Technology News: Reviews: iOS 4.2 Pours iPad a Strong, Smooth Shot of New Features

Change can stoke conflicted emotions in a computer user. There's the thrill of the new. Then there's the dread of problems that may erupt when the old meets the new. Admittedly, I felt those qualms when I prepared to upgrade my iPad to the latest version of its operating system, iOS 4.2.

 As it turns out, my fears were unnecessary.At first I was hesitant to upgrade on the first day the new version was available. Typically, the pent-up demand for something that's received the volume of ink and electrons that this edition of iOS has garnered swamps a company's servers, so I was surprised with how smoothly and effortlessly the upgrade occurred. There was narry a hiccup, except for an annoying message that kept telling me I was going to lose some purchased programs if I didn't backup my iPad. Problem was, the message kept popping up even after I backed up my iPad.When I booted up my iPad for the first time under 4.2, I noticed that the wallpaper had changed -- it was simulated drops of water on a gray background. The simulation was so good, that I tried to wipe the drops from the screen a few times before realizing they weren't real.Other than the new wallpaper, the iPad appeared to be unchanged. That was comforting -- familiarity always is -- but disquieting, too, because I was anxious to take the new features for a spin. After fumbling around with my apps for a bit, I decided to accelerate the discovery process and downloaded the iPad user's guide from Apple's website, which has been recently revised to accommodate the changes brought to the tablet by iOS 4.2.

With 4.2, Apple has made it easier to print from the iPad. It's really easy if you have a printer that supports AirPrint; less so if you don't.AirPlay support has also been added to the tablet's capabilities. Coupled with multitasking, that feature allows you to do things like beam video from the iPad to Apple TV while surfing the Web.For gamers, Game Center, Apple's online gaming service, has been added to the iPad mix. With one Game Center ID, you can pick up your game activities from any iOS powered device.

The iPad's mail program has also been improved. It now has a unified mailbox where messages from all email accounts are aggregated. It also supports conversation threading. What's more, you can reply to invitations directly through the iPad's calendar app.A small but productive feature has been added to Safari. It allows you to search for text on a Web page. When you type a search term into the search field at the top of the browser, not only will a list of Web search suggestions appear, but also an option for searching for the term on the page.This latest version of iOS 4.2 is an iPad owner's dream. It adds powerful features that can increase productivity without disrupting the old look and feel of the device.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Malware: Facebookers' Feeds Crawling With Malware, Security Firm Finds

Links to malware-infested sites and other threats lurk in many Facebook users' news feeds, according to research from security vendor BitDefender.Among approximately 14,000 Facebook users who installed BitDefender's Safego security and privacy app, about one in five has malware in his or her news feed.
More than 60 percent of the attacks detected by Safego are malicious apps that promise various benefits but install malware when they're downloaded, BitDefender spokesperson Dan Wire told TechNewsWorld.
Sixteen percent of attacks use worms that spread using specially crafted messages that are likely to attract attention.

However, Wire warned against using those statistics to reflect on Facebook as a whole. "We stipulated that we were talking about 20 percent of the Safego users, not [20 percent] of all Facebook users," he pointed out."The tools and systems we've built, combined with concerted campaigns to arm users with the information to make smarter and safer decisions online, have limited the number of Facebook users impacted by security issues to less than 1 percent, and that's since the founding of the site more than six years ago," Facebook spokesperson Fred Wolens told TechNewsWorld.Despite having its own IT security team, Facebook has repeatedly been hit by malware and spam. Only last week, it was hit by a new attack in which a fake email told users their Facebook password had been changed and asked them to install an attached app. When they did so, a Trojan was downloaded instead.Further, WebSense statistics showed that between June 22 and July 12, 40 percent of all Facebook status updates contain links and 10 percent of those links were either malware or spam."We analyzed half a million posts that were collected by Defensio," Websense spokesperson Patricia Hogan told TechNewsWorld. Defensio is a Facebook security app from Websense.

However, Facebook contends it's ahead of the game. "The systems we've built have helped us stay one step ahead of our attackers so that, as we've more than doubled in size over the last year, the actual effect of the attacks on Facebook hasn't changed," company spokesperson Wolens said.Then can Safego spot malware when Facebook's own security can't?"We use our cloud scanning technology in which there's a synergy of all our products -- our antispam, antiphishing and antimalware technology," BitDefender spokesperson Wire explained. "We also look at applications that don't necessarily have a malicious payload like stealing money but spread like a worm instead."Facebook has begun urging users to make its website their homepage, and that could increase the threat to PC users."If you make Facebook your homepage after you've been a user for some time, probably nothing dramatic will happen; Facebook will probably just get more users," BitDefender's Wire said. "But if Facebook's site comes as the browser default on a new computer and the user is not aware of security and privacy issues, that would make the problem worse."

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us