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awk, thanks. eom
Pictures of SunnComm, Velvet Revolver...
The last one in the list:
http://www.discovertek.com/sunncomm/index.html
Broadcom's New Single-Chip 54g(TM) Solution Offers Industry-Leading IEEE 802.11g Performance, Range, Ease-of-Use and Security
Date: 6/29/2004 8:02:00 AM
For a complete listing of our News Releases, please click here
Broadcom Corporation
(Nasdaq: BRCM), a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor
solutions enabling broadband communications, today announced a new single-chip
54g(TM) wireless local area networking solution that delivers industry-leading
range, configuration and security features. The AirForce One(TM) 54g
transceiver is the smallest and most cost-effective IEEE 802.11g solution on
the market, facilitating more opportunities to integrate the popular 54 Mbps
wireless technology into notebook and handheld computers, and consumer
electronic devices.
The new 54g solution, the Broadcom(R) BCM4318, is the latest addition to
Broadcom's award-winning AirForce One wireless LAN family, which integrates
the functionality of multiple Wi-Fi(R) chips onto a single silicon die to
reduce the size, cost and power consumption of wireless LAN devices. The
AirForce One 54g solution incorporates a high-performance 2.4 GHz radio,
802.11a/g baseband processor, medium access controller (MAC) and other radio
components. This high level of chip integration not only reduces the size of
a traditional Wi-Fi module by 72 percent, but also reduces the number of
components required for wireless equipment by 45 percent over existing
solutions, thereby lowering the cost of consumer and small business network
equipment. Broadcom's latest chipset supports the extensive software feature
set included in the AirForce product line, including the recently released
SecureEZSetup(TM) software.
Extreme Integration Expands Wireless Possibilities
"Integration of wireless components into a single-chip is now enabling the
next wave of growth for the Wi-Fi industry," said Craig Mathias, a Principal
with the Farpoint Group, a wireless and mobile advisory firm. "Single-chip
designs are critical to the size and cost reductions that will create new
roles for Wi-Fi in consumer products, voice communications, and a broad range
of industrial possibilities -- not to mention accelerating the ubiquity of
Wi-Fi in notebook computers."
The AirForce One 54g solution is a flexible platform upon which
manufacturers can build cost-effective wireless devices for a variety of
applications. To enable multi-band (WAN/PAN) devices such as smart phones,
the new chip features built-in interfaces to the leading wide area networking
technologies, including GPRS and GSM. In addition, the AirForce One 54g
solution offers Broadcom InConcert(TM) technology, which maximizes performance
of solutions with both Bluetooth(R) and Wi-Fi technologies by synchronizing
transmissions. The integrated 802.11a/g baseband/MAC allows wireless vendors
to add dual-band functionality for enterprise infrastructure by simply adding
the BCM2060 5-GHz radio.
By introducing a single-chip 802.11g client device, Broadcom is the first
technology vendor to enable a three chip, end-to-end home networking solution.
Equipment manufacturers can pair BCM4318-based client devices with an access
point/router based on the BCM2050 radio and the BCM5350, Broadcom's new
wireless router system-on-a-chip with integrated Fast Ethernet switching and
VPN acceleration. The resulting system leverages the benefits of extreme
integration to maximize performance and minimize manufacturing costs.
"Broadcom continues to push the limits of chip integration technology
while increasing the differentiation our new solutions offer," said Jeff
Abramowitz, Senior Director of Marketing for Broadcom's Home & Wireless
Networking Business Unit. "As vendors face increased demand for value-added,
Wi-Fi features amidst fierce pricing competition, Broadcom's chip integration
strategy will help to redefine the price/performance standards for the
burgeoning wireless LAN market."
AirForce One 54g Extends Range and Battery Life
The AirForce One 54g reference design, the BCM94318, can extend the range
of 54g devices by up to 70 percent over existing solutions, enabling client
devices to maintain connectivity at greater distances from a wireless router.
The transceiver offers increased receive sensitivity and intelligent transmit
power control features, while the recently-introduced power amplifier module
boosts output power and improves signal quality.
Since wireless PCs and other mobile devices spend a majority of their time
disconnected from a power supply, it is important for wireless LAN components
to use a minimal amount of power. Like Broadcom's other wireless LAN
solutions, the AirForce One 54g chip offers a comprehensive power management
scheme to extend the battery life of wireless devices. This power management
scheme leverages the benefits of extreme integration, innovative hardware
design and Broadcom's SuperStandby mode. SuperStandby software wakes the
minimum amount of circuitry for the shortest possible period of time to check
for incoming data, consuming up to 97 percent less power than traditional
wireless LAN solutions in standby mode, making it an optimal part for embedded
mobile operation.
The AirForce One 54g solution leverages Broadcom's highly-integrated
silicon and proven OneDriver(TM) software to deliver superior performance,
ease-of-use and security features for Wi-Fi wireless networks, including:
* The industry's most comprehensive security portfolio, including Wi-Fi
Protected Access(TM) (WPA) certification, and all features required for
the upcoming WPA2, the Wi-Fi Alliance certified interoperable
implementation of the recently ratified IEEE 802.11i standard. The chip
include built-in hardware support for the Advanced Encryption Standard
(AES) to eliminate performance degradation when running this
computationally intensive encryption algorithm. Solutions from
competitors that do not have AES in hardware are likely to experience
significant performance degradation. Designs are also certified for
Cisco Compatible Extensions version 2.
* SecureEZSetup -- An intelligent setup wizard that radically simplifies
Wi-Fi wireless LAN installation and automates WPA security for 54g
notebook adapters, access points and routers.
* Xpress(TM) Technology -- A standards-based frame bursting technique that
improves network performance by increasing the efficiency of wireless
data transmissions.
* 125* High Speed Mode(TM) -- A standards-plus technology that provides
the industry's best real-world performance without impacting neighboring
wireless networks.
About 54g
54g technology is Broadcom's implementation of the IEEE 802.11g wireless
LAN standard, the new mainstream Wi-Fi technology for homes, businesses and
public hot spots. 54g technology provides the industry's best combination of
speed, reach and security, and is compatible with the more than 100 million
802.11g and 802.11b devices installed to date. 54g technology can be found in
the leading brands of wireless LAN products and notebook PCs, including Acer,
Apple, Belkin, Buffalo, Cisco/Linksys, Dell, eMachines, Gateway, HP/Compaq,
Microsoft, Motorola and USRobotics.
