How concerned should business users be about wireless security now that another group claims to have cracked the security scheme used by 80 percent of the world's cellular telephones?

Not very, unless you are doing something very illegal or highly sensitive, in which case all bets are off.

Is it just me, or is it not morally wrong for a company to sell products it can't support? I mean, if AT&T is unable to provide good iPhone service in New York City, shouldn't it stop selling the iPhone there?

I am writing this in response to the "if only they could have been true" rumors surrounding the temporary unavailability of iPhones to New York customers on AT&T's Web site.

Apple's presumed tablet computer may be more than a breakthrough consumer device. It may also--finally--make tablets a standard part of the business computing arsenal.

OK, before I am corrected, I know that specific tablets have been used in specific enterprise applications for many years. I have also been a big supporter of tablets, yet the quality of the user experience has been lacking. Handwriting recognition, a key for many business applications, has been sore point.

Vonage now offers an unlimited $24.99-a-month international calling plan for iPhone and BlackBerry users, the company said Wednesday. The new "Vonage World Mobile" VoIP service competes with a $12.95-a-month service from Skype.

Vonage, however, offers service 60 countries, while Skype offers unlimited service to only 40 countries. Current Vonage customers may qualify for a $10-a-month discount on the mobile service.

A second e-mail outage, even in the same week, will not be a confidence-buster for most BlackBerry users, even if it does fray the nerves. Still, the question looms: How many more outages will Research in Motion's customers accept before large-scale defections begin?

If you actually write the check that covers your wireless service, how many more outages will you stand for?

First, the good news: No, you won't have to turn in your copies of Office 2007, even now that Microsoft has lost its appeal of a lawsuit brought by the Canadian company, i4i. The lawsuit, a patent battle over a feature few business users ever see, will cost Microsoft $290 million to settle.

Second, more good news: There is little to no chance Microsoft will be forced to stop selling Word 2007 and Office 2007 on Jan. 11, another potential outcome of the suit. Microsoft says it has been working on a fix that avoids the patent and will roll-out non-infringing versions of both Office and Word before the court's deadline.

A University of Utah study tells us something we should already know: That texting while driving is six times more dangerous than talking on a handset while driving.This is a message that has eluded many, but we can help.

I keep seeing people who are texting while driving during the workday in vehicles with company names painted on them. So, it must be time for a safety reminder, one I hope our always safety-first PCW Business Center readers will share around the office.

Way, way, way too much is being made of the supposed impact Intel's new Atom N450 chip will have on the netbook and, by extension, laptop markets.

This chip, though 60 percent smaller and 20 percent lighter--like we'll notice--remains hampered by a slow 1.66 GHz. clock speed and all the other constraints implicit in the word "netbook."

HP did a good job responding to complaints by a black man that its computers "are racist" because the included PC facial recognition software did not follow his face properly.

The statement was made in a YouTube video posted on Dec. 10 that went viral over the weekend, attracting newly 100,000 views.

It is unhappy news that Google won't be purchasing Yelp. It was a natural in terms of things Google should be doing, especially in helping small local businesses promote themselves.

The $550 million deal, which lived and died over the weekend, would have also made Google more of a one-stop for local businesses, who often don't know where to invest their small promotion budgets. It also might have moved the reviews social network away from advertising sales that have challenged its credibility.