How to spot dangerous links before you click them

u probably got to this page by clicking a link. Links are the ties that bind the Web. But each click is also a leap of faith. How do you know you're going to the page you think you're going to?

Google search results let you preview pages before you follow the link, but elsewhere the best you can do is hover over the link to see at the bottom of the browser the URL of the page the link will open. (See below for more on free browser add-ons that rate the security of links in search results.)

Since 1994 a Certificate Authority based on the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) standard has managed the validation of Web sites. Several private companies sell various levels of certificates to organizations that own domain names and host Web servers.
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According to the recently released Volume 17 of Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report, on at least 10 occasions in 2011 an SSL certificate authority came under attack by Internet criminals.

One of the handful of successful attacks targeted a Comodo affiliate that had been granted authority to issue SSL certificates. The bad guys had stolen a user name and password. Elinor Mills and Declan McCullogh describe the attack in the Privacy, Inc. blog.

SSL implementation survey gives sites low grades for security
Last week more questions arose about SSL's ability to secure Web transactions. The Trustworthy Internet Movement's SSL Implementation survey of 200,000 popular SSL-secured Web sites found that only 10 percent of the sites were safe.

The organization's SSL Pulse page includes a link to SSL Labs' free service for testing a site's SSL security. Simply enter a domain name to run it through the labs' SSL Server Test.

SSL Labs' domain-name checker gives sites an overall letter grade and rates their SSL security in various categories.
(Credit: screenshot by Dennis O'Reilly/CNET)

There's nothing new about SSL vulnerabilities, which have been reported regularly by researchers since at least 2003. After nearly two decades and despite all the criticism, SSL has proven itself secure enough to protect nearly all online purchases and other sensitive Internet transactions. At least so far.

Browser add-ons add a safety rating to links
Unless you're a network manager, there's not much you can do to ensure that the sites you visit are secure. One way to lower the risk is to be warned about a potentially insecure site before you click the link that opens it.

My favorite link authenticator is the free Web of Trust (WOT), which is available for Firefox and Google Chrome. WOT adds a green-yellow-red rating to links in Web search results and to the top of each page you visit.

The Web of Trust add-on for Firefox and Google Chrome lets you choose one of three presets, one of which automatically blocks adult sites.
(Credit: screenshot by Dennis O'Reilly/CNET)

(I first wrote about WOT in a post from 2009 that also described McAfee's free SiteAdvisor and the LinkExtend add-ons for Firefox, as well as several other security extensions for the browser.)

The Tech Support Alert site describes several services that let you copy and paste a link into a text field and search the URL in databases of known dangerous domains. The downside of these services is the extra time required to run Web addresses you're leery about through the checkers.

Personal sites and blogs most likely to be infected
Conventional wisdom says malware lurks in the seamy regions of the Web. Certain to be one of the most-discussed findings of Symantec's latest Internet Security Threat Report is that pornographic sites are less likely to be infected than any of the 10 categories of sites in the survey.

Only 2.4 percent of adult sites scanned by Symantec were infected, the lowest infection rate of the 10 site categories, which include shopping (7.7 percent), education/reference (6.8 percent), entertainment and music (3.8 percent) and automotive (also 3.8 percent).

Be careful when you visit your brother-in-law's site highlighting his collection of 19th century beer bottles, though: nearly 20 percent of blogs and more than 15 percent of personal sites had malware, according to the report.

When it comes to browser plug-in vulnerabilities, ActiveX continues to be the most likely source of a Web-borne infection, accounting for 29 percent of the 308 vulnerabilities Symantec detected in 2011. That's a decrease from the 34 percent of the 346 plug-in vulnerabilities detected in 2010.

Java vulnerabilities accounted for 20 percent of the total recorded in 2011, up from 17 percent the year earlier. Likewise, Adobe Flash vulnerabilities represented 20 percent of the total number of browser plug-in vulnerabilities in 2011, a 2 percent increase from 2010.

As for the future, Symantec anticipates an increase in targeted attacks and advanced persistent threats, as well as malware authors using Facebook to take advantage of the lack of tech savvy among the service's users.

