDMI port). According to Datacider, these include 1GB of RAM, 16GB of flash storage, and a dual-core TI OMAP4430 processor.

The F-01D is also said to have a 10.1-inch multitouch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, dual cameras (five megapixel rear-facing, 1.3 megapixel front-facing), and a GPS receiver. An accelerometer, digital compass, and ambient light sensor are also included, Datacider says.

Datacider adds that the Arrows Tab F-01D will have a microUSB port and a headphone jack, plus microSIM and microSD slots. No word was provided on how these are protected from bubble bath or other liquids, however.

Finally, it's claimed that despite its waterproofing, the F-01 will measure just 10.3 x 7.1 x 0.45 inches. The "target" weight is just 1.3 pounds, Datacider says.

Specifications listed for Fujitsu's Arrows Tab F-01D by Datacider include:

Processor -- TI OMAP4430 (dual cores, 1.0GHz clock speed) Memory -- 1GB of RAM, 16GB of flash storage Display -- 10.1-inch touchscreen with 1024 x 600 pixel resolution Cameras -- 5 megapixel rear-facing; 1.3 megapixel front-facing Expansion -- microSD slot, microSIM slot Networking: WAN: HSDPA/HSUPA 7.2Mbps/5.7Mbps 800M/1.7G/2GHz (3G:UMTS/HSPA)/2GHz (LTE) 3G(2GHz) and GSM/GPRS (900M/1800M/1900MHz) for international roaming WLAN -- 802.11b/g/n PAN -- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR Other I/O: microUSB port headphone jack Power -- battery size n/s, but 1440 hours of GSM standby or 920 hours of LTE standby claimed Dimensions -- 10.3 x 7.1 x 0.45 inches Target weight -- 1.3 pounds Toshiba slimming down its tablet?

Toshiba, meanwhile, has its own Honeycomb tablet -- the Nvidia Tegra 2-equipped Thrive -- that began shipping in July . This device drew praise from some for its full-size SD slot and its standard HDMI and USB ports, but some reviewers -- including eWEEK's Clint Boulton -- couldn't abide the 1.6-pound weight and 0.62-inch thickness that resulted.

Toshiba's new tablet (top) will be much slimmer than the Thrive (bottom)
Notebook Italia
(Click to enlarge)

Now, Toshiba is following up with a slimmer sibling, according to the Notebook Italia website . It's said the new tablet will slim down as pictured above, by including a microSD slot, a microHDMI port, and a microSD card reader.

Netbook Italia did not cite a name, processor, or other details of the new product. But the website claims all will be revealed later this week at the IFA Berlin show.

Jonathan Angel can be reached at jonathan.angel@ziffdavisenterprise.com and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense .

Samsung announced four new Android 2.3 Galaxy smartphones, as well as a new naming scheme for the Galaxy product line. The new phones include the Galaxy W (3.7-inch, 1.4GHz), the QWERTY-enabled Galaxy M Pro (2.66-inch, 1GHz), the Galaxy Y (three-inch, 832MHz), and the keyboard-ready Galaxy Y Pro, according to the company.

Samsung's new naming scheme is being introduced with the new Galaxy W (pictured at right), Galaxy M Pro, Galaxy Y, and Galaxy Y Pro smartphones. (The existing, relatively high-end Galaxy R and super high-end Galaxy S II happen to fit into the system too.)

From now on, Samsung will group all Galaxy smartphones -- but not, apparently, its Galaxy tablets -- into five classes, identified by an alphabetical letter. Additional functionality is indicated by a secondary indicator.

The five Galaxy classes are said to be:

"S" (Super Smart) -- high-end devices like the Galaxy S "R" (Royal / Refined) -- above-average functionality like the Galaxy R "W" (Wonder) -- mid-range "M" (Magical) -- economy range "Y" (Young) -- ultra-cheap devices aimed primarily at a younger audience The secondary class indicators are said to include: "Pro" -- QWERTY keyboard model "Plus" -- an upgrade from an existing phone "LTE" -- LTE 4G support All four new phones described below run Android 2.3, as well as Samsung's TouchWiz UI, and they provide access to at least one of the Samsung Game, Social, and Music Hubs, says the company. Swype text input is also said to be universally available.

The following information came from Samsung's press release, as well as Sammy Hub, but more info will be released next week at the IFA show in Berlin, says Samsung.

Galaxy W

Following the new naming scheme, the Galaxy W is a mid-range phone. Only a year ago, however, it would likely been slotted in the uppity Royal class at the very least.

The W features a 1.4GHz processor and a 3.7-inch WVGA (800 × 480) touchscreen, says Samsung. A five-megapixel camera is supplied as well as 14.4Mbps HSDPA, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1 wireless services, says the company. A 1500mAh battery is also said to be available.

The Galaxy W ships with Samsung's Game, Social and Music Hubs, says Samsung. The phone also offers Samsung's Kies Air wireless sync app, which is said to enable tracking of lost phones.

Galaxy M Pro

As the more alert students in our Galaxy 101 class will note from the name, the Galaxy M Pro is an economy phone with a keyboard. Bonus points are offered to those who guess there's no slider for the keyboard. Indeed, the keys are always available, BlackBerry style, directly under the 2.66-inch HVGA (480 × 320) touchscreen. An optical track pad sits in between.

Galaxy M Pro

Aimed at "young and sociable professionals" -- as opposed to angry old misanthropes -- the M Pro is imbued with Samsung's Social Hub. This is said to integrate the phone's contact list with communication history, instant messaging, and updates from social networking sites. Access to enterprise applications and services, including Exchange Active Sync, Sybase Afaria, Cisco Mobile, and Cisco WebEx, is also available, says the company.

The Galaxy M Pro is equipped with a 1GHz processor, and both a five-megapixel rear-facing and VGA front-facing camera, says Samsung. The phone gets by with the slower, 7.2Mbps HSDPA service level, but offers Bluetooth 3.0 in addition to 802.11b/g/n. Measuring a wee 9.97mm (0.39 inches), the M Pro ships with a 1350mAh battery, says the company.

Galaxy Y

For those who are even younger, and perhaps not quite so professional, the Galaxy Y runs on an 832MHz processor and offers a three-inch QVGA (320 × 240) display. Other Y features include a two-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11b/g/n, and 7.2Mbps HSDPA, says Samsung.

Available in multiple colors, the Galaxy Y supplies a 1200mAh battery. Samsung's Social Hub is said to be available for social networking.

Galaxy Y (left) and Galaxy Y Pro

Galaxy Y Pro

The Galaxy Y Pro is optimized for young professionals, although since this is a Y phone, we suppose they must be younger than the young professionals targeted with the Galaxy M Pro.

Few details are available on the phone, which is said to offer a touchscreen of unknown spec. Due to the front-facing QWERTY keyboard, we imagine the display matches the 2.66-inch HVGA screen of the M Pro. Other features include Bluetooth, as well as Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Direct support for faster downloads, according to Samsung. On the software side, the Galaxy Y Pro offers Social Hub Premium and the ThinkFree mobile office app.

Availability

More information on the four new Galaxy phones will be available next week at the IFA show in Berlin, Germany. Sammy Hub reports on the phones include stories on the Galaxy W , the Galaxy M Pro , and the Galaxy Y and Galaxy Y Pro .

Portwell announced a fanless vehicle computer that is claimed to boot in less than five seconds, thanks to Coreboot technology. The PCS-8277 has a AMD G-Series processor, two 2.5-inch bays for SATA devices, two gigabit Ethernet ports, and support for wireless networking plus a GPS receiver, according to the company.

Portwell's PCS-8277 joins other vehicle computers from the company, such as the PARD-S071TW announced in July, the PCS-8270 announced in April, and the PCS-8230 from July 2008. Like these earlier products, it's fanless, but unlike them, it switches from an Intel Atom CPU to AMD's dual-core, G-Series T56N (with on-chip Radeon HD6320 graphics and an 18-Watt TDP).

Portwell's PCS-8277 (front panel)

The PCS-8277 also leverages AMD's recent decision to make the G-Series processor compatible with Coreboot , the software previously known as LinuxBIOS. Thanks to Coreboot , the system can boot in less than five seconds, making it "function just like an appliance," Portwell claims. (Whether this includes the time needed to load a functioning Linux or Windows desktop wasn't made clear, however.)

