Cheaper Computer For Consumers By Intel

Intel Corp., in an effort to jumpstart sales of notebook computers, is cutting prices on chips that go into "thin and light" machines aimed at consumers.

The computers, which will cost about US$600, are designed for people who want the features of a full-sized laptop in a smaller package. Intel's customers will begin shipping notebooks based on the chips this quarter, said Connie Brown, a spokeswoman for the company.

Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is targeting a portion of the market that may account for 10% of laptop processor sales by 2013, according to Shane Rau, an IDC analyst in San Mateo, California. Intel, which had a 17% sales drop at its unit that makes chips for laptops last quarter, needs to keep out new competition from mobile-phone chip makers such as Qualcomm Inc.

"This is the next battleground for mobile computing and it is beginning to heat up," said Jim McGregor, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based analyst for research firm In-Stat.

Apple Inc. fired up interest in thin laptops last year by introducing the MacBook Air, which is less than 1 inch thick and almost twice the price of the company's most basic notebook. Intel Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini has called such machines "executive jewelry."

Intel has typically charged more for versions of its laptop processors that need less power. Chips that use less electricity generate less heat, allowing them to be squeezed into smaller cases. Intel's Ms. Brown declined to say how much the company will charge for the new chips or which PC makers will use them.

IDC's Mr. Rau estimates that most of the current thin and light computers sell for between US$1,250 and US$1,500. Models such as the MacBook Air and Dell Inc.'s Adamo can sell for more than US$2,000. The majority of the new, cheaper machines will go on sale in early 2010, when demand is recovering, Mr. Rau said.

"They will draw some significant new volume," said Mr. Rau. "People look at the executive jewelry with some jealousy."

By cutting prices on chips that consume less power, Intel is continuing the strategy it started last year with its Atom processor for so-called netbooks, said Tristan Gerra, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Netbooks are scaled-down notebooks powerful enough for basic functions such as surfing the Internet.

Demand is starting to shift from high-performance processors, which have been a "driving force" for Intel, to cheaper chips, Mr. Gerra said. While cutting prices may hurt Intel's profitability, it needs to hold off the possible challenge from phone-chip makers such as Qualcomm, he said.

"Intel is doing the right thing, it's just there are lower margins," he said.

San Diego-based Qualcomm, the largest maker of chips that run mobile phones, will begin selling a processor called Snapdragon this year. The new chip will become the basis of small computers made by Samsung Electronics Co. and other manufacturers.

Last year, Intel won sales in mobile computers from its only rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Intel ended 2008 with 87.1% of the market, up from 82.3% in 2007, IDC says.

AMD began selling chips aimed at thin and light laptops in January and will offer improved models with better graphics capabilities and processors in the second half, said John Taylor, a spokesman for the Sunnyvale, California-based company.

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Latest Encryption Software For Laptop

For years now retailers have been selling more notebooks than PCs and thanks to the success of ultra-portable net books, more people than ever before are carrying their computers - and their valuable data - around with them the whole time. Needless to say, this increases the risk of data being skimmed, stolen or of it simply falling into the wrong hands. Fortunately, confidential information on portable computers can be reliably secured using state-of-the-art encryption techniques or biometric authentication.

"If you are looking for a high level of protection it is no use simply denying access to the system", said Detlef Huehnlein, an expert on biometrics and electronic signatures at the Bonn-based Society for Information Technology. "After all, someone can just physically steal the storage medium". This means users should encrypt their most important files or indeed their entire database.

Windows Vista now offers complete data encryption security with an improved Encrypted File System (EFS) and the new BitLocker feature. It will be available too on the upcoming Windows 7-operating systems Enterprise and Ultimate. Mac OS fans can turn to FileVault although the drawback here is that the system does not allow users to select which parts of the disk to encrypt since only entire home directories can be encrypted.

"This makes it unsuitable for particularly sensitive information", said Huehnlein who has his doubts about the effectiveness of the Apple Mac encryption technology.

Under Windows the free open-source encryption software TrueCrypt encrypts not only individual boot partitions but entire boot drives. It can also set up and run a hidden encrypted operating system. According to specialists at Germany's heise security portal, "The encryption algorithms used are virtually impregnable, provided a sound password is used."

Meanwhile, there are several companies offering encryption processors integrated into intelligent USB sticks, as Huehnlein points out. These enable users to create secure files on the device and the host computer. Similar applications are based on the MicroSD and SD cards used in smart phones.

Nowadays, encryption does not necessary slow down the computer and Huehnlein says performance remains unaffected when the applications are in use.