Broadcom's AirForce Wireless LAN Product Family
Broadcom's high performance WLAN product line includes 54g, the world's
most popular 54 Mbps Wi-Fi technology. In addition to transceivers that
provide IEEE 802.11g and dual-band 802.11a/g solutions, Broadcom integrates
wireless network processors, communications technologies and OneDriver
software solutions into reference designs that speed customer time to market.
Broadcom partners are developing 54g client solutions, access points, routers,
switches, cable modems, DSL modems, Bluetooth solutions and GPRS cellular
products. Broadcom began shipping AirForce One, the world's first single-chip
802.11b wireless LAN solution, in September 2003. Broadcom is currently
sampling the BCM4318 to its strategic partners.
All the wireless chipsets in the AirForce product line enjoy unique
performance advantages that improve throughput and range via Broadcom's
SmartRadio(TM) technology. In addition to advanced signal processing
techniques, these all-CMOS solutions are capable of self-calibrating based on
usage temperature and other environmental conditions, reconfiguring constantly
for optimum performance. Competing radios are statically calibrated at the
point of manufacture and are unable to adapt to changing environmental
influences.
About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a leading provider of highly integrated
semiconductor solutions that enable broadband communications and networking of
voice, video and data services. We design, develop and supply complete
system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions incorporating digital, analog, radio
frequency (RF), microprocessor and digital signal processing (DSP)
technologies, as well as related hardware and software system-level
applications. Our diverse product portfolio addresses every major broadband
communications market, and includes solutions for digital cable and satellite
set-top boxes; high definition television (HDTV); cable and digital subscriber
line (DSL) modems and residential gateways; high-speed transmission and
switching for local, metropolitan, wide area and storage networking; home and
wireless networking; cellular and terrestrial wireless communications; Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateway and telephony systems; broadband network
and security processors; and SystemI/O(TM) server solutions. These
technologies and products support our core mission: Connecting everything(R).
Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and may be contacted at
1-949-450-8700 or at www.broadcom.com.
Texas Instruments Collaborates With ARM As Part Of Its Industry-Leading Silicon-Based Security Solution
Integrated TI Security Solution with ARM TrustZone technology supports trusted computing in portable wireless devices, will help secure user wireless transactions.
DALLAS, TEXAS AND CAMBRIDGE, UK - June 29, 2004 -Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN), and ARM [(LSE:ARM); (Nasdaq:ARMHY)], today announced that TI and ARM will collaborate on a security solution that will include ARM® TrustZone(TM) technology. The collaboration with ARM is part of TI's overall strategy to help address growing security concerns among service providers, consumers and wireless original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). TI will implement the ARM TrustZone technology on its OMAP(TM) platform and family of TCS Chipsets by using the recently licensed ARM1176JZF-S(TM) core.
As phone theft has become a growing problem, securing information stored and protecting a phone's identity has become even more critical. Software security vulnerability can result in profitable theft of reprogrammable phones, illegal upgrades and network switching, and network vulnerability. TI is leading the market in addressing the handset security need with a silicon-based security solution. The ARM TrustZone technology will help expand TI's leadership position by providing more handset protection as new applications emerge.
"TI was the first to include hardware security features in the latest generation of GSM/GPRS chipsets," said Paul Werp, worldwide marketing director for TI's OMAP platform. "ARM TrustZone technology is a step in TI's integrated processor security strategy as we continue to address increasing security threats faced by phone manufacturers, mobile operators and content providers."
ARM TrustZone technology complements TI's wireless system solutions technology to support wireless network protection from malicious attack and to help secure e-commerce transactions, downloadable applications, games and media content. TrustZone technology also enables protection of code and data across the entire memory architecture. The ARM1176JZ-S and ARM1176JZF-S CPUs are the first ARM cores to incorporate the ARM TrustZone technology, enhancing security in portable consumer devices using open operating system applications, such as smart phones, PDAs and other wireless devices.
"As we enter a constantly connected world, the requirement for a secure environment for personal and professional information becomes more critical," said Mike Inglis, executive vice president, marketing, ARM. "As a company innovating new wireless platform technologies, TI has recognized that a true, secure environment must begin at the microprocessor core."
About TrustZone Technology
TrustZone technology provides a secure foundation for systems running open Operating Systems (OS), such as Linux, Palm OS, Symbian OS and Windows CE. In addition, TrustZone technology complements secure application environments such as Sun Microsystems' Java technology by making security implementation on devices more efficient. ARM TrustZone technology is implemented within the microprocessor core itself and extended into the system design, enabling the protection of on-chip memory and peripherals. Since the security elements of the system are designed into the core hardware, security issues surrounding proprietary, non-portable solutions outside the core are removed. In this way, security is maintained as an intrinsic feature at the heart of every device, with minimal impact to the core area or performance, while enabling developers to build any additional security, for example cryptography, onto the secure hardware foundation.
Texas Instruments - Making Wireless
TI is the leading manufacturer of wireless semiconductors, delivering the heart of today's wireless technology and building solutions for tomorrow. TI provides a breadth of silicon and software and 15 years of wireless systems expertise that spans handsets and base stations for all communications standards, wireless LAN, Bluetooth and Ultra Wideband. TI offers custom to turn-key solutions, including complete chipsets and reference designs, OMAP(TM) application processors, as well as core digital signal processor and analog technologies built on advanced semiconductor processes. Please visit www.ti.com/wirelesspressroom for additional information.
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company's businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries. Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web site at www.ti.com.
About ARM
ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from wireless, networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices. ARM's 16/32-bit RISC microprocessors, data engines, peripherals, software and tools, combined with the company's broad Partner community, provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.
Key message points for analysts and journalists:
The ARM TrustZone technology forms the foundation of The TI security architecture in ARM1176JZF-S core-based OMAP devices
Increased security levels have been demanded by cellular operators, who face significant revenue losses from the network unlocking of subsidized phones, virus attacks on cellular networks and other illegal network access
TrustZone technology is also enabling technology for secure transaction processing on SmartPhones, enabling e-commerce on a mobile device
Contact Details:
ARM PRESS OFFICE: 0208 996 4141
Johanna Drake
Text 100 Public Relations
+44 208 996 4146
johanna.drake@text100.co.uk
Anybody out there running Virtual PC?
