Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Microsoft moves to relegate Windows 7 to second-class status


As Microsoft goes full speed ahead on Windows 8, a number of signs suggest that Windows 7 is fading fast in Redmonds rear view mirror.
On Monday, Microsoft program manager Daniel Moth confirmed in a support forum that DirectX 11.1 will only work with Windows 8. The company has no plan to bring DirectX to earlier versions of Windowsincluding Windows 7.
DirectX 11.1, Microsofts API for 3D graphics, isnt a major update from DirectX 11, but it adds features to take advantage of high-end graphics processors. It also includes native support for Stereoscopic 3D. The news will mainly affect gamers who want to keep upgrading their rigs but would rather not move to Windows 8.
Thats not the only indication that Microsoft is starting to leave Windows 7 behind. Reportedly, Microsoft wont release a second service pack for Windows 7, unnamed sources told The Register last month, and the company does not plan to offer an Xbox Music app for its older operating systems. For Windows Phone 8 users, Windows 8 has a slick modern-style app for syncing and viewing media, whereas Windows 7 only has a more bare-bones Windows Phone app for the desktop.
To be clear, Microsoft will support Windows 7 through 2015, meaning that itll offer both security and non-security updates for free. Extended support, which provides free security updates but requires a subscription for other hotfixes, will continue through 2020.
But when it comes to individual applications and services, Microsoft is starting to move on. Even Internet Explorer 10, which is already available on Windows 8, is only getting a preview version for Windows 7 this month, with no word on final availability.
Its not unprecedented that Microsoft would start treating its older operating systems as second-class software. After all, Office 2013 wont support Windows Vista or XP, and neither will Internet Explorer 10. Still, the Microsofts willingness to leave Windows 7 behind in some areas shows just how eager the company is to push Windows 8, lest we forget how big of a bet this new operating system is for Microsoft.

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DHS aims to hire 600 cybersecurity pros -- if it can find them


The Obama administration is hoping to make good on its promise to create new jobs -- in this case, 600 of them in cybersecurity.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, acting on the recommendation of the Homeland Security Advisory Council's Task Force on Cyberskills, said at a Washington Postcybersecurity forum that DHS wants to hire at least 600 cyber experts, analysts, IT specialists and people who are familiar with coding.
As a number of cyber experts have noted, however, while this may be a new initiative, it is not a new goal. James Lewis, senior fellow and program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said on a different panel at the same forum that similar hiring efforts have been under way for several years, with limited success.
Federal News Radio's Jason Miller reported that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) "found in November 2011 that nearly every agency experienced difficulty in defining and hiring cyber workers."
There are several reasons for the difficulty, experts say, but none of them have to do with a lack of supply. They say there are talented candidates out there, but DHS has not learned how to attract them. One problem is that DHS still hasn't been able to define the skills needed and job descriptions clearly.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. John Davis, senior military adviser for cyber to the undersecretary of defense, said recently at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, "We don't have all the capacity and the right sets of skills that we need to do all that's required. In the department we are still struggling to fully define and empower the cyber workforce."
Beyond that, experts say DHS is likely to continue to have problems recruiting the best and the brightest in cybersecurity until it learns that many do not fit into the standard bureaucratic hiring profile.
In response to a call from Napolitano several weeks ago to begin training the next generation of cyber pros in kindergarten, several experts said there is no need to wait 14 years for those kindergarteners to get out of school. But the talent available now would be unlikely to make it past standard government screening.
As the security consultant Winn Schwartau put it recently at the Hacker Halted conference in Miami, human resources departments "frown on conditions such as attention deficit disorder and autism, or obsessive-compulsive personalities, which are typical of computer geeks willing to focus on an issue through the night."
Government also lacks the so-called "cool factor." Paul Rosenzweig, founder of Red Branch Law & Consulting and a former DHS assistant secretary for policy, said at the time, "It is much more interesting and cool to build new stuff in Silicon Valley than it is to toil doing cybersecurity for DHS."
Bill Pennington, chief strategy officer at WhiteHat Security said that while defending the free world from cyber threats may be pretty cool job description, "sadly I am sure there are a thousand regulations that make the government put out descriptions like Security Analyst Level 1."
Pennington added that standard education requirements might be blocking some of the best talent out there. "What they are teaching at some universities is at least two to three years behind the curve. Why would I go to college and spend $100,000 to $200,000 to learn three-year-old technology?" he asked.
So far, DHS is only getting part of that message. One of the recommendations of the Task Force on Cyberskills is to, "make the hiring process smooth and supportive and make mission critical cybersecurity jobs for the federal civilian workforce enticing in every dimension: in mission and service, skills, growth potential, and 'total value proposition.'"
Mark Weatherford, undersecretary of cybersecurity for DHS, said in September that a lack of a college degree shouldn't be a deal-breaker for a job candidate.
Still, the task force believes in the conventional education approach. Another recommendation calls for "[establishing] a two-year, community-college-based program that identifies and trains large numbers of talented men and women to prepare them for mission-critical jobs in cybersecurity."
Not necessary, says Pennington. "Apprenticeship is a concept that fits this area well," he said. "Once you hire based on attitude the aptitude can come quickly with the proper environment and hands-on training."
He said the WhiteHat hiring process involves giving candidates a week to answer questions about cybersecurity. "It is surprising how many people this process weeds out,"Ã'Â he said.Ã'Â "Those who pass then come in for interviews, mostly around team chemistry. Our retention rate is about 95% over the past four years."
Read more about security career/staffing in CSOonline's Security Career/Staffing section.


