Google Street View trikes arrived in South Africa in November last year, when they started collecting imagery of historic landmarks, heritage sites, scenic panoramas and sports venues around the country. South African Tourism compiled a list of 20 special locations on which the public voted. As a result, Google’s Street View team has been visiting the places that the South African public really wanted them to cover, everywhere from Soweto to Kruger National Park, and from Blyde River Canyon to the Kirstenbosch Gardens.

The Google trikers have been met with excitement from those they’ve crossed paths with along the way, including tourists who’ve said how useful they’ve found Street View for planning their holidays elsewhere. Street View is not always the first thing that comes to mind when seeing the Trikes though…in fact, in Kirstenbosch Gardens, a group of schoolchildren were convinced that the Trikers were actually ice-cream men!

More Google maps news

Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq:SYMC) today announced it will be tracking malicious activity on the Internet relating to the soccer World Cup, which starts on June 11. On its dedicated Web site, www.2010netthreat.com, Symantec will provide data, commentary, safety tips and useful links for football fans surfing the Internet for news, tickets and information on the tournament.

According to Paul Wood, senior analyst at Symantec Hosted Services, the tournament, which attracts the attention of more than 1 billion soccer fans worldwide, is becoming a theme for cybercriminals. “Historically, any large-scale sporting event has shown an increase in all kinds of cyberthreats,” said Wood. “Phishing attacks increased by 66 percent during the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The fact that two undersea communications cables landed on South African shores last July will exacerbate the threat levels; history also shows that malicious activity increases in a country after new bandwidth is made available.”

Symantec has already installed additional network sensors in South Africa and southern Africa to monitor traffic and feed information to customers who are looking to take steps to secure their networks against additional threats. “As an example, two of our configured partners in Africa have submitted unique malicious files that have not been seen elsewhere by Symantec,” said Wood.

Much of the threat activity will not be new to the world of cybercrime – so-called 419 scams, spam and phishing attacks will face users in the guise of special offers for the event. “The rule is, if something looks too good to be true, then it’s likely to be a scam,” said Gordon Love, Africa regional director, Symantec. “Also, in all cases these days a cybercriminal is looking to steal a user’s personal information – identity details, bank account numbers, passwords and credit card numbers – to steal money from a user. The 2010 Net Threat site will aim to tell people how they can protect themselves against such attacks.”

Internet users must be on the alert for new varieties of scam. “Attackers are even going as far as ensuring their fake Web sites or sites they have ‘poisoned’ with malicious code appear at the top of search results,” said Love. “Users tend to assume that the sites that appear first tend to be legitimate, and may click on them without first examining the source.”

By the time the World Cup kicks off, 3.1 million tickets will have been sold. More than 400 million people worldwide will watch each match on television. The number of fans using the Internet to find tickets, accommodation, flights and ways to stay connected to this year’s most popular sporting event will amount to hundreds of millions.

“The site will provide people with the information they need to protect themselves on the Internet,” said Love. “However, attackers are always finding new ways of duping people into disclosing their personal information. Being well informed and alert is as important as keeping up to date with the latest protection software updates.”

AT&T has finally approved Sling Media‘s Slingplayer app for the iPhone to run on the 3G(s) model via 3G wireless networks. The application had been previously only available over WiFi until now.

So, if you own a slingbox, and you’ve paid $30 for the iPhone app, you’ll be able to watch all your TV shows right on the iPhone anywhere there’s a 3G connection. (editor’s note – Only available in countries that suport the AT&T network)

Extend your living room TV experience to your iPhone or iPod touch with SlingPlayer Mobile™ software. With a Slingbox®* at home and SlingPlayer Mobile on your compatible phone, enjoy live or recorded TV over a Wi-Fi connection. If you like TV, it’s hard not to smile when you take control of your TV and DVR right from your iPhone’s stunning touchscreen interface. Flip through your local channels with the virtual remote control. Pause, fast-forward, rewind, and even schedule DVR recordings. Watch video on demand and even pay-per-view programs. Never miss another show or game — whether you’re in the back yard, out to lunch, or on the other side of the world. It’s your TV. Don’t let it be trapped in your living room. Set it free — with your iPhone!

Source – http://www.slingbox.com/go/iphone