Avira AntiVirus Emergency-Rescue-LiveCD - February 2009

The safe way to remove viruses from a computer without the risk of getting infected.

Boot from the Avira Emergency-Rescue Disk to scan and remove virus/malware from an infected computer without the risk of infecting other files or computers.

Bootable ISO, based on Avira AntiVirus.

Virus definition updates, manually: yes

Language: English

All you need to do is burn the ISO image to a CD, insert it into the infected system’s CD-ROM
drive and reboot* the computer.
*(If not done already, enter the PC’s BIOS, set it to boot from CD).

Amazon Launches Online Game Download Store

Casual gamers can now purchase and download games from Amazon Game Download Store service. The segment of casual gaming online has turned lukewarm these days. To spice up the casual gaming scene, Amazon has launched a beta version of Game Download Store for offering download able games. The Games Download Store can be accessed here.

Amazon s Game Download Store showcased about 600 games on the first day of which three games were available for free. The free games -- Jewel Quest II, Build-a-lot and The Scuffs -- could be downloaded after installing the Amazon Games and Software Downloader application.

Amazon will be offering downloadable games in the price range of $6.99 to $9.99 (Rs. 336 to Rs. 480). The games are downloadable initially as 30-minute trials. Once the trial period gets over, customer will be asked to buy the game. On starting the game for the first time after it s bought, notification via call will be delivered to confirm the transaction.

Though the service is still in Beta, Amazon promises to add more titles the games gallery. Amazon has put a bold step following their online music (mp3) and software download service.

Why there are so many iPhone games

New data from ComScore showing that 32.4% iPhone owners have downloaded at least one game — compared with only 3.8% for the average cell phone owner – sparked some fresh analysis of the booming iPhone (and iPod touch) game market.

As of Tuesday morning, according 148Apps, there were 18,737 applications on the App Store and 4,078 of them — nearly 22% — were games.

Why so many?

The obvious first answer is that games are very popular. Six out of the top 10 paid apps on Apple’s (AAPL) App Store are currently games or entertainment programs, which makes those categories particularly attractive to software developers.

On Monday, MacRumors dug up some back-of-the-envelope calculations done in mid-January for Byte of the Apple by Jeff Holden, CEO of Pelago software, who calculated that the 17 million-plus iPhone users had downloaded as much software as 1.6 billion other cell phone users.

“To a developer,” he wrote, “what this means is that if he launches an app for non-iPhones (assuming he has deals with all carriers and has ported to every handset in distribution on which people can download apps), he needs to have a reach 94 times as large as the reach he needs in the iPhone community (which does not require any carrier deals and is via single platform, so no porting) to achieve the same number of downloads.

“Why,” Holden concludes, “would I ever build for anything but the iPhone?” (link)

But there are even deeper reasons for the iPhone’s popularity among game developers, and over the weekend Prince McLean laid them out in a thoughtful post for AppleInsider.

McLean cites an easy-to-use software store, attractive pricing, a nearly-invisible DRM scheme to ward off pirating, a Mac OS-like application development environment and particularly lucky timing (the iPhone 3G launched and the App Store opened six months before the economy officially tanked).

The result is a software ecosystem that produces real gaming value at bargain prices.

“Combined with the sophisticated iPhone hardware platform, with hardware accelerated 3D graphics and a decently powerful CPU,” McLean writes, “Apple’s App Store games even give dedicated handheld gaming devices a run for their money.” (link)

To illustrate his point, McLean posts screen shots — reproduced below — of Sega’s popular Super Monkey Ball as it appears on four platforms (and at four price points):

* Nokia’s NGage version for smartphones ($20, top left)
* A dumbed-down mini-game version for the Nokia N95 ($10, top right)
* The iPhone version ($10, middle)
* The same title on the Sony PlayStation Portable ($40, bottom).

Microsoft aims to show Windows 7 'readiness'

After getting dinged for constantly changing plans with Windows Vista, Microsoft is taking the opposite approach with Windows 7.

The software maker is being extremely conservative with what it says publicly about the operating system--a move it says is deliberate.



"The lack of a predictable schedule combined with the churn of features late in the the process made it hard for partners to know is this the real Windows Vista," Nash said. "The result of our lack of predictability was everybody (saying) 'Let's wait for this thing to stop spinning.'"

With Windows 7, Microsoft has tried to share details only as they became relatively certain. The hope is that even though Microsoft isn't talking as early about its plans, it is talking with more certainty when it does speak.

