Critical vulnerabilities in common PC software, including both applications and operating systems, continue to grow in number and stand as the leading cause for concern in the IT security landscape today, according to training experts at the SANS Institute.Holes in so-called client-side applications, including Web browsers, e-mail clients, productivity suites, and media players, have become particularly worrisome over the last year, according to SANS, which highlighted the issue as part of its annual report on the top 20 Internet security risks for 2007.As hackers have shifted their attention further away from operating system flaws and drilled down to applications-layer vulnerabilities they have found a seemingly endless wealth of possibilities for infecting PCs with everything from spyware to botnet programs, SANS researchers contend.Unless something can be done to improve software developers' coding habits or better test popular applications for such issues before they land on end-users' machines, attackers will be able to continue their successful assaults against enterprise networks and devices for the foreseeable future, said Rohit Dhamankar, project manager for the Top 20 report at SANS and a senior manager of security research for TippingPoint.?"There's just been such a dramatic rise in the numbers of vulnerabilities found in applications like Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office and a number of media players that attackers are having their way," said Dhamankar. "Enterprises are bolstering security, but desktop users still pose a massive risk if they can download anything they want from the Web; the attacks are also growing in sophistication to the extent that many can defeat antivirus and other security systems primarily by obfuscating their code."Some of the most powerful tools that hackers have adopted in hunting for potential targets are the same industrial-strength applications fuzzing tools that software vendors themselves are using to search for holes in their products, said the expert.Enterprises could do themselves a favor by enforcing stricter policies that dictate the types of applications that end-users are allowed to put on their work machines and using technical means to ensure that those rules are being followed, Dhamankar said.Other SANS researchers noted that while companies may not want to tell end-users that they cannot utilize media players, messaging clients, and other applications that have moved into the business world from the consumer sector, they could help themselves out by limiting the variety of client-side applications that people may choose from."IT departments can't focus on all the applications of the world, but they can choose several and keep their eye on those while allowing end-users some freedom," said Amol Sarwate, research manager at Qualys who studies vulnerability patterns for SANS. "What companies need to do is enforce standards for applications usage and utilize technical means to block unwanted software, devices, and even wireless access points."While many businesses have already realized that they need to shift more of their efforts toward defending client-side vulnerabilities, most have failed to embrace a proactive approach versus simply keeping track of publicly-reported flaws and patching those issues said Sarwate.Enterprises need to think about future security issues It will be particularly important for firms to examine the additional security issues that will be introduced in the coming years with broader adoption of technologies including VoIP (Voice over IP), according to the expert."The key is for people to start thinking ahead of these client-side vulnerabilities to understand what the next big thing may be. Things like VoIP need to be examined for their security implications," said Sarwate. "Many companies are already adopting these tools because of all the advantages they offer, but there will be many attacks carried out against these systems as well."Among the advice that SANS is offering organizations hoping to improve their client-side security coverage is to mandate secure configurations at installation time for all applications, to constantly verify patching and upgrading of both applications and system software, to scan for new vulnerabilities frequently, and to keep their security systems up to date.Other leading areas of concern highlighted by SANS in its report included critical vulnerabilities in Web applications that allow for cross-site scripting attacks or for computers to be otherwise compromised simply by pointing their browsers at poisoned URLs."Gullible, busy, accommodating computer users," including executives, IT staff, and others with privileged access also remain a major weak point for enterprise security, according to SANS, as these seemingly more seasoned users of computers and software are still falling for increasingly targeted spear-phishing campaigns in large numbers.One of the best ways to educate users about the problem is for organizations to create fake spear-phishing threats and send them out to internal users to determine which individuals might be most likely to fall for the schemes and follow up with additional training, the group said.Critical vulnerabilities in the software and systems that provide the operating environment and primary services to computer users, or server-side software, remain another area of leading concern, according to SANS.Problems in Microsoft Windows services, Unix and Mac OS services, back-up and AV programs, management servers, database software, and VoIP technologies in particular are proving troublesome, according to the report.Many of those issues can be addressed by following the same advice offered for solving client-side vulnerabilities, SANS said in the research.