According to Portwell, the PCS-8277 has a "well-protected" enclosure that allows it to comply with MIL-STD-810F (method 514.5) requirements, and the system tolerates input voltages from 9 to 32VDC. Integrated surge protection and a delayed boot/shutdown mechanism help the device cope with the vagaries of vehicular power, the company adds.

The PCS-8277 accepts up to 8GB of 1066MHz DDR3 RAM in two SO-DIMM slots, and has two 2.5-inch bays for SATA storage devices, Portwell says. As for other internal expansion, the company's rather skimpy data sheet cites only a SIM slot, but a press release adds that there are three Mini PCI slots -- apparently intended for the communications options (WLAN, WAN, GPS, and Bluetooth) that are mentioned by both sources.

The front panel of the PCS-8277, pictured earlier in this story, has two gigabit Ethernet ports and four USB 2.0 ports. The rear panel provides access to a VGA output (up to 2045 x 1560 pixels), three serial ports (one RS232 and two RS232/422/485), and digital I/O (four in, two out), Portwell says.

Portwell's PCS-8277 (rear panel)

The above image of the PCS-8277's rear panel also appears to show a DVI port, though such was not listed in any of the company's written materials. Also cited by Portwell is an IrDA port, a rarity these days, but no indication of where the PC's infrared receiver is located was provided.

Specifications listed by Portwell for the PCS-8277 include:

Processor -- AMD T56N (dual-core, 1.6GHz, 18-Watt TDP) Chipset -- AMD A55E Memory -- up to 8GB of 1066MHz DDR3 RAM via two SO-DIMM slots Storage -- 2 x 2.5-inch bays for SATA drives (1 externally accessible, according to press release) Expansion: 3 x Mini PCI SIM slot Networking -- 2 x gigabit Ethernet Other I/O: VGA DVI (pictured but not documented) 4 x USB 2.0 3 x serial (1 x RS232 and 2 x RS232/422/485) digital I/O (4 in, 2 out) IrDA port Power -- 9~32VDC input; consumption n/s Dimensions -- 9.8 x 6 x 2.2 inches (250 x 150 x 55mmm) Weight without drives -- 3.3 pounds (1.5kg) Further information

Portwell gave no indication of pricing, availability, or operating system support for the PCS-8277. More information may be found on the PCS-8277 product page .

Jonathan Angel can be reached at jonathan.angel@ziffdavisenterprise.com and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense .

IEI announced a fanless embedded controller that's remotely manageable even without an operating system installed, thanks to ASF (Alert Standard Format) 2.0 compliance. The TANK-101B uses CompactFlash or hard disk storage, comes with Intel Atom N455 or D5235 processors, offers four serial ports (one isolated), sports two CAN ports, and includes a Mini PCI Express slot, according to the company.

The TANK-101B is one of many products from IEI that employ Intel's single-core Atom N455 (1.66GHz and 5.5-Watt TDP) or dual-core D525 (1.8GHz clock speed and 10-Watt TDP). Like IEI's Mova-PV-D4251/D5251 single-board computer or KINO-PV/D4252/D5252 Mini-ITX board, among others, it also uses the chipmaker's ICH-8M I/O controller.

IEI'S TANK-101B
(Click to enlarge)

But while its processors and chipset are standard fare, the TANK-101B does have attributes that move it further toward true "embedded controller" status. For starters, there are two isolated CAN ports, plus an RS232/422/485 port that's also isolated (there are three additional regular RS232 ports), according to IEI.

IEI says the TANK-101B also supports the ASF 2.0 specification, which provides for alerts and remote control of power management even when no operating system is running. ASF functions through hardware on a computer's network card or system board, a software agent, and relevant management software on a remote server, according to its creator, the DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force).

According to IEI, the TANK-101B can be operated from -3 to 140 deg. F, when solid-state storage is being used and the Atom D525 is being employed. When the device is equipped with solid-state storage and the N455 instead, it's rated for operation up to 158 deg. F, the company adds.

The TANK-101B has an externally accessible CompactFlash slot, plus an internal 2.5-inch bay for SATA devices, says IEI. A Mini PCI Express slot may be used for installing either a DOM (disk on module) or a wireless networking adapter, the company adds.

Ports on IEI'S TANK-101B
(Click to enlarge)

Apart from the ports we've already detailed, the TANK-101B has two USB 2.0 ports and audio jacks (mic in and speakers out) on its front panel, as shown above. The rear panel includes two more USB 2.0 ports, a VGA output, and two gigabit Ethernet ports, says IEI.

IEI says the TANK-101B can accept power ranging from 9 to 38VDC through rear panel terminals. Alternatively, it accepts 12VDC or 24VDC power via an AC adapter connected to a barrel jack, according to the company.

Specifications listed by IEI for the TANK-101B include:

Processor -- Intel N455 clocked at 1.6GHz or D525 clocked at 1.8GHz Chipset -- ICH-8M Memory -- 1GB on board; up to 1GB of additional DDR2 RAM accepted in 204-pin slot Storage -- 2.5-inch bay for SATA device Expansion: Mini PCI Express slot CompactFlash slot (externally accessible) Networking -- 2 x gigabit Ethernet Other I/O: VGA audio (mic in, speakers out) 4 x USB 2.0 (2 front, 2 rear) 2 x CAN 3 x RS232 1 x isolated RS232/422/485 Power -- 9~36VDC via terminals, or 12/24VDC via barrel connector Operating range: -3 to 140 deg. F, with Atom D525 and solid-state storage -3 to 158 deg. F, with Atom N455 and solid-state storage Dimensions (width measured between holes on mounting brackets) -- 10.6 x 6 x 2 inches (269 x 153 x 51.5mm) Weight -- 4.6 pounds (2.1kg) Further information

According to IEI, the TANK-101B can be supplied with a 1GB CompactFlash card containing a Windows XP Embedded image; we'd expect the device is also compatible with Linux and other x86 operating systems. Pricing and availability were not detailed, but more information may be found at the TANK-101B product page .

Jonathan Angel can be reached at jonathan.angel@ziffdavisenterprise.com and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense .

Dotdeb.org has released PHP 5.3.8 packages for Debian 6.0
Using Dotdeb is very simple: For the main Dotdeb repository, depending on your distribution (lenny/oldstable or squeeze/stable), add these two lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list file (choosing a mirror near you) : Squeeze : deb http://packages.dotdeb.org stable all deb-src http://packages.dotdeb.org stable all Lenny : deb http://packages.dotdeb.org oldstable all deb-src http://packages.dotdeb.org oldstable all (Optional) If you’re running Debian 5.0 “Lenny” and you want PHP 5.3 instead of the default PHP 5.2, add these two additionnal lines too : deb http://php53.dotdeb.org oldstable all deb-src http://php53.dotdeb.org oldstable all You don’t need this if you’re running Debian 6.0 “Squeeze” : PHP 5.3 is the default branch Then fetch the appropriate GnuPG key wget http://www.dotdeb.org/dotdeb.gpg cat dotdeb.gpg | sudo apt-key add - Run apt-get update You should now be able to use the Dotdeb packages with apt-get (or dselect, or aptitude as well…)

NFC is coming to Android tablets this fall, in two seven-inch, Android 2.3 models announced by Sharp and TazTag respectively. The Sharp RW-T107 is an enterprise-focused tablet that supports the Sony Felica flavor of NFC in Japan, while TazTag's TazTab combines NFC with a biometric fingerprint scanner, plus ZigBee, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and optional 3G.

In separate announcements this week, Sharp Electronics and contactless technology specialist TazTag announced what appear to be the first Android tablets that incorporate near field communication (NFC) technology.

NFC is available in some Japanese smartphones tailored for the Sony Felica version of the short-range wireless technology, but elsewhere, the only mainstream devices featuring it seem to be the Android-based Samsung Nexus S and similar Nexus S 4G smartphones.

The Nexus phones are compatible with the Google Wallet mobile payments initiative, as shown running on a Nexus S 4G and point-of-sale device in the image above. Google Wallet is expected to launch this month in New York City and San Francisco. Other NFC-based plans announced to date include a peer-to-peer service from PayPal and an upcoming Isis mobile payment platform from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. Isis is notable for being supported by all four major credit card companies: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.