All the security software in the world will never take the place of a healthy dose of skepticism regarding the safety of any site. Whatever the address bar may say, if you get a bad feeling about the page you're on, close your browser (not just the suspicious tab).

And while we're talking paranoia, when was the last time you ran a full manual scan on your PC? (I'll leave Macs out of it... for now.)

LG Fantasy: The Windows Phone that could have been?

The LG Viper, not the LG Fantasy.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

LG's future with Windows Phone 7 is up in the air at the moment, but a prototype of a device the company had reportedly planned to launch has surfaced.

The folks over at Windows Phone 7 tracker, WP Central, claim to have gotten their hands on the LG E740 "Fantasy." The device, the blog claims, was in prototype mode in late 2011, but was eventually shelved in early 2012.

According to WP Central, the device comes with a 4-inch TFT LCD display and a 1GHz processor. It offers 8GB of onboard storage, 512MB of RAM, and 3G connectivity. Although it lacks 4G LTE service, the device boasts near-field communication support. The 5-megapixel rear-facing camera complements the front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera.

Android's new ally against the iPhone: Ubuntu

Last year was a long time ago for Android.

That was when Google's mobile platform was stealing market share from all the other smartphone platforms -- winning even against the iPhone -- and beating a path toward market dominance.

But Android is now facing a renewed challenge from its archrival. Android's vulnerability against the iPhone can be summed up by looking at the two biggest wireless carriers in the U.S. -- AT&T and Verizon. At AT&T, the iPhone represented 78% of all smartphone sales in the first three months of 2012. At Verizon, which had been an Android stronghold since the launch of the original Motorola Droid in October 2009, the iPhone has picked up over 50 percent of all smartphone sales for each of the past two quarters (Q4 2011 and Q1 2012).

How'd that happen? Android won over more users than Apple during 2010 and 2011 because Android devices were available on more carriers and there were Android phones that cost a lot less than the $200 base model of the iPhone. But now the iPhone has spread to virtually all of the major carriers and there are now iPhone models available for under $100.

Android badly needs a new advantage against the iPhone in the next stage of the mobile platform fight. It may get it from Canonical's Ubuntu for Android.

The Ubuntu factor

Ubuntu is a friendly version of Linux aimed at the masses. Unfortunately, the masses have never embraced it on a large scale, but it has proven to be usable enough that even your technophobic uncle can easily use Ubuntu to do things like surf the Web, check e-mail, and download photos from a digital camera.

While the iPhone is winning on simplicity, Android is winning on expanded features (and it's still expected to have a 50 percent market share this year). One of those expanded features that the iPhone doesn't have is the ability to dock and act like a computer. Last week we looked at how Motorola Webtop pioneered this concept. However, Ubuntu has an alternative vision for smartphone/PC convergence and it's teaming with Android hardware makers on devices that will hit the market later in 2012.

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has slowly and quietly evolved the Linux desktop into a legitimate low-cost alternative to Windows and Mac. Ubuntu's focus on usability with its Unity Desktop and Heads-Up Display (which is like a Google search for all of the menus on your computer) has given Ubuntu the simplicity it needs to compete in an era that's about to be dominated by touchscreens and cloud computing.

That's why when Canonical announced and demonstrated Ubuntu for Android at Mobile World Congress in February, it generated a lot of interest across the mobile industry. Users liked the idea of a more full-featured desktop than Motorola's Webtop. Android phone makers liked the idea of using the software to build high-powered multi-purpose devices and make more money off smartphones accessories like desktop docks. And, wireless carriers loved the idea of powerful smartphones running desktop-level applications that will demand more data than ever.Mobile World Congress 2012 attendees flock to see Ubuntu for Android. Photo credit: Canonical

"The feedback has been great," Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth said. "People that really got their hands on it have raved about it."

After the announcement, the Canonical booth at MWC 2012 was flooded with interest from corporate tech managers, consumers, and representatives from telcos and handset makers. All of them wanted to see what Ubuntu for Android could do. Everyone has seen the capabilities of Motorola Webtop -- as we talked about last week -- but it's limited to mostly desktop Web browsing and it's only available on Motorola phones. Ubuntu takes the concept a step further by opening it up to more apps and to all Android phone makers.