Author: Aircraft Captain Subject: Re: Pilot Shortage Hits Regionals Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:37 am (GMT 2) Topic Replies: 5 FLYBOY583 wrote: American Eagle, the regional subsidiary of American Airlines, has trimmed flights from its winter schedule in part because it doesn't have enough pilots. "It's one of several reasons, but that does play into it," Eagle spokeswoman Andrea Huguely told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "The pilots are crucial, and without them, the planes don't fly." Eagle is one of several airlines that has cut minimum experience requirements by two-thirds to 500 hours to attract more recruits. According to the newspaper, Trans States Airlines, which operates a regional service for American under the name American Connection, briefly lowered its experience requirement to 250 hours during the summer. Although no one seems to deny the value of experience, industry spokesmen contacted by the newspaper seemed to agree that safety is not being seriously compromised. What really is interesting about this, is that American Eagle has some of the highest upgrade requirement times in the US Regional industry, I have heard. I work with two chaps that were with Eagle for a long time, one for 6.5 years, the other for 7, both high time guys, and were not getting the Captain upgrade. Rumour has it that it is around 8 years to upgrade, so the guys are leaving and going to airlines that upgrade sooner (they become direct-entry or "street" captains). I am not debating the "policy" and this is a RUMOUR (from several different sources, not just the two quoted, don't want to have to put the flame suit on ), but I hear that is why they are having crew issues. _________________The last of the Chieftains

Verizon Wireless gave a boost to the whole U.S. mobile data industry with its plan to open up its network to third-party devices and applications, according to industry observers.The nation's second-largest carrier, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, said Tuesday it will allow devices and software that it doesn't sell to work on its network nationwide by the end of next year. Verizon will also continue its traditional business of selling phones and offering a controlled "deck" of applications and services.The move seems to preface a Verizon bid for valuable, long-range 700MHz radio spectrum in an auction set for early next year, IDC analyst Shiv Bakhshi said. The rules for that auction require part of the spectrum to be used for an open network. In that sense, Verizon was probably pushed into it by Google's drive for open-network rules and its Android open mobile software platform. "It's obviously a reaction to Google's threat," Bakhshi said.But he believes Verizon's initiative could have wide-ranging effects and, in turn, lead other carriers to open up."This suddenly allows a lot of manufacturers of non-cellular devices to seriously consider Verizon as a network option," Bakhshi said. Those could range from Internet tablets like the Nokia N810 to in-car systems that send data about a vehicle's condition to the manufacturer, he said. Subscribers will also get a lot more applications to choose from on those devices, easing one problem that has impeded the growth of mobile data, Bakhshi added.The move is good for Verizon's image as well as its business, he said."It takes away the sting of the criticism that the networks are closed," Bakhshi said. At the same time, it makes Verizon's network more valuable to subscribers because they can connect more devices to it, he said."It would not be very smart on the part of other operators to give up that opportunity," Bakhshi said.One executive of a mobile content delivery company also welcomed the plan."The good thing about this is that the content provider will be able to work a lot more closely with the handset manufacturer than they have in the past," said Brian Casazza, CEO of mobile content delivery company 9Squared. That's easier than tailoring their content offerings to the user interface and handset configuration that each carrier specifies, he said.Verizon's approach is more attractive than Android, which will present yet another software platform to develop for, Casazza said. He would rather work with handset makers using existing operating systems, such as Windows Mobile and Symbian."Handset manufacturers aren't going to reinvent the wheel on their OSs," Casazza said.The change might be a boon to Nokia, which wants more control over its own software environment than U.S. carriers have been willing to give it, Casazza said.He also expects other mobile operators to follow Verizon's