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SAP cozies up to Windows 8 with mobile apps, platform support


SAP said Tuesday that it plans to roll out a series of mobile applications for Windows 8, a move that underscores the companies' deep partnership at a time when many observers believe Microsoft's new OS is in for a tough ride.
In addition, SAP is planning to add support for Windows 8 mobile application development for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 through its SAP Mobile Platform, which has been renamed from Sybase Unwired Platform, according to the announcement, which was made at the Sapphire and Tech Ed conferences in Madrid.
SAP has also renamed the Sybase Afaria mobile device management platform. It is now called SAP Afaria and will also support Windows 8. Intel-based Windows 8 tablets are now certified for SAP Afaria as well.
The six Windows 8 mobile applications SAP plans to roll out will be "for use on devices of various form factors," according to a statement.
These include WorkDeck, a "persona-centric app that offers contextual integration of various information sources and processes into a role-based view," SAP said.
Other applications include Manager Insight, which provides employee profile information; Learning Assistant, a training application; Interview Assistant, for coordinating employee searches and hiring processes; Customer Financial Fact Sheet, which provides data about clients' finances and order activity to sales representatives; and GRC Policy Survey, with which employees can "review and acknowledge relevant policy changes and fill in surveys to ensure they understand the policies," SAP said.
Trial versions of all the products will be available for download.
In addition, developers will be able to create HTML5 and JavaScript-based mobile applications inside Microsoft's Visual Studio, then deploy them through SAP's mobile platform, which provides advanced security, authentication and high availability, according to a statement. SAP intends to give partners the ability to develop Windows 8 applications on the platform and is also making a free developer trial of it available.
Wednesday's announcement also noted that SAP will develop Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 applications, but didn't provide any specifics. Nor did SAP give availability and pricing dates for its Windows 8 applications.
Still, SAP's move should provide a significant albeit not entirely surprising endorsement of Windows 8, which has been dogged by reports of slow initial sales.
SAP and Microsoft, while competitors in some areas, have engaged in many high-profile co-development efforts over the years, such as Duet, an integration between SAP's business software and Microsoft SharePoint.
Critics such as Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff have even predicted that Windows 8 will be the "end of Windows."
Such talk, however, doesn't reflect the reality of how deeply ingrained Windows and other Microsoft technologies, such as Office and Active Directory, remain inside corporate IT environments. Should SAP fail to support Windows 8, it could face some blowback from its customers that decide to upgrade to the new OS.
Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris' email address is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com