MSFT wants $245 to support a single question - how do I install Win2000 in Virtual PC!?!??!
Anybody know how to do it?
Gotta luv it!
A present for you, alj14...
The last one in the list:
http://www.discovertek.com/sunncomm/index.html
bially,
It is very good to hear from you on this. I missed this one as I was somewhere else a bit more important to me at the moment.
I wonder if this is the kind of BoD that Steven likes?
BTW, you have email.
Cheers!
XNS is now XDI with e-names...
http://www.xdi.org/e-names-explained.html
e-names...
Some of you techies out there might be interested in this - it is now out of OASIS development:
http://www.xdi.org/e-names-explained.html
trustcousa, this should work for you:
http://www.trustedcomputingsociety.org/wave-intel/
Apologies if already posted...
http://developer.intel.com/design/mobile/platform/downloads/Removable_Security_Device_Product_Evalua...
Army buys Apple supercomputer
BY Brian Robinson
June 24, 2004
The Army Research and Development Command will use a giant cluster of Apple Computer Inc.'s G5 servers to build one of the fastest supercomputers in the world to research the aerodynamics of hypersonic flight.
The MACH 5 (Multiple Advanced Computers for Hypersonic research) supercomputer, announced earlier this week, will use 1,566 of the 64-bit dual-processor servers and is expected to top 25 teraflops per second when it comes online later this year. The fastest supercomputer in the world now is Japan's Earth Simulator with a maximum performance of just less than 36 teraflops.
MACH 5 will cost $5.8 million to construct, a fraction of the price purpose-built supercomputers bring. The Earth Simulator cost around $350 million.
Apple won the Army contract after a competition among half a dozen companies based on such things as power requirements, cooling needs and floor space requirements, as well as performance.
Apple's servers were also chosen last year by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University to be the core of its new 10 teraflops supercomputer.
Clusters have quickly become the preferred way to build supercomputers. Of the world's 500 fastest supercomputers, fewer than 300 are cluster systems, according to an annual ranking released this week at the International Supercomputer Conference in Heidelberg, Germany. As recently as 1998 only a handful were on the list.
The second fastest supercomputer is an Intel Corp. Itanium2-based cluster at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
IBM is the clear leader on the vendor list, claiming more than 50 percent of the global installed supercomputer performance, with Hewlett-Packard Development Co. second with 18.6 percent. No other manufacturer managed to capture more than 6 percent.
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0621/web-apple-06-24-04.asp
eamonnshute, then I must be wrong...
...and you should just disregard my thoughts.
Best Regards,
jb
eamonnshute...I'm not so sure. eom
Doma, are you sure that HP is...
...bundling "Infineon's software with their TPM's instead of ETS"?
Do you mean that all HP TPMs have Infineon software?
Let's try this again...Intel/Wave
http://www.trustedcomputingsociety.org/wave-intel/booth.gif
http://www.trustedcomputingsociety.org/wave-intel/laptops.gif
http://www.trustedcomputingsociety.org/wave-intel/placards.gif
http://www.trustedcomputingsociety.org/wave-intel/stand.gif
I'm not sure why the directory is not showing these files:
http://www.trustedcomputingsociety.org/wave-intel/
Anyone with an idea?
alj14, you might keep your eyes on this...
Intertrust ready for DRM role
By Faultline
Published Tuesday 22nd June 2004 11:51 GMT
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/22/intertrust_interoperability_role/
It looks like the $440m settlement between Microsoft and Intertrust is going to be worthwhile for everyone concerned, with the potential for it to release a universal Digital Rights platform before the end of the year that will change dramatically how online content is consumed.
Reading between the lines of a white paper sitting on Intertrust's website, adding a six month old promise from Philips to revolutionize DRM with an open standard by this Summer, and finally taking a few casual words from Intertrust CEO Talal Shamoon when we caught up with him this week, it looks about set to happen.
The white paper coincidentally is dated almost the same week that Philips made its boast about an open DRM platform in January. However, the paper never made it to the Intertrust website until mcu later, a few days after Microsoft had signed its settlement deal. Philips said the systems that will be launched will be open to all companies that want to make music or video players, for a reasonable fee.
The paper describes different ways in which DRM interoperability can be achieved, and settles on one approach which Intertrust calls Nemo, short for Networked Environment for Media Orchestration and it describes a way of using online connections to verify transactions, as a basis for future interoperable DRM.
In a manner that echo’s ideas that have emerged within the MPEG21 committee - whereby transactions might rely on an online reporting element to check if they are legitimate - this applies the same idea at the point in any DRM chain when a transaction, such as copying a film, is happening across a border between two devices or environments that do not adhere to the same DRM rules.
Finding Nemo
Nemo defines a set of peer roles such as client, authorizer, gateway and orchestrator, and assumes that they talk to each other over an IP network, and allocates them work to processes such as authorization, peer discovery, notification, services discovery, provisioning, licensing and membership creation.
The client simply uses the services of the other three peers, the authorizer decides if the requesting client should have access to a particular piece of content; the gateway takes on the role of a helper that will provide more processing power to negotiate a bridge to another architecture and the orchestrator is a special form of gateway that handles non-trivial co-ordination such as committing a transaction. The idea seems to be that these peers can be set up as agents that will work alongside any DRM scheme.
Intertrust has set up a testbed to link various consumer devices to a number of different services and has successfully demonstrated interoperability in one interconnected system using cell phones, game platforms, PDAs, PCs, web-based content services, discovery services, notification services, and update services.
It supports multiple media formats (MPEG4, Windows Media, and others), multiple discovery protocols (over Bluetooth and through registries such as UDDI, LDAP, and Microsoft Active Directory and universal plug and play and wi-fi based Rendezvous), and IP-based notification and wireless SMS notification on the same device.
No DRM system can be made to communicate if it doesn’t want to, but if Microsoft has already paid much of its $440m in licensing fees to participate and if Sony takes the lead by letting its studios implement a Nemo system and if both Sony and Philips incorporate these agents onto consumer electronic equipment, we are going to have a new paradigm for content protection, with an irresistible powerbase and little resistance.
Truth or Dare
Shamoon confirmed: "There will be a number of initiatives this Summer that will focus on interoperability and I believe that a scenario of DRM interoperability is possible this year. All our effort is about interoperability of DRM since the settlement."
