A new "geosocial" app called Sonar is getting the attention of Steve Peltzman, CIO of the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
The app, which is loaded on his iPhone, combines location information with Twitter and Facebook networks, creating an opportunity for making connections. "It will be able to tell us who is in the museum right now," Peltzman said.
Some might see this capability as potentially creepy, and Peltzman is aware of social media's downside. But he sees a way to make it work, as well as a need to use the kinds of capabilities Sonar and others will offer.
Participating in social media is critical, Peltzman said. "If you want to be a business leader today, you have to be on it," he said.
Peltzman meets regularly with social media developers, investors and authors to get a sense of future trends for social networking.
Frank Gillett, an analyst at Forrester, is also focused on the future and is forecasting some of the changes in hardware over the next five years. Both he and Peltzman made presentations at Forrester's IT Forum here.
"Hardware innovation will continue to rile the tech ecosystems through 2016, forcing software and services strategists to adjust continuously," Gillett said. "We are entering a period of significant turmoil."
Here are some of their predictions:
Data center diversity will increase
The "Wintel" monoculture will see increasing pushback from application-specific servers. Oracle's Sparc-based Exadata Storage Server is one example. "There will be a growing category of application-specific boxes," which may or may not have x86 chips in them, Gillett said.
GPU chips, which are good for highly repetitive parallel compute tasks, will also gain traction. Gillett also expects ARM chips to enter the server market, with tiny, low-power 64-bit processors that, for the right workloads, will be more efficient than x86 systems. One company working on low-power ARM servers is Calxeda.
Big displays become the norm
Users will move to 27-in. and bigger displays and increasingly use two of them, expanding the desktop to the limits of peripheral range. But by 2016, the notion of what is a display will change as well and will include opportunistic display technologies that, for instance, project desktops on walls, Gillett predicted.
There will also be increasing use of natural user interfaces with sensors that can detect movement, interpret facial expressions and get data on the local environment.
Minority Report-type advertising enters the sceneIn the 2002 movie Minority Report, as lead actor Tom Cruise walks into a mall, his retinas are scanned to identify him, which leads to a series of personalized ads. Peltzman doesn't believe retina scans will be utilized anytime soon, but he clearly sees the rapid approach of advertising connected to users via geolocation, with more one-to-one ads based on who you that arrive via social media networks.
Peltzman said he can imagine using Sonar to send a message to someone via a social network, such as a discount on museum membership.
Smartphones won't necessarily rule
The idea that the smartphone will morph into an all-purpose device doesn't ring true with Gillett. He expects to see multiple devices and displays, and big improvements in the PC. He is expecting hybrid PCs that use SSDs to speed the system, but disks as well. This blending of storage with the system will require application changes to take advantage of it, he said.
Social media's relationship to the bottom line comes into focus
MoMA has made social media a key IT direction and has a Web page devoted to all of its networking links, including a Flickr group for people to upload photos they have taken at the museum.
It has more than 750,000 fans on Facebook and 582,000 followers on Twitter.
To help manage its social networking, the museum's IT and marketing departments share an employee who reports to both.
But Peltzman said it isn't easy to show how social networking generates money. Using social media for direct funding efforts can undermine it, he argues.
That also makes it difficult to tell the business exactly how much value is delivered by social media. But he believes that in time, analytical tools will arrive that can show how social media does contribute.
Patrick Thibodeau covers SaaS and enterprise applications, outsourcing, government IT policies, data centers and IT workforce issues for Computerworld. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @DCgov or subscribe to Patrick's RSS feed. His e-mail address is pthibodeau@computerworld.com.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Not even security managers immune to FakeAV infection
Can you believe it? As I sat down this morning to write this column, I got hit by a drive-by download of FakeAV.
My computer is infected with pop-up warnings and file scans telling me I have security problems, and Internet Explorer has been hijacked to keep sending me to a website where I can "purchase the software." Pop-ups are coming from my taskbar, showing up in the middle of the screen, and rifling through my files with a fake scan. My computer is being held for ransom.
How did this happen? And what am I going to do about it? I mean really, as a security manager you'd think I would be immune to this kind of problem. My antivirus software is up to date and actively scanning, and my system is fully patched. That's more than most people are doing. Fortunately, I also have current backups (more on that in a minute).
I wrote that a week ago. As it turned out, I had to do a lot more work to get rid of this infection than I anticipated.
