Week in Review: Scandal, security and sex

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Have you Hurd about the scandal?

It’s rare that you get some real scandal in the tech world, so it was a breath of not-so-fresh air when HP boss Mark Hurd stepped down after being linked with a sexual harassment case.

Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison vented his fury about the decision, telling the New York Times it was the “worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago”.

Hurd wasn’t the only one to make like a tree this week though. Apple iPhone exec Mark Papermaster resigned with rumours suggesting “antennagate” had a part to play in the decision, while Palm Pre designer Peter Skillman left HP.

Smartphone security scares

Anyone who wasn’t concerned about smartphone security may have changed their minds after this week. An Android SMS Trojan was spotted, a Palm Pre flaw was discovered potentially leaving it open to compromise, and Apple got round to fixing the flaws allowing the JailbreakMe app to run.

Elsewhere in the smartphone sphere, sales continued to rise and Vodafone became the first UK provider to make the iPhone 4 available on pay as you go.

Best of the rest

In the internet world, Google released the beta for Chrome 6 and Mozilla launched the third beta for Firefox 4.

Zeus reappeared again in a new outfit, so IT PRO drew up a handy timeline, and in the same week as its legal battle with IBM came to an end, Oracle decided to file a lawsuit against Google, claiming the Android mobile OS infringes patents and copyright.

Having started with a slice of salaciousness, it only feels right to finish in a similar vein. Apparently, if you are an iPhone owner it is likely you have had more sexual partners than either BlackBerry or Android users. iPhone customers getting screwed, you say?

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