Sharp RW-T107

The Sharp RW-T107 announcement in Japan was picked up by SlashGear , which pointed to a translated Sharp web page on the tablet. According to Sharp, the RW-T107 will be released in Japan on Sept. 5, with hoped-for deliveries of about 5,000 units a month.

Sharp RW-T107

Initially, the RW-T107 will be compatible only with the well-established Sony Felica version of NFC, widely available on Japanese smart cards and transit systems. It would seem likely, however, that if it chose to do so, Sharp could fairly easily modify it for the mainstream NFC technology in the U.S. being implemented with Google Wallet and other services.

Sharp is aiming its seven-inch tablet at enterprise and vertical applications, including banking, insurance, retail, and electronic support documentation. The company revealed few details on the tablet except that it runs Android 2.3 -- the first Android release to support NFC -- and features 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, as well as a 5400mAh battery for eight hours of battery life.

SlashGear, meanwhile, makes some educated "guesses" based on the above image, and detects a headphone jack, speakers, a micro-USB port, a SIM card slot, and an HDMI port. Looks about right to us.

TazTag TazPad

TazTag, a French company that specializes in contactless solutions, announced its TazPad back in March at the CeBIT show in Hanover, Germany. More information has now turned up via a data sheet, as well as a press release issued by Authentec (which developed the TazPad's biometric TCS2 TouchChip fingerprint sensor).

TazPad
According to Authentic, the TazPad, which appears to be available now, or at least soon, is the first tablet computer to offer highly secure fingerprint authentication and ZigBee Pro wireless communications as part of NFC-based mobile payment transactions. Authentic also provided the TazPad's ZigBee radio, as well as online transaction technology.

In addition, the tablet includes Inside Secure's SecureRead, a pre-integrated NFC microprocessor. SecureRead is said to combine a chip, an Infineon Technologies secure element, and a secure Giesecke & Devrient operating system in a single application-ready package.

The TazPad is designed for applications that link customers to a bank, a store, or another institution's back-end system, says TazTag. While the device would appear to be usable as a mobile client device for consumers, its primary mission seems to be that of a vendor-controlled mobile gateway to a point-of-sale system.

A vendor could use the tablet's multifaceted mobile payment system to provide information on products, or read a client's loyalty card via a smartcard or NFC phone, says Authentec. It can also be used to book orders or submit a secure payment, says Authentec.

 

TazPad port detail

The TazPad is built around a Samsung Cortex-A8 processor clocked to 1GHz, with 512KB L2 cache -- apparently Samsung's Hummingbird system on chip (SoC). The tablet also supplies 512MB of DDR RAM, 4GB internal flash memory, and a 16GB microSD card that can be swapped for a 32GB card, says TazTag.

The TazPad is equipped with a seven-inch, 800 x 480 capacitive multitouch screen and supports 1080p HD video via the tablet's mini-HDMI output, says the company. The tablet connects wirelessly via 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, GPS, NFC, and ZigBee Pro. 3G HSDPA is said to be optional via a SIM slot.

The TazPad offers a front-facing two-megapixel camera which can be optionally configured to face toward the rear, says TazTag. Additional features include the aforementioned biometrics scanner, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack, speaker, microphone, accelerometer, and a geo-magnetic field sensor.

The tablet's thickness is typical, at 0.51 inches (13mm), and the device weighs in at a hair under one pound (450 grams). No battery life details were offered.

Stated Eric Fouchard, TazTag CEO, "AuthenTec has helped make mobile payment transactions more convenient and secure through fingerprint biometric technology that's integrated in millions of NFC-equipped phones. They have a proven track record in NFC and fingerprint authentication that made their TouchChip offering a perfect fit for this very capable mobile platform."

Other TazTag products include the TazModule , "a small box to let your NFC/Zigbee enable your own equipment," says the company.

Stated Alan Kramer, AuthenTec's Vice President of Government and Access Control, "No other Android tablet combines fingerprint authentication with the NFC transaction capabilities of the TazPad."

Availability

The Sharp RW-T107 will be released in Japan on Sept. 5, says Sharp, which did not appear to reveal pricing. More information may be found in this RW-T107 announcement .

The TazPad appears to be available now, and seems to be aimed primarily at the OEM market. More information may be found at TazTag's TazPad page .

Threadpost reports that the maintainers of the PHP scripting language are warning users about a serious crypto problem in the latest release and advising them not to upgrade to PHP 5.3.7 until the bug is resolved. PHP 5.3.7 was just released last week and that version contained fixes for a slew of security vulnerabilities. But now a serious flaw has been found in that new release that is related to the way that one of the cryptographic functions handles inputs. In some cases, when the crypt() function is called using MD5 salts, the function will return only the salt value instead of the salted hash value. The problem does not occur when using Blowfish or DES, only with MD5. The initial bug report on the problem in the PHP system appeared Aug. 17, the day before the public stable release of PHP 5.3.7.

Mustafa Ramadhan has released a Kloxo 6.1.7 pre-release. Kloxo is a free webhosting software for CentOS to manage clients, resellers, databases, traffic, domains, mail and IPs across multiple locations. Most codes for Kloxo 6.1.7 already to be release. But, before release need help from users to participate in test. Why?. The reason is many features in 6.1.7, especially reconstruct apache and lighttpd config structures. With this new structure, apache and lighttpd more 'customize' then previous. What new in Kloxo 6.1.7 (http://project.lxcenter.org/projects/kloxo/roadmap): 1. New structures for apache and lighttpd 2. More options on 'PHP type' in Apache, add: - mod_php_ruid2 and mod_php_itk --> mod_php with secure environment - suphp_worker and suphp_event --> suphp running on httpd-worker or httpd-event; on previous only httpd-prefork 3. Fix bugs: - xcache install - database for horde and roundcube - missing images - etc 4. Bonus: - Running well on 64bit (still have some issues; mostly IMAP problem) - New layout for default/disable/cp/webmail pages - Possibility change logo on new pages - new scripts for optimize (apache-optimize, mysql-convert, mysql-optimize, fix-chownchmod, clearcache) - new scripts for install (kloxo-installer.sh, kloxo-packer.sh and kloxo-patcher.sh) - modified and new scripts (fixwebmail.sh, fixhorde.sh and fixroundcube.sh) - etc 1. kloxo pre-install 1.1. Download: cd /tmp wget "http://forum.lxcenter.org/index.php?t=getfile&id=1416" mv index.php* kloxo_pre6.1.7_20110813.zip unzip kloxo_pre6.1.7_20110813.zip 1.2. Before kloxo install: cd /tmp/pre-install sh preinstall.sh 2. kloxo install: 2.1. New kloxo install: cd /tmp/kloxo cp -rf /tmp/kloxo/patch/kloxo-install/kloxo-packer.sh ./ sh kloxo-packer.sh --svnpath=branches/6.1.x cd ./ready sh kloxo-installer.sh --type=master reboot 2.2. Patch on kloxo 6.1.6 already installed cd /tmp/kloxo cp -rf /tmp/kloxo/patch/kloxo-install/kloxo-patcher.sh ./ sh kloxo-patcher.sh --type=master reboot 3. Before testing ruid2 and itk cd /tmp/kloxo cp -rf /kloxo/patch/extra-repo/*repo /etc/yum.repos.d/ - delete this kloxo-custom.repo when Kloxo 6.1.7 release

PlayOnLinux 4.0 has been released
Hey all, PlayOnLinux 4.0 is now available! For those who missed the beta version, here are the main features : - The programs configuring tool is much more efficient, and with more settings - The installation manual has been very simplified - The IRC chat is back, less troublesome for those who don't want to use it - Performance of debugging tools have been ameliored - PlayOnLinux can open directly Executables - 64-bit versions of wine are actually supported - The code is much cleaner We've made other changes, but it would be very long if I list them all :-) We invite you to discover this version yourself at the download page

V3.co.uk posted a story that Linus Torvalds, used his appearance at LinuxCon 2011 on Wednesday to criticise chip maker ARM for failing to build a coherent community around its products
Taking the stage ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Linux platform on 25 August, Torvalds said that ARM is a very promising technology, but lacks the kind of standard platform of the x86 PC world. ARM does not have a PC-like community, Torvalds argued, but is more like a "hodge podge" of major and minor companies making random pieces of hardware.
 "[There is] no concentrated effort to have a framework for things. Since we try to support a lot of the ARM architecture, it's been a painful thing for me to see," he said.