He also indicated, as does the fact that a mobile phone was part of the testbed, that the OMA, the alliance that has settled its own DRM platform for mobile phones, is also going to be involved, but said: "We have to wait for announcements."
When Faultline raised the issue of the ContentGuard driven ISO standard in Right Expression Language, Shamoon said: "REL is important, but the fact that you and I both speak English doesn’t mean that we are both telling the truth, and REL is about agreeing a language while real DRM is about making sure everyone is telling the truth."
Microsoft has built the Content Reference Forum around the ContentGuard work at Christmas, with Macrovision, Vivendi’s Universal Music, NTT, ARM and Verisign as founding members, promising that it was the way forward for DRM interoperability. Could it be that it already knew something of the agreement with Intertrust and was only revealing part of the puzzle.
© Copyright 2004 Faultline
in case anyone cares, part 2
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1614791,00.asp
In case anyone cares...
http://www.trustedcomputingsociety.org/wave-intel/
Wave has two reps in the Intel booth at NECC in New Orleans.
There are three laptops, 2 IBMs and 1 CPQ. They have a number of software packages being demonstrated. The Intel reps are familiar with them too.
There are 5 or 6 partner plaques on the Intel wall - the run down is something like this:
IBM
Fujitsu
HP
MSFT
Premo Computer
Dell
Wave
alj14, a buyback right now...
...even if small, would send a rather powerful message of confidence to the street.
eamonnshute, consider this...
There is something that should jump right out at you. [hint - look at the volume line]
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=wavx&d=c
Let me focus in a bit more:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=WAVX&t=3m&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
What is the reason for that peak?
Orin Hatch to make "counselling infringers" a crime
Rumor has it that Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) will be introducing a bill tomorrow that would add a new Section 501(g) to the Copyright Act granting copyright owners a cause of action against those who "induce" copyright infringement (cf. patent law). This bill, dubbed the INDUCE Act, would apparently also reach those who "counsel" infringers.
Even a moment's reflection should make the danger to innovators clear -- you now have to worry not just about contributory and vicarious liability, but an entirely new form of liability for building tools that might be misused. It will be interesting to see whether the bill expressly precludes any Betamax-type defense. This may also pose First Amendment problems, to the extent a journalist or website publisher might be liable for simply posting information about where infringement tools might be found or how to use them
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/06/16/orin_hatch_to_make_c.html
Wave in New Orleans...
Anybody here going to be there?
alj14, you know...
...I have less than 10K shares, BUT I am happy to have those.
Hope things are feeling good for you with your winner. Holding the line paid off for you. Monty would be proud...
Questions for the board...
Does anybody know about the Fujitsu's S7010 laptop's TPM that enables file encryption?
How about the HP/CPQ nc6000?
Any new updates coming along with the IBM ThinkPad T42 and X40?
Apple marches to own tune in shunning video iPod
Tuesday June 15, 6:10 pm ET
By Duncan Martell
SAN FRANCISCO, June 15 (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - News) already has a smash hit with its iPod digital music player, so it might seem a no-brainer to follow up with one that plays movies in time for Christmas.
Not so fast, say analysts and even Apple's famously secretive co-founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs himself, as such speculation has mounted in recent months on Internet bulletin boards and Apple enthusiast Web sites.
Brokering licensing deals with content distributors and creators, such as movie studios, is expensive and time-consuming. Also, there is yet to be any sign of great clamoring for portable video players by consumers. There are technical issues to consider, as well as the basic nature of immersing the senses that is required to watch a movie.
"There are already a whole bunch of perfectly capable devices out there that can play movies -- and they're called notebook computers," said Mike McGuire, an analyst at market research firm GartnerG2 in Silicon Valley. "It's still an open question whether there's enough demand, and I think that's central to Apple's considerations."
To be sure, there are companies, such as Creative Labs' Creative Zen Portable Media Center and other such Windows-based devices that will be on store shelves in time for the crucial year-end shopping season. Creative sells a range of digital music players, while Apple continues to focus on music.
BREATHING ROOM
With the success of the iPod -- technophiles and tech newbies have bought more than 3 million of them already -- Apple deserves much of the credit for ushering in wide-scale acceptance of legal music downloading, analysts said.
Before then, piracy loomed as a crippling threat to the recording industry because of the popularity of Napster's first incarnation and other file-sharing networks.
"There's no question that the music industry was searching high and low to find a pay service in order to thwart piracy," said analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies, another Silicon Valley market research company.
But, at least for now, movie studios do not face the same urgency that the five major record labels did, ultimately signing a ground-breaking pact with Apple that paved the way for its online music store. Part of the reason is that, while high-speed Internet access in the U.S. and Europe is broadening, it's not yet at the data rates necessary to support timely downloading of full-length feature films.
That gives the studios some breathing room.
"Hollywood doesn't make to want the same mistake as the music industry," Bajarin said. "While it's urgent to get it right, there's actually time to do it right."
McGuire of GartnerG2 notes: "The costs in time and money of negotiating rights to video content are substantial and you don't want to make that investment if you can't foresee the demand for it."
DIGITAL MEDIA SWISS ARMY KNIFE?
So far, Jobs doesn't himself see that demand. A shareholder asked him about plans for a video iPod at the company's annual meeting in April. He responded by paraphrasing a campaign slogan of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential election campaign, "It's the economy, stupid."
"It's the music, stupid," Jobs said after a slight pause. Also, last week, Apple's head of hardware product marketing Greg Joswiak told Reuters that Apple has no plans yet for a video iPod.
And beyond the issues of negotiating licenses, the need for higher speed Internet connections than are now prevalent, there's the basic difference between listening to music and watching video content.
It's easy to plug a digital music player into a car stereo and listen to music while driving, using an iPod while walking to work or working out. But doing these things while watching a movie on an iPod-like, portable device is clearly not advisable.
"Music is largely a background experience and movies aren't," said Phil Leigh, an analyst at Inside Digital Media.
In addition to demand, design, licensing issues, and an adequately sized screen that consumers would expect, Apple, because of its good fortune with the iPod and iTunes, also has to worry about diluting the marketing brand of the iPod.
"Apple has good equity built up around the iPod brand," McGuire said. "They have to be careful about turning it into this digital-media Swiss Army knife that does a lot of things but none of them very well."