cautious example, stepping into an open model without abandoning their traditional businesses.Third-party content and application providers are likely to face some challenges in billing for their products, which typically are handled through the subscriber's phone bill today, Casazza said. But with more freedom to write new software, they will probably be able to create systems for credit-card or other billing systems that are attractive to consumers, he said. There is a financial incentive to do so because mobile operators take a big cut of each transaction that appears on their bills, he said.Verizon plans to hold a developer conference in the first quarter after it releases the technical specifications for the initiative, and it will explore the billing issue then if developers are interested in it, said Verizon spokeswoman Nancy Stark.The carrier got a valuable seal of approval on Tuesday when Microsoft said it supported Verizon's initiative."We are proud to support any open access that puts more power in people's hands to connect them to the information they want when and where they want it," said Pieter Knook, senior vice president of Microsoft's mobile communications business, in a prepared statement.Though important, the plan Verizon outlined Tuesday is just one step for the carrier and the industry, said analyst Jason Kowal of Analysys. Cell phones have a market penetration of about 80 percent in the U.S., and the subscriber base is only growing at about 10 percent per year, so carriers need to drive more use for their data networks, he said."It's crucial for the future growth of the mobile sector to have a more open platform, to stimulate the take-up of media services," Kowal said. "This is one more piece of the puzzle coming in."This story was updated on November 27

My client is a global leader in distributed computing solutions and services, helping organizations grow their online businesses without growing their IT infrastructures. My client are looking for an Technical Pre-Sale Consultant - Internet technologies. Main Responsibilities: * You will be the technical arm of sales and the customer facing side of R&D. You must possess the highest levels of both business and technical acumen – being able to understand the details of complex technology and to clearly articulate this understanding to prospective customers. Solutions Engineers [SE’s] use their Internet expertise to evangelize technology to prospective customers, and to drive new product and service offerings. The Solutions Engineer is distinguished by the ability to take on the most demanding business and technical challenges. Position Objectives [2007]: * Meet or exceed quarterly targets * Assit with closing n-% of Opportunities/Prospect meetings within Target Solution/Target Account/Target Vertical Market criteria * Direct input into Personal/Professional skills development, relevant to Solutions Engineer focus Qualifications: Position Requirements [skills, characteristics]: * Bachelors Degree in Engineering or Computer Science * Detailed knowledge across the spectrum of Internet technologies. * Excellent business writing, communication, and presentation skills * 8-10 years experience in IT related pre-sales * Desire and ability to provide leadership to a rapidly expanding team * Proven analytical abilities and a strong work ethic. * Willingness to travel to customer sites within Northern Europe region ~50% of the time as needed. * Consultative attitude to customer engagements both * Methodical approach to problem solving * Ability to prioritize workload and manage customer expectations directly or as part of a team * Passionate attitude to internal collaboration and communication * Commitment to self-improvement and education Abraxas plc act

Hp Pavilion Laptop Dv6000 Series Dv6103NR 15.4" 1.24gb 80gb Hd Intel. Xp or Vista Dvd Burner -Pc Laptops Hp 80 Gb 15 inch Intel Core Solo Windows Xp Or Windows Vista Dvd -Rw 1800 Mhz Used (Ram) 1240 Mb Up for grabs is a very nice Hp Notebook Computer. This computer is less than one year old and still under Original Manufacturers Warranty This model is part of the Dv6000 series. This laptop has been used a handful of times for the past 10 months. Mostly for trips (about 5 Included with the auction is a the original box manuals and power cable. The computer will be reformatted to its original state at auction end using the restore disk that were provided for me. The winning bidder must specify to me if they would like Windows Xp Media Center Edition or Windows Vista reinstalled Hp mailed me a the Vista restore Disks about a month after I bought this computer The battery typically