That move has led to far fewer changes in plans--but also means that Microsoft is still hedging on key questions--in particular, when Windows 7 will ship.

Microsoft has said only that it will ship within three years of the mainstream launch of Windows Vista--essentially by January 2010. However, the company is widely seen as trying to get Windows 7 on machines in time for this year's holiday season.

Without being any more specific on dates, Microsoft is trying to get its partners to make sure their software and hardware is ready for the new operating system. Although Windows 7 doesn't introduce the kinds of major changes that Vista represented versus Windows XP, the company does need hardware and software makers to double check that their Vista-compatible stuff also works with Windows 7.

On Monday, Microsoft is announcing the Windows 7 Readiness program, an effort to formalize that process. In an interview, vice president Mike Nash said the company hopes that by speaking about the product only as details have been nailed down, the company will restore credibility with its partners.

Those who take part in the readiness program will have access to additional documentation and test builds from Microsoft. The goal, Nash said, is not just to increase adoption for Windows 7-specific features such as Device Stage and multitouch, but also to convince developers to start building on some of the features that have been in place since Vista.

"Some features in Windows Vista...have not gotten the adoption we would like to see," Nash said, pointing in particular to the Windows Presentation Foundation graphics layer that was built into Vista, but has yet to be widely adopted as part of Windows applications.

Free Download Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 8.0.0.451 RC2

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 8.0.0.451 RC2 - 32 MB

Supported platforms: 32- and 64-bit Windows (Vista, XP, Windows 2000 (SP3 and above)


Kaspersky Internet Security 8.0 – is a new line of Kaspersky Labs products, which is designed for the multi-tiered protection of personal computers. This product is based on in-house protection components, which are based on variety of technologies for maximum levels of user protection regardless of technical competencies. This product utilizes several technologies, which were jointly developed by Kaspersky Labs and other companies; part of them is implemented via online-services.


Features:

During product preparation several competitor offerings were considered and analyzed - firewalls, security suites systems, which position themselves as proactive in defence and HIPS systems. Combination of in-hosue innovative developments and results from analysis gathered through the industry allowed to jump onto a new level of protection for personal users, whereby offering even more hardened and less annoying computer protection from all types of electronic threats – malicious programs of different types, hacker attacks, spam mailings, program-root kits, phishing emails, advertisement popup windows etc.

Product contains 6 main subsystems, and each of those includes basic protection components:
1) System watch. System watcher (all-in-one system for registering events).
- HIPS (host intrusion prevention system - proactive defense, which is based on limiting application actions on a system)
- PDM (system of proactive defense, which is based on application behavior analysis for malicious/suspicious activities)
- Firewall (personal protection screen)
2) Malware protection
- Protection of files and memory (File-Antivirus)
- Protection of email and IM (Mail-Antivirus)
- Protection of WEB (Web-Antivirus)
3) Online Security
- Protection from Phishing (Anti-Phishing)
- Protection against network attacks (IDS)
- Protection from auto-dialers (Anti-Dialer)
4) Content Filtering
- Spam Filtering (Anti-Spam)
- Banner Filtering (Anti-Banner)
- Parental Control
5) On Demand Scanning (Scan tasks)
6) Updater

Free Download Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition 16.1.0.33

The Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition application was designed to be the fastest virus protection you can get. It stops spyware, worms, bots, and other threats cold—without slowing down your PC. When you’re gaming, your protection should get out of the way. Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition does exactly that.


Features:
Gamer Mode
No alerts + no notifications = no interruptions
Optional settings to temporarily suspend updates, behavioral scanning and intrusion prevention
Enabled automatically when your PC is in full screen mode
Activate manually with a quick click on the Norton system tray icon

Lightning Fast
Rapid Pulse Updates every 5 to 15 minutes
Installs in less than a minute
Adds less than 1 second to boot time

Light as a Feather
Uses less than 6MB memory even without the Gamer Mode performance boost
Needs less than 50MB hard disk space on installation
Runs only 2 processes at a time
Performance graphs display CPU and memory usage and how little Norton is using

Respects your needs
Smart Scheduler holds resource intensive actions for when you are not using your PC
Resource usage table shows you the what, when and how long for background actions taken by Norton AntiVirus
Delivers consistently strong protection - that’s why Norton AntiVirus has won more consecutive Virus Bulletin 100 awards than any other AV software

Here are some key features of "Norton AntiVirus 2009 Gaming Edition":

Lightning Fast and Light as a Feather:
· Fastest and lightest virus, spyware, and rootkit protection available, optimized for gaming.
· Installs in under one minute on average.
· Requires less than 6 MB of memory—eight times less memory than the competitive industry average.
· Opens only two processes.
· Uses less than 50 MB of hard disk space (without definitions).
· Adds less than 3 seconds to boot time.
· Norton Insight technology scans only those files at risk, resulting in fewer, shorter, and faster scans of less than 35 seconds on average—almost five times faster than the competitive industry average.