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040615/bizfeature_apple_movies_1.html
If this is not on your radar, I recommend that you put it there...
Acacia Technologies Files Cable and Satellite TV Patent Infringement Lawsuit
Tuesday June 15, 9:30 am ET
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 15, 2004--Acacia Research Corporation (Nasdaq:ACTG - News; Nasdaq:CBMX - News) announced today that its Acacia Media Technologies Corporation subsidiary has filed a Complaint in the District Court for the Northern District of California alleging infringement of Acacia's DMT patents against 9 cable and satellite companies. Companies named as defendants in the lawsuit include Comcast Corporation, Charter Communications, Inc., The DirectTV Group, Inc., Echostar Communications Corporation, Boulder Ridge Cable TV, Central Valley Cable TV, LLC, Seren Innovations, Inc., Cox Communications, Inc., and Hospitality Network, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox that supplies hotel in-room entertainment).
Last week, Acacia announced the settlement of a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Acacia and licensed On Command Corporation, which, together with LodgeNet Corporation, another Acacia licensee, are the dominant providers of in-room digital content to the lodging industry via systems similar to those utilized by cable and satellite companies.
Acacia's DMT patents cover the transmission and receipt of digital content via the Internet, cable, satellite, and other means, and as the Complaint alleges, apply to a variety of programming and activities engaged in by cable and satellite companies including certain basic programming, pay per view, video on demand, and digital ad insertion. Acacia intends to continue its licensing discussions with cable and satellite companies and has the option of adding additional companies to the lawsuit in the future.
The lawsuit is separate from the patent infringement actions currently pending in the District Court for the Central District of California against certain Adult Entertainment Companies that transmit digital content via the Internet.
Acacia has entered into 123 license agreements for its DMT technology with companies engaged in hotel in-room entertainment, e-learning, online music, movie, sports, news, information, adult entertainment, and corporate advertising and promotion activities. Acacia's DMT licensees include Capella Education, CinemaNow, General Dynamics Interactive, Grupo Pegaso, LodgeNet, New England College of Finance, NXTV, On Command, Oral Roberts University, 24/7 University, T. Rowe Price, Virgin Radio and the Walt Disney Company.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040615/155220_1.html
allman, iCards...
...iPod, iLife, iDVD, iMovie, iChat, iETC...
Come on, you can do better than that!
theguvna88, I like the stuff in bolds...
Precious few companies have made the leap from one generation of technology to the next. Who figured out the PC? Not minicomputer makers, but Apple Computer Inc. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - News). Who mastered the Web? Upstarts such as eBay Inc. (NasdaqNM:EBAY - News) and Yahoo! Inc (Nasdaq:YHOO - news). (NasdaqNM:YHOO - News). "Big companies cannot really see beyond their current customer base," says Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (news - web sites)'s MediaLab. "This is why most new ideas come from small companies that have nothing to lose."
Those of you watching SSPX will be happy to know...
SSP-Litronic Receives $400,000 Award Under Existing $9 Million CAC Middleware DoD ESI Contract
SSP-Litronic will be showcasing its latest secure identity management solutions, including NetSign CAC, at the DoD's PKI/PKE Forum in New Orleans, LA Louisiana from June 14-18, 2004.
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/040609/068397.html
Screaming for an interoperability solution...
Beatles catalog headed for digital distribution?
Last modified: June 8, 2004, 1:03 PM PDT
By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Talks have begun that could finally make the songs of The Beatles available for sale online, sources familiar with the situation said.
Representatives for The Beatles have spoken with numerous online music providers, ranging from small companies to Microsoft, which is planning to open an Internet music store this year. The Beatles' side is asking for a considerable sum in return for providing exclusive online distribution rights, perhaps for as long as a year or more.
"They are looking for someone to come up with the ideal way to put The Beatles online," one digital music executive told CNET News.com.
That interest could lead to a milestone in the short history of digital music. Online music services are struggling to prove they can offer more music than a brick-and-mortar store, and the lack of songs by rock and roll's premier group--whose breakup more than three decades ago and the subsequent deaths of two members have hardly hurt its popularity--has been an oft-cited gap in their appeal.
"One of the things that has held back digital music online has been lack of availability of very popular artists, notably among them The Beatles," said Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg. "If they are able to come to some sort of licensing terms, it bodes very well for the online model and would probably pave the way for some of the other holdouts to come online."
But it may be some time before "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Let it Be" are sold on Apple Computer's iTunes or on Napster. One idea being considered is a Beatles-branded store that would be the only place online where the group's music, videos and other multimedia products would be sold, sources said. The store could be operated by one of the existing online music services.
Some other marquee bands have pursued this strategy, but it has not been adopted widely. Musician Dave Matthews maintains an exclusive online store on a site operated by MusicToday, a company associated with his manager.
Other big-name artists still waiting on the digital sidelines, to one degree or another, include Led Zeppelin and Madonna.
The current round of discussions is being led by The Beatles' representatives rather than the group's record label, EMI, sources said. EMI owns The Beatles' master recordings but has sought the artists' permission before putting the songs online.
"We've had several discussions with them, because we think it would be terrific to make all The Beatles' work available in digital services," said EMI spokeswoman Jeanne Meyer. "We would be delighted if they made that decision."
In an earlier technology shift, and another example of a cautious approach, The Beatles catalog appeared on CD well after most of the music world had already made the transition.
Any exclusive deal--especially if the music is distributed in a proprietary copy-protected format from a company such as Apple or Microsoft--could spotlight the growing problem of the lack of interoperability between services, digital music formats and portable devices, analysts said.
The Apple factor
If The Beatles songs were to appear in Microsoft's format, they would not be directly playable on Apple's iPod, which does not support Windows Media. If the tunes were to appear in Apple's copy-protected format, they couldn't be played directly on any digital music device other than the iPod, since Apple has not licensed use of its FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) tools to rivals.
The long shadow of The Beatles has already touched the world of digital music. Apple Corps--the company formed by The Beatles in 1968 to manage their business interests--sued Apple Computer in a dispute over the use of the Apple name and logo after last year's release of the iTunes song store.
The two companies had tussled once before, in 1989, when Apple Corps objected to Apple Computer's name and logo after the computer maker's expansion into music-related products such as digital music software. Apple Computer settled the case for $27 million and agreed to avoid using the similar trademarks in most music-related contexts.