last anywhere between 2-4 hours. The internal wireless network card works great with super connectivity. There are no dead pixels in the screen lcd and all buttons controls work flawlessly. This computer is in like New Condition. This computer also has Hp design finish which is glossy and durable. The 15.4" screen is a High-Definition BrightView widescreen display. It comes with a media controls that that allows you to play Dvd Music view pictures etc. without actually turning the laptop on this is great when trying to save power for the airplane This laptop read writes Dvds Cds etc the Dvd burner even has Lightscribe so that you can etch your disks. I upgraded the memory at time of purchase so that it has 1.24GB of Ram This notebook also has a Sd-Ms Pro-Mmx-Xd reader built in perfect for transferring pictures from a digital camera.This machine is very speedy with the upgrade and it will quickly burn cd s and dvd s with its internal Dvd burner. Intel Core Solo Processor T1350 (1.86GHz) 15.4" Wxga High Definition BrightView Widescreen Display 80GB (5400rpm) Hard Drive 512mb Ddr2 Sdram (Upgraded To 1.24gb) Intel Pro Wireless Card Lightscribe 8x Dvd Rw Drive with Double Layer Support 6-Cell Lithium Ion Battery Hp QuickPlay (play dvds music etc without turning your computer on) 5-in-1 Digital Media Reader ExpressCard 54 Pc Card Slot Up to 128mb Video Memory (shared)

On Saturday I wrote a post asking for private email from people who are working on Digg clones. I got about a dozen responses, they all look good. I think any of them could work for the project I have in mind. This left me with a vexing problem -- which one should I work with, and what should I tell the others? I decided to work with all of them, and anyone else who may be reading, by describing the project here, openly. So here's the idea... Imagine Digg in the old days, when there were just 25 people using it. Maybe that wasn't enough. Maybe it didn't really get interesting until there were 100 users or 250 or 1000. It was good, the articles were gems, things we weren't finding on our own, there were huge numbers of them, but they were prioritized, and the community had a heart of gold, people were doing it for love. The maturity level was high. But then something happened as Digg grew from 100 users to 100,000 and more. I'm not going to characterize it other than to say that it stopped being interesting to me as it grew. The stories weren't what I was looking for. I wonder if we could start a Digg-like community with the readers of Scripting News. The numbers are small, relative to Digg, it would be just like the old days, maybe 250 active participants. I was describing the idea to Fred Wilson this morning, and offered that his blog might host such a community. Or we could do a Digg-like community with 25 people by invitation, some you've heard of, some you haven't. All would be voracious news junkies. They would be empowered to add articles, comment on them, vote them up or down. I would invite Scoble, Fred Wilson, Steve Rubel, Amyloo, Jim Posner, Lawrence Lee and (I'm sure I'll think of many more). We'd count on the judgement of these people to find us interesting news items, and be fair in deciding their relevance. Key point -- it would serve as an editorial system. Only members could participate in the social functions, but anyone could read the results. You could see what the community decided was important at any moment in time. You might choose to read the TechCrunch Digg clone, but not Scobleizer's or Instapundit's. Two very smart people are thinking this way too. 1. Steve Gillmor, the genius who brought us attention and gestures, has exactly this kind of system running right now, in private beta. I first stumbled across it when I described the idea to a friend back in October, and was told "You have to talk with Steve!" So I called him, and sure enough he had it. He plans on unveiling it publicly very soon, perhaps even this week. 2. Om Malik and I talked about this on Saturday when he came to visit in Berkeley. I am pretty sure this is part of the editorial system he'd like to use at GigaOm. One thing we both agreed on, strongly, is that it's time to shake up the market for open editorial tools. It's been stagnating. Enough of that! So that's the idea. I want starting a Digg-like community to be as easy as creating a weblog on blogger.com. Just fill in a form, click Submit and off we go. Let a thousand flowers bloom. Sure most will be ghost towns, there will be press articles talking about the abandoned communities, but I bet we look back in a couple of years and see the landscape in the blogosphere has changed yet again.