Shuttleworth said, "Webtop reminds [me] of ChromeOS. It's a browser story. We've pulled off a very different feeling... The full range of desktop apps are there."

When Ubuntu is loaded on an Android phone, the two platforms share the same Linux kernel, so it's not like running two operating systems. The two pieces act like complementary partners. The Android phone functions normally when used as a smartphone or when making calls, but when it docks then the Ubuntu desktop pops up and acts like a standard computer. You can open a desktop Web browser, but you can also install and run standard Ubuntu desktop software for photo editing, word processing, etc.

Because Ubuntu is so lean, the entire Ubuntu software stack only takes up about 2GB, and that includes apps for e-mail, Web browsing, photo editing, music, and other basic stuff. If you install more applications from the large Ubuntu repository of open source apps then that will obviously take up more space, but there's still plenty of storage on most modern smartphones to handle it. While Ubuntu takes up more storage than Webtop, it's also giving you a lot more capabilities.

"The Ubuntu solution is providing a complete PC operating system," said Richard Collins, the Product Manager for Ubuntu for Android. "Canonical has always seen the opportunity for Ubuntu for Android. It's something that's always been discussed, but once the hardware was ready then we realized the timing was good for this. [The software] is mature enough for us to engage with an OEM today."

Before joining Canonical in December 2011, Collins previously worked on smartphones for Symbian -- the operating system that used to power Nokia smartphones before CEO Stephen Elop dumped it for Windows Phone 7 last year.

For Ubuntu for Android, Collins added, "We haven't touched Android at all."

But, while the Ubuntu solution doesn't alter Android, it provides deep integration with Android on the Ubuntu side, and that's where Canonical is bringing value that goes above and beyond what Motorola accomplished with Webtop.
Going beyond Webtop

Here are some examples of the ways Ubuntu integrates with Android:

    * Web pages that you have open on your Android phone are automatically opened in Ubuntu when you dock. It even switches from the mobile site to the desktop version of the site, in many cases.
    * View, search, and launch Android applications from within the Ubuntu desktop
    * Access and edit photos and videos and then save them back to Android
    * Wi-Fi networks and settings are shared between Android and Ubuntu
    * View and search phone contacts from the Ubuntu desktop
    * Use Dialer app to make calls on the phone while docked in Ubuntu
    * Read and respond to text messages with full keyboard in Ubuntu
    * Android calendar app is synced with Ubuntu calendar software
    * Social networking account credentials are synced between Android and Ubuntu


Again, the other thing that Ubuntu has going for it over Webtop is that Webtop is currently only available on Motorola smartphones. In my Webtop article last week, I suggested that when Google buys Motorola Mobility it could choose to directly integrate Webtop into the next version of Android, which would turn almost every new Android device into a PC replacement.

In the meantime, Ubuntu for Android is bypassing Google and making its pitch directly to Android handset makers. Interestingly enough, once the announcement was made in February, several of the handset makers actually came and sought out Canonical to start the dialog on how to get it on their devices. Canonical said that virtually all of the major Android phone makers are considering Ubuntu for Android.

"We've engaged all the handset manufacturers that we feel were relevant to this solution," said Collins. "They were beating a path to our stand [at MWC]."

Collins said Ubuntu for Android is not something that is meant to be released as a download on the Internet and installed on existing Android phones. It's going to take close cooperation with the phone makers in order to optimize performance of the hardware for each smartphone and to build in all the hooks that are needed for the deep integration that Ubuntu is doing with Android.

Since Ubuntu for Android runs alongside Android, Collins argued that a handset manufacturer can integrate it with a phone that is currently in development without having to completely reboot the product. He said manufacturers that are planning to launch multi-core smartphones this year can still take this and launch with it before the end of the year. While that sounds a little oversimplified, the key is that Collins thinks we'll see Ubuntu integrated into high-end Android phones by the end of 2012.