I started with some research on what FakeAV is all about. I've been hearing a lot about it through word-of-mouth, and now I'm getting firsthand experience. According to Sophos, FakeAV is a rapidly growing threat on the Internet, mainly because it's profitable to the people who wrote and distributed it. Evidently, a lot of people are being tricked into sending money to these criminals to get back control of their computers. I hate to think how many people are being fooled by this malware into thinking it's a legitimate security scan. It would be a lot easier to just send them the money to get back control of my system. But I'm not going to let these guys win.
This is clearly a very advanced program. It looks exactly like the real Windows Security Center. It appears to be professionally programmed, with none of the crashes or bugs prevalent among more pedestrian malware.
Sophos says there are so many variants being released constantly that it can be difficult to detect using traditional signature-based antivirus, which is what I have. Even with the latest updates, the newest variants can get through. Some variants are also employing polymorphic code, which changes itself so frequently that the MD5 hashes used by antivirus programs cannot be effective. Well, that explains how I got it despite having a good, up-to-date antivirus product.
Earlier versions of FakeAV required the user to say "Yes" to something, such as a fake video codec installation to play a video or a fake Flash player update. Some even use the old-fashioned, tried-and-true technique of attaching the installer to a spam email notifying users of a password reset, package delivery or IRS refund, which I see a lot of at the office. But none of these is how I got infected. I was searching on Google. Search terms are being "poisoned" on Google. When an unsuspecting victim clicks on what seems to be a legitimate page, he is brought instead to a compromised website where the malware is lurking in an image or JavaScript code. When I'm searching on Google, I use CTRL-click to open interesting results in a new tab in Internet Explorer Version 8 (fully patched). Last week, when I did this, one of the pages I opened must have contained the JavaScript or image version. It opened in a new tab, where I left it for later viewing, and it infected my system. Pop-ups appeared, all my browser sessions closed, and my antivirus programs were disabled. This is what's known as a "drive-by download."
Now that I know what I'm up against, I tried running three different antivirus and malware-cleanup utilities I already have on my system. None of them worked. In fact, they wouldn't even start. I then tried killing the malicious process, but I couldn't find it (it's well hidden). I did find an entry in the system registry to run the malware installer on reboot, but when I deleted that, it was back after the next reboot. Next, I tried to boot into safe mode, and that's when my computer went completely dead. It wouldn't boot at all. Even booting from the operating system CD didn't work.
As it turns out, this malware went really deep. Not only did it infect Windows, but it also inserted itself into Safe Mode. Usually, we can boot into Safe Mode to run a virus scan, but not this time. In fact, I discovered that the malware actually got into my system BIOS. That's right, it went so deep it actually got into my hardware. Even a BIOS upgrade didn't get rid of it.
In the end, I had to disconnect my CMOS battery for a day to clear the BIOS, completely reinstall Windows and restore from backup. Unfortunately, during my initial restore attempts, the system crashed in the middle of the restore process, which corrupted my backups. I lost my two most recent backups that way, so now I'm running on a six-month-old version. So there was collateral damage.
I'm not the only one with this problem. A few days after I got infected, my kids' computer also got hit with a variant called "XP Security Center." And the same day my infection happened, my company's desktop services manager got a version called "Windows Defender" on his work computer.
I hope you take this as a warning. Nobody is safe anymore from malware, now that it's being professionally and competently developed. Make sure your backups are current, and spread the word to unsuspecting users that any unexpected "Security Scans" require immediate response.
My computer is infected with pop-up warnings and file scans telling me I have security problems, and Internet Explorer has been hijacked to keep sending me to a website where I can "purchase the software." Pop-ups are coming from my taskbar, showing up in the middle of the screen, and rifling through my files with a fake scan. My computer is being held for ransom.
How did this happen? And what am I going to do about it? I mean really, as a security manager you'd think I would be immune to this kind of problem. My antivirus software is up to date and actively scanning, and my system is fully patched. That's more than most people are doing. Fortunately, I also have current backups (more on that in a minute).
I wrote that a week ago. As it turned out, I had to do a lot more work to get rid of this infection than I anticipated.
I started with some research on what FakeAV is all about. I've been hearing a lot about it through word-of-mouth, and now I'm getting firsthand experience. According to Sophos, FakeAV is a rapidly growing threat on the Internet, mainly because it's profitable to the people who wrote and distributed it. Evidently, a lot of people are being tricked into sending money to these criminals to get back control of their computers. I hate to think how many people are being fooled by this malware into thinking it's a legitimate security scan. It would be a lot easier to just send them the money to get back control of my system. But I'm not going to let these guys win.