Young IT workers in the U.S. government believe technology is obsolete by the time it is rolled out and are concerned that they can't get the experience they need because some functions are outsourced, according to a focus-group report released Monday.A group of technology interns at the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) also said cost-cutting in the U.S. government limits their ability to innovate, and they raised concerns that the more veteran IT workforce isn't oriented toward information sharing, according to the report , released by Telework Exchange, an Alexandria, Virginia, group that promotes telecommuting among government workers.But the coming retirement of a huge portion of federal workers also presents opportunities that the interns were aware of, said Cindy Auten, Telework Exchange's general manager. About 60 percent of U.S. government civil service workers are eligible for retirement in the next five years, she said."They show a good perception of the way the workforce is changing," Auten said. "They focused on this knowledge gap that's going to exist with the baby boomers retiring. Obviously, knowledge management plays a critical role, but they also looked at the fact that it provides them a lot of opportunity."On the downside, the IT workers said the U.S. government is hampered by slow product and service procurement processes and that government agencies don't have proper business processes in place.For the report, the Telework Exchange interviewed 14 IT professionals who are part of a DISA fast-track internship program that offers rapid promotions. The focus groups were conducted in September. The IT workers were all part of Generation Y, people born after 1977. DISA gave permission for Telework Exchange to talk with its interns.While the focus groups raised concerns about working in government IT, they also saw several benefits. They saw government jobs as more stable as those in the private sector, they praised government benefits, and they said they enjoyed reasonable work hours and flexible schedules. The interns praised DISA's leadership for supporting teleworking options.Asked how they prefer to communicate, the group focused on e-mail and text messaging as the top tools. The interns had mixed reactions with social-networking sites, with some reluctance to admit use, the Telework Exchange said. Outside instant messaging services aren't allowed due to security regulations.The group said they prefer to find information online through search engines and through online publications. "Fifteen times a day, I am Googling something," one intern said.The young IT workers said they frequently go to blogs for information, but most often through search engines. There was "little loyalty, no name recall" for blogs, Telework Exchange said. The interns also tended not to trust some publications focused on government IT, saying they seemed to be "brag sheets" for federal executives with exaggerated successes.About half of the group used podcasts, although some saw podcasts as "propaganda," Telework Exchange said.There was also an "obvious disdain" for print publications, Telework Exchange said. "If you are reading a magazine or newspaper, it looks like you are goofing off," one IT worker said. "If you are reading your screen, [it] looks like you are working."Telework Exchange predicted that when this generation of young government IT workers is in charge, they will try to steer procurement and development processes to be more like the private sector. They will focus on information sharing and knowledge management, and they will look for employers who provide a work/life balance, the group predicted.

Driven by market consolidation and the ongoing efforts of large IT security vendors to meld DLP (data leakage prevention) tools into their broader portfolios, some experts contend that the technologies will increasingly become perceived as product features and less so as stand-alone platforms.As with countless other security technologies that previously flourished as separate products but are now largely consumed as elements of packaged security suites -- including anti-spyware applications, spam-filtering tools, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and firewalls -- some market watchers claim that DLP is rapidly shifting into a mere piece of other offerings.Over the last six months, a slew of independent DLP vendors have been acquired by large security providers, including Vontu, Tablus, Provilla, PortAuthority, and Oakley Networks.Just as customer demand for DLP technologies -- considered valuable tools in stemming the theft and misplacement of sensitive corporate information -- drove Symantec, EMC, Trend Micro, WebSense, and Raytheon to buy those firms, respectively, the ubiquitous need for data protection among enterprises will drive further integration of the applications into other systems, according to some industry watchers."If you look at what DLP does, the real value will become more of a stack value than a vertical play," said Jon Oltsik, analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group. "A lot of devices can do packet filtering at the edge, and that filtering will become the enforcement of a policy, versus stand-alone data leakage prevention; the DLP system will still be where you might classify data, enter policies, and do analysis, but other products will likely take over the enforcement piece."As Symantec had not yet announced details of its $350 million deal to buy Vontu when the market leader convened its second quarter earnings call on Oct. 23, Chief Executive John Thompson deferred questions about the impending acquisition in favor of highlighting DLP features that already resided in a number of the company's existing products, such as its database security programs.While Symantec executives claim that the firm is planning to continue to sell Vontu's technology as a stand-alone platform for the foreseeable future, they also concede that one of the major benefits of adding the startup will be giant vendor's ability to further weave the acquired tools throughout a number of its other products."If you're going to have an agent on the end point, clearly you want all those capabilities to be integrated, and that includes DLP," said Ken Schneider, chief technology officer of