2012: Siri Is a Stunner, Amazon Is Amazin’ and Security Gets Spendy

Tech prognosticator Mark Anderson is back in New York with his annual predictions for the world of tech in 2012.
2012

iPad 3 Coming Soon?

Walt answers readers’ questions about the iPad 3 and avoiding having financial information stolen.

Airbnb Pumps Up Security With New Hires and Guarantees

Airbnb continues to roll out new security features at a breakneck pace to thwart mounting concerns over whether the site is a safe way to rent out your primary residence to travelers.
airbnb_founding team

Mind the App: Thieves Target Phones

More New Yorkers are using smartphones and tablets on the subway—and more thieves are ripping them out of riders’ hands. This year, there were 311 grand larcenies on the subway through the end of March, an 18 percent increase over the same period in 2010, according to police statistics.

Five Held in Huge Chip Theft

Law-enforcement officials said Wednesday that they cracked a massive semiconductor-theft case, which involved an armed robbery at a Silicon Valley company that netted chips valued at $37 million.

Will Secretary of State Clinton's "Internet Freedom Agenda" Finally Get Traction?

Yesterday, in a major policy speech in Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jumped on the Internet bandwagon again, unveiling a $25 million government investment for entrepreneurs to allow dissidents to thwart “thugs, hackers and censors.” Since that’s about the amount a third-string social photo-sharing site gets while walking down University Avenue in Palo Alto, Calif., from venture capitalists with bags of money to spend, let me just say the money is, well, underwhelming. Clinton’s speech, thankfully, was much better.

SAP Plans to Fight $1.3 Billion Judgment in Oracle Case

SAP believes the jury was too generous in its award to Oracle and that the damages are not proportionate to its subsidiary’s offense of intellectual-property theft.

Millions of Honda Owners Victims of Yet Another Data Breach

If you drive a Honda, be wary of emails asking personal questions. The carmaker says a list containing names, email addresses and vehicle identification numbers has been stolen.

Ellison Taunts HP CEO a Second Time

If Larry Ellison’s Tuesday evening harangue against former SAP chief Léo Apotheker was, in the words of an SAP spokesperson, “a sideshow,” then the Oracle CEO’s latest tirade is more of a gala.

SAP to Ellison: Save the Drama for Your Mama

Lest anyone forget–and given the back-and-forth between Oracle and Hewlett-Packard these past few months, you could be forgiven for doing so–Oracle’s opponent in its upcoming intellectual property trial is SAP–not HP. And SAP finds all the histrionics between the two companies a bit much.

SAP: Please Gag Oracle

IPad Bandit Terrorizes Gotham!