Free UltraMap 2.0 Photogrammetric Software for Microsoft’s Aerial Cameras

By the end of this month, owners of Microsoft large and medium format aerial cameras will be able to grab a free upgrade of the second version of the UltraMap workflow software system. The upgrade will be offered by Vexcel Imaging GmbH, a Microsoft company, which produces the Redmond company’s digital aerial camera. According to a December 14th announcement from Vexcel, customers will be able to upgrade to the new UltraMap photogrammetric software version 2.0 release in 20 days, as roll-out is planned for debut on January 25th, 2010.
With UltraMap 2.0 customers running such cameras as UltraCamXp, UltraCamL, and UltraCamXp WA will be able to take advantage of a system designed to streamline the management and processing of vast amounts of data. UltraMap 2.0’s features come implemented in five modules: Framework, Raw Data Center, Radiometry, Viewer and Aerial Triangulation, according to the software giant. At the core of UltraMap is Microsoft’s Dragonfly technology, Vexcel stated. It is by leveraging Dragonfly that Microsoft can offer support for multi-channel 16-bit UltraCam imagery.

Seagate Launches the Pulsar SSD for Enterprise Servers

Building on its experience with Blade and other enterprise server types, Seagate worked long and hard to put together a powerful and reliable solid state drive, which would offer unparalelled data reliability and security. The Pulsar single level cell NAND solid state drive does not have storage capabilities any higher than those of other enterprise SSDs or hard drives, but its unique feature, which also makes it far superior, is its ability to retain the data stored in the DRAM cache in case of power loss.

Despite the superior speeds that the drive may have been capable of had it been designed for use with the 6 Gbit/s SAS or PCIe, the Pulsar SSD works on the SATA II 3Gb/s interface. This was done in order for the drive to work on Seagate's OEMs' existing motherboard chipsets, otherwise said OEMs would have had to switch to different, more expensive server motherboards in order to support additional interfaces. Enterprises shouldn't worry, though, since the Pulsar is fully capable of 30,000 and 25,000 IOPS peak read/write speeds with 4KB blocks. This is the equivalent of 240 MB/s sequential read speeds and 200 MB/s sequential write speeds.

The company has been working on this product for quite a while and select OEMs have been receiving shipments of the product since September, which means that some may have already begun to make use of the storage unit. The Pulsar comes with storage capabilities of 50GB, 100GB and 200GB and its most important feature, which ensures total data reliability, is the DRAM's aforementioned ability to retain stored data even in the case of power failures. This means that enterprises will no longer be in danger of losing valuable research data.

Lenovo Intros ARM-Based Skylight Smartbook

Smartbooks have been gaining attention on the IT market thanks to their being a sort of hybrid between smartphones and netbooks. Basically, they are designed with a netbook form factor while boasting certain smarphone capabilities such as an always-on and all-day battery life. Lenovo just finished launching its own product, named Skylight, and, naturally, plans to showcase it during the Consumer Electronics Show.

The smartbook has a 10.1-inch screen, but is much thinner than any netbook model to date. Unlike netbooks, however, it does not use x86 processors, leveraging, instead, the capabilities of the ARM architecture. The Snapdragon chipset used in the device's construction runs at 1GHz. The device itself has 20GB of flash storage, an 8GB miniSD card and 2GB of Lenovo cloud storage space. In addition, the Skylight is designed with two USB ports (one in a flip-jack form), a mini-HDMI and will be able to connect to the Internet through the built-in WiFi and the AT&T WWAN module.

The Skylight will supposedly be able to run on battery power for up to ten hours while offering the possibility for a seamless web browsing and accessing “web gadgets” such as Facebook and Gmail. The smartbook even has various multimedia features thanks to its custom OS based on Linux. Among the built-in special elements are Amazon MP3 and Roxio CinemaNow for music and movie purchasing. Coupled with the screen capable of a 1280x720 resolution, it may be that even movie viewing will be possible.

Next-Generation WirelessHD Standard Reaches 28 Gbps

The WirelessHD Consortium finished defining the new WirelessHD standard that will enable unprecedented wireless data transfer for a variety of electronics, allowing for vivid and accurate content sharing and display. The specification is the standard wireless digital interface for HD consumer electronics and is supported by 50 global technology corporations. The updated technology is the only 60GHz specification included in the Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEEE) 802.15.3c global standard and provides wireless lossless A/V support.