Symantec's Security and Data Management group. "One of the things we're always trying to do is take disparate sets of technologies and build them into our architecture; we will continue to sell DLP as a stand-alone, but we will also introduce DLP capabilities throughout the portfolio."As with many other security technologies, one of the hardest parts of effectively using DLP tools in the enterprise setting lies in customers' abilities to manage the systems, Schneider said.Based on that reality, the degree to which Symantec can bond the technology with other security tools to allow for centralized management and policy control will play heavily into further adoption of DLP applications, according to the executive.At rival McAfee, which has made less aggressive moves in adding DLP capabilities -- having purchased a smaller vendor, Onigma, in late 2006 and recently buying Safeboot, more of a device encryption specialist -- executives agreed that the complex nature of the data protection tools makes integration crucial to their overall usability.McAfee executives agree with Symantec's view that there is likely a market for both stand-alone and integrated DLP in the short term, but said that the long-term play favors assimilation into other products -- in particular, more narrow DLP products aimed at protecting only end points, network gateways, or databases will need to be merged with other technologies, said Vimal Solanki, McAfee's senior director of product marketing.Those DLP products that can offer broader coverage across different systems and many types of data have the best chance of selling on their own going forward, he said."The point products that are out there are just features at some point, if they don't have all the pieces, like encryption, they won't meet all the expectations that customers have for DLP," Solanki said. "The key is that the same policies have to apply regardless of the device or the data; vendors have done a good job of marketing individual DLP features, but what we've seen among customers is that unless they can view many areas of risk and manage them with the same policy, DLP becomes a much tougher sell."Some companies who have already been acquired are already questioning the viability of the DLP space they came from."The remaining stand-alones will be very challenged, as DLP is going to be absorbed into all types of networking gear," said Derek Smith, chief executive of Oakley Networks, which was acquired by defense industry giant Raytheon for an undisclosed sum in late September. "I think DLP was probably pretty short-lived as the basis for an entire company, because if all you are doing is putting a box on the network, you're simply deflecting the threat of data loss to another vector that you probably can't see."However, most people in charge of the 35-odd remaining independent providers of DLP tools argue that in many senses it is the larger vendors who have the most work to do.It is the core anti-virus tools and spam-filtering products of security companies including McAfee, Symantec, and Trend that are becoming rapidly commoditized, an argument that has hung over the sector for years, said Seth Birnbaum, chief executive of Verdasys, an independent DLP vendor.The big players are trying desperately to shift from selling those types of legacy products into providing the data protection tools that customers are clamoring for, he said."Maybe if we were more of a point provider I'd be worried, but we are winning deals today based on a platform approach that includes everything from data discovery and policy creation right through to encryption, which is what customers are looking for and not many people have been able to offer," said Birnbaum."These bigger players are going to have a much tougher time trying to realign their entire business around data security since they've been married to all these other product lines for so long," he said. "The stronger point providers will be acquired, and everyone who doesn't have all the necessary pieces of DLP will be wiped out, but there's a lot of room for those of us who are already doing it the right way today."Other stand-alone vendors admitted that there is probably value to be found in arguments for both independent and integrated DLP systems."The answer is that we will probably see escalation of both models," said David Etue, vice president of product management at Fidelis Security, another independent DLP vendor."Some of early DLP market success stories were people were who built more of a feature, and I'm not sure if it was their strategy, but they built something that easily became a feature of other things," he said. "At the same time, we obviously believe that those of us who sell a real DLP platform today continue to have a strong opportunity."Other analysts contend that the stand-alone DLP market does in fact have sustainability but claim that there will only be a few players-- those who have mastered the policy management and enforcement pieces specifically -- who will survive and potentially flourish.At this point, any company whose products do not offer that level of functionality are probably living on borrowed time, said Rich Mogull, a longtime analyst at Gartner who recently launched his own consulting firm, Securosis.In the case of the larger vendors such as Symantec, the analyst said that the company will integrate its DLP tools with other products, while also marketing the policy management and enforcement aspect of the technology as a stand-alone product."There are a lot of elements of content monitoring and protection that can be integrated on the firewall, the end point, or in e-mail, and those more narrow providers who address only those things will probably go away," Mogull said. "For Symantec to connect Vontu's DLP to its end-point products makes sense, but there's still a market for the technologies used to create, manage, and enforce the policy, something for all these other systems to plug back into.""The independent companies who already have a platform and can address the high-level business problems of protecting data will likely be the ones who get acquired next," he said. "But there's probably only a dozen or so left like that, because many of the companies that have identified themselves as DLP only solve a small part of the problem."