Collins also said that Ubuntu would love to work with some Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core devices. That's where the possibilities of this type of solution could start to shine through, since performance has been one of the big drawbacks of Motorola Webtop as well as the Motorola Atrix 2 device that Ubuntu of Android was demonstrated on at MWC.

While it's uncertain what Google is going to do with Motorola Mobility once the acquisition is complete, the search giant has said that it intends to run Motorola as a stand-alone business. If that's the case, then Shuttleworth said he's even open to collaborating with the Webtop creator. "I'd love to work with Motorola because I know the courage it took to bring Webtop to market."

One thing that's very clear in talking with Shuttleworth is that he has completely bought into the idea that the smartphone is the future of the PC. His only question was the timing. "It's a very natural step for us to be taking," he said. "[This is] an upcoming phase change. It might take five years. It might take 10 years."

Microsoft's $300 million gamble on B&N: Hey, why not?

Quite a lot has already been conjectured in the wake of Microsoft's decision to invest $300 million in a new joint venture with Barnes & Noble. Is a Windows Nook on the way? Are we witnessing a sly move to poke Google in the eye by fostering Android fragmentation? Or is this part of a longer range effort to help users e-books and articles across myriad devices?

Yes to all of the above. But there's not much sense in overthinking this. If you're Steve Ballmer, there's no way that you don't do this deal.

First, the $300 million is a rounding error for a company that did $17.4 billion in its most recent quarter. This was chump change next to what Facebook plunked down to buy Instagram and, really, a very small price to pay to get off the sidelines and into a hot market.

For Microsoft, it's a low-cost gambit given how badly the company trails in the e-book business. Microsoft, which of course doesn't share that view, tells me that the real battle is only now getting underway. That's a bit delusional, but you have to admire their spunk.

And if the gambit succeeds, Ballmer will look prescient, having found a cheap way into a world currently dominated by Amazon and Apple. If Microsoft fails, it's a meaningless tax write-off that won't make a difference to the company's stock (unlike Barnes & Noble, whose shares rose 52% on the news.)

Microsoft could also use a partner that knows what it's doing. As Kevin Tofel reminds us, this is not the first time Microsoft has given the e-reading business a try. But big ideas don't always pan out. Microsoft's Windows Pocket PC platform for mobile devices debuted on April 19, 2000. The Microsoft Reader was embedded in the platform, "allowing you to read e-books on the go."

    Microsoft eventually got out of the Reader business in August of last year, with the decision to shutter its Reader efforts. And why not when the software was then losing to dedicated e-Ink devices and smaller tablets from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others?

For Barnes & Noble, Microsoft's deep pockets are a godsend. Nook or no Nook, the company still struggles with issues that ultimately pushed its former rival Borders into bankruptcy. (Hands please: Who wants to be a big box book retailer in the age of the Internet?)

Which is why the new division -- the Orwellian-named Newco -- could eventually wind up on spun out on its own. More immediately, Microsoft's backing should help Barnes and Noble dispel the concerns of any fence-sitters wondering whether the Nook can survive in an increasingly hardscrabble market.

My CNET colleague David Carnoy correctly observes that in the commodity world of e-books, uneasy consumers have expressed worry that their purchases might disappear if a company goes out of business.

    When Borders went belly up, consumers were simply migrated over to Kobo because Kobo already powered Borders e-book store. But no one knows exactly what would happen if Barnes & Noble went down the tubes, and not a Nook story goes by on CNET without a commenter voicing some concern over Barnes & Noble's longevity.

Microsoft's money solves that problem for Barnes & Noble. How do win more customers? In announcing the news, neither company was very specific. Microsoft President Andy Lees went on about how "the option here is to define the future of reading" and that Microsoft sought to become "more than just the platform provider."