DerStandard published an interview with GNOME-Designer Jon McCann about the future of GNOME3
After years of focusing on stability and non-disruptive improvements, the GNOME desktop recently took a big chance: With the release of GNOME 3.0 a fresh user experience was introduced, breaking with many of the old concepts. One of the driving forces behind the vision and concepts of GNOME3 has been Red Hat developer William Jon McCann. During the recent Desktop Summit in Berlin Andreas Proschofsky had the chance to talk to McCann about the way ahead for GNOME3, how the project deals with criticism and the importance of GNOME3-optimized app development.

Dedoimedo published a review and tutorial on the Xen Cloud Platform (XCP)
We had an introduction article on Xen and we discussed the Xen live CD. Now, let us explore another Xen-based product. Xen Cloud Platform (XCP) is a standalone virtualization software, similar to VMware ESXi. XCP delivers the Xen Hypervisor with support for a range of guest operating systems, including Windows and Linux network and storage support, and management tools in a single, tested installable image. XCP is based on Citrix XenServer, which we will review next week. For now, let's focus on the Cloud Platform and see what it can give us. XCP requires a dedicated host for installation; in other words, it does not run out of the context of another operating system, it has its own minimal kernel and a basic console for management. The product is free and open-source and therefore a worthy candidate for considering as a part in your virtualization arsenal.

Acer announced a seven-inch tablet that runs Android 3.2 ("Honeycomb") on a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. The $330 Iconia Tab A100 offers 1024 x 600-pixel resolution, 8GB or 16GB of flash storage, dual cameras, plus a microSD slot as well as micro-HDMI and micro-USB ports.

Acer formally announced its Iconia Tab A100 back in February with few specifics, and the device was beaten to the market by the company's 10.1-inch tablet, the A500 . Little brother is here now, however, and it's claimed by Acer to be the first seven-inch tablet running Android 3.2 -- though duty impels us to point out Sharp's announcement of the similarly endowed Galapagos A01SH in Japan last week.

Android 3.2 not only supports seven-inch tablets, but also provides a zoom mode that magnifies apps that were originally written for smartphones, instead of just awkwardly filling in chunks of the screen with blank space. Acer has resisted the temptation to add a custom skin, but it does provide Adobe Flash 10.3 as well as a variety of applications on the A100 that reportedly cannot be uninstalled, including: the Aupeo online radio app; the NemoPlayer media player; the SocialJogger Twitter/Facebook client; and the Clear.fi DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) client.

Acer's Iconia Tab A100
(Click to enlarge)

Like the A500, the A100 (above) uses Nvidia's Tegra 2 processor, plus an undisclosed amount of RAM (it's either 512KB or 1GB, according to conflicting third-party reports). The tablet comes with 8GB or 16GB of flash storage, plus a side-accessible microSD slot that accepts up to 32GB, according to Acer.

Acer says the A100 has a "vibrant" capacitive touchscreen display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 75-degree viewing angle. The device also has a micro-HDMI port that, the company claims, allows users to "share full HD videos in 1080p resolution." ( PCMag's review says that in fact, only 720p output is offered.)

The A100 additionally provides dual cameras, one five megapixel and one two megapixels, and can record 720p video at up to 30 frames per second, according to Acer. Other hardware features include 802.11a/b/g/n wireless networking, Bluetooth, a headphone jack, and a micro-USB port, the company adds.

According to Acer, the A100's 1530mAh lithium-polymer battery provides up to five hours' browsing with Wi-Fi, up to four hours of web-streamed video, and up to 4.5 hours of 720p video playback.

Although we didn't see it mentioned by Acer itself, the A100 also includes a docking port, according to PCMag. This allows adding an $80 desktop dock that has its own HDMI port plus support for a bundled infrared remote, according to writer Sascha Segan.

Specifications listed by Acer for the Iconia Tab A100 include:

Processor -- Nvidia Tegra 2 Memory -- RAM n/s; 8GB or 16GB of flash storage depending on model Display: 7-inch capacitive touchscreen 1024 x 600 pixel resolution 16:10 aspect ratio 75-degree viewing angle Cameras -- 5 megapixel autofocus and 2 megapixel fixed-focus Expansion -- microSD slot Networking: WLAN -- 802.11a/b/g/n PAN -- Bluetooth Other I/O: micro-USB port docking port (according to PCMag) micro-HDMI connector headphone jack Power -- 1530mAh battery provides up to five hours of operation Dimensions -- 7.6 x 4.5 x .5 inches Weight -- 14.7 ounces Availability

According to Acer, the Icona Tab 100 is available now with 16GB of flash storage for $349.99 (U.S) and $399.99 (Canadian) CAD, or, with 8GB of flash for $329.99 (U.S) or$349.99 CAD. More information may be found on the company's A100 product page .

We noted reviews of the device on Engadget , Laptop , and PCMag .

Jonathan Angel can be reached at jonathan.angel@ziffdavisenterprise.com and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense .

Ibase Technology announced an ATX motherboard that supports Intel's 2011 Core i3, i5, and i7 processors and accepts 16GB of RAM. The MB960 includes six SATA ports, two USB 3.0 ports, seven expansion slots, and three video outputs, according to the company.

Ibase's MB960 is clearly an update to the MB950 the company released in January 2010. Employing the venerable ATX format (12 x 9.6 inches), that board used Intel's then-new 2010 crop of Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, supporting them with Intel's QM57 chipset.

The MB960 has a very similar layout and features, but steps up to the QM67 chipset and the 2011 "Sandy Bridge" Core processors, which gained new microarchitecture, a 256-bit instruction set known as AVX (advanced vector extensions), enhanced GPUs (graphics processing units), and dedicated silicon for tasks such as transcoding video from one format to another. According to Ibase, the board supports LGA1155-socketed CPUs clocked at up to 3.4GHz (that would imply the likes of the Core i7-2600, which has four cores and a 95-Watt TDP).

Ibase's MB960
(Click to enlarge)

The MB950 had an IDE port and a CompactFlash slot. The MB960 drops those, but facilities are otherwise pretty much the same.

For example, the MB960 again accepts up to 16GB of DDR3 memory in four DIMM slots. It also once more has six SATA ports, though this time, two offer 6.0Gb/sec. and four run at 3.0Gb/sec. -- RAID is supported, too, courtesy of the QM67.

According to Ibase, the MB960 has VGA, DVI (both -I and -D are supported), and HDMI video outputs. Other coastline connectors include four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, two gigabit Ethernet ports, plus audio (the number of jacks is not specified, but the board is said to support 7:1 surround sound).

Headers allow cabling up 10 additional USB 2.0 ports and digital I/O (four in, four out), says Ibase. The board has four PCI expansion slots, one PCI Express x16 slot, one PCI Express x4 slot, and even an ISA slot, the company adds.

Finally, Ibase cites three RS232 serial ports and one RS232/422/485 port. Which of these, if any, have DB9 connectors on the board's coastline was not made clear, however.

Specifications listed by Ibase for the MB960 include:

Processor -- LGA1155-socketed "Sandy Bridge" Core CPUs Chipset -- Intel QM67 Memory -- up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM via four DIMM slots Storage -- 2 x 6.0Gb/sec. SATA ports, 4 x 3.0Gb/sec. SATA ports Expansion: 4 x PCI 1 x PCI Express x16 1 x PCI Express x4 1 x ISA Networking -- 2 x gigabit Ethernet Other I/O: 14 x USB 2.0 (10 internal, 2 external) 2 x USB 3.0 VGA HDMI DVI 3 x RS232 and 1 x RS232/422/495 audio (number of jacks n/s) digital I/O (4 in, 4 out) Power requirements -- "tbd" Operating range -- 32 to 140 deg. F Dimensions -- 12 x 9.6 inches Further information

Ibase did not cite pricing, operating system support, or availability for the MB960. More information may be found on the MB960 product page .

Jonathan Angel can be reached at jonathan.angel@ziffdavisenterprise.com and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense .