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Now that you've been using Time Machine regularly to back up your computer, you should be fully prepared if your Mac crashes or if you need to move data from one Mac to another. Restoring data from Time Machine is just as easy as backing things up in the first place. Restore a single file or folder If you're just looking for a certain file or folder, start by connecting the external drive you use for Time Machine backups or making sure you can connect to your Time Capsule. Click on the Time Machine item in the menu bar at the top of your screen (it looks like a clock with an arrow running counter-clockwise) and choose Enter Time Machine. Here, all of your saved backups appear in chronological order. Use the visual timeline on the right hand side to scroll through your backups and look for specific items or folders. Older dates are indicated in pink on the timeline; the most up-to-date data on your Mac is indicated in white. (You'll see the word "Now" in bold, white letters on the timeline.) Not sure which backup might hold the last copy of your missing file? Try a Spotlight search in Time Machine based on keywords. You'll see a search field in the corner of each Finder window in the Time Machine view. Type in the file name or keywords from the file, and Spotlight will search through your backups to find the latest copy. Once you think you've found what you're looking for, use OS X's Quick Look to make sure--select the file and then press the spacebar to view the file without having to launch its parent application. Select the file or folder and press the Restore button. The file will automatically be copied to your desktop or to the file's original folder. This may take some time, depending on the size of the transfer. Restore an entire system Sometimes you may want to restore your entire system from a backup, say in event of a crash or when your computer is acting badly and you'd like to dial back the clock to a kinder, gentler time. If that's the case, first connect your Time Machine drive. Then, start up your Mac from the Mountain Lion recovery partition by pressing (and holding down) Command-R at startup. This launches Recovery Mode, which is a portion of your drive that Mountain Lion treats as a separate volume. It includes a few essential utilities for restoring files in case of an issue. For this to work, you must have a complete Time Machine backup that includes all system files. The Mac OS X Utilities window appears. Select Restore From Time Machine Backup. This command will erase the destination drive--your Mac--so only use it if you're restoring an entire volume to its original source or to a replacement drive. (Read the next section for setting up a new Mac or transferring data between Macs). Click Continue until you reach the Select a Backup Source window. Select your Time Machine drive and click Continue. In the Select a Destination window, select your Mac's hard drive. (Using Recovery Mode erases your Mac's hard drive before restoring from Time Machine, but once the process is finished, you'll be able to log in and use your Mac normally). Transfer data between Macs


HTC and Verizon Wireless on Tuesday announced the Droid DNA smartphone, which comes with Android 4.1 and a 5-inch high-definition display that the company said is the most advanced in the market today.
The Droid DNA display can show images at a 1920 by 1080 pixel resolution, at 440 pixels by inch (PPI). That beats the iPhone 5, which has a 326 ppi display, and Samsung's Galaxy S III, which has 306 ppi. The display has a Gorilla Glass 2 outlay for extra ruggedness.
The LTE-compatible smartphone has specifications similar to the HTC's J Butterfly smartphone, which was announced in October for the Japanese market. The Droid DNA has a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 quad-core processor and weighs 140 grams.
The Droid DNA will be available through Verizon Wireless in the U.S on Nov. 21 starting at US$199 with a two-year contract.
Screen resolutions are getting denser with new generations of smartphones and tablets. Google and Samsung late last month announced the Nexus 10 tablet with a 10-inch screen that can display images at a 2560-by-1600 pixel resolution. Apple's recently announced fourth-generation iPad with a 9.7-inch screen with a screen resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels.
The Droid DNA was called a "phablet," or a device that includes smartphones and tablet features, in a blog entry by Qualcomm. Some other devices in the phablet category include Samsung's Galaxy Note II, which has a 5.3-inch screen.
At 440 ppi, the Droid DNA gives 25 percent more pixels than the average smartphone with an HD display, wrote Qualcomm's Francisco Cheng, a technical marketing communications manager, in the entry.
"It's how HDTVs are gauged, by rocking that 1080p moniker, and the Droid DNA will do no less by delivering similar picture quality on a smartphone," Cheng wrote.
The Droid DNA is intended to be a multimedia powerhouse, HTC said in a statement. The smartphone has an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2.1-inch front camera. Other features include wireless charging, Beats Audio speakers for better sound quality and NFC (near-field communications) for mobile payments and multimedia file sharing.
The smartphone also has 2GB of RAM, and storage information was not immediately available. The device offers long battery life with a 2,020 mAh (milliamp-hour) battery and power saving software features.
HTC has launched a range of new phones, including the Windows Phone 8X and 8S smartphones will have 4.3-inch screens and 4-inch screens respectively. The smartphones will support LTE and run Microsoft's latest Windows Phone 8 OS. The 8X and 8S will be available starting this month through 150 mobile operators in 50 countries, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile in the U.S.
Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com

