Hasta La Gadget!

If you ever needed a reason to go Linux, here you go. The noise surrounding this patently obscure Windows XP bug / patch fiasco has just reached a fever pitch, and now we’ve got engineers within Redmond scratching their heads, too. As the story goes, Microsoft recently patched a security hole that took care of an antediluvian DOS vulnerability, and in doing so, some users began to see BSODs and endless reboots. Today, we’ve learned that the patch has been yanked, and Microsoft is suggesting that malware is to blame. But here’s the skinny — the patch simply disturbed the malware, which called a specific kernel code that directs your PC to keel over; in other words, any application that calls that same code could theoretically leave your machine in dire straits. And that, friends, probably explains the software giant’s following quote:

“In our continuing investigation in to the restart issues related to MS10-015 that a limited number of customers are experiencing, we have determined that malware on the system can cause the behavior. We are not yet ruling out other potential causes at this time and are still investigating.“

Rock, meet hard place.

Windows XP patch fiasco gets even crazier, Microsoft now scrambling for solutions originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What can we say about you, DOS? You’ve rocked the personal computer world and changed the way we all feel about white on black console screens. Your retirement is a well deserved one and… wait, you’re getting a patch? Amazingly, Microsoft is fixing a bug that has existed in the Windows Virtual DOS Machine (VDM) subsystem since it was added to Windows NT way back in the simple days of 1993, when flannels were everywhere and 32 bits were more than we knew what to do with. Google engineer Tavis Ormandy found the exploit a few weeks ago, which grants an attacker the ability to run code in kernel mode, and a critical update has been issued to fix this most aged of vulnerabilities. Perhaps now, DOS, your work is finally done.

Ancient DOS bug gets squashed originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bugs are to be expected in brand-new apps and platforms — particularly when they’re clearly marked with a “beta” sign — but it starts to get a little hairier when there’s money involved. One of the early crowd favorites in Nokia’s Ovi Store for Maemo appears to be the game Angry Birds, which is available with a €3 level pack — problem is, plenty of folks have discovered a way around actually paying the cash, which becomes a big problem for the developer very, very quickly. The level pack has since been removed, probably the best move until Nokia can figure out what’s going on here and issue a patch. In the meantime, looks like it’s back to the ol’ repositories.

Nokia’s Maemo Ovi Store looking rickety, ‘beta’ label well-deserved originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Mobile users are facing an unexpected New Year’s surprise. A software bug has struck smartphones running the Microsoft operating system so all messages received starting January 1 are dated 2016.

Phones running versions 6.1 or 6.5 of Windows Mobile are reportedly affected. Microsoft and the handset makers haven’t responded yet with a fix for the bug. We are still waiting for a comment from the company.

The Windows Mobile bug is similar to the once-feared Y2K problem where computer programs had to be rewritten to ensure they interpreted the “00″ date tag as year 2000, instead of 1900. Windows Mobile had 11 percent share of the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2008. But it has been losing ground to competitors such as Apple with the iPhone OS and the Google-designed Android operating system. In the fourth quarter, Windows Mobile’s market share declined to 7.9 percent.

The latest Win Mobile bug is an annoyance to its users. Because messages are incorrectly dated, they get lost in the inbox and conversation threads don’t show up appropriately. Outgoing messages, though, are dated correctly.

There is a temporary solution. An unofficial patch tries to use the phone’s clock rather than the one used by the SMS gateway to date the  messages correctly.  Meanwhile, users of Windows Mobile based smartphones on T-Mobile’s network say they haven’t faced the problem.

See Also:

• How Microsoft Blew It With Windows Mobile
• Windows Mobile 7 Delayed Until Late 2010
• Verizon Drafts Developers Into Mobile Software War on Apple
• BTW: Microsoft See Windows Mobile Sales up 50% This and Next Year

Photo: (Tim Dorr/Flickr)

Adding insult to Sony Ericsson’s injurious bottom line, Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U shops (the UK’s largest mobile phone retailers) have halted sales of the SE’s Symbian-powered Satio handset after a high number of customer returns and complaints. A “software glitch” reportedly causes Sony Ericsson’s flagship device to power down when users try to access certain applications — unfortunately, the issue can’t be patched via an over-the-air update. A little digging into CPW discussion forums reveals multiple complaints of freezes, crashes, under-performing batteries, and bizarre interface behavior. Both the Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U will offer “new phones” to customers fed up with their Satio. Richard Dorman, senior marketing manager at Sony Ericsson, concedes the issue and assures us that it should be sorted by Christmas. Until then, you can still purchase the handset directly from Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile… but really, why would you? The Satio’s not the only dubiously-spec’d 12 megapixel cameraphone on the market.

[Thanks, ugotamesij]

Sony Ericsson Satio sales suspended after bugs discovered originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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