Portwell announced a Mini-ITX board that includes RAID support and Intel's Xeon E3-1225 processor. The WADE-8011 has six SATA ports (four 3Gb/sec. and two 6Gb/sec.), three video outputs (HDMI, DVI-D, and VGA), eight USB 2.0 ports, plus both PCI Express x16 and PCI Express x1 expansion slots, the company says.

Portwell would have you believe its latest Mini-ITX board is suitable for just about anything. OK, that's a paraphrase: More specifically, the company claims it's "ideal for network security, storage server, point of sale, lottery, medical, gaming, high-resolution digital signage, surveillance security monitoring, and kiosk applications."

Mock we might, but the WADE-8011 should be appropriate for most tasks except those that are power-constrained. Portwell doesn't cite consumption figures, but the Xeon E3-1225 used by the board has a 95 Watt-TDP, according to Intel. (Other specs for the CPU include quad cores, a 3.1GHz clock speed, and a 3.4GHz TurboBoost frequency.)

Portwell's WADE-8011

The Xeon CPU is part of Intel's "micro server" range , to which the chipmaker added as recently as April (with the Xeon E3-1220L, which has a 20-Watt TDP, and the Xeon E3-1260L, which has a 45-Watt TDP). The CPUs are "Sandy Bridge" variants that can work with error-correcting memory and employ Intel's RAID-ready C206 I/O controller.

Portwell used the Xeon E3/C206 combo already in the CAR-4010 network appliance it released in April. That device accepted up to 16GB of DDR3 memory via four DIMM slots, whereas the new WADE-8011 Mini-ITX board takes only 8GB in two slots.

In other respects, however, the WADE-8011 is more well-endowed. For example, the CAR-4010 was designed just to be operated via a serial console, bypassing the CPU's built-in graphics. The present board, on the other hand, has three video outputs: a VGA port that supports resolutions up to 2048 x 1536 pixels, a DVI-D port that supports up to 1920 x 1200, and an HDMI port that also supports up to 1920 x 1200, according to Portwell.

Ports on Portwell's WADE-8011

Other ports on the board's coastline (above) include four USB 2.0 connectors, two gigabit Ethernet ports, two serial ports (one RS232, one RS232/422/485), and audio I/O (mic in, line in, line out). Internally, there are headers for four more USB 2.0 ports, plus six SATA ports (four 3Gb/sec. and two 6Gb/sec.) that allow connected drives to be configured in RAID 0, 1, 5, or 10 arrays, according to Portwell.

The 6.7 by 6.7-inch WADE-8011 also has a PCI Express x16 slot as well as a PCI Express x1 connector, Portwell says. The board includes onboard programmable 16-bit digital I/O, the company adds.

Specifications listed by Portwell for the WADE-8011 include:

Processor -- Intel Xeon E3-1225 (quad cores, 3.1GHz clock speed, 3.4GHz TurboBoost frequency) Chipset -- Intel C206 Memory -- up to 8GB of DDR3 ECC or non-ECC RAM via two DIMM slots Storage -- includes 4 3Gb/sec. SATA ports and 2 6Gb/sec. SATA ports Other expansion: 1 x PCI Express x16 slot 1 x PCI Express x1 slot Networking -- 2 x gigabit Ethernet ports Other I/O: 16-bit digital I/O 8 x USB 2.0 ports (4 external, 4 internal) VGA DVI-D HDMI 2 x serial (1 x RS232, 1 x RS232/422/485) audio -- mic in, line in, line out Power -- n/s, but apparently uses standard ATX power supply Operating range -- 32 to 140 deg. F Dimensions -- 6.7 x 6.7 inches Further information

Portwell did not detail pricing, availability, or operating system support for the WADE-8011. More information may be found on the WADE-8011 product page .

Jonathan Angel can be reached at jonathan.angel@ziffdavisenterprise.com and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense .

Lanner announced a small embedded PC that includes an Intel Atom N270 processor, a 2.5-inch drive bay, and a CompactFlash slot. The LEC-2055 has a Mini PCI Expansion slot, three serial ports, two gigabit Ethernet ports, and a VGA port, the company says.

Lanner says its new LEC-2055 is the second-smallest in its series of more than a dozen "LEC" all-purpose or in-vehicle box computers, of which we've covered many (most recently the LEC-5510 ). Which one of the devices is actually the smallest wasn't specified, but we believe it's the LEC-2300 , a DIN rail-mountable PC that uses a 1GHz Via Eden ULV processor.

The LEC-2055 measures 7.8 x 5.7 x 1.65 inches, runs fanlessly, and tolerates temperatures up to 131 deg. F, according to the company. It is designed to be hidden away behind screens, underneath seats, or mounted up high on a wall, and accepts input voltages ranging from 12 to 36VDC, Lanner says.

Lanner's LEC-2055
(Click to enlarge)

The device is powered by the 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, so it goes without saying that it also includes the inevitable 945GSE northbridge, ICH7M southbridge, and maximum RAM capacity of 2GB. Fixed storage is provided by a 2.5-inch bay for an SATA disk drive and by a Type I/II Compact Flash slot.

According to Lanner, the LEC-2055 also includes a Mini PCI Expansion slot and a SIM slot, which together cater to installation of wireless local- or wide-area networking. A hinged door on the bottom of the device is said to provide access to these slots, as well as to an internal PS/2 connector, two additional USB interfaces, and an internal header for four GPIOs.

Externally, the LEC-2055 has two gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and two serial ports (RS232/422/485) on its front panel. The rear panel has another serial port (RS232 only), a VGA output, and a two-pin power input, Lanner adds.

Specifications listed by Lanner for the LEC-2055 include:

Processor -- Intel Atom N270 clocked at 1.6GHz Chipset -- Intel 945GSE and ICH7M Memory -- up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM via single SODIMM slot Storage -- 2.5-inch bay for SATA devices; Type I/II CompactFlash slot Expansion: 1 x Mini PCI Express slot SIM slot Networking -- 2 x gigabit Ethernet Other I/O: 1 x VGA 3 x serial (1 x RS232, 2 x RS232/422/485) 4 x USB 2.0 (2 external, 2 internal) 4 x GPIO 1 x PS/2 (internal) audio -- none Power -- 12~36VDC Operating range: standard -- 23 to 113 deg. F industrial -- 4 to 131 deg. F Dimensions -- 7.8 x 5.7 x 1.65 inches Further information

According to Lanner, the LEC-2055 runs Linux, Windows Embedded Standard 7, Windows Embedded Standard 2009, Windows XP Embedded, Windows 7, and Windows XP. Pricing and availability were not detailed.

More information may be found on the LEC-2055 product page .

Jonathan Angel can be reached at jonathan.angel@ziffdavisenterprise.com and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense .

Today (Aug. 12) was the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the IBM PC. You probably heard that already -- but here's why the decline of the personal computer could be a threat to democracy.

Tech journalists far and wide have been taking note of the fact that IBM's PC 5150 was introduced on August 12, 1981 at a press event in New York. For baby boomers -- I will have to cop to being a "late" one -- the occasion has been one for a nostalgia trip; but younger readers might well have greeted the anniversary with a collective "so what."

And, as we reported Aug. 10 , Mark Dean, one of the dozen engineers who designed the IBM PC, argued in a blog posting that PCs are "no longer at the leading edge of computing. They're going the way of the vacuum tube, typewriter, vinyl records, CRT, and incandescent light bulbs."

Less widely noted, of course, is that while Dean also applauded IBM's retreat from the personal computer business, adding, "I personally, have moved beyond the PC as well," he also said, "My primary computer now is a tablet."

In other words, a tablet is a personal computer. So, too, are smartphones -- they're just highly portable PCs with relatively limited display size and awkward text entry. (We'll return to that point later.)

Is this a personal computer or isn't it? Apple's iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard accessory
(Click to enlarge)

So what is actually obsolete is the classical three-box (keyboard, system unit, and monitor) desktop PC that IBM made popular. No one wants to be confined to one working location when they don't have to be.

With all due respect to the good intentions of Mr. Dean, those who proclaim it to be a post-PC world are just mistaken, trying to get attention, or using an arbitrarily narrow definition of what a computer is.

Obligatory boomer reminiscing now follows. I don't recall what I was doing on the day the IBM PC was announced, but I do remember that I wasn't particularly impressed.