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Nokia debuts Here, cross-platform location service


Nokia plans an ambitious expansion of its mapping and location-based services platform beyond its own smartphones to competing devices running OSes other than Windows Phone 8, it said Tuesday.
The move is being backed with the acquisition by Nokia of Earthmine, a California-based provider of street-level 3D imaging data, and will see Nokia going head-to-head with Google, Apple and dedicated mapping companies like TomTom.
"We want to give everyone with any type of device to ability to use this, the best location platform in the industry," said Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, speaking at an event in San Francisco.
Nokia will use the "Here" brand name across its location platform.
The company hopes that by expanding its platform beyond its own handsets, it will benefit from the greater scale of the service and in turn make its own service better.
Nokia has already taken some steps towards opening up its mapping database. It has worked with car navigation system makers and other IT companies including Amazon and Oracle to license its maps, said Elop.
"We will do much, much more of this," he said.
(More to come.)
Martyn Williams covers mobile telecoms, Silicon Valley and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Martyn on Twitter at @martyn_williams. Martyn's e-mail address ismartyn_williams@idg.com

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Jaspersoft BI suite gets a new visualization engine


With the commercial release of version 5 of its self-named reporting and analysis suite, Jaspersoft has revamped the software's visualization engine, doing away with an Adobe Flash-based visualization engine in favor of one using HTML5 Web standards.
The "HTML5 charting engine allows for more dynamic interaction with the data," said Mike Boyarski, Jaspersoft director of product marketing.
The newly released Jaspersoft 5.0 also comes with enhanced in-memory capabilities and a new data visualization tool as well.
With the new visualization engine, "the charts can be interacted with and visualized on any sort of device. We are not beholden to the Flash technology," Boyarski said, referring to how material rendered in Adobe Flash can not be rendered on Apple's mobile products such as the iPhone and the iPad.
The business intelligence (BI) software can shape data into bar charts, line charts, area charts, pie charts, column charts and others. Users can zoom from the initial summary information down to the data itself. "You can lasso parts of a chart, and zoom into them to get more detail," Boyarski said.
The new visualization engine will also allow visualizations to be more easily embedded into other online applications. For instance, a user can embed a chart on an external portal.
Jaspersoft 5.0 also improved its columnar in-memory engine, which caches the results of queries in a server's memory so it can be retrieved much more quickly on subsequent uses. The update allows up to a terabyte of query data to be stored in memory. "You can look at a large amount of data very quickly," Boyarski said.
The update also allows users to fuse multiple relational data sources into a single view. "I can connect to two independent sources and combine them to create a single view, so it appears to the tool as if it were a single database," Boyarski said. In some cases, this "data virtualization," as Boyarski calls this feature, can eliminate the need for separate ETL (extract, transform and load) tools and data warehouses.
Over time, Jaspersoft plans to extend data virtualization to not only relational database but to non-relational data stores as well, such as data managed by the Apache Hadoop data processing platform, Boyarski said.
Jaspersoft 5 is a commercial edition of Jaspersoft's open source business intelligence software. Jaspersoft plans to release an updated version of open-source software as well, though it will not include the new visualization engine, data virtualization nor the updated in-memory story, Boyarski said. cost-wise, Jaspersoft 5.0 starts at US$10,000 per processor core, with an unlimited number of users.
Jaspersoft is not the only open-source BI vendor to update its flagship product. Last week, Pentaho announced the release of Pentaho Business Analytics Enterprise Edition 4.8, which includes new features such as big data viewer, and a mobile extension that allows users to create ad hoc queries from an Apple iPad.
Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com

