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| Oct 2008 | Sep 2008 | Aug 2008 | Jul 2008 | Jun 2008 | May 2008 | Apr 2008 | Mar 2008 | Feb 2008 | Jan 2008 | Dec 2007 | Nov 2007 |Sat, 30 Aug 08
Want IE8 Beta 2? You May Have To Jump Through Hoops
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61616
Microsoft warned developers preparing to download the new Beta 2 release of Internet Explorer 8 that under certain conditions those who have already installed IE8 Beta 1 cannot revert to older iterations of the browser.
For Windows XP users with IE8 Beta 1 already installed, Windows XP Service Pack 3 and IE8 Beta 2 would become permanent, said Jane Maliouta, the deployment product manager for IE8 at Microsoft. "You will still be able to upgrade to later IE8 builds as they become available, but you won't be able to uninstall them," she said.
Developers will need to be careful because IE8 Beta 2 will not work with several key services, applications and add-on programs, including certain versions of the Google Toolbar, RealPlayer and Skype, and is even incompatible with Microsoft products and services, such as Visual Studio .NET and Windows Live Mail. IE8 Beta 2 users also are currently unable to view movies on demand from Netflix, though Microsoft said the two companies are working to resolve the compatibility issue as quickly as possible.
Maliouta strongly encouraged those who have already downloaded IE8 Beta 1 to follow several steps before installing the new Beta 2 version. First uninstall the Beta 1 version and SP3 for Windows XP, followed by reinstalling SP3, and only then install IE8 Beta 2.
"If you have IE8 Beta 1 installed, the IE8 installer will automatically uninstall any earlier versions and then install the latest version of IE8 Beta 2 for you," Maliouta said. "You will be prompted to reboot twice. The first reboot is to remove IE8 Beta 1 from your machine and the second one to complete the IE8 Beta 2 installation."
According to Microsoft, IE8 Beta 1 was only intended for use by developers. Consumers running Windows XP need not worry about downloading IE8...
Sat, 30 Aug 08
Speculation Focuses on iPhone Tethering Approval
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61615
Having banned from its App Store an application that turned an iPhone 3G into a wireless modem, is Apple ready to enable just such an application itself?
That's the rumor based on an e-mail response allegedly from Apple CEO Steve Jobs to an inquiring user. The questioner forwarded the response to the Gizmodo blog, which posted the question and Jobs' purported response.
The question: Why, since AT&T offers a plan by which users can pay an extra $30 to tether their laptops to their BlackBerry, don't Apple and AT&T offer a similar plan for iPhone 3G users?
The response: "We agree, and are discussing it with ATT." The message is signed "Steve" and includes the familiar tag, "Sent from my iPhone."
Gizmodo thinks the response is "legitimate-looking," but concedes "that 'Sent from my iPhone' kicker either makes this e-mail completely legitimate or illegitimate." On the other hand, Wired News engaged in a little grammatical sleuthing, noting that a message, purportedly from Jobs, posted on the MacRumors site contained a similar construction.
"We are working on some bugs which affect around two percent of the iPhones shipped, and hope to have a software update soon," the message read. Wired points out that both messages incorrectly use a comma before the "and." (A comma is appropriate to separate independent clauses; in both cases the phrases after the comma are dependent clauses.)
"I don't mean to draw a conclusion based on this nitpicky observation, but I just thought it'd be interesting to point out," Wired writer Brian Chen pointed out.
Any tethering application would require a change to AT&T's terms of service. Those terms state: "Furthermore, plans (unless specifically designated for tethering usage) cannot be used for any applications that tether the device (through use of, including without limitation, connection kits, other phone/PDA-to-computer...
Sat, 30 Aug 08
Yahoo Will End Mash To Start a New Social Service
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61614
Yahoo plans to smash Mash, just one year after launching the new profile service. Yahoo describes Mash as a new approach to users' profiles that brings people together and keeps things interesting.
Mash users are being told that Mash will close on Sept. 29. The company plans to consolidate what it has learned with Mash into a new profile experience.
"We launched Mash as an experimental profile service with the goal of providing an interactive and social way of connecting with others," said Yahoo spokesperson Devon Corvasce. "Yahoo has announced we will soon be launching a new profile experience (an upgrade to profiles.yahoo.com) to work across the network, in the effort to make all of Yahoo more social."
Asked when the new service would launch, Corvasce said, "At this time, we are not publicly discussing the launch date of the new profile experience. You can look forward to seeing it in coming months."
Yahoo first began testing the Mash service is September 2007, making its foray into social networking. Yahoo offered the service to selected people outside of Yahoo's walls. Some observers speculated Yahoo offered the beta service after its expected purchase of Facebook failed.