In a statement released after The Beatles' company brought suit last year, Apple Computer said "Apple and Apple Corps now have differing interpretations of this agreement and will need to ask a court to resolve this dispute."
http://news.com.com/Beatles+in+talks+for+online+song+sales/2100-1027_3-5228914.html
June 4, 2004
Video Card Image Quality Comparison
By Jason Cross Rate it Yourself
Discuss this now (7 posts)
SLIDESHOW (26)
Slideshow / All Shots
The recent introduction of the GeForce 6800 and Radeon X800 has sparked a lot of debate about the relative merits of different graphics cards. NVidia chose to offers full support for Pixel and Vertex Shader model 3.0 and other features in DirectX 9.0c, while ATI avoided such new technologies for now, instead focusing on raw performance.
We dove deep into the new nVidia's architecture and performance in our earlier preview, then followed suit with a deep examination of ATI's new card. These articles, and most others like them, have focused on the performance and features of these new GPUs from the top two graphics companies. Here, however, we will focus primarily on issues of image quality, examining texture filtering and anti-aliasing quality.
Throughout this feature, the images we discuss are going to be much larger than you're used to seeing on ExtremeTech. You may need to scroll or resize the pop-up image window to get a good view. It was important that we didn't resize or overly compress the images, as that could affect image quality. Our game screens were captured at a resolution of 1024x768 – though these video cards can easily run games well at higher resolutions, our choice helps better display the effects of anti-aliasing. Also note that, unless otherwise stated, screenshots were taken with the default "quality" driver settings.
Check out our image quality comparison slideshow next >
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1607400,00.asp
scorpio, this is the guppy mentality. It is all about...
...egos. There are too many experts out there that take being proven wrong personally and start stalking and character assassination.
I believe that it will eventually self-organize. Until then I watch the guppy feeding frenzy from the safety of the sidelines.
Apple Patches App-Launching Vulnerability in Mac OS X
By David Morgenstern
June 7, 2004
Apple on Monday plugged another security vulnerability in its OS X operating system. A new patch addresses vulnerabilities when launching documents and applications from a Web page.
The company recommended Security Update 2004-06-07 for both client and server versions of Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) and Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar).
The update specifically fixes two security issues mentioned by the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list—which is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—and beefs up protection against remote disk access. The update also returns some Telnet functionality lost in a previous security patch.
With the security update, Apple Computer Inc. made significant changes to the system service that opens applications. OS X's LaunchServices component now launches only the applications that have been granted explicit permission by the owner.
When the system launches an application for the first time, the user will be presented with a new dialog box, which provides information on its location, such as the Download folder. Users must then click the box's Open button to launch the application.
Thereafter, the application is considered "trusted," according to the company. Apple's system applications, such as the Safari browser and other bundled applications that come with the package, are already considered "trusted," the company said in a technical note.
For insights on Apple and Macintosh coverage around the Web, check out Matthew Rothenberg's Weblog.
In addition, the patch released Monday buttons down Apple's Safari and Terminal programs.
Apple offered no comment on the release of the security patch other than to reiterate a statement that the company is working quickly to address potential threats as it learns of them.
Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said last month, "While no operating system can be completely immune from all security issues, Mac OS X's Unix-based architecture has so far turned out to be much better than most."
The Monday patch follows a difficult month on the security front for the Cupertino, Calif., company. The company released several security patches and a security-focused system update in the month.
It also took some heat from Internet security researchers over vulnerabilities in OS X.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1608221,00.asp?kc=ewnws060804dtx1k0100599
BMG Canada Inc. Goes ``Commercial'' with SunnComm's MediaMax M4 Music Management Technology
Monday June 7, 11:00 am ET
PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2004--SunnComm Technologies, Inc. (OTC:SCMI - News), a leader in the development of digital content security and enhancement for audio CDs, announced today that BMG Canada Inc. will begin releasing commercial audio CDs utilizing SunnComm's MediaMax M4(TM) Music Management technology.
MediaMax M4 is a collection of technologies that, when added to a CD, empowers consumers to copy and share an artist's music within a licensed and legal framework without running the risk of violating copyright law. SunnComm's MediaMax technology has been successfully implemented by over a dozen record companies in North America including BMG Music, the parent of BMG Canada Inc.
Norman Miller, Vice President New Media at BMG Canada Inc. states, "We have been testing MediaMax for several months and are extremely pleased with SunnComm's focus on producing a technology that protects the rights of content owners while allowing the consumer to enjoy the flexibility of the digital space."
"Having BMG Canada move into commercial release with MediaMax marks a new and exciting phase in our relationship," said Peter Jacobs, president of SunnComm. "Our team has successfully completed the implementation of the MediaMax technology on several Canadian advances over the past year. SunnComm and its exclusive MediaMax sales subsidiary, QuietTiger (OTCBB:QTIG - News) look forward to a long and successful relationship with BMG Canada and their customers."
SunnComm's MediaMax M4 technology offers consumers a legal, easy to use, interactive licensed framework that is controlled by the copyright owner. Consumers who purchase this MediaMax CD will be able to burn a pre-determined number of copies of each track from the album using the original disc as well as send songs to friends using SunnComm's TuneShare(TM) functionality. TuneShare technology allows consumers to share music with friends by providing the recipient with a song that can be downloaded and listened to for a limited number of days, a limited number of plays or until a specific expiration date arrives. The bonus content and enhancements are accessible via a multi-media user interface which is added as a special session mastered on the disc and integrated as part of the MediaMax product.
MediaMax M4 is a collection of technologies that provides copy management for CDs and DVDs while simultaneously enhancing and expanding the consumer's experience. MediaMax M4 is tightly integrated with Microsoft's (Nasdaq:MSFT - News) Windows Media Platform and the Digital Rights Management capabilities associated with the latest Windows Media Platforms. The company licenses and uses Windows Media Audio DRM capabilities from Microsoft Corporation as the security feature for music files which end up residing on the consumer's computer.
ABOUT BMG CANADA INC.
BMG Canada Inc. produces recordings of Canadian artists under the ViK.recordings label and is the Canadian recording company of BMG. BMG is the global music division of Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's leading media companies. BMG owns more than 200 record labels in 41 countries including Ariola, Arista Records, J Records, Jive Records, RCA Records and RCA Label Group -- Nashville. In addition, BMG's music publishing operations are the third largest in the world.