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SugarSync online storage service releases 2.0 beta


Synchronization service firm SugarSync has dramatically overhauled and simplified its user interface in the new 2.0 release out in a form of software public beta today. The revised software bears little resemblance to the previous version, and adds a number of features in a consolidated, simplified Mac OS X application. Product manager Drew Garcia said, the firm went back "to square one from a design perspective to make the cloud as simple as possible."
SugarSync in old and new versions can pick any folder on a desktop computer to synchronize with its central cloud storage. However, version 2.0 adds the ability to copy a file into cloud storage and then disconnect synchronization from the local folder, essentially pushing an independently accessible and modifiable copy into the cloud as if it were a networked file server.
The software also allows a user to pick which folders synchronize with given computers, as in the earlier release. Any folder synced on one machine may also be added to any other machine associated with the same account. The updated service allows searching the contents of all files associated with SugarSync, whether locally synced or stored in the cloud.
The update uniquely allows both cloud synced and locally synced folders to appear the same in the Finder by using MacFUSE to make remote folders appears as items in a single mounted volume. Locally synced folders appear both in the location that the user specified on a local volume, and alised in the virtually mounted drive. Cloud-only folders show up just in the mounted drive, and files are opened and saved just as if they were on a networked file server.
SugarSync 2 allows both collaborative sharing and public-link sharing. As with Dropbox, a user may select to allow other users to access (and optionally synchronize locally) any synced folder. Shared users have access to the folder to add items, modify existing documents, or delete files, but these shared folders don't count against storage quotas. Public links are read-only or download-only and can be copied as a link or shared directly to Facebook or Twitter through Mac OS X integration.
The public beta works with the same data stored in its systems with the older desktop and mobile software, which remains available for use by old and new customers alike, although the 2.0 software is required to use the new features. The beta covers the revised Mac OS X and Windows user interface, as well as an Android client. A full release of the software is expected in January along with a revised iOS app and apps for othr mobile platforms.
SugarSync's pricing remains unchanged in this version. A free version includes 5GB of storage. Paid versions come with a free 30-day trial, after which pricing starts at $5 per month or $50 per year for 30GB of storage and runs up to $40 per month or $400 per year for 500GB. Additional storage is added to free and paid accounts for new-member referrals.

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Microsoft patches critical flaws in Windows 8, Windows RT