Mash includes similar features to Facebook, MySpace, and My Yahoo. Mash users are able to create and customize a profile by filling Web pages with information, add modules such as photos and Web games, and add applications such as Flickr RSS, Common Friends, Asteroids, PimpMyPet, Kaleidescope and more. Friends are also able to make changes to the user's page.
The intent was to extend features of the experimental Mash into other Yahoo services, according to the company. Yahoo also hinted about adding social-networking functions to its e-mail service.
A Yahoo community manager said earlier this year that users' dedication to mashing had helped the community...
Sat, 30 Aug 08
Apple Won't Fix iPhone Passcode Hole Until September
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61613
The latest iPhone embarrassment is a security hole that makes it simple to access stored data on supposedly locked iPhones. Apple said Thursday that a software patch to solve the problem is in the works.
An unauthorized user can exploit the security hole simply by double-pressing the button to make an emergency call. That behavior brings up the owner's preferred contacts and clicking on a number provides full access to the phone's features. Clicking on an e-mail provides access to all e-mail. And clicking on a contact name provides full access to all contacts data.
Apple spokesperson Jennifer Bowcock said, "The minor iPhone security issue which surfaced this week is fixed in a software update which will be released in September."
There is a simple workaround, Bowcock said: iPhone owners can simply change the settings so double-clicking the emergency button returns a user to the home screen, which will present a password login field if password protection is turned on.
While an attacker must be in physical possession of the iPhone to exploit the security bug, it "highlights a fundamental design deficiency with the iPhone," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations with nCircle Network Security.
"Despite Steve Jobs from day one saying the iPhone was secure, functionality and aesthetics of the device seem to always win out over security," Storms said. A case in point, Storms said, "Apple quickly released updates to fix 3G connectivity issues this year, but consistently takes many months to release security updates."
This particular security hole -- a simple bypass of access restrictions -- was created by Apple's preference for functionality over security, he added. "Even when a user chooses to physically secure the device with a four-digit passcode, Apple has chosen to still permit the user to use some functionality," Storms said. "By selecting to perform...
Sat, 30 Aug 08
Veoh Decision May Not Let Google Off the Hook
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61612
In a first-of-its kind decision, a California federal court has dismissed a copyright-infringement lawsuit against online video-sharing site Veoh Networks. IO Group, an adult entertainment company, filed the suit against Veoh, alleging the site displayed its content in violation of copyright laws. But Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd of the U.S. District Court in San Jose ruled against the gay-porn distributor on Wednesday.
IO Group's suit is not unlike Viacom's $1.6 billion lawsuit against Google-owned YouTube. In fact, MySpace, MP3tunes, Hi5, Stage6 and several other sites are facing similar battles over user-generated content.
Could this ruling be a boon for these sites? Or is the ruling merely an isolated incident in a California trial court? Google and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are betting on the former.
EFF Legal Analyst Fred von Lohman said the ruling should be required reading for the executives of every Web 2.0 business that relies on user-generated content. The key to Veoh's victory, he said, was its scrupulous attention to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe harbors.
"Veoh responded to compliant DMCA takedown notices on a same-day basis, it notified users of its policies against copyright infringement, it registered a copyright agent with the copyright office, it terminated users who were repeat infringers and blocked new registrations from the same e-mail addresses, it used hashes to stop the same infringing videos from being uploaded by other users," von Lohman wrote in the EFF blog.
As von Lohman sees it, Judge Lloyd's ruling debunks some of the favorite arguments of entertainment-industry lawyers and gives YouTube a boost in its billion-dollar battle against Viacom.
But the Google case is a little different. While the California court did spell out that there is no affirmative obligation for service providers to track users or police their sites, the context of...
Sat, 30 Aug 08
Comcast Limits Homes To 250GB in New Public Policy
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61611
Comcast has made it official: Home Internet service customers are limited to 250GB of data per month. According to the company, the move is in response to heavy usage by some customers that can cause network congestion.
The new policy was posted on Comcast's Web site early Friday, and the meter starts running on Oct. 1.
Charlie Douglas, director of corporate communications for online services, said, "The amount of data measured is aggregate monthly usage of uploads and downloads."
And Comcast has added some teeth to the usage limit -- the first time the limit is exceeded, the offending customer will receive a phone call from a Comcast representative. The second violation will result in a shutdown of Internet service for one year.
The amended service policy states in part: "It's no secret we've been evaluating a specific monthly data usage or bandwidth threshold for our Comcast High-Speed Internet residential customers for some time." The threshold is high for the majority of Comcast users.
Examples of what a 250GB limit equates to are cited in the amendment, such as sending 50 million e-mails, downloading 62,500 songs, 125 standard-definition movies, or uploading 25,000 high-resolution digital photos. The policy says the median monthly usage for residential Comcast customers is 2GB to 3GB per month.
