New and improved BlackBerry Storm a-comin' this fall?

The original Storm landed with a thud thanks to its sluggish performance, lack of Wi-Fi, and tricky touchscreen. Now a pair of reports have it that RIM is set to whip up a new Storm, complete with Wi-Fi and a "brand-new" touchscreen.

First up, we've got SlashGear, which has an unnamed source "very close to the issue" claiming that the "BlackBerry Storm 2" is set to arrive this September on Verizon Wireless, and that the revamped handset "addresses one of the biggest criticisms of the first smartphone and of Verizon devices in general" (ouch)—namely, that "it will support Wi-Fi."

Next comes Boy Genius Report, which claims that SlashGear's story is "100% confirmed" and adds a rumor of its own ("confirmed to us by two independent sources"): that the new Storm will have "new screen tech" that "improves the screen enormously and makes typing really pleasurable."

Now, if you recall, the original Storm's touch display (the first of its kind for a BlackBerry) is actually clickable—that is, you touch it lightly to move the cursor, then press harder on the spring-loaded display to "click" a button or perform an action.

The idea, of course, was to add some feedback to the Storm's virtual QWERTY keypad (as well as to "mimic" the "flick to select, click to take action" effect of "the old BlackBerry jog dial," as I wrote in my review), but users complained that the clickable display felt a bit "sticky" in actual use.

OK, so what's RIM's new touchscreen solution? No word on that, unfortunately, although Boy Genius Report claims that the new technology will be called "TruePress," for what it's worth.

In any case, the claims of a September release date for a Storm 2 sound about right; the first Storm was announced last October and released in late November, and handsets typically have a one-year life cycle. Also, RIM and Verizon Wireless are probably eager to step up the pace, given the original Storm's cool reception. (No official word from Verizon or RIM, of course.)

So, BlackBerry fans—ready for a new Storm? What features would you be looking for? And should the Storm 2 (assuming it exists) revamp the touchscreen, or are you fine with the current ClickThrough display?

Related:
Blackberry Storm 2 due in September, has WiFi [SlashGear]
BlackBerry Storm 2 with Wi-Fi and a new screen [Boy Genius Report]

Conflicker on Move(Source:Yahoo tech)

Last night, Conficker -- the computer worm that's had every computer user in a tizzy for weeks -- finally began to show signs of life. What exactly it's doing, no one's quite sure.

Here's the scoop: On April 8, Conficker began updating itself via Internet download, a process which became possible on the April 1 launch date. Before April 8, Conficker had been searching for updates but hadn't found any such instructions. Now they are finally being delivered.

What's in those instructions, though, remains a bit of a mystery: The downloaded programs are heavily encrypted, so they can't be analyzed in detail. We do know that, after installation, the instructions we can see are relatively benign: They tell the computer to check one of five random websites -- MySpace, eBay, AOL, CNN, and MSN -- in order to verify the computer has internet access. It then confirms the date and time.

After this, the downloaded software seemingly deletes itself, along with every trace that it had ever been installed (right down to the registry keys).

That doesn't mean it does delete itself, though. Some speculate that the downloaded software installs an as-yet undetectable rootkit on the machine that leaves the computer open for further compromise.

Curiously, the payload also includes instructions for Conficker to delete itself and stop running on May 3, though compromises already introduced -- and additional ones that may be downloaded over the next few weeks -- will leave any infected machine vulnerable to attack.

Research into exactly what's going on -- made difficult due to the encryption on the worm -- continues. (Trend Micro has more technical details if you're interested.) Stay tuned for more updates.