This is clearly a very advanced program. It looks exactly like the real Windows Security Center. It appears to be professionally programmed, with none of the crashes or bugs prevalent among more pedestrian malware.
Sophos says there are so many variants being released constantly that it can be difficult to detect using traditional signature-based antivirus, which is what I have. Even with the latest updates, the newest variants can get through. Some variants are also employing polymorphic code, which changes itself so frequently that the MD5 hashes used by antivirus programs cannot be effective. Well, that explains how I got it despite having a good, up-to-date antivirus product.
Earlier versions of FakeAV required the user to say "Yes" to something, such as a fake video codec installation to play a video or a fake Flash player update. Some even use the old-fashioned, tried-and-true technique of attaching the installer to a spam email notifying users of a password reset, package delivery or IRS refund, which I see a lot of at the office. But none of these is how I got infected. I was searching on Google. Search terms are being "poisoned" on Google. When an unsuspecting victim clicks on what seems to be a legitimate page, he is brought instead to a compromised website where the malware is lurking in an image or JavaScript code. When I'm searching on Google, I use CTRL-click to open interesting results in a new tab in Internet Explorer Version 8 (fully patched). Last week, when I did this, one of the pages I opened must have contained the JavaScript or image version. It opened in a new tab, where I left it for later viewing, and it infected my system. Pop-ups appeared, all my browser sessions closed, and my antivirus programs were disabled. This is what's known as a "drive-by download."
Now that I know what I'm up against, I tried running three different antivirus and malware-cleanup utilities I already have on my system. None of them worked. In fact, they wouldn't even start. I then tried killing the malicious process, but I couldn't find it (it's well hidden). I did find an entry in the system registry to run the malware installer on reboot, but when I deleted that, it was back after the next reboot. Next, I tried to boot into safe mode, and that's when my computer went completely dead. It wouldn't boot at all. Even booting from the operating system CD didn't work.
As it turns out, this malware went really deep. Not only did it infect Windows, but it also inserted itself into Safe Mode. Usually, we can boot into Safe Mode to run a virus scan, but not this time. In fact, I discovered that the malware actually got into my system BIOS. That's right, it went so deep it actually got into my hardware. Even a BIOS upgrade didn't get rid of it.
In the end, I had to disconnect my CMOS battery for a day to clear the BIOS, completely reinstall Windows and restore from backup. Unfortunately, during my initial restore attempts, the system crashed in the middle of the restore process, which corrupted my backups. I lost my two most recent backups that way, so now I'm running on a six-month-old version. So there was collateral damage.
I'm not the only one with this problem. A few days after I got infected, my kids' computer also got hit with a variant called "XP Security Center." And the same day my infection happened, my company's desktop services manager got a version called "Windows Defender" on his work computer.
I hope you take this as a warning. Nobody is safe anymore from malware, now that it's being professionally and competently developed. Make sure your backups are current, and spread the word to unsuspecting users that any unexpected "Security Scans" require immediate response.
Skype software update tackles startup crashes
Skype has rolled out an update for the Mac version of its Voice over IP application that should take care of any lingering problems with startup crashes.
You may recall that some users--a very small amount, according to Skype--had some problems logging in or staying connected to the Mac version of Skype on Thursday; some Windows users experienced the same trouble. (Users with the iOS and Android clients weren't affected by the problem.)
For Mac users, Skype 5.1.0.968 promises to fix all that. The lone change in this release of the Mac client deals specifically with crashes at startup. Of course, that assumes you haven't solved the issue already using the instructions Skype offered for deleting that troublesome shared.xml configuration file. Deleting that file reportedly fixed the crashing problem as well.
Skype says Friday's software update is required for anyone affected by the crash issue who hasn't already gotten rid of the shared.xml file.
You may recall that some users--a very small amount, according to Skype--had some problems logging in or staying connected to the Mac version of Skype on Thursday; some Windows users experienced the same trouble. (Users with the iOS and Android clients weren't affected by the problem.)
For Mac users, Skype 5.1.0.968 promises to fix all that. The lone change in this release of the Mac client deals specifically with crashes at startup. Of course, that assumes you haven't solved the issue already using the instructions Skype offered for deleting that troublesome shared.xml configuration file. Deleting that file reportedly fixed the crashing problem as well.