I'd been working for a year or two as a technology writer, doing roundups of the personal computers that were already on the market, discussing their software, and reviewing hardware add-ons. IBM's entry struck me as an overpriced offering that couldn't really do more than the many CP/M systems already on the market. (My personal purchase had been the $1,795 Osborne One, which had a tiny screen, but could be moved from place to place and included the dual floppy disk drives IBM hadn't made standard.)

As I freely admit, there was an ideological bias on my part too. I hadn't been out there dodging tear gas and throwing rocks at campus computer centers like some of those, er, older baby boomers, but I still had the distinct sense that IBM was a company that was all about punch cards, control, and glass houses filled with computing high priests.

The attraction of a personal computer for me was fundamentally democratic. It seemed a way for the small guy to complain about those bills generated by the utility company's mainframe, sending them a letter printed on his very own dot-matrix printer. It also had immediate appeal as a way to amplify one's opinions via desktop publishing.

The IBM PC, in contrast, was always blatantly a piece of office equipment, designed to appeal to -- and priced for -- the corporation. Some of the first users were the spreadsheet jockeys, whose "what if" games put us on the road to our current economy (whatever you might think of it) and the sting in the adage "When you have a hammer in your hand, every problem looks like a nail."

But any personal computer is an all-purpose tool (its greatest strength!) that can be put to all kinds of uses. This was famously recognized by, among others, David Bunnell , a former SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) "radical" who became the founder of the very successful PC Magazine and PC World magazines.

In my own much more modest case, I went on to get a full-time job -- the life of a freelance writer is ever parlous -- with a health newsletter in 1982. It was being run by the well-meaning son-in-law of a real estate magnate, and within the latter's premises.

At the time, if any writing was done there, it was likely dictated, and then sent to operatives in a word processing department. The latter was equipped with IBM Displaywriters, devices that used an 8086 processor (just as did the IBM PC) but couldn't run anything other than a dedicated text editing program.

My boss recognized that a team of young writers needed to do their own writing and editing, but we couldn't buy a Displaywriter of our own (this was probably a turf issue rather than a monetary one). So he and I decided that we would purchase an IBM PC, which we figured would be the acceptable face of personal computing to the corporation.

Certainly, I'll always remember heading off to Computerland -- then the only IBM PC reseller except for Sears -- and carting the boxes back into the company. It wasn't really the way things were done at the time, but we were young enough not to care.

Along with the dual-floppy IBM PC and monochrome monitor, we purchased a 300 baud Hayes SmartModem for communicating with freelance writers and accessing medical databases. Of course, writers had to take turns using the system, because we could only afford one.

Later that year, the real estate company decided to purchase more personal computers, driven of course by those who wanted to run spreadsheets. A few departments had purchased Apple III machines -- Cupertino's initial stab at the business market -- in order to run VisiCalc.

As one of the few employees with personal computer experience, I wound up being injected (or injecting myself) into the "what to buy" decision. This wet-behind-the-ears kid wound up being dragged into the boardroom clutching copies of Byte magazine: I wound up arguing passionately for the IBM PC, suggesting that it would become "a standard," and insisting in front of my elders that it was worth investing in even though VisiCalc hadn't yet been ported to it. I guess I won.

Similarly, 24-year-olds are certainly out there today arguing to their companies that they should be able to do all their work with smartphones and tablets. Scott Adams made fun of this attitude in an Aug. 3 Dilbert comic strip lampooning the personal computer as a "grandpa box."

That brings us back to my concern about democracy, and the issue of awkward text entry. Smartphone and tablets might still be computers, but they aren't up to the job of actually producing much in the way of content.

With the tablet in particular, the personal computer has become an entertainment and content consumption device. There's a place for that -- I love my iPad -- but as a tool, quite frankly, it's one that helps you sit back and chew your cud, not participate in any sort of detailed expression.

And when I hear about the "consumerization of IT," I do wonder what some people don't understand about the definition of the word "work." A company shouldn't have to pay for items that are just employees' personal toys, and if twenty-somethings don't want to work with personal computers -- no one I know in that age group actually meets that stereotype, I hasten to add -- there are plenty of older workers who need jobs.

I prefer to think of our era not as a post-PC period, but as one where we'll all have more and more personal computers -- all with different form factors, user interfaces, and purposes. As Frank Shaw, Microsoft's chief marketer, also said Aug. 10, it's a "PC-plus era."

As a footnote, I worry that Microsoft is mistaken with its "tablets-are-just-PCs" mantra, and its belief that we'll want the same Windows 8 on tablets that we do on notebook computers or (if there still are any next year) desktop PCs. For a couple of months, Redmond was touting how manufacturers could create distinctive tablets using Windows Embedded Compact, but that notion soon faded, apparently more for reasons of divisional rivalry than any technological rationale.

The beauty of the iPad, and any other gadget that's "not a personal computer" but actually is one inside, is that it can seem like something completely different. It's a companion device that provides a work-life divide, or -- and there's a place for this too -- a divide between participatory democracy and just vegging out.

Windows 8 tablets may not do as well as Microsoft hopes, at least if they seem too much like the PCs people think they don't want any more. We'll see -- but meanwhile, I'm toasting the birthday of one of the most versatile and powerful tools the human race ever invented.

Jonathan Angel can be reached at jonathan.angel@ziffdavisenterprise.com and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense .

Here the latest updates of the CompatDB compatiblity lists. There are today 16 Windows updates. Windows Applications: Adobe Flash Player Uninstaller (Adobe) Adobe Reader X (Adobe) Amplify (Blue Radium) GigaByte EasyTune (Gigabyte) IObit Malware Fighter (IObit) Mz Game Accelerator (Michael Zacharias) Norton Ghost 5.1c SP1 (Symantec) O&O Defrag Free Edition (O&O Software) Realtek High Definition Audio for 2K/XP/03 (Realtek) Riva Tuner 2.0 Final (Unwinder) Vista Codec x64 Components (Shark007 ) Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (Microsoft Corp.) Windows Installer CleanUp Utility (Microsoft Corp.) XP TCP/IP Repair (Waresoft Software) Games: Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas (Rockstar North) Hardware: D-Link AirPlus DWL-520+ Wireless Adaptor (D-Link) Please contribute to the compatibility lists by submitting reports of your (in)compatible hardware/software to the database. The CompatDB compatibility lists are free and licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License. For more information visit the CompatDB site. To submit reports for Windows: Submit Windows application Submit Windows game Submit Windows hardware To submit reports for Linux: Submit Linux application Submit Linux game Submit Linux hardware To submit reports for Mac OS: Submit Mac OS application Submit Mac OS game Submit Mac OS hardware

OMG! Ubuntu! posted a news story that Ubuntu 11.10 will ship with Thunderbird as default mail app
Come October and the release of Ubuntu 11.10 Thunderbird will be installed by default. It will boast integration with various elements of the Ubuntu desktop such as Messaging Menu presence, Unity launcher badge and Application Menu support, all out of the box. Evolution fans don’t need to worry as their preferred application will remain easily installable through the Ubuntu Software Centre.

A squirrelmail update has been released for Debian GNU/Linux
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian Security Advisory DSA-2291-1 security@debian.org http://www.debian.org/security/ Thijs Kinkhorst August 8, 2011 http://www.debian.org/security/faq - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Package : squirrelmail Vulnerability : various Problem type : remote Debian-specific: no CVE ID : CVE-2010-4554 CVE-2010-4555 CVE-2011-2023 CVE-2011-2752 CVE-2011-2753 Various vulnerabilities have been found in SquirrelMail, a webmail application. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project identifies the following vulnerabilities: CVE-2010-4554 SquirrelMail did not prevent page rendering inside a third-party HTML frame, which makes it easier for remote attackers to conduct clickjacking attacks via a crafted web site. CVE-2010-4555, CVE-2011-2752, CVE-2011-2753 Multiple small bugs in SquirrelMail allowed an attacker to inject malicious script into various pages or alter the contents of user preferences. CVE-2011-2023 It was possible to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via a crafted STYLE element in an HTML part of an e-mail message. For the oldstable distribution (lenny), this problem has been fixed in version 1.4.15-4+lenny5. For the stable distribution (squeeze), this problem has been fixed in version 1.4.21-2. For the testing (wheezy) and unstable distribution (sid), these problems have been fixed in version 1.4.22-1. We recommend that you upgrade your squirrelmail packages. Further information about Debian Security Advisories, how to apply these updates to your system and frequently asked questions can be found at: http://www.debian.org/security/

Unixman posted a tutorial about installing Dovecot and Squirrelmail in CentOS & Scientific Linux
Although most versions of CentOS come standard with a POP3/IMAP server, dovecot can be much easier to configure and works almost straight after installation. Both the POP3 and IMAP protocols are primarily used for receiving emails on a mail server, almost all mail servers these days support both protocols; however there is a slight difference between the two. The main different between these protocols is that the POP3 protocol retrieves the whole email for the client, once the emails are retrieved they removed from the server; where as a IMAP stores only the header information on the client side and changes to the email can be kept track of. There are some advantages and disadvantages of each protocol; however I will leave it up to your discretion which you would prefer to use. First things first, you will need to start out by installing both Dovecot and Squirrelmail using yum.