When based on the new standard, PCs, Blu-ray players and HDTVs, among others, will be capable of a fast and accurate data transfer, even in case of multi-gigabyte files. This will be achievable thanks to the high data rates of 10 to 28 Gbps, which will support next-generation, high-definition display demands (DeepColor, high frame rates and high-speed data applications). The 4K resolution support will allow devices to display content in HD four times better than 1080p. This means that the supported resolution may reach that used in digital theaters.

Another feature of the new specification is the data support. Both portable and fixed devices will be capable of a 1Gbps sync'n go file transfer, as well as of IP connectivity for Internet and networking. Among the compatible portable devices are even low-power products such as netbooks, smartphones and media players. In addition, both the current and future WirelessHD versions will support HDCP 2.0 content protection, besides DTCP, even while being the only specification to support both media streaming and copying operations.

Finally, the new standard will be capable of transmitting 3D content over WirelessHD by defining common 3D formats and resolutions for supported devices. The specification will be backwards-compatible with previous technology.

Besides this major enhancement to the WirelessHD 1.0 specification, the group has also announced its new, Panasonic-developed Authorized Self Test House (ASTH). This new ASTH will become the consortium's internal facility where the protocol compliance and interoperability of WirelessHD products will be tested during the early part of 2010.

7 tips for working securely from wireless hotspots

1. Try to choose more secure connections
It's not always possible to choose your connection type—but when you can, opt for wireless networks that require a network security key or have some other form of security, such as a certificate. The information sent over these networks is encrypted, which can help protect your computer from unauthorized access. The security features of different networks appear along with the network name as your PC discovers them.

2. Make sure your firewall is activated
A firewall helps protect your mobile PC by preventing unauthorized users from gaining access to your computer through the Internet or a network. It acts as a barrier that checks all incoming information, and then either blocks the information or allows it to come through. All Microsoft Windows operating systems come with a firewall, and you can make sure it's turned on.

3. Monitor your access points
Chances are that there are multiple wireless networks anywhere you're trying to connect. These connections are all access points, because they link into the wired system that gives you Internet access. So how do you make sure you're connecting to the right one? Simple—by configuring your PC to let you approve access points before you connect.

4. Disable file and printer sharing
File and printer sharing is a feature that enables other computers on a network to access resources on your computer. When you are using your mobile PC in a hotspot, it's best to disable file and printer sharing—when it's enabled, it leaves your computer vulnerable to hackers. Remember, though, to turn this feature back on when you return to the office.

5. Make your folders private
When the folders on your mobile PC are private, it's more difficult for hackers to access your files.

6. Encrypt your files
You can protect your files further by encrypting them, which requires a password to open or modify them. Because you must perform this procedure on one file at a time, consider password-protecting only the files that you plan to use while working in a public place.

7. Consider completely removing sensitive data from your notebook PC
If you're working with extremely sensitive data, it might be worth taking it off your notebook PC altogether. Instead, save it on a corporate network share and access it only when necessary. This way, you have multiple safeguards in place.

A few simple precautions can help make working in public places more secure. And by selecting the best connections and adjusting settings, you can enjoy productive and safe work sessions no matter where you are.

Microsoft Launches Office 2010 Beta

Microsoft has launched Office 2010 public beta. The five versions of Office 2010 are Office Home & Student 2010, Office Home & Business 2010, Office Professional 2010, Office Standard 2010 and Office Professional Plus 2010, the latter two are the versions which require volume licensing.

New features are lightweight online versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote, new e-mail management and viewing capabilities in Outlook. The ribbon feature introduced in Office 2008 will be extended to Outlook, Publisher and OneNote in Office 2010.

Windows 7 system requirements

If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes:

1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Additional requirements to use certain features:

Internet access (fees may apply)
Depending on resolution, video playback may require additional memory and advanced graphics hardware
Some games and programs might require a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10 or higher for optimal performance
For some Windows Media Center functionality a TV tuner and additional hardware may be required
Windows Touch and Tablet PCs require specific hardware
HomeGroup requires a network and PCs running Windows 7
DVD/CD authoring requires a compatible optical drive
BitLocker requires Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2
BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive
Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM, an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space, and a processor capable of hardware virtualization with Intel VT or AMD-V turned on
Music and sound require audio output