That covers a lot of ground, but it's still anybody's guess what that will mean. Lees was equally opaque about what comes next -- besides, that is, the obvious step of making a Nook app for Windows 8. That leaves the blogospheric chattering classes to ponder the inner Zen of the moment.
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Since the Nook runs on Android, it's reasonable to expect Microsoft to press Barnes & Noble to switch to Windows 8 sometime in the future (at least for some Nook models.) All Lees would say was that Microsoft offered several different form factors, price points, and capabilities, leaving the impression that there would be more to talk about at some future date. He also mentioned how Microsoft's "complementary assets will accelerate e-reading innovation across a broad range of Windows devices." Amazon now controls roughly 60% of the e-book business in North America and if CEO Jeff Bezos was listening to today's conference call, he didn't hear anything to lose sleep over.

But while Microsoft and its newest best friend aren't doing much beyond making promises on top of promises right now, this story may yet wind up with a happy ending. The Nook has already won its share of good product reviews -- CNET gave it 3.5 out of five stars in its rating -- and there's no reason to believe it wouldn't do equally well equipped with Windows 8, which could be one of the best OS iterations ever produced at Microsoft.

For $300 million, it's well worth rolling the dice. What's to lose?

Flashback creators netted $10,000 per day at its height?

Apple's Flashback Trojan was a major concern for Mac OS X users. But it might have also been a huge revenue opportunity for its creators.

According to security firm Symantec, which has been analyzing Flashback, the Trojan known as OSX.Flashback.K included a significant ad-clicking component that the company says, was designed to help the creators generate revenue.

"Flashback specifically targets search queries made on Google and, depending on the search query, may redirect users to another page of the attacker's choosing, where they receive revenue from the click," Symantec wrote in a blog post. "Google never receives the intended ad click."
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    * Where did Flashback start? Blame the blogosphere

The possibilities for revenue generation are huge for that kind of exploit, according to Symantec. It found that an ad-clicking Trojan called W32.Xpaj.B last August was able to make up to $450 per day on just 25,000 infections. At its height, Flashback infected a possible 650,000 Macs around the world.

"Considering the Flashback Trojan measures in the hundreds of thousands, this figure could sharply rise to the order of $10,000 per day," Symantec wrote.

The Flashback Trojan is a particularly nasty bit of malware that took advantage of of a Java vulnerability in Apple's Mac OS X. Soon after Apple patched its operating system and released a removal tool, the instances of Flashback around the globe plummeted, likely pushing the creators' revenue opportunity down

Boost, Virgin Mobile push phone insurance for $5 per month

Sprint is about to do you a favor, by selling you insurance on your phone.

Both of Sprint's no-contract carriers, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile, are offering customers on the Monthly Unlimited plan a "unique opportunity" to insure their phones for $5 a month, even though the phone insurance window typically closes after the first 15 days of buying a new handset.

Don't look at it as a business decision from a company seeking an additional revenue bump in the form of a service add-on. Look at it as a heartfelt offer to you, because your happiness is just that important.

Or, at least it is during the month of May. After May 31, the insurance offer reverts to the usual policy.

In all seriousness, there are potential benefits with any insurance program in the event of damage or loss.

Considering that Boost and Virgin phones can cost up to $300, insurance could save you from buying a new phone at full cost, though keep in mind that there is a deductible of $25, $65, or $100 per approved claim. The prepaid carriers will typically replace phones within 24 hours.

iRobot military bots learn how to phone home

the remote controlled 110 FirstLook is designed for surveillance tasks.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)

BEDFORD, Mass.--In the movies, robots always have a mind of their own. But for iRobot's military bots, it's a slow process of gaining more smarts.

The company's latest military robots, which run on caterpillar tracks and resemble miniature tanks, are slowly adding autonomous features to improve their capabilities.

iRobot's latest military robot, the throwable 110 FirstLook, has the ability to right itself if it lands upside down and retrace its tracks if it gets out of communications range. A group of these encyclopedia-size robots will soon be able to create a mesh network to connect to a remote operator.
iRobot's military bots get smarter and more agile (photos)
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The company's larger robots also are gaining these types of features, which makes them more useful in the field, said Tim Trainer, the general manager of iRobot's military business unit. But giving independence to robots needs to be added bit by bit, rather than in one fell swoop, he said.

"Government and military customers want more autonomy and the way to get there is through incremental changes to get the warfighter and the Army administration comfortable with it," Trainer said.