Some observers say Comcast has a reasonable argument. The company has expanded rapidly into business and residential phone service, meanwhile maintaining its large cable-television enterprise. There is only so much available bandwidth at any given time.
Comcast is moving data, voice and television and high-definition video over the same pipes. It only takes a few peer-to-peer file-sharing applications to cause unexpected congestion.
Comcast's previous efforts to address the problem brought a rebuke from the Federal Communications Commission. Comcast was caught throttling down the connections of BitTorrent P2P users on...
Sat, 30 Aug 08
Lexmark Offers To Help People Print Less
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61602
A leading printer maker wants to help you do less printing.
Printing an article off the Web often produces several pages of waste, including ads, links and boxes for entering text. So the latest version of a Web toolbar from Lexmark International Inc. gives people more ways to block such images from coming out of the printer, saving ink and paper.
Some of Lexmark's tools already exist in standard printer settings, but accessing them normally requires several mouse clicks. Lexmark's free program brings those functions to the forefront. For example, one click converts a Web page into black and white for printing, extending the life of expensive color ink cartridges.
The Web software also extends the "printer-friendly" features many sites offer. Often those printer-friendly versions still carry logos and other graphics; the Lexmark tools let you eliminate those as well.
Although printer companies make much of their money from ink cartridges and other products that consumers constantly have to replace, Lexmark figures it can improve customer satisfaction. Most of the features work regardless of whether your printer was made by Lexmark, Hewlett-Packard Co. or another rival.
Lexmark has versions available for both Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox browsers.
The Firefox version offers more functions. Lexmark says Firefox users tend to be more technically advanced, and thus open to more customization. While the Internet Explorer tool lets you eliminate images, for instance, the Firefox version lets you remove forms, links and other elements, too.
Craig Le Clair, a senior analyst at Forrester Research, said the Lexmark tools can help reduce office printing. Companies already have made progress going electronic with insurance claims, bank transactions and other paperwork, he said, and they are now turning to "the knowledge worker and the ad hoc use of paper."
But Le Clair said any effect will be small compared with initiatives...
Sat, 30 Aug 08
Researchers Offer New Way To Avoid Bogus Web Sites
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61600
Intercepting Internet traffic, and spying on the communication between two computers, is a gold mine for hackers. Now Carnegie Mellon University researchers hope software they've built will make it harder for criminals to hit that jackpot.
The software, a free download for use with latest version of the Firefox Web browser, creates an additional way for people to verify whether the site they're trying to visit is authentic.
Most browsers already alert users when a site appears bogus. One way is by warning that a site that claims to be equipped to handle confidential information securely hasn't been verified by a third party, like VeriSign Inc. or GoDaddy.com Inc. Those are two of many companies that sell so-called Secure Sockets Layer certificates, which generate the padlock icon in the address bar.
The problem, the Carnegie Mellon researchers say, is that many people are perplexed about how to proceed once they get one of those warnings about a bad certificate.
Some click through, going on to malicious sites that steal their personal information, while others retreat, skipping over harmless sites that used less expensive, "self-signed" certificates.
So the researchers -- David Andersen, Adrian Perrig and Dan Wendlandt -- created a program that performs a novel extra step. It can tap into a network of publicly accessible servers that have been programmed to ping Web sites and record changes in the encryption keys they use to secure data.
Any discrepancy can be a sign that hackers are rerouting traffic through machines under their control, a pernicious type of attack known as a "man in the middle."
As a result, the new program either overrides the security warning if a site is deemed legitimate, or throws up another warning if the subsequent probes reveal more red flags.
Sat, 30 Aug 08
SEC Proposes International Accounting Plan
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61599
Federal regulators on Wednesday proposed a plan to allow public companies to begin using international accounting standards for reporting financial results in two years, and may require them to do so starting in 2014.
The push by the Securities and Exchange Commission toward acceptance of a single, global accounting standard has raised objections from some investor advocates and key lawmakers. Supporters of the change say it makes sense in an era of increasingly globalized financial markets and would help lure foreign companies to U.S. markets.
The five SEC commissioners voted unanimously at a public meeting to propose a timetable for the switch to international financial reporting standards, or IFRS, to replace the U.S. standards known as generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP.
Under the proposal, U.S. companies would have the option of adopting the international standards starting in 2010. The agency then would assess the outcome and decide the following year whether to make it mandatory for all U.S. public companies beginning in 2014 with a completion date of 2016.
The SEC could formally adopt the proposal sometime after a 60-day public comment period.
Wall Street interests and the accounting industry welcomed the plan Wednesday.
"We believe the capital markets ultimately will insist on IFRS for public companies," said Barry Melancon, president and chief executive of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. "Today's action by the SEC continues a robust and thoughtful debate that is critical as the transition occurs."
