Microsoft, RIM Enter Licensing Agreement Ahead of BlackBerry 10

Microsoft and RIM have signed a licensing agreement that allows the BlackBerry to use technology for transferring audiovisual files between a desktop and mobile devices.

Microsoft and Research In Motion have entered into a patent-licensing agreement that extends Microsoft's Extended File Allocation Tablet—known as exFAT, which, even more fun, is the predecessor of an earlier FAT system—to select BlackBerry smartphones.

exFAT, Microsoft explained in a Sept. 18 statement, is a modern file system that facilitates the transfer of large audiovisual files between a desktop and mobile devices.

"Today's smartphones and tablet require the capacity to display richer images and data than traditional cellular phones," David Kaefer, general manager of Intellectual Property Licensing at Microsoft, said in a statement. "This agreement with RIM highlights how a modern file system ... can help directly address the specific needs of customers in the mobile industry."

The deal also offers a reminder that—oh, yes!—while Apple, Nokia, Motorola, Amazon and others announce products that will see them through the holiday shopping season, RIM continues to work on the upcoming BlackBerry 10 platform and smartphones that it won't introduce until early 2013. Speaking with London's Telegraph in August, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins narrowed that timeline a bit, promising smartphones in January.

Heins stepped into the CEO role in January and soon after began remaking the company, cutting thousands of staff positions to save money, slimming down the executive staff—he replaced RIM's two CEOs and was one of at least two COOs at the company. Heins also announced that RIM would become a leaner, meaner company, focusing intently on exactly what it does best and leaving all the rest to partners.

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

"I'm not going to develop games anymore, i'm not going to develop maps—there's a company out there that really can do it better than I can," Heins told eWEEK during a private interview Aug. 14. "So, I need to partner, I need to get [developers] on board, and I need to get them a great programming interface, and off we go."

Heins promised that in addition to RIM's expected enterprise features, BlackBerry 10 will also offer a very strong consumer experience—which is where exFAT may help out.

RIM's agreement with Microsoft seems one more example of the company knowing when to look beyond its Waterloo, Ontario, headquarters for help. Even when the help comes from a direct competitor.

RIM is said to be in competition with Microsoft and its largest handset partner, Nokia, for the coveted third position on the mobile podium—if such a thing exists. While analysts have reported that the wireless carriers want and will aggressively support a third mobile platform, against which they might balance the expenses of the Apple iPhone and high-end Android handsets—others say there's no longer room for a third party.

"Ninety-eight percent of [the mobile market] will be shared by Google's Android and Apple's iOS," Global Equities Research analysts wrote in a Sept. 13 research note. "There will not be any third spot left. Nokia, Microsoft and RIM will struggle in the remaining 2 percent of the market."

RIM, like Nokia, was once a dominant mobile player and is working to regain market share from Apple and Android.

Heins remarked on a Canadian radio program earlier this summer, "I am positive that when we launch BlackBerry 10, there will be huge support from our carrier partners, from our enterprise customers and that we will eemerge—specifically in the U.S. and in Canada—and a very strong player..."

Windows 8 'doesn't move the needle' on security, says Symantec

Symantec said Windows 8 "doesn't move the needle much" on security as it rolled out new versions of its antivirus software and promised to provide users with several so-called "Modern" apps for the new operating system.

On Wednesday, the security developer released new versions of its consumer titles Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security and Norton 360.

The new programs are optimized for Windows 8's traditional desktop environment -- the side of the new OS that looks much like Windows 7 -- said Gerry Egan, senior director, product management, in an interview. When Windows 8 ships in late October, Symantec will offer a trio of apps specific for the tile-based user interface (UI) once known as "Metro" and now often referred to as "Modern."

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

Those apps, which have not yet been given final names, will include one that connects to Symantec's cloud-based back-end management system to give users a view into the security health of Windows and the hardware; another that uses the company's "whitelist" technology to sniff out suspicious data and files, including corrupted Modern apps; and a third that uses Internet Explorer 10's (IE10) engine inside a customized browser that Egan said will let customers "surf online securely."

The Modern apps will hit the Windows Store -- Microsoft's regulated app store for Windows 8 and Windows RT software -- on or just after the Oct. 26 debut of the operating system upgrade.

Initially, said Egan, those apps will be available free to everyone, hinting that at some point they could be restricted to customers who had purchased the traditional Norton desktop security software and had an up-to-date subscription to Symantec's services.

"It's a way to explore [the new UI], and introduce customers to our presence there," said Egan of Symantec's move into Modern.

"But we need to see where that [malware] flows, what the problems are for our customers, before we do more [on Modern]," Egan continued. "What we do will depend on the attack surfaces in Windows RT and Windows 8. Microsoft has laid down some very stringent guidelines on what's allowable [on Modern], which also ties our hands. So if there is more to do in the future, we may not be able to because it would infringe those guidelines."

