NEWS&ANALYSIS
the
buzz
HANDHELDS
Danger releases
new Sidekick
DANGER LAST WEEK
announced the latest
version of its Hiptop
handheld device, sold in
the United States as the
Sidekick from T-Mobile USA.
The Sidekick II retains the line’s
characteristic swivel screen and
QWERTY thumb-controlled keyboard but adds a built-in speakerphone and VGA (640-by-480-pixel)
camera. The Sidekick II is thinner
than previous versions, measuring
5.1 by 2.6 by 0.9 inches.
Extended battery life lets users
talk for 4.5 hours without recharging, and a redesigned radio and
antenna extend network connectivity and enhance the quality of
voice calls, said officials.
For instant messaging users,
the Sidekick II supports Yahoo’s
IM client, in addition to America
Online’s AIM. The device syncs
with Microsoft’s Outlook for PIM
functionality.
The Sidekick II, due in the fall,
is priced at $299. T-Mobile will
offer an unlimited data plan on
Danger’s
new Sidekick is due this fall.
top of that for $20 a month.
The Sidekick is the first product stemming from Danger’s
manufacturing partnership with
Sharp. —Shelley Solheim
SECURITY
MyDoom variant exploits
Yahoo’s People Search
YET ANOTHER VERSION OF MYDOOM
is worming its way through the
Internet, and this variant—like
the last one—uses Yahoo as part
of its infection routine.
MyDoom.P is similar to most
other MyDoom variants in that it
arrives via e-mail with a spoofed
sending address and a subject line
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Until we come to a complete resolution with
our SCOsource initiatives, it’s going to be
very difficult to get new customers.
Jeff Hunsaker, senior vice president of The SCO Group
w w w. e w e e k . c o m
that makes it look like the message is related to one the recipient
sent. Among the subject lines in
the e-mail messages are “SN:
New secure mail,” “Secure delivery,” “Re: Extended mail,” “Delivery Status (Secure),” “Re: Server
Reply” and “SN: Server Status.”
The body of the e-mail contains any of several sentences,
some referring to the included
Zip file. Many messages reference security or refer to the attached file as a “secure Zip file.”
Once opened, the executable
file copies itself to the Windows
system directory as “winlibs.
exe.” The executable contains a
list of dozens of common first
names and surnames that it puts
through Yahoo’s People Search in
an attempt to find more e-mail
addresses to mail itself to, according to a preliminary analysis
of the worm done by the staff of
the Internet Storm Center at The
SANS Institute. —Dennis Fisher
neuroendocrine tumor, which
represents about 1 percent of the
total cases of pancreatic cancer
diagnosed each year and can be
cured by surgical removal if diagnosed in time (mine was). I will
not require any chemotherapy or
radiation treatments,” Jobs wrote
in his e-mail.
Jobs said he will recuperate
this month and expects to return
to work next month. Tim Cook,
executive vice president of
worldwide sales and operations,
will handle Jobs’ duties in the
interim.
InfiniCon Systems
names new CEO
INFINIBAND SWITCH VENDOR
PEOPLE
Apple’s Jobs undergoes
cancer surgery
APPLE CO-FOUNDER AND CEO STEVE
Jobs had successful pancreatic
cancer surgery, he told employees in e-mail last week.
“I had a very rare form of pancreatic cancer called an islet cell
InfiniCon Systems has a new
CEO. J. Russell Hawkins takes
over the helm of the 4-year-old
company from Charles Foley,
who will serve on InfiniCon’s
advisory board. Hawkins most
recently was senior vice president of Carrier Access, which
bought the company where he
was president and CEO, wireless networking company Paragon Networks International.
InfiniCon has been growing its
series of InfinIO InfiniBand
switches, unveiling two additions last month, including the
9200, which offers 288 ports.
—Jeffrey Burt
BY THE NUMBERS
IT staff retention a priority
CIOs respond to the question: Is the retention of your IT staff
becoming more or less important as the economy improves?
5%
Somewhat
less important
1%
Much less
important
36%
No change
25%
Much more
important
35%
Somewhat more
important
*More than 100% due to rounding; source: Robert Half Technology
A U G U S T 9 , 2 0 0 4 n e W E E K 17