The SEC in November eliminated a rule requiring foreign companies with U.S.-traded shares to report their financial results in line with U.S. accounting standards.
Many foreign public companies comply with the international standards, and some had argued the U.S. mandate was burdensome and costly.
Among companies expressing support for the SEC move were Wall Street powerhouses Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch...
Sat, 30 Aug 08
Hackers Take Aim at Users of Facebook
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61592
On the Internet, popularity often draws the attention of hackers. So it is not surprising that Facebook has become the target of a spate of attacks, just as the membership on the site has swelled to about 100 million active users worldwide.
In recent days, many Facebook users have seen a sharp increase in spam, some of it pretty racy. Over the weekend, several Facebook users contacted this newspaper saying that their accounts appeared to have been hijacked, and some said their accounts had been deactivated.
Facebook acknowledges that it has been under attack but suggested the problems were largely under control. "Over the past few days, we have received reports from users of spam and phishing attacks," the company said in a statement. "We have also detected and contained a worm. We are investigating every report, removing false content, blocking bogus links and addressing the concerns of our users. These efforts have limited the affected users to a small percentage of those on Facebook."
Some of the attacks were linked to Koobface, an Internet worm that began targeting Facebook and MySpace users in late July. Since then, the Internet security firm Kaspersky Lab has identified about 27 variants of Koobface.
"It is very similar to a lot of the old worms," said David Emm, a senior technology consultant at Kaspersky.
Emm said Koobface, like many other viruses and worms, relies on what is known as "social engineering" techniques, which attempt to trick people into performing actions that will expose them unwittingly to a virus.
The technique may prove particularly effective on social networks, he said.
"If you receive messages from a friend on a social network, you are not expecting them to be a vehicle to carry a worm or Trojan horse," Emm said.
In the wake of Koobface, that may change.
In the meantime, Facebook recommends...
Sat, 30 Aug 08
Blogger Arrested over Leak of Guns N' Roses Songs
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61590
A blogger suspected of streaming songs from the unreleased Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" on his Web site was arrested Wednesday and appeared in court, where his bail was set at $10,000.
FBI agents arrested 27-year-old Kevin Cogill on Wednesday morning on suspicion of violating federal copyright laws. Cogill appeared in court in the afternoon wearing a T-shirt; his girlfriend sat court and afterward said, "Rally the troops," but declined further comment.
Federal authorities say Cogill posted nine unreleased Guns N' Roses songs on his Web site in June. The songs were later removed.
In later posts, Cogill wrote that the FBI had questioned him and asked his readers if any of them knew a good attorney. He was represented Wednesday by a federal public defender.
According to an arrest affidavit, Cogill admitted to agents that he posted the songs on his Web site. Prosecutors said Wednesday the leak could result in a "significant" financial loss for the band.
Cogill will not face any special Internet restrictions, but was ordered to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 17.
"Guns N' Roses representatives have been made aware of the arrest and are leaving the matter to the authorities," said Larry Solters, the band's spokesman.
"Chinese Democracy" is a much anticipated -- and repeatedly delayed -- new album by Guns N' Roses that is more than 10 years in the making. At least one of the album's songs could be heard legally: The band wrote on its Web site in July that its track, "Shackler's Revenge" will be featured on the video game Rock Band 2, slated for release in September.
Sat, 30 Aug 08
Reborn Retail Site Fires Salvo in Shipping War
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61586
With gas prices high and consumers stretching shopping dollars, competition is heating up online for deals -- and a discount retail site hopes to fan the flames by shipping orders for $1.95.
Chicago-based Enable Holdings Inc. plans to launch RedTag.com on Friday and sell retailers' excess inventory at a fixed price. Its shipping charge will undercut a similar site, Overstock.com Inc., which charges $2.95 for standard ground shipping.
"We're willing to take less for shipping because we think you'll buy five more items from us -- as opposed to if we got as much as we could from you, shipping this product, you may never buy again," said Enable Holdings' CEO, Jeffrey D. Hoffman.
The site is coming online a few months after gas hit $4 per gallon, a milestone that caused many consumers to see buying online as a way to make fewer car trips, said Scott Silverman, executive director of the National Retail Federation's digital division, Shop.org.
Even though fuel prices have come down, he thinks the habits consumers have adopted to save gas are still in place. Cheap or free shipping could be another way to keep them shopping on the Web.
This launch marks a revival of RedTag.com, which shuttered in 2004. Enable Holdings, which runs uBid.com, an auction site for excess inventory, bought the RedTag Internet address this spring from one of its major shareholders.
RedTag is selling items it gets mainly from retailers that have gone out of business, or manufacturers that have produced more of a product than was sold. Sometimes companies want to get an older model -- a laptop, for example -- off store shelves to make room for a new one.