Gamer Mode:
· Suspends alerts and notifications to avoid interrupting game play.
· Option to suspend real-time monitoring activities and updates to reduce PC and network resource usage even further.
· Automatically enabled when PC is in full-screen mode.
· Turn it on manually with a simple click on the Norton system tray icon.

Protection:
· Automatically detects and removes the latest online threats.
· Tiny, rapid Pulse Updates every 5 to 15 minutes—30 times more often than the competitive industry average.
· Norton Protection System delivers multilayered protection.
· Patent-pending, industry-leading protection from Web-based attacks.
· Real-time SONAR (Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response) technology detects emerging spyware and viruses before traditional definitions are even available.
· Botnet detection prevents bots from taking control of your PC.
· Norton Recovery Tool boots and repairs badly infected PCs.
· Specialized deep-cleaning technology delivers our most complete scan possible.
· Easy access to intelligence on Internet threats targeting gamers.
· Control Without Disruptions
· Smart Scheduler automatically schedules non time-critical activities such as scans and updates to occur while your PC is idle.
· Comprehensive control gives you the option to customize your security settings.
· Review the security status of every process on your PC.

Product Support:
· Free tech support and online knowledge base deliver the help you need, however you need it.
· Information for Gamers links directly to gaming related security information and more.


Requirements:

· 300 MHz or faster processor
· 256 MB of RAM (512 MB RAM required for the Recovery Tool)
· 150 MB of available hard disk space.
· Microsoft Internet Explorer 32-bit 6.0 or later
· Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or later

New BlackBerry Storm challenges the iPhone

The BlackBerry, a phone and e-mail device that just a few years ago could be found mostly clipped to the belts of high-powered professionals, isn't just for workaholics anymore.

To its fiercest devotees, one of the best things about the BlackBerry is its carefully designed physical keyboard, which the skilled addict can play like a violin. These folks scorn Apple's popular iPhone, whose keyboard is virtual and must be operated by tapping on the screen.

Now Verizon Wireless and Research in Motion, BlackBerry's maker, have done the unthinkable: On Nov. 21, they introduced a BlackBerry model without a physical keyboard, one where typing and navigating require tapping on glass, just as on the iPhone. This new model is the Storm, which sells for $250 with a two-year contract, though a $50 mail-in rebate can bring the price close to the $199 that Apple charges for the base iPhone.

Despite having a keyboard, the Storm is a real BlackBerry, with push e-mail, corporate features and the familiar menus. In many respects, it is a touch-based, large-screen version of the recently released BlackBerry Bold, which is the most polished version of a traditional BlackBerry. It is also the latest member of the new class of hand-held computers, the super-smartphone category kicked off by the iPhone last year and joined by the Google G1 earlier this year.

The Storm sports a large, high-resolution touch screen that fills most of its surface and automatically switches from portrait to landscape mode when the phone is turned. There's also a forthcoming souped-up download store for third-party software, meant to be similar to the ones on the iPhone and the Google phone. The Storm can even be used in European and other countries where most Verizon phones don't work.

This is a nice touch

Its biggest innovation is a clever feature RIM hopes will give the Storm an advantage over the iPhone. When you strike a key or icon on the Storm's screen, you feel a physical sensation, as if you were pressing a real key or button. That's because you are pressing a real button. The entire glass display is one large button, mounted on a mechanical substructure that allows it to move upon pressure.

The idea behind this feature is to make typing on glass feel much more like typing on a real keyboard, and thus to make the virtual keyboard, and the touch interface, more acceptable to people used to physical keyboards and buttons. This push-down screen also replaces the side-mounted scroll wheel or track ball on other BlackBerrys for activating menu choices and icons.

For years, Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM has been the de facto provider of e-mail devices for corporations. But the company has its sights on the consumer market.

It launched its first mainstream TV advertising campaign this year and is partnering with Verizon to expand a marketing blitz that has touted the Storm on TV and in newspapers.

"It's only in the last year that they've made a real concerted effort to branch into consumers," said Barry Richards, a senior analyst at Paradigm Capital who owns shares in RIM.