ABOUT SUNNCOMM
SunnComm International Inc. (OTC:SCMI - News) copy management and protection technology was commercially released by Nashville's Music City records in 2001. The album, "Charley Pride -- A Tribute to Jim Reeves," became the first commercial copy-managed CD in America. SunnComm also became the first company to commercially release a content-protected audio CD utilizing an early version of the Windows Media Data Session Toolkit. (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/ 2003/jan03/01-20SessionToolkitPR.asp). (Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste it into your Internet browser's URL address field. You may also need to remove an extra space in the URL if one exists.) It is a leader in digital content enhancement and security technology for optical media with its MediaMax suite of products, and today leads the US market in copy managed audio CDs.
SunnComm's MediaMax M4 suite of Digital Content Enhancement technologies are built using Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT - News) Windows Media 9 Series but operates on both Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL - News) and Microsoft Windows-based systems (Nasdaq:MSFT - News). For more detailed information about the company, its vision or philosophy, personnel, partners, and customers, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.sunncomm.com, or call the Company directly at (602) 267-7500.
ABOUT QUIETTIGER
QuietTiger Inc. (OTCBB:QTIG - News) is an international sales and marketing group representing the implementation and delivery of digital content security products for the music and entertainment industry. Our team of sales and marketing professionals has established relationships around the world that will enable the penetration of our product lines. Our principal consulting team has more than 50 years experience in the music and movie industry and our company structure as a fully reporting public company are the recipe for a successful outcome.
NOTES ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements contained in this release, which are not historical facts, may be considered "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and the current economic environment.
We caution the reader that such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Unknown risk, uncertainties as well as other uncontrollable or unknown factors could cause actual results to materially differ from the results, performance or expectations expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Contact:
for SunnComm International Inc.
Company contact:
Peter Jacobs, 602-267-7500
peter@sunncomm.com
or
Investor contact:
Investor Communications Consulting, 602-231-0681
scmi@investorcc.com
or
for QuietTiger Inc.
Company contact:
William H. Whitmore, Jr., 602-267-3800
bill@quiettiger.com
or
Investor contact:
Kimberly Faulkner, 602-267-3800
kimf@quiettiger.com
Source: SunnComm International Inc.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040607/75430_1.html
Engines of Change
When It Comes to the Application of Disruptive Consumer Electronic Technologies, We Probably Have Napster (the Old One) to Thank
By Robert X. Cringely
[excerpted]
It's just an idea.
There is a lot of merit to this idea of hacking consumer Linux devices -- not just because the added services are cool, but because the economies of scale afforded by mass production can finally be applied to narrower technical interests. A hard-core techie MIGHT be willing to spend a couple weeks and a few hundred dollars making these applications work. But when the price drops to under $100 and the effort drops to less than an hour, suddenly there are 10 to 100 times as many people willing to spend that money and make that effort.
What will make this possible are tools that allow the hacking without having to be a hacker. James Ewing's goal for is next release of router software, for example, is for it to be a la carte -- click on a few boxes to choose what you'd like you router to do and a custom build will be downloaded just for you. He also plans to do a plug-and-play hotspot complete with a billing module.
And what's really great is this trend is growing and involves much more than just wireless routers. This week, I'm playing with a Hauppauge Media MVP, a little box you can buy at many U.S. electronics retailers for around $80. The MVP sits atop your television and connects to a 10/100 Ethernet connection. It grabs music video or pictures (MVP, get it?) stored on your Windows PC and presents it on the TV. One way to think of the MVP is as an Ethernet adapter for your TV -- the first such adapter I suppose that comes with its own remote control. But what's really cool about the MVP is that inside it is a little 300 MHz PowerPC computer running Linux. And, like last week's Linux routers, the MVP is attracting attention from people who want to alter its firmware.
This is a very different device from the wireless router. For one thing, it has hardware MPEG video encoding and decoding. Out of the box it works only with Windows XP or 2000, where a little server app manages your hard drive, but it won't be long before this little guy is working with Linux and Macintosh computers, too. I have satellite TV, so why shouldn't I be able to use the MVP to watch any of my three satellite receivers on any TV in the house? If you wonder why I might want to do that, well right now only one of my satellite boxes has a hard drive and it would be great to watch that recorded programming on a different TV. Or I could use the second video feed for picture-in-picture. I'll be experimenting with these ideas as well as with replacing the Ethernet connection with 802.11g and even HomePlug power line networking. Why not?
A number of forces have to work in conjunction to make these disruptive technologies possible. Economies of scale gained by mass production are augmented by the willingness of technically savvy people to share the fruits of their labor, but the third component we don't give enough credit to, I think, is the willingness of absolutely normal people to mess with this complex technology. I credit Napster (the original Napster, not the new one) and DivX for this relatively sudden willingness for average people to get their hands dirty twiddling bits. Motivated by free music and video, millions of people have learned that it isn't really that hard to do, especially if there is a 12 year-old available to help. And since we seem to keep producing 12 year-olds, I'd say the sky's the limit when it comes to how these technologies will change our world.
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040603.html
Janus, Apple, and DRM...Microsoft Challenges iTunes with New Media Player
Robin Arnfield, www.enterprise-windows-it.com
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news) has released a beta version of its new Windows Media Player 10 to technical enthusiasts. The new software will let users play music from digital music subscription services, such as Napster (news - web sites), using approximately 60 different portable music devices.
Microsoft will release the final version in the fall, accompanied by compatible portable multimedia devices from such vendors as Creative Technology, iRiver and Samsung. In order to enjoy the full benefit of Windows Media 10, users will have to wait until these new devices, which comply with Microsoft's Portable Media Center standard, are launched.
Catching Up
The announcement demonstrates Microsoft's effort to catch up with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL - news) Computer's iTunes service and its close ties to the iPod music player, which have given Apple a strong early lead in the digital-music business.
One of the iPod's key selling points is its ease of use, which lets people load the device with music without having to take anything but the most basic technical steps.
Microsoft's publicity for Windows Media Player 10 highlights the new software's sleek and simple user interface and easy access to several digital music and video services. It also stresses the new "auto sync" feature that will transfer content -- such as music, videos and photos -- to portable devices. The new player likely will be closely linked to Microsoft's new online music store, which will be launched later this year.