By selling such excess goods, a site like RedTag has more flexibility than regular retailers in negotiating with manufacturers on the final price of a product,...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Steve Jobs' Death Greatly Exaggerated -- But Is He Well?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61610
In a stunning example of a journalistic screwup, financial news wire service Bloomberg published Steve Jobs' obituary Wednesday. The Apple cofounder and CEO is very much alive.
It's common procedure for news organizations to pre-write obituaries for politicians, sports figures and titans of business, but the premature release of Jobs' obituary is stunning because Jobs has been struggling with pancreatic cancer.
Bloomberg quickly issued a retraction, which neglected to note the seriousness of the blunder or even that the story was about Jobs. The retraction said in its entirety: "An incomplete story referencing Apple Inc. was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27 p.m. New York time today. The item was never meant for publication and has been retracted."
The Gawker blog, which originally reported the mistake, noted that, "Jobs' battle with pancreatic cancer, and speculation over his health, jarred Wall Street earlier this year and continues to be the subject of speculation."
Jobs' only public discussion of the subject came in a 2004 commencement address at Stanford, where he said, "No one wants to die. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it."
He told the graduates that he had been diagnosed with a tumor on his pancreas and that his doctors gave him six months to live. Later that day, a biopsy revealed he had a rare form of cancer treatable with surgery. "I had the surgery and I'm fine now," Jobs told his audience, adding, "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."
But a New York Times column in July revealed that Jobs had been diagnosed with the cancer nine months before he had the surgery, and that he had been hoping to cure himself with...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Facing Extradition, British Hacker Makes Last Stand
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61609
After eight years of litigation, accused British hacker Gary McKinnon is set to be extradited to the United States to stand trial.
Shortly after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, computer break-ins at more than 90 U.S. military and governmental agencies caused severe security compromises and data destruction. In 2002, U.S. investigators reportedly tracked the software used for the attacks to an e-mail account belong to McKinnon's girlfriend. Since that time, the United States has sought McKinnon's extradition.
On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights -- where appeals had escalated the case -- finally gave the OK to send McKinnon to the United States. But in what some see as a last-ditch effort to keep McKinnon on British soil, reports are circulating that the 42-year-old has just been diagnosed with Aspberger's syndrome. Aspberger's is often described as a form of high-functioning autism. In itself, this diagnosis wouldn't prevent his trial in the United States, but British law may see things differently.
McKinnon has already admitted publicly that he broke into U.S. government computer systems, but he maintains he did no damage. Justice Department officials charge, however, that he compromised and deleted records at a key naval-operations center in New Jersey and repeatedly crashed systems belonging to NASA and the Pentagon. McKinnon claims he was snooping for evidence of a UFO cover-up by the U.S. government.
Allegedly, McKinnon posted the following message on a military computer system during his months-long spree: "U.S. foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism these days ... It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year ... I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels."
McKinnon and his lawyers rejected several plea offers by the...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
'iPhone Girl' Photos Shines Light on Worker Conditions
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61608
An unnamed girl employed by the Shenzhen plant in China, operated by subcontractor Foxconn Technology Group, has become popular overnight after photos of her appeared on an iPhone customer's device.
A British customer reportedly turned on his iPhone last week to find photos of a plant worker posing and making the peace sign. The user posted the photos and this note on the Web: "Not sure if this is or is not the 'norm,' but I just received my brand new iPhone here in the UK and once it had been activated on iTunes I found that the home screen (the screen you can personalize with a photo) already had a photo set against it !!!! It would appear that someone on the production line was having a bit of fun -- has anyone else found this?"
A spokesperson for Foxconn said it was a "beautiful mistake," according to published reports. Some, however, believe it was a publicity stunt to show a happy worker in a clean factory environment after a 2006 investigation by a British newspaper said the plant forced employees to work 15-hour days and live in overcrowded dormitories while earning just more than US$49 a month.
After the British paper's report, Apple sent its own team of auditors to China to conduct random employee interviews, view living conditions, and dispel any allegations of mistreatment, child labor, or substandard living conditions.
In August 2006, Apple released a report of its findings, admitting it found some mistreatment of workers that violated its zero-tolerance labor policy and its supplier code of conduct. That code specifically states that "suppliers may not use any form of forced, bonded, indentured or prison labor," and "all work must be voluntary."
Apple's audit also found that employees were working long hours.
"We found no instances of forced...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Sprint Will Launch 4G WiMAX with Localized Features
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61607
In advance of its WiMAX rollout this fall, Sprint announced Thursday a lineup of mobile partners to localize its customer's 4G experience. In what the company calls "geobrowsing," XOHM users will get local news, weather and many other localized networking features delivered to their laptops and mobile devices.