Microsoft today patched 19 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), Excel and the .Net development framework, including four flaws in the just-released Windows 8 and its tablet spin-off Windows RT.
Of Tuesday's six security updates, four were labeled "critical," Microsoft's most-severe threat ranking, while the remaining pair were pegged as "important" or "moderate." Of the 19 vulnerabilities patched today, seven were tagged as critical.
"The IE9 [bulletin] is the one that should be patched first," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Security, in an interview today. "It's a drive-by," he added, referring to the tactic that only requires hackers to trick users into browsing to a malicious website.
Doing that with an unpatched copy of IE9 could result in a successful hijacking of a Windows 7 or Vista PC. IE9 only runs on those two operating systems.
No other versions of Microsoft's browser, including the new IE10, were affected by MS12-071. IE10 is bundled with Windows 8 and Windows RT, and today shipped as a "Release Preview" for Windows 7.
Storms put MS12-075 second on today's to-do list.
That update patches three vulnerabilities in Windows kernel mode drivers, one of which was labeled critical. The latter was a bug in the operating system's parsing of TrueType fonts, which could be exploited only by determined attackers, said Storms.
"Despite the fact that it looks nasty, it's not very realistic to expect working exploits," argued Storms, ticking off the many requirements for a successful attack, including the need to spoof a proxy server.
Microsoft rated the bug as "2" on its exploitability index, the company's threat estimate, essentially agreeing with Storms. "Exploit code would be difficult to build," Microsoft said of the TrueType bug.
That vulnerability was reported to Microsoft by Google's bug bounty program. In late September, Google paid a pair of researchers $5,000 for rooting out the vulnerability, part of a $29,500 payday for nine different researchers.
Windows 8 and Windows RT harbored four of the 19 bugs, three of them critical and the fourth ranked important.
The two critical flaws in MS12-072 were pegged for Windows 8 and its offspring, as was the TrueType font bug in MS12-075 and one of the vulnerabilities in MS12-074, which patched all versions of the .Net framework.
A Windows RT-related vulnerability was also fixed in MS12-076, an update for all versions of Excel, including the one within Office RT, the mini-suite bundled with Microsoft's tablet OS. Only the not-yet-available-at-retail Excel 2013 escaped unscathed.
"I'm sure Microsoft is disappointed to have released Windows 8 in late October and have already issued patches for it," said Storms. "But truth be told, a lot of code is reused, and it shouldn't be surprising to see bug fixes in Windows 8. Despite all the hype about newer platforms being the most secure, bugs will be found and bugs will be fixed."
November's six security updates can be downloaded and installed via the Microsoft Update and Windows Update services, as well as through WSUS.
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed. His email address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.
Read more about malware and vulnerabilities in Computerworld's Malware and Vulnerabilities Topic Center.

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Cisco Q1 profit and revenue grew despite weakness in Europe


Cisco Systems posted higher revenue and profit in its fiscal first quarter despite weak orders in Europe, as results in the U.S. were strong, the networking company reported on Tuesday.
Revenue hit US$11.9 billion in the quarter, up 6 percent from a year earlier, the company said. Net income rose by almost 18 percent to $2.1 billion, with earnings per share of $0.39. Chairman and CEO John Chambers attributed the company's profit in part to strong cost containment. Cisco's fiscal first quarter ended Oct. 27.
The trends toward mobile and cloud computing are helping Cisco, Chambers said on a conference call with financial analysts.
"The network has never played a more central role," Chambers said.
Not counting certain one-time items, earnings per share was $0.48. That beat analysts' consensus estimate of $0.46 per share according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Analysts had expected $11.8 billion in revenue, an estimate Cisco also slightly exceeded.
For the current quarter, Cisco expects revenue to grow between 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent.
(More to come.)
Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com

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Bank of America to challenge Square, Verifone in mobile payments


Bank of America Merchant Services will extend its mobile payments service to small retailers in December, allowing them to use smartphones and tablets as point-of-sale terminals.
The entry of the country's largest processor of electronic payments into the small-retailer sector of the market further endorses use of phones as payment terminals and will mean stiffer competition for existing players like Square and Verifone.
Bank of America's Mobile Pay on Demand service will be available from Dec. 3 and will be compatible with Android and Apple iOS devices. The bank will supply a credit card reader and an application that are installed on the retailers' mobile devices.
Targeted at businesses that process only a few credit card payments each day, the Bank of America service will charge retailers 2.7 percent for swiped-card Visa, Mastercard and Discover purchases and 3.5 percent plus $0.15 for transactions where the card number is keyed in. American Express processing is also supported at fees ranging from 2.3 percent to 3.5 percent.
Competitor Square, which popularized the sector when it launched an iPhone payment device in October 2010, charges 2.75 percent per transaction or a $275-per-month flat fee with no transaction charges.
Retailers that sign up before the end of the year will get a yearlong subscription to iDeals Marketing Platform Pro. The service allows businesses to publish simple websites and through them offer discounts and loyalty programs to customers.
If a customer wants to take advantage of a discount or collect loyalty points, they link their credit card to an iDeals account. When the card is swiped, it's matched with the customer's iDeals account and the discount applied or the loyalty point awarded. At launch, the discount will be applied later in the form of a credit back to the card. Later, it's hoped that the offer will be applied immediately.
The same platform also allows retailers to push out offers to social media and deals platforms like Bing Deals and 8 Coupons.
At launch, the Bank of America service will only pull credit card data from the magnetic strip on the cards.
A rival, Verifone, launched a payment device for smartphones and tablets last week that is compatible with the "chip and PIN" credit cards that are in use in many countries. Chip and PIN has become the dominant technology in Europe and relies on a smartcard credit card and personal identification number rather than a signature.
The new Bank of America service is for in-person payments. A similar service, Mobile Pay Business, is already offered by the bank for retailers that process many payments per month in person, by mail and by phone.
Bank of America Merchant Services is a joint venture of Bank of America and First Data, the largest electronics payment network operator.
Martyn Williams covers mobile telecoms, Silicon Valley and general technology breaking news forThe IDG News Service. Follow Martyn on Twitter at @martyn_williams. Martyn's e-mail address ismartyn_williams@idg.com

