The company is offering the service over its newly upgraded Docsis 3.0 network. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul region was selected as the first area to get the service because it is one of the most mature Docsis 3.0 deployments that Comcast currently serves.

Comcast hasn’t provided a schedule for when the service will be expanded. But a spokesman said the company will eventually introduce it in all its markets that have been upgraded to Docsis 3.0. These markets include Boston and parts of Southern New Hampshire, parts of Hartford, Philadelphia and surrounding areas, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, large parts of New Jersey, parts of Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Ft. Wayne, Chattanooga, Portland, Seattle, City of San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Comcast’s goal is to reach 80 percent of its national footprint this year with the faster Docsis 3.0 technology. Currently, it covers about 65 percent of its footprint. By the end of the year, if Comcast reaches it goal, its faster broadband service will be available in more than 40 million homes and businesses.

Comcast already offers 50 Mbps service to businesses and residential customers in these markets today. But now the company is stepping up its efforts with the 100 Mbps service.

Comcast’s rival Verizon Communications doesn’t yet offer 100 Mbps service for any of its customers. The fastest service available from the company’s all-fiber Fios network is 50 Mbps. Verizon’s all fiber network is capable of delivering 100 Mbps speeds, but the company says it hasn’t seen a big demand for it from either residential customers or business customers.

"We offer 50 Mbps in every market we serve," said Bobbi Henson, a spokeswoman for Verizon. "We haven’t seen a tremendous amount of demand for 100Mbps service."

But Comcast’s Kevin O’Toole says there is demand from small businesses. He said that businesses, such as those in healthcare or real estate, which send large files are in the most need of more bandwidth. What’s more, Comcast offers several other services along with the broadband service to make the service more valuable to business customers.

For $369.95 per month these businesses get access to Microsoft services, such as Microsoft Exchange email, which provides shared corporate calendar and address functionality, and Microsoft Sharepoint, which allows businesses to have their own intranet. Comcast also will offer these 100 Mbps customers hardware firewall protection and 25 seats of McAfee security. It also offers free web hosting and domain support.

Comcast isn’t competing against Verizon’s Fios service with this 100 Mbps service. It is actually competing with Verizon’s and other phone companies’ T1 data services. This is the kind of service that most larger businesses subscribe to from a telephone provider. Not only are T1 services expensive, in some places costing close to $1,000 a month, but T1 lines are also slow, only providing downloads of 1.5 Mbps.

Comcast believes that small businesses with fewer than 20 employees is an underserved market. And in 2006 it started its business service unit. The strategy of going after these small businesses has paid off. And iIn the second quarter of 2009, the company reported that the business services unit grew revenue by 51 percent compared to the second quarter of 2008.

This is an underserved market that really needs the speed of 100 Mbps service," O’Toole said. "Plus we offer them a great value when you look at the entire package."

Debuting Wednesday, both the basic Norton AntiVirus 2010 and the more robust Norton Internet Security 2010 will use Quorum, which Symantec is calling an advanced security network based both on traditional malware signatures and on reputation for both files and software.

This screenshot is from the Norton Internet Security 2010 beta, though it’s not expected to change drastically in the final version. This shows the Norton Insight screen.

The Quorum system uses the uniqueness of mutating malware against the threat itself, said Dan Nadir, director of product management for Norton AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security. Multiple variations of a single threat have become a potential risk to the efficacy of definition-based antivirus, so a system like Quorum–in which the unfamiliarity of a new threat becomes the tool by which the threat is neutralized–could drastically improve security programs.

Symantec noted that it hasn’t abandoned last year’s pledge to improve Norton’s performance, and it is keeping the quick scan to about one minute. An in-progress scan conducted with the beta version used about 70MB of RAM, while the program used about 15.5 MB when idle. Symantec also exposes how much memory the program is using in the main pane. Symantec says that in the final version, Norton users should expect to see working memory usage at less than 10 MB, and that the "quick scan" should be completed in 64 seconds.

The Quorum technology is designed to expose system and threat-detection data, so users who want more than just "set-it-and-forget-it" information can customize Norton’s responses. The Insight Network incorporates Quorum and uses statistical analysis of file attributes to judge the trustworthiness of a file. Norton Threat Insight provides information on detected threats, such as the URL of a threat. Norton System Insight uncovers system information and can be used to detect system slowdowns. Norton Download Insight uses Symantec’s cloud data to determine the safety of a downloaded file before it runs.

The more robust Norton Internet Security includes new enterprise-level antispam algorithms, which Symantec says shouldn’t require any "training" from users. These have been incorporated from Brightmail, a company that Symantec bought more than five years ago. Norton Internet Security also includes OnlineFamily.Norton, Symantec’s new parental control system, and Norton SafeWeb, which is a search results and e-commerce rating component.

Norton Internet Security 2010 costs $69.99 for a three-PC license, and Norton AntiVirus 2010 is $39.99 for one computer.

While the issues affect different versions of Windows differently, Microsoft said none of the issues apply to the final version of Windows 7, which Microsoft wrapped up in July.