The WiMAX service is expected to kick off in Baltimore in September, with Chicago and Washington, D.C., to follow before the end of the year.
GPS in the XOHM system continually updates the user's position and feeds it to back-end applications. This feature is added by California-based Open Wave. Using uLocate as the foundation for the service, Sprint has tested and implemented a number of applications before rollout.
The partnership between Sprint and uLocate includes building the entire XOHM localized experience, with APIs provided to third-party developers for their applications. Some big names will be part of the launch.
Yelp will provide local business news all the way through local restaurant reviews. Eventful service will not only list events for XOHM users but will also map the locations. NAVTEQ will stream up-to-the-minute local traffic information, while Google will serve up localized searching and map features.
John Polivka, spokesperson at Sprint, explained the difference between the XOHM user experience and using the Internet. "With Internet access you could go to each vendor now as a separate interaction; but with XOHM, the services are aggregated into a service package that correlates them due to the intelligence in the network; for example, plotting friend locations on a map, identifying a restaurant or entertainment venue from local search, and sharing plans to convene with the benefit of weather, traffic or ticket-purchase convenience."
XOHM users will have standard Internet as well. Polivka noted that there is no charge for third-party developers to become part of the program, but there would be...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
New Beta of Internet Explorer 8 Ready for Download
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61606
The second beta release of Internet Explorer 8 is now available for download by developers and consumers alike on Windows-based PCs running Vista, XP, Server 2003 and Server 2008.
Microsoft's next-generation browser for 32-bit and 64-bit computing platforms is currently available in English, Japanese, Chinese and German, with additional languages coming soon, said Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Microsoft's IE8 development team.
"While Beta 1 was for developers, we think that anyone who browses or works on the Web will enjoy IE8 Beta 2," Hachamovitch said.
Suggested Sites is one good example of the IE8 development team's commitment to streamlining Web navigation. Click on the Suggested Sites button on the toolbar to see the top recommendations, based on choices made by online users visiting the same page.
In addition, the browser's new address bar is no longer just for URLs. Simply type a keyword into IE8's new "smart" address bar and the browser immediately searches across a user's history, favorites and RSS feeds to identify all the resources accessed during past online sessions. Users also can hit the return key after inputting a word to tell the browser to display the results of a Windows Live search.
Moreover, IE8's Web Slices capability gives users the ability to subscribe, view and interact with portions of their favorite Web sites with a single click on the Favorites bar.
"We looked very hard at how people really browse the Web," Hachamovitch said, "and tried a lot of different designs in front of many kinds of people, not just technologists."
Much like the Mozilla Labs new Ubiquity plug-in for Firefox 3, IE8's Accelerators option makes it easy for users to launch a variety of online services without leaving the page currently being displayed. Simply highlight any text on a page and right-click on...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Nvidia, Intel End Standoff as SLI Added To X58 Chipset
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61605
In a move to boost both companies, Nvidia announced it will provide native Scalable Link Interface support on Intel's X58 chipset, which is due in the fourth quarter. Nvidia's nForce 200 SLI architecture aggregates multiple graphics cards in separate PCI slots and runs them as one card for greater performance.
"Intel and Nvidia have finally come to their senses," said analyst Jon Peddie of JPR, a leading GPU, multimedia and gaming analysis group in Tiburon, CA. The two companies have been in a standoff.
Until now, Nvidia has held all the cards in the SLI game, dealing out licenses for its chipset to motherboard manufacturers such as Gigatrend and aBit. Since many board makers rely heavily on gaming enthusiasts -- a market where Nvidia's GForce GPUs are a top player -- they bought Nvidia's chipsets by the bucket load, despite reports that competing chipsets had no technical limits with Nvidia's multi-GPU cards.
However, heat issues, motherboard elbow room, and the cost of the nForce 200 gave some board makers pause, according to reports. Some industry insiders even speculated that Nvidia would get out of the chipset market entirely.
Not so, said Peddie and sources at Nvidia. "They will have some chipset announcements in October," he said. Nonetheless, this announcement by Nvidia pretty much underscores that the nForce 200 had very little proprietary technology other than helping to create a licensing market for Nvidia's SLI.
Others believe the chipset market is ripe for a shake-up. In an interview with Custom PC earlier this month, chipset maker VIA Technologies admitted the business is being swallowed up by Intel and AMD.
Richard Brown, VIA's vice president of marketing, said the Taiwan-based company, once the leader in CPU support chips, is moving into the X86 market instead.
Virtually any well-designed chipset, including Intel's X58, can...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Passcode Vulnerability Returns in iPhone Updates
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61604
Apple's publicity nightmare keeps growing worse. The latest twist is more serious than dropped calls or lost e-mail -- it's a security flaw in the iPhone that could dial up trouble for users.
