Tech Roundup: Kindle Discount, Sprint Slams Android, Wipro Downturn, More

(MoneyWatch)  Wireless security present but weak -- A recent study by EMC division RSA suggests that in some major cities, at least New York and Paris, over 90 percent of wireless networks identified as belonging to businesses are running encrypted, with London behind at about 76 percent. However, some half of the networks in London and New York were still on WEP, an inadequate form of protection, and not WAP variant. That compares to a quarter of those in Paris. My own recent experience with a home network makes me wonder to what degree older Apple products are the issue. I had to downgrade security to WEP to get someone's network up and running. A single MacBook was the only computer that didn't support the more robust standard. Apparently this is an issue of having the right version of Mac OS X and doing a firmware upgrade, plus having the right version of AirPort if that is the access station of choice. Call it the metaphorical worm in the security Apple. [Source: New York TimesArs Technica, O'Reilly Media]

Oprah name is incentive for buying Kindle -- Oprah Winfrey has already publicly embraced the Kindle, giving an early holiday present to Amazon. Now the company is extending the favor, offering a $50 discount if people enter oprahwinfrey as a discount code if entered at checkout through November 1. Maybe that will help jump start Amazon's fourth quarter. [Source: BNET Industry Technology Blog, Engadget]

Spring CEO slams Android -- Apparently Sprint Nextel, that bastion of corporate modesty, has disdain for Google's Android. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced that the operating system wasn't "good enough" to bear his company's brand. Maybe it's sour grapes because Apple wasn't apparently convinced that Sprint was good enough to sell the iPhone name -- or perhaps Hesse on principle likes to antagonize large potential partners in economically rocky times. That'll show 'em. [Source: Phandroid]

Wipro sees downturn -- Indian outsourcing firm Wipro saw a good second fiscal quarter but expects trouble for its third quarter given plunges in client additions. Companies are being careful about IT spending and are looking more for process transformation, according to Wipro joint CEO Girish Paranjpe. In other words, tech companies that are all about feeds and speeds will probably see that red ink bleeds. [Source: BusinessWeek]