Skype says Friday's software update is required for anyone affected by the crash issue who hasn't already gotten rid of the shared.xml file.
Virtually drive Bay Bridge detour with iPad app
For those of us Bay Area folk who cross the Bay Bridge time and again, it's hard not to notice the ongoing NASA-launchpad-like construction for the bridge's new eastern span replacement. Starting this lovely Memorial Day weekend, drivers will have to endure a new detour on the Eastbound Oakland side that will span until the completion of the bridgework in 2013. But not to worry, concerned drivers: The Bay Bridge Public Information Office hopes to ease your traffic-addled nerves and frazzled composure by allowing you to virtually drive this detour before you ever hop on the road--all thanks to an iOS app.
Powered by the Unreal Engine, the Bay Bridge Explorer app is a fully 3D-rendered version of the old Bay Bridge we know and love. You'll start on the Oakland side in an overhead view that shows you exactly where the Eastbound detour is taking place; then, once you've gotten your bearings, you can drive alongside your fellow 3D-rendered passengers.
Once you successfully go through the detour once, you'll unlock the ability to drive on the original bridge in both directions (in case you're nostalgic for those pre-detour days); there are two future routes labeled "coming soon," as well--perhaps to show poor, beleaguered drivers what they have to look forward to as the bridge-building progresses.
The Bay Bridge Explorer app is a free download from the App Store for any iPhone 3GS or later, third-generation iPod touch or later, and iPad or iPad 2 running iOS 3.1.3 or later. From Macworld's own tests on an original iPad, the app seems to be fairly high-maintenance and more than a little finicky; I'd recommend running as few other apps in the background as possible if you're planning on giving it a test drive.
Powered by the Unreal Engine, the Bay Bridge Explorer app is a fully 3D-rendered version of the old Bay Bridge we know and love. You'll start on the Oakland side in an overhead view that shows you exactly where the Eastbound detour is taking place; then, once you've gotten your bearings, you can drive alongside your fellow 3D-rendered passengers.
Once you successfully go through the detour once, you'll unlock the ability to drive on the original bridge in both directions (in case you're nostalgic for those pre-detour days); there are two future routes labeled "coming soon," as well--perhaps to show poor, beleaguered drivers what they have to look forward to as the bridge-building progresses.
The Bay Bridge Explorer app is a free download from the App Store for any iPhone 3GS or later, third-generation iPod touch or later, and iPad or iPad 2 running iOS 3.1.3 or later. From Macworld's own tests on an original iPad, the app seems to be fairly high-maintenance and more than a little finicky; I'd recommend running as few other apps in the background as possible if you're planning on giving it a test drive.
Oracle offers JavaFX 2.0 beta
JavaFX 2.0, an upgrade to the Java-based rich client platform that originated at Sun Microsystems, was made available in a beta form this week by the Java team at Oracle.
In its road map for JavaFX 2.0, Oracle cites introduction of Java APIs that open JavaFX capabilities to all Java developers without them having to learn a new scripting language. Previously, JavaFX Script has been proposed as scripting language for using JavaFX capabilities. The download page for JavaFX 2.0 beta release features an SDK, a runtime, and a plug-in for the NetBeans IDE.
[ General availability of JavaFX 2.0 has been slated for later this year. | Keep up with the latest developer news with InfoWorld's Developer World newsletter. | Follow Paul Krill on Twitter.]
"JavaFX provides a powerful and expressive Java-based UI platform capable of handling large-scale, computationally intensive, data-driven business applications. JavaFX applications are completely developed in Java while leveraging the power of standards-based programming practices and design patterns," said Tori Wieldt in a Java Team blog post. "JavaFX provides a rich set of UI controls, graphics, and media API with high-performance hardware-accelerated graphics, Web, and media engines to simplify development of immersive visual applications."
Other areas of focus cited in the road map include the ability to embed HTML content within a Java application, media playback, and improved deployment. Multithreading improvements are noted as well. Also, the JavaFX runtime is slated to start faster for simple and typical applications. A hardware-accelerated graphics pipeline, named "Prism," targets DirectX on Windows platforms and OpenGL on other platforms. JavaFX 2.0 supports full-screen video, and a new implementation of animated transitions will reduce CPU load and allow for more concurrent animated transitions, the road map states.