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Cisco to build small cellular base stations, Chambers says


Cisco Systems plans to build small cellular base stations, building upon its fast-growing business in Wi-Fi base stations for mobile operator networks, Chairman and CEO John Chambers said on Tuesday.
The move will bring the networking giant into a major part of communications infrastructure that until now it has left mostly to the handful of major manufacturers that are steeped in the cellular world, such as Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel-Lucent. But Cisco won't build the full-size "macro" base stations that have formed the basis of that business until now, instead focusing on so-called "small cells" that cover smaller areas.
Mobile operators can deploy small cells in densely populated areas to increase their networks' capacity to carry calls and data services. With proper coordination between the small and macro cells, carriers can serve more subscribers using the same amount of radio spectrum, which is at a premium in many areas.
Cisco executives have said in the past that the company was studying how it might participate in the cellular radio market. On a conference call Tuesday about Cisco's first-quarter financial results, Chambers gave a definitive answer.
Responding to an analyst's question about radio-access networks, Chambers said Cisco has had great success so far with Wi-Fi access points it makes for mobile operators. Revenue in that business is only about US$100 million per year, a relatively small number for Cisco, but that figure roughly doubled in the quarter from a year earlier on the strength of several new deals with carriers, Chambers said.
"Then, we're going to move into small cell, and then we're going to combine small cell with [service-provider] Wi-Fi, with 3G, with 4G, with our architectural plays," Chambers said. While specifying that Cisco won't make "traditional" base stations, the large radios that are typically found on towers, he said Cisco would make the kinds of base stations designed to go on top of light poles. That's the type of deployment envisioned for public, outdoor small cells.
Cisco has been selling itself in the mobile carrier arena as a provider of unified end-to-end infrastructure that ties the wireless edge of the network to fast wired connections and network management capabilities on the back end. But until now its wireless pitch has been limited mostly to Wi-Fi access points, a technology that Cisco dominates in homes and offices and which is starting to play a crucial role in mobile carrier networks. Where service providers can use Wi-Fi, they tap into unlicensed spectrum that can carry customers' data traffic at speeds comparable to 4G, easing the burden on their expensive licensed frequencies.
Cisco is not entirely new to cellular base stations, having worked with partner ip.access on the AT&T MicroCell, a tiny "femtocell" designed for use in a consumer's home. But entering into the public small-cell business will expose Cisco to both a much bigger opportunity and a long list of technical and sitingchallenges that are still being worked out. Key among these is the ability of long-range macrocells to coordinate with small cells so that the two can deliver the maximum efficiency and not interfere with each other.4
Combining small cells with Wi-Fi in the same access point may be a natural move for Cisco and is one that other vendors are already working on. A hybrid cellular and Wi-Fi access point holds the promise of both simplicity for location and mounting and flexibility for serving subscribers with the best possible technology in a given situation.
Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com

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