There are rumors swirling that Blackberry, facing challenges from Apple and Google in the Smartphone world, is fighting back with a possible Tablet release in 2011. The possible 7" touchscreen tablet would include cameras on the front and back for video conferencing and use Flash.

A new scam has emerged in England that could find its way to America. You may receive a phone call from someone claiming they are from Microsoft and they detected a virus on your system. You will need to pay money (in England its 185 pounds) to go to a website and download a program to "remove" the virus. The website looks authenticate with Microsoft and McAfee approving of it. These are not legitimate and will not only drain you of your money, but the software could leave you open to other scams or actually infecting your computer with malware.

At Renascence IT Consulting, Inc. we look out for scams and malignant software that threaten to cost your company money and time. If you ever need an opinion (or second opinion) on hardware, software, or anything else IT-related, don't hesitate to call or email us. Trust is a hard commodity in the business world, but once established, can be profitable for both companies in the long run.

More on the scam:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/359233/the-unstoppable-tech-support-scam

For those of you who had AT&T Wireless accounts before 2004 might be able to collect money under a claim that the company billed for unauthorized charges, billed minutes under the wrong billing period, and failed to tell customers about some charges. 

If you use Adobe Reader or Acrobat, a patch has been released today
that needs to be installed to protect against 17 new known
vulnerabilities with that program. Opening a rigged PDF file can
unleash malicious code on a user’s systems.

At Renascence IT Consulting, Inc. we constantly are on the alert for
new patches and fixes that affect businesses. We also are aware of
upgrades or hot fixes that could result in your system becoming an
unbootable mess. Email or contact us if you have concerns about this
latest Adobe threat or any others that lurk out in cyberspace.

More on the patch:

http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/critical-pdf-reader-patch-fixes-launch-comm…

Apple is looking into problems with their latest iPhone and signal
quality. They have acknowledged that holding the iPhone may reduce
call and data integrity. Apple released this workaround: “If you ever
experience this on your Phone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left
corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal
band, or simply use one of many available cases.”

Renascence IT Consulting, Inc. understands that the latest and
greatest technology may run into problems and that simple old school
workarounds or fixes may be required to get your company back up and
running as quickly as possible. We constantly monitor your servers,
desktops, laptops and other software and hardware to make sure they
are running at maximum efficiency, and solve any issues quickly and
effectively when they appear.

More on the iPhone 4 issue:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9178503/Hardware_expert_explains_iPhon…

SanDisk has announced it has made a solid state memory card that can
store files for over 100 years. This is primarily to be used for
medical files, forensic evidence, and legal documents.

How is your data faring in the long term? Is your accounting data safe
from not only the ravages of time, but from other potentially
destructive forces? At Renascence IT Consulting, we make sure you keep
your company safe on the computers; leaving you to maintain and build
your business.

More on the new disk:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9178428/SanDisk_s_SD_card_can_store_da…

There are so many places to examine or worry about in your company,
the last one should be your network, server, and infrastructure. The
below article gives some pointers on how to improve the performance of
your network. At Renascence IT Consulting, Inc. we look at all aspects
of your company and how we can improve the speed, reliability, and
ease of use of the technology without costing you an arm and a leg.

Link to the tips:

http://www.itworld.com/networking/110107/10-tips-boosting-network-performance…,0

A new law in the works would possibly provide excess government
computers to small businesses at little or no cost. It would also
utilize the Small Business Administration to help upgrade companies to
broadband technologies.

At Renascence IT Consulting, we understand your bottom line for your
business may not include much for IT infrastructure. We can work with
you and your company in getting the most technology for the best ROI.

More on the possible law:

http://www.itworld.com/networking/111717/law-would-offer-government-pcs-small…

With so many different outlets of social media, streaming music and
video, sports, and other potentially productivity and bandwidth
killing websites and programs, what is a company to do? Some turn to
specific policies to stem users from utilizing work time as Tweet
time. Others setup software to monitor users’ actions and make sure
they are not abusing their machine or network.

At Renascence IT Consulting, we understand that there is much more to
a technology infrastructure than just servers and firewalls. Training
users and working with each company to find a sweet spot for that
Tweet spot is essential too. Contact us to find out how we can finely
tune your infrastructure and your users for maximum potential without
killing morale.

More on computer use at work and some examples:

http://www.itworld.com/security/111246/not-safe-work-whats-acceptable-office-…

One of the questions we are asked quite a bit is, “How do I make my
computer run faster?” The answers come fast and varied on how to
improve a Windows machine’s performance. What is true, what is myth,
and which should you bother with?

This article confirms and shatters 25 Windows tips:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/25_most_popular_windows_tips