The five bulletins address eight vulnerabilities. According to Symantec Security Response research manager Ben Greenbaum, the two vulnerabilities most likely to be used by attackers involve the way Windows handles ASF and MP3 media files. "We’ve seen similar exploits in the past and all a user would have to do is visit a compromised Web site hosting one of these malicious files, which could be an MP3, WMA or WMV file, and they could become infected."

McAfee Avert Labs director Dave Marcus said that two of the flaws, in particular, relate to serious security vulnerabilities in the networking components of Window Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 that could allow for malicious software to spread from one PC to another.

"These vulnerabilities are the most likely to be exploited by malicious code and are two of the best worm candidates that we’ve seen since Conficker," Marcus said in a statement. "That said, all of today’s security bulletins address vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to take complete control of a vulnerable PC."

In addition, Microsoft said it is re-releasing a bulletin from last month to address an additional control found to be vulnerable to an issue with the Microsoft Active Template Library.

Greenbaum noted that Microsoft has yet to issue a patch for a zero-day flaw in Internet Information Services that was made public last week. "Until a patch for this is issued, as a temporary workaround we suggest IT administrators using IIS 5.0 and 6.0 turn off anonymous write access immediately," Greenbaum said. "We also recommend using a firewall and restricting access to creating directories. Those using IIS 7.0 with FTP Service version 6.0 installed should upgrade to FTP Service version 7.5."

There are already some attacks being seen based on that flaw.

"While the company will not release an update this month, it will do so once it has reached an appropriate level of quality for broad distribution," Microsoft said.

Meanwhile, Microsoft said Tuesday that it is investigating another zero-day issue, this one a reported flaw in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

As for the patches Microsoft did release on Tuesday, Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek noted that some of the bulletins are interesting in that they either affect only newer operating systems or are more critical on later versions–the reverse of what is normally the case. Overall, he said, five Windows patches should keep IT workers busy.

"Due to the criticality of the patches and wide coverage of the operating system, this will be a busy day for IT administrators," Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek said in an e-mail.

After some brief speculation and a lot of prayers to the car gods, BMW India it seems has decided to answer our prayers and in October the company plans on introducing one of the most desired cars from their stable-the Z4 roadster.

The Z4 is literally BMW’s take on what a roadster ought to be. It’s got the aura of classic roadsters complimented by the latest technology and gadgets. A lot has gone into the design of the car and even here you will find the ‘classic meeting the future’ look, for in true classic fashion the roadster boasts of a long stretched hood and short overhangs, of course the future aspect comes in from the sculpted flamed body panels and the pronounced wheel arches at the rear.

The interiors boast of low seats, which have incidentally been placed closer to the rear axle in order to provide great road feedback to the driver as well as stick with the roadster design theme. Loads of leather and that typical BMW quality of fit and finish can be found in abundance on the inside. Elegance meets sport is the underlying theme here and the Z4 is touted to fit that shoe with ease.

One of the most interesting features of the Z4 roadster is its retractable hardtop. The new Z4 happens to be the first BMW roadster to ever come with a hardtop. The hardtop is made up of two aluminum shells that are capable of closing in around 20 seconds. Whether you cruise around with the roof down or with it covered the Z4 has a striking look that cannot be matched by many. It’s a modern day classic.

In terms of engine choices, BMW India has not disclosed too many details, however looking at what is available under the hood internationally does shed some light on things to come. One thing is certain about the engine option and that is the fact that no matter which Z4 you choose, you will receive a straight six under the hood. Internationally the Z4 is available with three engine choices, namely, the Z4sDrive 23i which churns out 204 hp, the sDrive 30i which makes 258 hp and the sDrive35i which churns out a whopping 306 hp.

In terms transmission options, BMW offers a 6 speed manual box on the Z4, however considering the fact that none of the BMW’s in India have ever come in with a manual, the chances of seeing this great 6 speed box is most likely out of the question. On the other hand the seven speed sport automatic double clutch transmission which is only available on the Z4 sDrive35i does sound like a lot of fun and fits in with BMW India’s plans of only introducing automatics for the country.

India has not been a traditional market for roadsters; however the likes of the Mercedes SLK and Porsche Boxter and Cayman are set to get some rather stiff Bavarian competition in the days to come.

The proposed small car will have 85 percent local content.

“We are negotiating with Tata Steel for getting better price for the steel, given our increased volumes,” Michael Boneham, president and MD of the Ford India, told reporters.

The company had earlier imported the steel blankets – cut steel sheets – from its sister plant in Thailand.

Ford India has increased its vendor base by 30 to 180. Boneham said the policy is to have multiple vendors for most of the components and go in for a single vendor for some critical items.

The company has installed 92 robots for fast and precision work in view of the increased volumes.

Speaking about the new paint process, vice president manufacturing Tom S. Chackalackal said the Indian plant will be Ford’s first volume plant to introduce three wet high solid process that gives high gloss finish and in the process save painting overheads. (IANS)