Firefox 6.0 Beta 5 has been released
As part of Mozilla’s new rapid release development process the beta development channel has been updated with a Firefox release candidate. For detailed information about the changes please visit: Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/6.0beta/releasenotes/ Firefox mobile: http://www.mozilla.com/mobile/6.0beta/releasenotes/ We highly encourage add-on developers to test their add-ons with the new version and mark them as compatible as soon as possible. The Mozilla Developer Network has detailed information about changes in the new version for add-on developers. To manually download the latest pre-release software from the various development channels, please visit: Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/channel/ Firefox mobile: http://www.mozilla.com/m/firefox/channel/ As always, the latest released version of Firefox can be downloaded from http://firefox.com What’s New in Firefox Beta The latest version of Firefox Beta has the following changes: The address bar now highlights the domain of the website you're visiting Streamlined the look of the site identity block Added support for the latest draft version of WebSockets with a prefixed API Added support for EventSource / server-sent events Added support for window.matchMedia Added Scratchpad, an interactive JavaScript prototyping environment Added a new Web Developer menu item and moved development-related items into it Improved usability of the Web Console Improved the discoverability of Firefox Sync Reduced browser startup time when using Panorama Please see the complete list of changes in this version. You may also be interested in the list of changes in the previous version.

Android malware affects from 500,000 to 1 million smartphone users, who are two and a half times as likely to encounter malware today as six months ago, according to a Lookout Mobile Security analysis. Meanwhile, security experts are debating the threat of an Android Trojan that records one's phone calls.

Android device owners have plenty to be wary of on the security front, according to a new report from Lookout Mobile Security. Android users are 2.5 times more likely to be affected by malware today than they were six months ago, the firm said in its new 2011 Mobile Threat report . Moreover, anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million users were said to have been impacted by malware on their Android smartphone or tablet this year.

In addition, three out of 10 Android gadget owners are likely to encounter a web-based threat on their device each year, says the report, released in conjunction with this week's Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. The number of Android apps infected with malware was said to have soared from 80 apps in January, to more than 400 apps by the end of June.

DroidDream attacks over time
Source: Lookout Mobile Security
(Click to enlarge)

Just as Google removes malware from Android market such as the data-stealing DroidDream -- which Lookout says accounted for more than 80 infected apps alone, including variants -- new threats keep popping up.

"Attackers are deploying a variety of increasingly sophisticated techniques to take control of the phone, personal data, and money," says the Lookout study.

Lookout doesn't break-down the frequency of malware attacks by mobile operating system, but notes that Android is a growing target, due in part to its more open platform and Android Market online store.

"Malware and spyware are primarily targeting Android currently, though there are notable pieces of commercial spyware targeting iOS devices as well," says the study.

Lookout's free report includes aggregated data from more than 700,000 applications and 10 million devices worldwide.

Malware records phone calls

One recent data-chomping exploit reared its head in the form of an Android malware package, "Golddream.A," which records the conversations of those whose phones have been infected. Computer Associates security expert Dinesh Venkatesan reproduced the malware by showing how the Trojan logs all the details of incoming and outgoing calls and call duration in a text file.

The Trojan installs a configuration file that contains key information about the remote server and the parameters, says Venkatesan. It then can record the audio of phone calls, storing them on a phone's SD card in AMR (adaptive multi-rate) format.

Estimated annual mobile malware infection rate in 2011 by nation (all operating systems)
Source: Lookout Mobile Security
(Click to enlarge)

"As it is already widely acknowledged that this year is the year of mobile malware, we advise the smartphone users to be more logical and exercise the basic security principles while surfing and installing any applications," Venkatesan noted in his blog report on the Trojan.

Symantec, however, said Aug. 3 that fears of this malware were overblown because Android's hardware fragmentation. Differences among myriad devices from Samsung, HTC, Motorola and others limit the spread of this call recording threat. Symantec found this type of malware crashed on most of the devices used in its tests.

Malvertising and update attacks

Debate over the severity of the call recording malware aside, Lookout is seeing other creative malware in action, including threats it calls "malvertising" and "update attacks." In malicious advertising, perpetrators purchase mobile ads that point users toward a malicious website to trigger a dangerous payload download. GGTracker was the name of one malware program to use this tactic.

Malware infected mobile apps -- all operating systems
Source: Lookout Mobile Security
(Click to enlarge)

In the update attack, the attacker publishes a legitimate app to an application market and then releases an update to the app that includes malware so the entire user base gets infected. The Legacy malware adopted this type of attack.

Coming soon to a phone near you: mobile payment malware

Security aficionados and pundits may debate the notion of whether users should drop their Android phones and flee for the relative comfort of the more secure, locked down Apple iPhone and iTunes App Store. However, it might be more useful to look at what will drive future mobile threats on Android.

According to Lookout. mobile payment services, which include Google Wallet , Isis, and American Express' Serve, will be key attack vectors.

"The value of mobile payment transactions is projected to reach almost $630 billion by 2014, up from $170 billion in 2010," says the Lookout report. "Vendors, retailers, merchants, content providers, mobile operators, and banks are all actively establishing new payment services. Mobile payments create an attractive target for attackers, as they allow direct monetization of attacks."

According to Google, its Wallet service, which provides smartphone-based tap-and-pay services at participating retailers, offers sufficient security to keep credit card info safe. The system requires an Android-based Nexus S smartphone with a near field communication (NFC) chip with built in security.

The service hasn't launched, but when it does, attackers are sure to test it.

Clint Boulton is a writer for eWEEK.

Huawei announced a 3.7-inch smartphone that offers Android 2.3, a curved unibody design, and a new 3D user interface. Billed as Hauawei's "sexiest" phone yet, the Vision runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon, offers a five-megapixel camera, and measures just 0.39 inches at its thinnest point, says the company.

Huawei unveiled its Vision smartphone in Beijing Aug. 3, according to several reports, including one from Engadget, which re-posted the announcement . The Android Gingerbread 2.3 smartphone runs on the single-core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 8255-1 , as opposed to the dual-core model now showing up on high-end phones like the HTC Sensation .

Huawei Vision

The curved, aluminum alloy unibody design is toued for being Huawei's "sexiest smartphone to date," and is available in rose gold, silver, or charcoal. The Vision measures only 9.9mm (0.39 inches) at its thinnest point and weighs 121 grams (4.27 ounces), which Huawei assures us weighs less than a bottle of perfume or aftershave. Get it? Sexy!

A five-megapixel camera with LED flash supports 720p video recording, says Huawei. Communications features are said to include 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth V2.1. Messaging features include SMS, MMS, email, push mail and IM, says the company.

According to Engadget, further specs include 512MB of RAM, 2GB of internal flash, and a microSD slot capable of holding 32GB. In addition, the phone is said to supply aGPS, FM radio, proximity and light sensors, a micro-USB 2.0 socket, and a 1400mAh battery.

Huawei Vision, front and back, with 3D carousel interface shown at left
(Click on either to enlarge)

The Vision is touted by Huawei for its "3D" mobile phone interface, which features three-dimensional home screen panels and a "carousel animation" motif. No more explanation was furnished, but the effect can be seen above, left.

The phone offers "access to the full range of Android apps," says the company, although it's unclear whether Android Market access is available. Pre-installed apps are said to include Angry Birds, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, Order & Chaos Online, and Guerrilla Bob HD.