Postponed features cited on the road map include grid layout from CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), CSS animations, and an out-of-the-box control for playing media content. JavaFX is vying for developer share in a crowded rich client development market that already features not only Adobe Flash but Microsoft Silverlight the standards-based HTML5 platform.
This article, "Oracle offers JavaFX 2.0 beta," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in business technology news and get a digest of the key stories each day in the InfoWorld Daily newsletter. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.
The rich client platform now features APIs that open JavaFX capabilities to all Java developers
by Paul Krill
In its road map for JavaFX 2.0, Oracle cites introduction of Java APIs that open JavaFX capabilities to all Java developers without them having to learn a new scripting language. Previously, JavaFX Script has been proposed as scripting language for using JavaFX capabilities. The download page for JavaFX 2.0 beta release features an SDK, a runtime, and a plug-in for the NetBeans IDE.
[ General availability of JavaFX 2.0 has been slated for later this year. | Keep up with the latest developer news with InfoWorld's Developer World newsletter. | Follow Paul Krill on Twitter.]
"JavaFX provides a powerful and expressive Java-based UI platform capable of handling large-scale, computationally intensive, data-driven business applications. JavaFX applications are completely developed in Java while leveraging the power of standards-based programming practices and design patterns," said Tori Wieldt in a Java Team blog post. "JavaFX provides a rich set of UI controls, graphics, and media API with high-performance hardware-accelerated graphics, Web, and media engines to simplify development of immersive visual applications."
Other areas of focus cited in the road map include the ability to embed HTML content within a Java application, media playback, and improved deployment. Multithreading improvements are noted as well. Also, the JavaFX runtime is slated to start faster for simple and typical applications. A hardware-accelerated graphics pipeline, named "Prism," targets DirectX on Windows platforms and OpenGL on other platforms. JavaFX 2.0 supports full-screen video, and a new implementation of animated transitions will reduce CPU load and allow for more concurrent animated transitions, the road map states.
Postponed features cited on the road map include grid layout from CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), CSS animations, and an out-of-the-box control for playing media content. JavaFX is vying for developer share in a crowded rich client development market that already features not only Adobe Flash but Microsoft Silverlight the standards-based HTML5 platform.
This article, "Oracle offers JavaFX 2.0 beta," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in business technology news and get a digest of the key stories each day in the InfoWorld Daily newsletter. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.
The rich client platform now features APIs that open JavaFX capabilities to all Java developers
by Paul Krill
Networking chief Haas leaving HP
Marius Haas, who led Hewlett-Packard's networking business through the 3Com acquisition that made it a broader competitor to Cisco Systems, is leaving the company for investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
Haas' last day will be June 1, and a search for his replacement is already under way, HP said in a prepared statement. Bethany Mayer, vice president of worldwide marketing and alliances for Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking, will become the acting head of the networking business.
Haas' departure caps a period of significant expansion for the HP Networking Division but also comes after several other management changes that took place in the wake of Leo Apotheker's arrival as CEO. Last month, HP appointed Martin Homlish, Apotheker's former colleague at SAP, as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. The company also recently named Thomas Hogan as the sales, marketing and strategy chief for its enterprise business and appointed new regional directors for Asia Pacific, the Americas and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
The acquisition of 3Com in April 2010 brought HP a wide range of routing, security and other products that could make it an across-the-board rival to Cisco. Haas oversaw that acquisition after being named senior vice president and general manager of the HP Networking Division in 2008. Previously he had been senior vice president, chief strategy officer and global head of corporate mergers and acquisitions for HP from 2003 to 2008.
However, HP hasn't yet derived all the advantages it might from that buyout, said Yankee Group analyst Zeus Kerravala.
"I don't think the acquisition of 3Com ... has been as simple as they thought it would be," Kerravala said. The task of integrating storage specialist 3Par, which was also acquired last year, may be compounding HP's challenge, he said.
"They have all the components of being the dominant data center vendor," with storage, servers, management tools, networking and security, but need to combine it into something more than the sum of its parts, Kerravala said.
Cisco set the stage for that showdown with its entry into the server business through the Unified Computing System line, followed by its partnerships with EMC and VMware for storage and virtualization. HP and Cisco, along with IBM, Dell and others, now face off as would-be builders of entire data centers.
Haas' departure may have been part of an overall move by Apotheker to bring in his own team at HP, Kerravala said. Haas' replacement at the top of the networking division should be someone who has deep networking expertise, he believes. "Networking is a different discipline to compute. It's tough for compute vendors to get into networking, and vice versa," Kerravala said.
Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com
Haas' last day will be June 1, and a search for his replacement is already under way, HP said in a prepared statement. Bethany Mayer, vice president of worldwide marketing and alliances for Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking, will become the acting head of the networking business.
Haas' departure caps a period of significant expansion for the HP Networking Division but also comes after several other management changes that took place in the wake of Leo Apotheker's arrival as CEO. Last month, HP appointed Martin Homlish, Apotheker's former colleague at SAP, as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. The company also recently named Thomas Hogan as the sales, marketing and strategy chief for its enterprise business and appointed new regional directors for Asia Pacific, the Americas and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
The acquisition of 3Com in April 2010 brought HP a wide range of routing, security and other products that could make it an across-the-board rival to Cisco. Haas oversaw that acquisition after being named senior vice president and general manager of the HP Networking Division in 2008. Previously he had been senior vice president, chief strategy officer and global head of corporate mergers and acquisitions for HP from 2003 to 2008.
However, HP hasn't yet derived all the advantages it might from that buyout, said Yankee Group analyst Zeus Kerravala.
"I don't think the acquisition of 3Com ... has been as simple as they thought it would be," Kerravala said. The task of integrating storage specialist 3Par, which was also acquired last year, may be compounding HP's challenge, he said.
"They have all the components of being the dominant data center vendor," with storage, servers, management tools, networking and security, but need to combine it into something more than the sum of its parts, Kerravala said.
Cisco set the stage for that showdown with its entry into the server business through the Unified Computing System line, followed by its partnerships with EMC and VMware for storage and virtualization. HP and Cisco, along with IBM, Dell and others, now face off as would-be builders of entire data centers.
Haas' departure may have been part of an overall move by Apotheker to bring in his own team at HP, Kerravala said. Haas' replacement at the top of the networking division should be someone who has deep networking expertise, he believes. "Networking is a different discipline to compute. It's tough for compute vendors to get into networking, and vice versa," Kerravala said.
Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com
Google Adds Flight Schedules to Search Results
Using Google to search for airline flights just got a little easier. The search giant announced Friday that it's adding flight schedules to travel-related searches.
"If you have a particular destination in mind, you can now quickly find out which airlines serve that specific route and when they fly," writes Google software engineer Petter Wedum on the company's Inside Search blog.
Let's say you enter "flights from LAX to New York" (without quotes) in the Google search window. The results page's first match (below the ads) reads: "Flights from Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to New York, NY (all airports)."
To view the flights, click the + icon that precedes "Schedule of non-stop flights."
You can also view the destinations of all non-stop flights departing a particular airport. Enter "flights from LAX," for instance, and here's what you'll see:
The addition of flight schedules is part of Google's plan to add more useful information beyond the traditional 10 blue links to its search-results pages.
And how does Microsoft's Bing compare? The "flights from LAX to New York" search displays a screen similar to Google's (see below). To view flight and fare information on Bing's travel site, click the "Find Flights" link.
Google's flight-schedule feature is fairly limited at this point, but it should improve as Google incorporates search tools from ITA Software, a company that organizes airline data. The U.S. Department of Justice approved Google's purchase of ITA in April.
Contact Jeff Bertolucci via Twitter (@jbertolucci) or at jbertolucci.blogspot.com.
"If you have a particular destination in mind, you can now quickly find out which airlines serve that specific route and when they fly," writes Google software engineer Petter Wedum on the company's Inside Search blog.
Let's say you enter "flights from LAX to New York" (without quotes) in the Google search window. The results page's first match (below the ads) reads: "Flights from Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to New York, NY (all airports)."
To view the flights, click the + icon that precedes "Schedule of non-stop flights."
You can also view the destinations of all non-stop flights departing a particular airport. Enter "flights from LAX," for instance, and here's what you'll see:
The addition of flight schedules is part of Google's plan to add more useful information beyond the traditional 10 blue links to its search-results pages.
And how does Microsoft's Bing compare? The "flights from LAX to New York" search displays a screen similar to Google's (see below). To view flight and fare information on Bing's travel site, click the "Find Flights" link.
Google's flight-schedule feature is fairly limited at this point, but it should improve as Google incorporates search tools from ITA Software, a company that organizes airline data. The U.S. Department of Justice approved Google's purchase of ITA in April.
Contact Jeff Bertolucci via Twitter (@jbertolucci) or at jbertolucci.blogspot.com.
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