About 100 of the 110 FirstLook robots were delivered to the military which will use them for helping create a map of dangerous areas.
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Autonomy is one of the primary area of research at iRobot and spills across all its product lines. The company's Ava pedestal-shaped robot, for example, will likely gain better object recognition and map-creating ability over time, said Chris Jones, the company's research program manager.

The military remains one of iRobot's core business, but cuts in some programs means the company has to diversify from its reliance on the military and its home-cleaning products. Later this year, it will begin testing its Ava mobile robot for use in healthcare, retail, or building security

On the eve of Research In Motion's developer conference in Orlando, Fla., one analyst warned that the company may lose out on even more precious market share to Apple and Google. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue told Reuters that Apple and Samsung continue to lead the race for the top spot, while others are "donating" market share. At the last count, RIM had 8.8 percent of the market share for the fourth-quarter, according to research group Gartner, a figure down by nearly half on the year earlier. ComScore figures for November-February show a a steeper drop. with HTC replacing RIM in fifth place in the top mobile OEMs category, indicating less than 6.3 percent of the mobile market share. But while RIM aims to launch its next-generation BlackBerry smartphones later this year -- pegged for October, reports suggest -- the company could find its market share dropping 5 percent or less, Sue said. RIM only has a trickle of new BlackBerry customers as the company loses ground to smartphone makers with greater popularity. In the meantime, RIM is branching out to the emerging markets for a short-term revenue "hit" in order to prop the company up until BlackBerry 10 devices launch. But in taking the long view, RIM could bounce back. It means a strategy shift for the company. First and foremost, it needs to get BlackBerry 10 out the door sooner rather than later. But if it's not ready, it's not ready. It can't pull a 'PlayBook' with a smartphone line-up and release the hardware without crucial elements of the smartphone like it did with its tablet. RIM will just have to wait until its long-term fix comes in. If BlackBerry 10 fails, likely the company will, too.

ZoneAlarm is making an aggressive move to attract new people to its line of security programs with what may be a first: a free antivirus program pre-packaged with a free firewall.

Available exclusively from Download.com today, ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus+Firewall 2013 (download) could very well make big waves in the free security-suite space. It's the same free firewall that ZoneAlarm has produced for years, but with basic antivirus and anti-malware tools included. It's basically ZoneAlarm Pro Antivirus+Firewall from last year, with an updated engine. And did I mention that it's free?

The free security suite market is highly competitive, and people use the free suites on a scale not comparable with any other software besides the browser. Avast, Avira, and AVG combined claim more than 400 million active installations, according to OPSWAT's analysis for the first quarter of 2012. ZoneAlarm is optimistic about getting in on that action. "We know we will be in the tens of millions this year," said Mark Brier, head of freemium marketing for ZoneAlarm.
This chart shows the differences between ZoneAlarm's security suites.

This chart shows the differences between ZoneAlarm's security suites.
(Credit: CheckPoint/ZoneAlarm)

The new Free edition does have some additional limitations, though. Automatic virus definition file and signature updates, the locally-stored file that helps identify threats, are limited to once every 24 hours. You can always manually update it, but this is a notable limitation. ZoneAlarm Free also lacks the expert rules option available in the paid version of the firewall. The company will continue to maintain its free firewall without antivirus, for people who want it.

The big news is the combination of the two-way firewall and antivirus, although ZoneAlarm has made the suite appealing in other ways, too. Advanced scan options are enabled by default, but provide room for customization; and there are extras like 2 GB of free online storage and a free identity and credit monitoring service for U.S.-based customers.

It comes with a toolbar that does enable protection against third-party exploits, but even if you opt-out of having ZoneAlarm change your default search engine or default home page during installation, it still manages to muck some things up.

ZoneAlarm Free is also a bit weak in other security areas. If you're looking for solid privacy protections out of the box, AVG Free offers a site-tracking blocker, while Avast provides a sandboxing feature to keep suspicious programs from doing damage.