In July Cincinnati Bell began selling the HSPA+ ready Huawei Ascend X 4G , a modified version of the company's Ideos X6 phone. These similarly Snapdragon-powered Android 2.2 phones offer 4.2-inch screens and five-megapixel cameras. In 2010, the China-based company announced three lower-end Android models, the U8300, U8100, and U8110 .

In June, Huawei made news when it announced its seven-inch MediaPad tablet equipped with a hithero-unknown Android 3.2 version of "Honeycomb." Now available on the Motorola Xoom, Android 3.2 is the first Honeycomb release optimized for seven-inch screens as well as larger displays.

Stated Victor Xu, chief marketing officer of Huawei Device, "The unique 3D user interface heralds in a new era in Huawei's leadership, as we continue to create devices that enhance the user experience through stylish design and smart functionality."

Availability

The Huawei Vision will be available in selected markets from September, says Huawei. More information should eventually appear at the Huawei Device site .

OSNews reports that Linus Torvalds piped up in the comments of a Google+ posting by Linux kernel hacker Dave Jones to air his true feelings about Gnome 3
"it's not that I have rendering problems with gnome3 (although I do have those too), it's that the user experience of Gnome3 even without rendering problems is unacceptable." People care what Linus thinks, and when he ditched KDE for Gnome a couple of years ago, people took note. Now he's using Xfce.

LibreOffice 3.4.2 has been released
The Document Foundation (TDF) announces LibreOffice 3.4.2, the third version of the 3.4 family, targeting both private individuals and enterprises. LibreOffice 3.4.2 fixes the majority of the most-important bugs identified by users in the previous version, and can be deployed for production needs by most enterprises. The Document Foundation encourages large organizations deploying LibreOffice to do so in conjunction with a support partner, who can carefully assess specific requirements, help manage migration and provide bespoke fixes for identified issues. Purchasing LibreOffice support from a TDF partner also provides enterprises with an indirect means to contribute financially to the project, thereby funding its development, improving its stability, and accelerating its growth. Users should always refer to the release notes before deploying the new version. LibreOffice 3.4.2 is the result of the combined activity of 300 contributors having made more than 23,000 commits, with the addition, deletion or modification of around five million lines of code. The developer community is well balanced between company-sponsored contributors and independent community volunteers: Oracle and SUSE have each provided around 25% of the commits, with a further 25% coming from community volunteers new to the project since our inception, and with a further 20% from RedHat. The remaining commits came from a combination of pre-TDF contributors, Canonical developers, and organizations like Bobiciel, CodeThink, Lanedo, SIL, and Tata Consultancy Services.

Red Hat has released a kernel update for RHEL 6
===================================================================== Red Hat Security Advisory Synopsis: Moderate: kernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update Advisory ID: RHSA-2011:1106-01 Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advisory URL: https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2011-1106.html Issue date: 2011-08-02 CVE Names: CVE-2011-1576 ===================================================================== 1. Summary: Updated kernel packages that fix one security issue, several bugs, and add various enhancements are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 Extended Update Support. The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate security impact. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available from the CVE link in the References section. 2. Relevant releases/architectures: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6.0.z) - i386, noarch, ppc64, s390x, x86_64 3. Description: The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating system. This update fixes the following security issue: * A flaw allowed napi_reuse_skb() to be called on VLAN (virtual LAN) packets. An attacker on the local network could trigger this flaw by sending specially-crafted packets to a target system, possibly causing a denial of service. (CVE-2011-1576, Moderate) Red Hat would like to thank Ryan Sweat for reporting this issue. This update also fixes the following bugs: * The LSI SAS2 controller firmware issued an 0x620f fault while performing I/O operations and with a Task Manager running, causing possible data corruption. This update corrects this issue. (BZ#710625) * The crashkernel memory region can overlap the RunTime Abstraction Services (RTAS) memory region. If the crashkernel memory region was freed, the RTAS memory region was freed as well and the system would crash. With this update, the crash_free_reserved_phys_range() function is overridden and overlaps with the RTAS memory region are checked so that system crashes no longer occur. (BZ#710626) * If the microcode module was loaded, saving and restoring a Xen guest returned a warning message and a backtrace error. With this update, backtrace errors are no longer returned, and saving and restoring a Xen guest works as expected. (BZ#710632) * When the Distributed Lock Manager (DLM) queued three callbacks for a lock in the following sequence: blocking - completion - blocking, it would consider the final blocking callback redundant and skip it. Because the callback was skipped, GFS would not release the lock, causing processes on other nodes to wait indefinitely for it. With this update, the DLM does not skip the necessary blocking callback. (BZ#710642) * The XFRM_SUB_POLICY feature causes all bundles to be at the finest granularity possible. As a result of the data structure used to implement this, the system performance would drop considerably. This update disables a part of XFRM_SUB_POLICY, eliminating the poor performance at the cost of sub-IP address selection granularity in the policy. (BZ#710645) * A kernel panic in the mpt2sas driver could occur on an IBM system using a drive with SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) issues. This was because the driver was sending an SEP request while the kernel was in the interrupt context, causing the driver to enter the sleep state. With this update, a fake event is now executed from the interrupt context, assuring the SEP request is properly issued. (BZ#714189) Finally, this update provides the following enhancements: * This update introduces a kernel module option that allows the Flow Director to be disabled. (BZ#711549) * This update introduces parallel port printer support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. (BZ#713825) * This update restricts access to the /proc/kcore file to ELF headers only. (BZ#710638) Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to resolve these issues and add these enhancements. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect. 4. Solution: Before applying this update, make sure all previously-released errata relevant to your system have been applied. This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at https://access.redhat.com/kb/docs/DOC-11259 To install kernel packages manually, use "rpm -ivh [package]". Do not use "rpm -Uvh" as that will remove the running kernel binaries from your system. You may use "rpm -e" to remove old kernels after determining that the new kernel functions properly on your system. 5. Bugs fixed (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/): 695173 - CVE-2011-1576 kernel: net: Fix memory leak/corruption on VLAN GRO_DROP 710632 - xen microcode WARN on save-restore 710638 - kernel: restrict access to /proc/kcore to just elf headers [rhel-6.0.z] 710642 - GFS2: inode glock stuck without holder 710645 - Big performance regression found on connect/request/response test through IPSEC (openswan) transport 713825 - Parallel port issue in RHEL 6.0 server 714189 - System Hang when there is smart error on IBM platform 6. Package List: Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6.0.z): Source: kernel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.src.rpm i386: kernel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-debug-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-debuginfo-common-i686-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-devel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-headers-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.i686.rpm noarch: kernel-doc-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.noarch.rpm kernel-firmware-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.noarch.rpm perf-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.noarch.rpm ppc64: kernel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.ppc64.rpm kernel-bootwrapper-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.ppc64.rpm kernel-debug-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.ppc64.rpm kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.ppc64.rpm kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.ppc64.rpm kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.ppc64.rpm kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.ppc64.rpm kernel-devel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.ppc64.rpm kernel-headers-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.ppc64.rpm s390x: kernel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm kernel-debug-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm kernel-devel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm kernel-headers-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm kernel-kdump-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm kernel-kdump-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.s390x.rpm x86_64: kernel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-debug-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-devel-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-headers-2.6.32-71.34.1.el6.x86_64.rpm These packages are GPG signed by Red Hat for security. Our key and details on how to verify the signature are available from https://access.redhat.com/security/team/key/#package 7. References: https://www.redhat.com/security/data/cve/CVE-2011-1576.html https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#moderate 8. Contact: The Red Hat security contact is. More contact details at https://access.redhat.com/security/team/contact/ Copyright 2011 Red Hat, Inc.

Howtoforge posted a subversion tutorial
Subversion (svn) is an open-source version control system (VCS), used in the development of many software projects. This tutorial shows how to install Subversion on Debian Squeeze and how to configure it to allow access to a repository through different protocols: file://, http://, https://, svn://, and svn+ssh://.

Phoronix takes a look the performance of Mesa 7.11
After a short delay, Mesa 7.11 has been released. This is the user-space library for providing OpenGL support under Linux for the open-source Intel, ATI/AMD, and NVIDIA drivers, among other hardware and software-based drivers. The Mesa 7.11 release also offers updates to the Gallium3D driver architecture. Here is some of what you can expect to find on Mesa 7.11.