Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

The latest data released by Microsoft has revealed some interesting truths regarding Vista, XP and security.  Nearly every possible aspect of Vista has been attacked, and it’s been labeled as a failure by many who continue to use XP and campaign for continued support.  However, data released in the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report shows that Vista is in fact less vulnerable to exploits than XP.

The data, which was collected from January to June this year, shows a decline of vulnerabilities from 116 to 77 in a downward trend that mirrors the industry, which, in turn, has a 19% decrease.  Regarding XP and Vista Microsoft found that in computers running XP, Microsoft’s own software contained 42% of the vulnerabilities attacked with third party software making up the other 58%.  However in Vista PCs, only 6% of vulnerabilities were in Microsoft software, and this is due to (according to Vinny Gullotto general manager of Microsoft’s malware protection center) new security technologies.  More after the break.

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Whenever one country receives a highly anticipated piece of technology first, many other countries get jealous and find ways to illegally obtain that device.  Currently, T-Mobile’s G1 was only released several days ago in America and hasn’t been released elsewhere at this time.  Some Chinese are desperate to try out the first phone running Google’s Android and so they have begun buying G1s from American consumers for big bucks, or should I say big renminbi. 

For about RMB 3,999, about $584, you can purchase your own G1.  If you wish to purchase an unlocked G1, then it will cost an additional RMB 500, or $73.  It looks like the price of the G1 will remain high, until T-Mobile officially introduces the G1 to China, even though China is receiving a lot of illegal phones. 

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Sony has recently began to venture into the Chinese market, and they did this by announcing the new, fancy, and pretty expensive PMX-M80 portable media player.

One of the key features of this PMP is that it comes with preloaded maps, similar to Google Maps, which could be found on the iPhone. These maps also come with POI’s. In addition, it comes with a GPSesque 4.3-inch screen with a 480 x 272 resolution, 16GB hard drive, voice recorder, up to 6 hours of video playback, expandable memory via memory stick, and a lot of format support including SRS 3D audio, MP4, AVI, WMA, MP3, and AAC.

As on now, Sony is retailing the device for 2,260 Yuan, or about $331 US.

Via [PMP Today]

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Chinese Internet users from Beijing and Shanghai are reporting that they can now access the English-language version of Wikipedia after it was blocked by the Chinese authorities a couple of months ago. However, the Chinese version and other sites which have politically sensitive topics such as Tibet and Tiananmen Square remained restricted at this time.

The decision to remove the restriction followed after an inspector from the International Olympic Committee (OIC) told the Beijing Olympic organizers that the Chinese government should remove the restriction even just for the duration of the 2008 Olympics. According to the inspector, continually blocking the access to Wikipedia might reflect a bad impression about the host country.

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Imagine buying a phone, signing up for a data plan, and never having to walk near a wall charger again. With this generic new touchscreen phone from China, now you can. With a 3-inch touchscreen, a 1.3-megapixel camera, four built-in speakers, dual-SIM card support, and a whopping 2-year long manufacturer-rated battery life, this just might prove to be “the last mobile phone you’ll ever need.“ It also has Bluetooth, an MP3 player, an e-book reader and handwriting recognition in both the English and Chinese language. I think it’s about time the big players in the handset market came around and tried to find out just how China men manage to churn out phones like these. Just what do they fuel these phones with? God?

Via [Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]

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The Chinese are at it again. Their latest victim? The N95 8GB. If you don’t have the heart or a big enough pocket to pony up the $650 or so that the original N95 will set you back, the CECTN95E should be right up your alley. For just $145 you get a 5-megapixel camera, GPRS, WAP, Bluetooth 2.0, and handwriting recognition with a bundled 512MB TransFlash card. There are some features we really have to admit as improvements, like the 1600 mAh battery x2, multilanguage support, 3-inch QVGA touchscreen display, and dual SIM support. Not bad, eh? Care to take a few pointers, Nokia?

Via [Solomobi]

• Facing competition Nokia begins to slash phone prices
• Some Chinese buying illegally imported T-Mobile G1s
• Vista showing its worth