Egan was mostly referring to policies set by Microsoft that "sandbox," or isolate, apps from each other and from the traditional desktop in Windows 8 to provide a more secure environment.

Microsoft is relying on sandboxing, as well as the curated Windows Store -- it reviews each app prior to approval, looking for everything from malware to undisclosed rights -- to secure the tiled side of Windows 8, and all of Windows RT, the touch-first, tablet-oriented spin-off.

Not surprisingly, Egan didn't think much of Microsoft's security moves in Windows 8 as he set up several "myths" about the new OS only to then knock each down.

"We're just not seeing any significant improvements in Windows 8 security ... it doesn't move the needle much," Egan said, ticking off everything from the new Secure Boot feature to a beefed-up Smart Screen anti-malware filter.

"It's partially true that Windows 8 is more secure," said Egan, pointing to the concept of the Windows Store and its approved apps. "But underneath is a traditional Windows-Intel desktop, which is backward compatible with both the good code and the bad."

Much of Egan's disparagement of Windows 8's security can be traced to Windows 8's bundling of Windows Defender, an old name for a heavily reworked product.

In Windows 8, Windows Defender combines characteristics of both the earlier anti-spyware program of the same name, and the free Security Essentials, the antivirus program that previously was offered as a separate download.

Windows Defender serves as the operating system's default protection against malware, and will switch itself off only if it detects an active third-party antivirus program that's receiving signature updates.

Although Security Essentials has stirred third-party antivirus vendors in the past to complain that Microsoft wasn't playing fair, the move to bundle Defender with Windows 8 hasn't prodded them to go public with similar beefs.

Egan argued that Symantec's software does a better job of protecting users than Windows Defender. "We believe we add so much more value over and above [Defender]," he said.

But John Pescatore, a Gartner analyst, said Symantec has bigger problems than Windows Defender.

"They're all going after a shrinking pool of machines," said Pescatore of stalled PC sales as smartphones and tablets consume discretionary dollars. "The percentage of devices running Windows is dropping. And there are more players going after that shrinking pool."

Symantec may play up the Windows 8 angle for its new titles, but the truth, said Pescatore, is that Microsoft's decision to mimic Apple and Google by offering an app store means traditional antivirus vendors have an unclear future.

"There's never been a market for security software on iOS," Pescatore observed. "So if Microsoft pushes the whitelist idea of an app store, there's less and less need for the [antivirus] commodity."

Egan's complaint that the hooks into the boot process -- dubbed "Early Load Anti-malware Driver," or ELAM -- doesn't allow software makers to deploy their full set of weapons is actually a good thing, Pescatore argued.

"It's better that the [Windows 8] platform doesn't let security software's root kits work, because that means it also cripples the bad guys' root kits," Pescatore said.

The 2013 editions of Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security and Norton 360 are available at retail stores and from Symantec's online store. Norton AntiVirus costs $39.99 for a one-year license for a single PC; Norton Internet Security runs $79.99 for one year of protection for up to three Windows machines; and Norton 360 costs $89.99 for a three-PC, one-year.

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

Highest paid engineers in mobile tech

Engineering salaries are still rising, but not as fast as in the good old days

WASHINGTON -- Engineers working on communications technology were paid a a median salary of $135,087 last year, the highest in the profession, according to new IEEE-USA survey data.

The lowest paid engineers, with a median salary of $107,820, specialize in energy and power engineering, the survey found.

This data was collected from more than 10,200 IEEE-USA members in an annual survey.

Overall, engineers in electrotechnology and IT, which includes electrical engineering, the survey had a median income of $120,000 last year, according to the survey.

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

Ed Kirchner, who chairs the employment and career services committee at IEEE-USA, said "communications technology" label is broad and reflects the fusion of computers and mobile tech. "It is literally everybody who would fall under the umbrella of electrical or computer engineering," said Kirchner.

By job skills, the category would include circuit designers, software engineers, computer engineers and network engineers, he added.

"The breadth of engineers who can work in that technology has really spread out," said Kirchner, an IEEE-USA volunteer and works for a communications company as a project engineer and deputy program manager.

The growth of the smartphone industry has been explosive, said Kirchner, and engineering salaries are directly tied to the financial performance of the companies they work for.

Engineering and IT salaries increased by 1.7% last year, less than half the rate of the prior year, reports the IEEE-USA, in its latest salary survey.

"I think it's very good news that salaries are still rising. The fact they are rising at a smaller rate reflects the fact that raises are smaller, bonuses are smaller," said Kirchner.

In normal economic times, the raise budgets are more on the order of 6% or so, he said.

Some other median levels for engineering salaries include: circuits and devices, $129,000; signals and applications, $127,000; industrial applications, $110,000 and systems and control, $112,000.

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com