There are plenty of USB stick encryption devices on the market but heise security advises against using bargain basement solutions. "Cheap hardware means cheap encryption", experts warn. Such devices represent poor value for money since the manufacturers cut corners where it matters most, namely on developing reliable encryption.

In all cases, the user needs a key to access the encrypted data and this can be provided in a number of ways, typically in the form of a password. "This means the degree of security comes down to the password", said Huehnlein. For particularly data-sensitive areas so-called authentication tokens or chip cards can be used to boost the degree of confidentiality.

A password can be combined with biometric authorization which typically compares and matches the irises of an individual's eyes, facial features, hand geometry or handwriting. Voice recognition can also be used.

Fingerprint sensors are currently the most widespread method and they can be found in products ranging from notebooks to computer mice and USB sticks. Unfortunately, they are fairly easy to spoof using anything from duplicates to jelly babies.

The standard facial recognition software solutions supplied by many notebook manufacturers are also easily fooled. Programmes designed to match faces using a webcam are often unable to distinguish between the real thing and a simple photograph held up to the lenses

While biometric protection may not be bombproof, it is certainly better than no security at all. "It all depends on what level of data security you are looking for", said Huehnlein. User friendliness plays a major role and fingerprint sensors score high on that level.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT) in Darmstadt is currently working on a new biometric system designed to make paying at the cash till safer by boosting the authentication process. The technology could have other applications such as limiting access to sensitive data, said SIT Thomas Kniess.

A forged signature is not enough to trick this system which does not compare the signature image but the way in which it was written.

"It plots the position of the pen on the x and y axis at a given time", said Kniess. Depending on the level of sophistication of the touchpad or display used, security can be further enhanced by measuring the angle or amount of pressure used by the writer during the signing procedure.

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Laptop Theft At Bowling

BOWLING GREEN — A former Defiance College football player who stole a laptop computer from a dorm room at Bowling Green State University was sent to jail Friday for 45 days.

Wood County Common Pleas Judge Alan Mayberry also placed Aaron Whaley, 19, of Oak Park, Mich., on community control for three years and ordered him to pay a $1,000 fine, perform 250 hours of community service, have no contact with the victim or BGSU, and consume no alcohol.

Whaley, who pleaded guilty in February to burglary, and two other former Defiance College students were arrested Oct. 3 after the incident at McDonald East residence hall.

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Teacher Charges With Child Pornography

THORNDIKE - A science teacher at Mount View Junior High School was arrested Thursday, April 16, at his residence in Augusta, charged with possession of child pornography.

According to an affidavit on file at Fifth District Court in Belfast, Michael J. Douglas, 41, admitted to police that he had accessed child pornography over the Internet and that he had done so "over the course of years."

Police were reportedly first alerted to Douglas late last month by SAD 3 Superintendent Joe Mattos, who said Douglas was in possession of a school-issued laptop computer containing child pornography.

Trooper Corey Smith met with Mattos the next day, and in his affidavit Smith wrote that he was "provided with copies of information … which illustrated the allegation Michael Douglas used the computer to access Internet Web sites to view images of children under the age of 12 years engaged in sexual acts."

Smith said he was given Douglas' school-issued computer, which he turned over to the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit. Sgt. Glenn Lang of that office informed Smith the next day that "contraband" had been found on the Macintosh laptop computer.

The following day, Lang and Smith interviewed Douglas in Unity, where he allegedly admitted that over the course of years he had viewed child pornography on the Internet.

Douglas reportedly told the officers the sexually explicit images he had viewed depicted a range of individuals, from children as young as toddlers up to and including adult women.

Douglas reportedly told Lang and Smith that he had viewed the images on his school-issued laptop while at home, and that the same images found on the school-issued laptop could be found on his home computer.

After the interview, Lang and Smith followed Douglas to his residence in Augusta, where Douglas reportedly turned over a Dell computer to the officers and signed a consent form allowing the Computer Crimes Unit to analyze it.

Smith gave the computer to the Computer Crimes Unit in Vassalboro and within two weeks a technician with the Computer Crimes Unit told Smith she had found "evidence of suspected child pornography."

According to court paperwork, Douglas was arrested Thursday, April 16, in Augusta and taken to Kennebec County Jail. A handwritten note on the affidavit states that bail conditions include that Douglas is not to use or possess a computer, and that he may not use or have access to the Internet.

Douglas was scheduled to be transferred to the Waldo County Jail but jail personnel in Belfast said Douglas had made bail at Kennebec County Jail prior to the scheduled transfer.

Kennebec County Jail personnel said Douglas had left the jail Thursday after his $1,000 bail had been posted.

The Republican Journal Reporter Steve Fuller can be reached at 207-338-3333 or by e-mail at sfuller@villagesoup.com.