The flaw isn't a new issue. Apple first addressed what is known as the passcode flaw last January. The fix prevented unauthorized users from circumventing the password-protected locking feature in an early version of the software. But the problem has reemerged in new versions of the iPhone software.
The flaw apparently allows attackers to bypass the passcode locking feature by touching "Emergency Call" on the password-entry screen and then double-tapping the Home button. An attacker would then have access to the iPhone users' frequently called contacts list, which includes both addresses and phone numbers.
An attacker could also use the breach to access the iPhone's e-mail application and gain access to e-mail addresses or Web sites, as well as the user's Safari browser. The flaw is reportedly present in iPhone software versions 2.0 and 2.0.2. The issue also affects the iPod touch.
It appears that the security update Apple issued for iPhone 1.1.3 in January didn't make it into later versions of the handset's software. That January update offered three security patches for several vulnerabilities.
Besides the passcode, other issues included a memory-corruption issue in Safari's handling of URLs and a WebKit that allowed a page to navigate the subframes of any other page. There is no evidence that the latest versions of the iPhone's software continue to have these two issues. Apple could not immediately be reached for comment, but offered this explanation of the passcode flaw in January:
"The Passcode Lock feature is designed to prevent applications from being launched unless the correct passcode is entered. An implementation issue in the handling of emergency calls allows users...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
YouTube Cheers Dismissal of Veoh Copyright Suit
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61580
In a ruling that could have implications for Viacom's $1.65 billion lawsuit against YouTube, a California federal court on Wednesday dismissed a copyright-infringement lawsuit against online video-sharing site Veoh Networks.
IO Group, an adult entertainment company, had sued Veoh, alleging the site was displaying its content in violation of copyright laws. Veoh had uploaded IO Group's content without permission.
However, Judge Howard Lloyd of the U.S. District Court in San Jose disagreed with IO Group's argument. The judge ruled that Veoh is protected by the safe-harbor provision in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. That provision protects against copyright infringement if action is taken after notification of a copyright violation.
"Veoh has a strong DMCA policy, takes active steps to limit incidents of infringement on its Web site and works diligently to keep unauthorized works off its site," Judge Lloyd wrote in his decision.
Google-owned YouTube was quick to praise the decision. YouTube Chief Counsel Zahavah Levine applauded the court for confirming that the DMCA protects services like YouTube that follow the law and respect copyrights. Zahavah then reiterated Google's oft-repeated statement:
"YouTube has gone above and beyond the law to protect content owners while empowering people to communicate and share their experiences online.
"We work every day to give content owners choices about whether to take down, leave up, or even earn revenue from their videos, and we are developing state-of-the-art tools to let them do that even better."
Viacom could not immediately be reached for comment.
Viacom filed a suit against Google in 2006 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Viacom called YouTube a "significant, for-profit organization that has built a lucrative business out of exploiting the devotion of fans to others' creative works in order to enrich itself and its corporate parent, Google."
Google might...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Dell Unveils New PCs Targeting Emerging Markets
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61567
Dell Inc. unveiled four low-cost computer models for China, India and other emerging economies Wednesday in a new bid to tap the potential of high-growth markets outside the United States.
The two notebook and two desktop PCs are the first Dell models designed especially for emerging markets, said Steve Felice, the U.S. computer maker's president for the Asia-Pacific. They are meant for small-business users and are to be sold in 20 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Strong sales in Asia helped Dell turn in better-than-expected results in the last quarter despite a slowing U.S. economy. It is due to report its latest quarterly results after the U.S. markets close Thursday, and analysts are watching whether it can maintain its growth pace.
"Our success is going to be largely dependent on our ability to expand globally," Felice said in an interview.
Dell and rivals Hewlett-Packard Co., Taiwan-based Acer Inc. and China's Lenovo Group are expanding aggressively in emerging economies as sales growth in the United States and other developed markets slows.
Dell's first-quarter sales in China, India, Russia and Brazil -- markets known collectively as BRIC -- grew by 58 percent, about 10 times the U.S. rate, Felice said. He said Dell expects 20-30 percent annual growth in those markets in coming years.
Prices for the new Vostro notebooks will start at 3,299 yuan ($475) and for the desktop PCs at 2,999 yuan ($440).
Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, broke with its usual development and marketing strategy for its latest products, Felice said.
"We used to design products for global requirements and distribute the same product globally," he said. "In this situation, we started with talking to emerging country customers, designing a product for emerging countries, and our initial launch of the product is only in emerging countries. That's a big departure in our strategy."
