SpringSource announced that it has released Spring 3.0 for General Availability. Spring 3.0 features REST support, Spring expression language, extended support for annotation-based components, declarative model validation based on constraint annotations and standardized dependency injection annotations.

Spring 3.0 GA can be hosted on Java EE 6 servers. It supports JPA 2.0 final, JSR 303 validation mode and @Managed Bean (JSR-250 v1.1) annotation for component scanning.

Spring 3.0 brings new component model features. If you have a Spring-powered application, you can switch your libraries to Spring 3.0 without having to upgrade your server installation, according to the company.

With more than a week until Adobe is scheduled to patch a critical vulnerability in its Reader and Acrobat applications, online thugs are targeting it with an unusually sophisticated attack.

The PDF file uses what’s known as egg-hunting shellcode to compress the first phase of the malicious payload into 38 bytes, a tiny size that’s designed to thwart anti-virus detection. As a result, just four of the 41 major AV programs detect the attack more than six days after the exploit surfaced, according to this analysis from Virus Total.

The shellcode then loads an obfuscated binary file contained in the PDF file that installs PoisonIvy, a backdoor client used to maintain control over infected PCs.

“Not only was this a very interesting example of a malicious PDF document carrying a sophisticated ‘war head,’ but it also showed the length attackers are willing to go to in order to make their malware as hard to detect as possible, not only for the AV vendors, but also for victims,” wrote Bojan Zdrnja, a Sans handler who analyzed the exploit.

The service, which includes free video calls between Skype members, will compete with consumer video conference services being developed by bigger companies such as networking giant Cisco Systems Inc and Polycom Inc, which plans to develop consumer video services with International Business Machines Corp.

Skype, a former eBay unit, said both LG and Panasonic will have high-definition TVs supporting its service around mid-year.

Both television makers will embed the Skype technology in television models with Internet connections and will sell separate Web cameras that have built in microphones for television viewers who want to use Skype.

Skype said Panasonic will support Skype in its VT and G series televisions in the United States, with screen sizes up to 65 inches. LG will embed Skype in 26 new LCD and plasma screen TVs, which will also come in a range of sizes.

Both LG and Panasonic are expected to demonstrate the service this week at the Consumer Electronics Show, the annual gadget showcase in Las Vegas.

Windows enthusiasts are excited over the discovery of a hidden “GodMode” feature that lets users access all of the operating system’s control panels from within a single folder.

Enabling God Mode is very simple all you need to do is to create a new folder and then rename the folder to the following:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Once that is done, the folder’s icon will change to resemble a control panel and will contain dozens of control options.