DRM on Board
Microsoft has incorporated a digital rights management technology in Windows Media Player 10, code-named "Janus," that will give online music distributors more options for marketing their content. Services that provide monthly subscriptions (as opposed to selling individual songs) will allow customers to transfer songs to portable media players, as long as they continue to pay their monthly fees.
The beta can be downloaded from Microsoft's Media Player Web site.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nf/20040603/bs_nf/24364
Intel said today that it plans to release the "Foundation code" of its next-generation firmware technology -- a successor to the PC BIOS -- under the Common Public License (CPL), an open source license, later this year. More than 20 years old, the BIOS (Basic Input-Output System) is the oldest software technology in PC platforms.
Intel says its firmware Foundation code, a result of a project codenamed Tiano, "provides that the successor to the BIOS will be based on up-to-date software technology." The Foundation code is designed to be extended with new features and services, such as improved platform manageability, serviceability, and administrative interfaces which are too complex to implement in the old BIOS environment, according to Intel.
Next-generation firmware products based on this technology are already available from participating BIOS vendors American Megatrends and Insyde Software, Intel says.
Intel says it will release core Foundation code from its next-generation firmware technology, along with a firmware driver development kit. The Foundation code helps ensure that modern, modular firmware drivers written in the C programming language to support silicon from multiple vendors can be integrated together, according to Intel. Under the CPL, an open source license, any change in the Foundation code itself and the development kit made by one company will be visible and available to all.
Intel's next-generation firmware project is an implementation of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI). The EFI specification details an interface to help hand off control of the system from the pre-boot environment to next-generation operating systems. EFI is supported by the most popular 64-bit OS implementations and platforms, and is an emerging interface for 32-bit operating systems, according to Intel.
The project represents more than 200 person years of development by Intel's China Software Center in Shanghai, and Intel software labs in Oregon and Washington, Intel says.
Intel has selected CollabNet as the location where the Tiano project code will be shared.
"Because pre-boot firmware is a vital ingredient in all modern platforms, silicon vendors and system manufacturers require stability in the Foundation code to protect their investment in innovation," noted Will Swope, vice president and general manager of Intel's Software and Solutions Group. "They expect unfettered access and collaborative control of changes so that interoperability can be maintained."
"We're very excited to be working with Intel on the Tiano project," said CollabNet founder and CTO Brian Behlendorf. "Establishing a collaborative approach to this next-generation technology will drive adoption by the marketplace and support amongst the developers, and open the doors to co-innovation with developers and companies beyond Intel. CollabNet has a great deal of experience in providing an enterprise-level collaborative software development environment for projects of this scale, as well as the consulting and training needed to produce a vibrant, large and productive community."
"Microsoft is continuing its commitment to open industry standards by adding EFI boot support to all versions of the Longhorn generation of Windows products," said Tony Pierce, Technical Evangelist of Microsoft's Windows Hardware Innovation Group. "Participation in the collaborative community effort around the Foundation code that Intel is announcing today will help systems manufacturers and firmware companies deliver new and exciting platform innovations to their customers."
CPL is an approved Open Source Initiative license, allowing for a collaborative industry development while preserving participants' ability to create commercial products. Additional information on CPL is available here.
http://www.deviceforge.com/news/NS8342680180.html
The Composable High Assurance Trusted Systems (CHATS) program
Mission
The Composable High Assurance Trusted Systems (CHATS) program will focus on the development of the tools and technology that enable the core systems and network services to protect themselves from the introduction and execution of malicious code and other attack techniques and methods. These tools and technologies will provide the high assurance trusted operating systems the security services needed to achieve comprehensive secure highly distributed mission critical information systems for the DoD. This program will fundamentally change the existing approach to development and acquisition of high assurance trusted operating systems technology by advancing the security functionality, security services, and the state of assurance in current open-source operating systems and developing a long-term architectural framework for future trusted operating systems.
Background
DoD computer systems and networks are constantly under attack. DISA estimates that there are 250,000 attacks on DoD systems every year. Computer attacks against US systems are up 200% from 1998 to 1999, according to statistics provided by the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) at the Software Engineering Institute. Many successful attacks are not detected. Such attacks make systems unusable, degrade performance, lead commanders to make poor decisions due to faulty data, leak valuable secrets, and leave behind code that could provide continuing backdoor access or be activated on a predetermined event to take obstructive action. DoD systems are vulnerable due to increased interconnection and connection to the Internet. The Internet vulnerabilities and vulnerabilities in common COTS products can be exploited by anyone in the world to attack DoD systems. Although the enhanced barriers to penetration developed under the ITO Information Survivability program will help mitigate these vulnerabilities, no set of barriers is perfect or impermeable to determined attackers, particularly in a COTS-based environment where not all barriers are deployed or configured properly. Some percentage of attacks will continue to be successful.
The CHATS program will address this need by developing high assurance operating system technologies to protect DoD systems from constant attack. These technologies will be developed in concert with the unclassified open-source operating system development community and will have broad sweeping applicability to many programs within DARPA and the DoD. These trusted operating system capabilities will be developed by engaging the open-source development community in the development of security functionality for existing open-source operating systems. Additionally, DARPA will engage the open-source community in a consortium-based approach to create a "neutral", secure operating system architecture framework. This security architecture framework will then be used to develop techniques for composing OS capabilities to support both servers and clients in the increasing network-centric communications fabric of the DoD. These technologies are critical for defensive information warfare capabilities and are needed to ensure that DoD systems of the future are protected from imminent attack.
Goals
The CHATS program is developing the tools and technology that enable the core systems and network services to protect themselves from the introduction and execution of malicious code and other attack techniques and methods. These tools and technologies will provide the high assurance trusted operating systems context/basis to host the planned security services needed to achieve comprehensive secure highly distributed mission critical information systems for the DoD. This project will fundamentally change the existing approach to development and acquisition of high assurance trusted operating systems technology by impacting the state of assurance in current open-source operating systems and developing an architectural framework for future trusted operating systems.
Challenges
Enhanced security and compatibility across open source operating systems
System configuration and administration tools and methods
Security audit/analysis/testing/documentation of open source systems
Security policy, security services, critical applications, and hardware support
Assurance methods and tools
http://www.darpa.mil/ato/programs/chats.htm