CNET Labs found ZoneAlarm Free to be fairly competitive with the past year's suites, with a faster than average impact on startup time, a shutdown impact that was only a few seconds slower than average, and a scan time that was one-third faster than last year's ZoneAlarm Pro. Real-world scan time averaged three minutes, 46 seconds for the quick scan, and more than two hours for the full scan.

It has been a while since ZoneAlarm has been submitted for independent efficacy testing from AV-Test.org, AV-Comparatives.org, or West Coast Labs, which makes it hard to evaluate how this well-known name holds up against the competition. However, if people flock to it as Mark Brier and others at ZoneAlarm hope, it could cause both free and paid security suite makers to reevaluate what features ought to be made free to all.

Is RIM's market share headed below 5 percent?

On the eve of Research In Motion's developer conference in Orlando, Fla., one analyst warned that the company may lose out on even more precious market share to Apple and Google.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue told Reuters that Apple and Samsung continue to lead the race for the top spot, while others are "donating" market share.

At the last count, RIM had 8.8 percent of the market share for the fourth-quarter, according to research group Gartner, a figure down by nearly half on the year earlier. ComScore figures for November-February show a a steeper drop. with HTC replacing RIM in fifth place in the top mobile OEMs category, indicating less than 6.3 percent of the mobile market share.

But while RIM aims to launch its next-generation BlackBerry smartphones later this year -- pegged for October, reports suggest -- the company could find its market share dropping 5 percent or less, Sue said.

RIM only has a trickle of new BlackBerry customers as the company loses ground to smartphone makers with greater popularity. In the meantime, RIM is branching out to the emerging markets for a short-term revenue "hit" in order to prop the company up until BlackBerry 10 devices launch.

But in taking the long view, RIM could bounce back. It means a strategy shift for the company. First and foremost, it needs to get BlackBerry 10 out the door sooner rather than later. But if it's not ready, it's not ready. It can't pull a 'PlayBook' with a smartphone line-up and release the hardware without crucial elements of the smartphone like it did with its tablet.

RIM will just have to wait until its long-term fix comes in. If BlackBerry 10 fails, likely the company will, too.

Windows XP holding on as dominant OS

(Credit: Net Applications)

Windows XP isn't going down easy.

The ten-year-old OS has gradually been shedding users over the past several years but is still hanging onto to its huge chunk of the market.

In April, XP's market share inched down to 46.08 percent from 46.86 percent in March, according to data out today from Net Applications. That followed a roller-coaster ride that saw XP's audience rise and fall slightly each month since last November 2011.

At the same time, Windows 7 continues to grow in popularity. Last month, the current flavor of Windows grabbed a 38.67 percent share, up from 37.54 percent in March.

The trend over the past year clearly shows Windows 7 gaining on its predecessor. In April 2011, XP held a 55.84 percent share, while Windows 7 hovered at 26.36 percent.

Still, XP's grip on the market remains tight. Microsoft has been aggressively encouraging users and businesses alike to switch from XP to Windows 7, obviously with some success. But it's been a relatively slow and gradual move.
Related stories

    * Windows XP won't give up top spot without a fight
    * XP loses ground to Windows 7 but still top OS
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Jumping to a new operating system isn't an especially onerous task for individual users, even though there is no straight upgrade path from XP to Windows 7.

But organizations face greater challenges pulling off a migration. Companies that have standardized on Windows XP can't so easily switch to an new OS without ensuring that all their hardware and software will be compatible.

Large enterprises have to migrate thousands or tens of thousands of users, a time-consuming task. But certain types of smaller companies must contend with their own unique issues. Factories, hospitals, doctors' offices, and similar businesses often use Windows to power their lab equipment, and such equipment can be very finicky about which operating system is in charge.

Microsoft has stressed that support for Windows XP will expire in another two years, at which point software patches, security fixes, and other updates will no longer be available. That could easily put XP computers at greater risk without the necessary protection against malware.

More organizations will undoubtedly feel compelled to move up to Windows 7, ensuring that at some point in the next year or two, the current version of Windows will take over as top dog. But XP will certainly still be alive and kicking for many years to come.