RIM is trying to gain market share as tech-savvy consumers embrace smartphones, which account for 12.6 percent of U.S. handsets but 19 percent of recently acquired phones, according to Nielsen Mobile.

"The smartphone market has plenty of room to grow, and we are well-positioned to benefit from our continued focus on innovation, customer value and partnerships," said Mark Guibert, RIM's vice president of corporate marketing.

Like other handset makers, RIM faces competition from Apple's iPhone, whose sales have surprised analysts since its launch in June 2007. According to the NPD Group, the Apple gadget was the top-selling phone in the third quarter, followed by Motorola's Razr and the Blackberry Curve.

That's not good news for carriers such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, which collectively lost 2 million subscribers in one quarter to AT&T, the exclusive provider of the iPhone, Paradigm's Richards said.

Carriers are especially interested in signing up smartphone customers because they need data plans, which are more lucrative for carriers, said Jim Ricotta, chief executive of Azuki Systems, a mobile media services company.

The Storm isn't the iPhone's first competitor. T-Mobile's G1, Samsung's Instinct and LG's Dare all have touch-screen capabilities.

But RIM said it goes a step further, with what it is calling the "world's first 'clickable' touch screen." And it captures video, which the iPhone doesn't. It does include one popular iPhone feature: an accelerometer, which means the screen shifts depending on which way you hold it.

The Storm is "not an iPhone killer, but it is intended as a retention tool to keep people that have a BlackBerry but might be eyeing the iPhone," said Charles Golvin, analyst at Forrester Research.

The introduction of the touch-screen Storm, business-savvy Bold 9000 and consumer-geared Pearl Flip 8220 may not have come a moment too soon for RIM, which has dominated the market for high-end cell phones that double as e-mail devices. Apple reported selling 6.9 million iPhone 3Gs during its last quarter, while RIM sold 6.1 million BlackBerrys in roughly the same period.

But while RIM's latest offerings are packed with features like stereo Bluetooth, standard headphone jacks, video recording, multiple e-mail options, the multifront attack may not be enough to unseat the mighty iPhone.

One neat feature is the Storm's ability to take videos in two resolutions; the lower one is meant for sending clips in messages. You can also take still photos with the Storm's 3.2 megapixel camera. It also includes GPS. But its lack of Wi-Fi capabilities means you can't get online in the absence of Verizon's data network.

The BlackBerry Bold 9000, with its full QWERTY keyboard, crystal-clear 2.75-inch screen and bevy of wireless options, is well-suited for business and extracurricular pursuits. It's $300 after rebate, with a two-year contract.

The device runs on AT&T's 3G network and can use Wi-Fi, which made it easy to check e-mail and stream videos. Calls came in nice and clear, and the phone is rated for 4.5 hours of talking time.

Like the Storm, the Bold has GPS capabilities and can give driving directions.

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 has a Razr-like design that looks somewhat quaint. The Flip ($150 after rebate, with a new two-year contract), available from T-Mobile, is easy to use and might appeal if you're making the switch from a traditional handset.

Like other Pearl devices, the Flip's condensed QWERTY keyboard puts two letters on most keys -- a setup that makes it easier to slip the phone into your back pocket but can take some getting used to during messaging.

The Flip's 2.5-inch main screen is clear and bright. Its 1.75-inch outer screen can give you information like message previews. Given the main screen's small size, it may take you a little more time to navigate the Web, but it can be useful for looking up news and will let you stream video from some sites.

The Flip doesn't include GPS, but you can enter your location in the included BlackBerry Maps application to find nearby businesses or obtain driving directions.

Gaining smartphone share

RIM is expected to gain some footing in the smartphone market because it offers phones with touch screens, flip screens and keyboards that appeal to a wide range of consumers. A Forrester survey found that 18 percent of 12- to 18-year-olds who frequently used the Internet on their phones wanted a BlackBerry; only 15 percent said they wanted an iPhone.

Still, few smartphones please consumers and critics like the iPhone, which is praised for its speedy Web browser and user-friendly applications. RIM will have an especially tough time competing in the fourth quarter because Apple gets so much holiday foot traffic in its stores, said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis with the NPD Group.

But analysts say that this quarter is only the beginning of the game between Apple, RIM and the other competitors.

"They're looking at each other's devices and trying to figure out how they can keep their edge, and also how they can copy what the other one does better," said Roger Entner, senior vice president, communications sector at Nielsen IAG.

The Associated Press, Dow Jones Newswires and Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service contributed to this story.