T-Mobile GmbH will sell unlocked iPhones for $1,482, the German mobile carrier said Wednesday, marking the first time Apple's smartphone has been officially available unlocked.Unauthorized hacks, however, have been used for months by customers to unlock their iPhones so they can make calls on multiple networks or use the device in countries where Apple hasn't yet entered the handset market.In a statement Wednesday, T-Mobile said it would immediately start selling unlocked iPhones, and unlock any already-purchased iPhone for no charge. It made both moves in response to a preliminary ruling Monday in a lawsuit brought by Vodafone Group PLC's subsidiary, Vodafone Germany. According to the injunction, which T-Mobile is appealing, Apple's wireless partner must offer the iPhone without a required 24-month contract.The iPhone, which debuted in Germany on Nov. 9, sells for $592, value-added tax included, and has been offered with three rate plans -- called tariffs in Europe -- priced from $73 to $132 per month.U.K.-based Vodafone had been among the mobile service providers negotiating with Apple for exclusive rights to the iPhone, but in Germany, it lost out to the larger T-Mobile, which is owned by Deutsche Telekom.Vodafone has said it isn't interested in blocking sales of the iPhone in Germany, but it wants the courts to level the playing field between carriers. Vodafone did not reach an agreement with Apple in the two other European markets that Apple has entered: Britain and France. Apple's U.K. partner is O2 (UK) Ltd., while Orange, the rebranded France Telecom, won the deal in France, where the iPhone goes on sale on Nov. 29."Apple can be profitable just on the hardware," argued Ezra Gottheil, an analyst at Technology Business Research. "More is always better, of course, but by unlocking it for a larger price, Apple gets its money."Gottheil wasn't surprised by Vodafone's move. "There's a great deal more resistance to locked phones in Europe," he said, noting that Apple has already promised to abide by French law, which bans locked cell phones, when it unveils the iPhone there next week."In the end, Apple is a provider of neat devices, and it will always return there," said Gottheil. "If and when it's seriously threatened by a rival, and depending on the duration and terms of its exclusive [contract] with AT&T, I think it would unlock the phone in the U.S. in a second."But even as T-Mobile promised to abide by the injunction while it appeals the ruling, it also said it would retract the offer if it prevails. T-Mobile is also considering filing a lawsuit against Vodafone seeking unspecified damages, said company spokesman Klaus Czerwinski on Wednesday. "We think the law does not apply to this situation," Czerwinski said from Bonn. "We are still going to court."T-Mobile will continue to sell iPhones tied to a contract, the company said Wednesday. As part of its revised pitch, T-Mobile reminded potential customers that some of the iPhone's built-in features, including Visual Voicemail, which lets users pick and choose messages to listen to, work when connected to its network.Apple did not respond to a request for comment.Jeremy Kirk of IDG News Service contributed to this report. Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.

Internal Sales Executive – Online Payment Solutions London 19.5k Base, 28k OTE + Exec Bens Our Client, part of a FTSE 250 listed technology group is an exciting, innovative and profitable business with a clear vision. With their impressive track record and a world class technology platform they enable companies of all sizes to accept credit card payments, manage risk and trade profitably in the online environment. This technically advanced company are now embarking on a period of sustained and rapid growth and as such have an exciting opening for an Internal Sales Executive to work from their London office. As an Internal Sales Executive your principle task will be to develop revenue opportunities for our client's technology platform throughout the SME and corporate community. This role involves a mix of in-bound and out-bound sales as well as some account management opportunities. This is a consultative sales role that will ultimately lead into a client facing position for the successful individual. The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 6-12 months sales experience from within a b2b focused environment. You will have first class communication skills along with a structured approach, solid time management and the ability to work autonomously and as part of a team. You may be of graduate calibre, have high levels of self motivation and ultimately are seeking a solid career within a technology leader. The successful candidate can expect an initial base salary of 19.5k with an uncapped OTE of 28k in the first year plus an excellent benefits package. Certus Sales Limited is a specialist sales recruitment consultancy with an impressive client portfolio covering opportunities in the following areas: Telecommunication, Business Information, Media, I.T and many more. Vacancy levels recruited include Sales Director, Sales Manager, Senior Sales Professional, Account Manager, Account Management, Sales Executive, New Business Development, Field, Territory and Area Sales, Internal sales and Telesales opportunities. To find out more about us please visit certussales.com

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