vpn

QNX unveiled its CAR Application Platform that uses mobile phones to integrate the latest technology and applications with a vehicle's infotainment system. The Canadian company's platform goes beyond Bluetooth audio streaming and uses Nokia Terminal Mode and Apple iPod Out to connect smartphones with the vehicle's multimedia head unit, opening the door to adding e-mail, social networking, music, navigation, and other applications, such as parking spot finders, to in-dash screens.

The integration strategy will enable users to eliminate the learning curve for mastering a new audio system. QNX will also be able to add new functionality quickly without hardware or software upgrades. The downside is that the available features depend on the phone and apps you use.

Based on QNX's promotional videos, it appears non-iPhone users will get the most robust functionality. QNX uses the VPN protocol to connect Terminal Mode-equipped smartphones with the vehicles' multimedia head unit, replicating the device's interface on the navigation screen. The car occupants can use the audio and steering-wheel controls or touch-screen to interact with the phone, and QNX will disable certain features it deems unsafe while driving. Unfortunately, iPod Out doesn't offer the type of data integration available on Terminal Mode-equipped phones.

Terminal Mode was developed by Nokia and Consumer Electronics for Automotive (CE4A), an association of which BMW, Audi, Daimler, and Volkswagen are members. QNX, formerly a subsidiary of Harman International, was purchased by Research In Motion last April. BMW offers Harman Kardon branded audio systems in its product line, and has already expressed intent to use QNX's platform to incorporate iPod Out and read BlackBerry e-mails to passengers.

QNX unveiled the new platform at the Society of Automotive Engineers Convergence 2010 conference last week in a modified Chevrolet Corvette, which also demoed QNX's dynamically reconfigurable digital instrument cluster. The feature offers two different displays: driving mode, which shows the tachometer and speedometer, or information mode, which shows weather, navigation, or entertainment information. … Read more

In something of a postscript to the main legal action, VirnetX announced Tuesday that the two patents involved in its dispute with Microsoft have been confirmed by the U.S. Patent Office as valid.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) confirmed VirnetX's U.S. Patent No. 6,502,135 and U.S. Patent No. 7,188,180 as patentable and valid on June 16, according to VirnetX. The two patents were the subject of lawsuits filed by VirnetX against Microsoft, alleging patent infringement over the use of VPN (virtual private network) technology in Windows.

The settlement, reached … Read more

Microsoft will pay VirnetX Holding $200 million to settle a patent dispute over VPN technology in Windows, the companies announced Monday.

As part of the settlement, Microsoft will also obtain a license to use VirnetX technology in Microsoft products.

VirnetX first sued Microsoft in 2007, claiming the software giant had violated two of its VPN (virtual private network) patents through the use of the technology in Windows XP and Vista. A U.S. District Court ruled in VirnetX's favor in March, determining that Microsoft had willfully infringed on the VPN patents in question and ordering the company to pay … Read more

ShareTool is a low-price application for remotely accessing Bonjour services on your home or office network--like music and file sharing--from anywhere you have an Internet connection. ShareTool also encrypts traffic through SSH, effectively creating a VPN. You can do nearly anything you could normally do on your own network from anywhere in the world, including watching movies from iTunes, grabbing files (with automatic compression for faster transfers), accessing your desktop and hard drive, and even initiating remote sleep and wake up.

The only potential downsides are that you have to enable remote log-in on your computer and keep ShareTool running … Read more

Today's show may be held together by Duct tape and super glue, but Jeff Bakalar was kind enough to help us cover the day's news. Time Warner cancels its bandwidth cap plan, the Pirate Bay founders are thrown in the slammer, and YouTube is said to launch a pay-per-view model.

Time Warner to shelf plan for pay-as-you-go broadband

Use of proxy server would increase jail time

New T-Mobile Sidekick

Some big Twitter announcement

Oprah about to Twitter

Caption tool for YouTube

YouTube to launch pay-per-view model

Pirate Bay founders get jail time… Read more

Rafe coins a new name for a port of the iFart application for the BlackBerry. But really the show is much more about variable pricing coming to iTunes, The Pirate Bay rolling out VPN for you, and robot soccer teams one day killing us all.

Report: variable pricing comes to iTunes Apr. 7 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-10205535-27.html

New Microsoft ads attack Apple on price http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10205757-82.html

WWDC in June http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10205232-37.html

The Pirate Bay to roll out secure $5 per month VPN … Read more

Back in July 2008, torrent tracker The Pirate Bay announced plans to encrypt the Internet. That hasn't happened yet, but they plan to offer a VPN tunneling service to the public starting April 1.

Dubbing the service IPREDator after the controversial Swedish Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) that takes effect the same day. IPRED's main goal is to make it easier for copyright holders to acquire the personal data of suspected illegal file sharers.

By offering a VPN service that doesn't log its traffic, IPREDator is simultaneously setting itself apart from other Web-based VPN services and … Read more

This freeware program promises to encrypt all your Internet connections, but since most public wi-fi access points in the U.S. are open, it's a bit hard to gauge Hotspot Shield's effectiveness. However, the connection itself is a bit wonky.

Once the program is installed, it creates an HTML link on your desktop. Double-clicking on it will open the application in your Web browser, and you'll be taken to a page detailing your Connection Status, IP Address, Server Address, Bytes sent and received, and the duration of the connection. Hotspot Shield is ad supported, so you'll … Read more

This freeware program promises to encrypt all your Internet connections, but since most public wi-fi access points in the U.S. are open, it's a bit hard to gauge Hotspot Shield's effectiveness. However, the connection itself is a bit wonky.

Once the program is installed, it creates an HTML link on your desktop. Double-clicking on it will open the application in your Web browser, and you'll be taken to a page detailing your Connection Status, IP Address, Server Address, Bytes sent and received, and the duration of the connection. Hotspot Shield is ad supported, so you'll … Read more