The new...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Tech Startup Tackles Energy Use by Data Centers
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61550
Data centers in the U.S. have created a carbon footprint that is larger than that of countries such as The Netherlands and Argentina. Internet companies such as Google are investing billions of dollars in setting up massive data centers and struggling to control soaring power usage. While Google may want its users to trawl thousands of terabytes of data and get their search results almost immediately, this activity gobbles up plenty of energy.
Here's the problem for companies such as Google: power usage by data centers accounts for around 2 percent of all the power supplied to the U.S. grid and 2-3 percent globally.
As companies struggle to balance their quest for greater computing capacity while controlling power use, they are turning to technology for answers. Virident, a California-based startup set up by a couple of IIT grads who also went to the same graduate school at University of Illinois, is looking to address this issue using by enhancing the memory capacity of servers using specially designed flash memory chips (commonly used in cell phones, for example) to increase the computing capability of servers.
Virident (derived from Viridus in Latin meaning green and dent meaning to make; literally to make green), was started by Kumar Ganapathy and Vijay Karamcheti, who blended their experience across the semiconductor industry and academia to set up this company.
Ganapathy was a Fellow with Rockwell Semiconductor before he set up his own start-up, VX Tel, which built voice over IP chipsets, and then worked with Artiman Ventures. Karamcheti worked with Google and spent the last 15 years working on parallelization techniques at New York University.
The duo has teamed up with an assortment of business acquaintances to set up Virident and embed these flash memory chips in data centers. As a first step, the company roped in Raj Parekh, a...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Portable Storage Devices: Data on the Go
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61546
"Location, location, location" is the mantra for real estate agents. And extra real estate is essential for high-volume video editors and post studios. So what if you want to take your real estate on the road? Some high-capacity portable storage systems for digital media assets -- including graphics, photos, and digital audio and video -- have been announced or released recently, bringing the ability to move large amounts of digital data easily, reliably, and conveniently.
LaCie, long known for its stylish storage devices, has just announced its biggest, littlest such device yet -- the Little Big Disk (LBG) Quadra.
With storage capacity up to 1 terabyte (TB) and transfer speeds of up to 110 megabytes per second (MB/sec) via eSATA or 80MB/sec over FireWire 800, the LBG is a terrific answer to the question, "How fast, and how much, storage do I need for professional content creation?"
There are already 500GB and 400GB (7,200 RPM) versions, so this new portable Little Big Disk really ups the ante with two 2.5" hard disks that work together in a built-in RAID 0 configuration. The unit also has one eSATA 3Gbits, two FireWire 800 (FireWire 400-compatible with included adapter), and one TJSB 2.0 interface, so it can work with cross-platform compatibility in almost any production environment.
In spite of the two disks inside, the unit is powered entirely by the FireWire interface. It has a proven heat sink design, developed by Neil Poulton, and it operates quietly, without a fan. It weighs in at a little more than 1.4 pounds, so it can be a very portable storage solution.
Fully plug-and-play with Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (including Time Machine) and Windows Vista, the Little Big Disk Quadra comes preloaded with the LaCie Setup Assistant, a utility that optimizes the drive according to your needs (Mac, Windows, or...
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Big Disk-Drive Makers Look at SSD Technology
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61542
Some big names have been sniffing around at Aliso Viejo's SiliconSystems Inc., a privately held maker of flash memory drives for industrial uses. Disk drive makers Scotts Valley-based Seagate Technology LLC and Lake Forest's Western Digital Corp. have been arranging chats with Chief Executive Michael Hajeck for some time now.
The big guys are looking to make sense of the market for solid state drives -- drives made of non-moving flash memory chips -- that are quickly replacing hard drives in high-end data storage networks, notebook computers and other industry-specific devices that can't break down.
Solid state drives made of flash memory are more durable, save power and are faster at some tasks than traditional disk drives.
Makers of electronics for data storage networks, including Costa Mesa's Emulex Corp., Aliso Viejo's QLogic Corp. and Milpitas' LSI Corp. are also looking into solid state drives.
"A week doesn't go by that we aren't contacted by someone in the storage industry," Hajeck said. "They are in the early stages of exploration and understanding who the players are in this market, how it will affect them, what's real, what's hype and when they'll need to get in."
Hajeck insists that his young company isn't for sale.
Networking gear makers Brocade Communications Systems Inc. of San Jose and NetApp Inc. of Sunnyvale are also said to be interested, according to Hajeck.
All the buzz "increases the size of the pie," for a time when he might make a move, he said.
Potential suitors might not only be after SiliconSystems' flash drives, according to Krishna Chander, a storage analyst at El Segundo-based market tracker iSuppli Corp. They may have set their sights on its controllers-interface chips that allow the drive to communicate with the brains of a device, he said.
"The hard drive companies understand the interface between a microprocessor in a PC and...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Inventor of PDA Files More Suits, Now for Voice Mail
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61578
Klausner Technologies, a patent-holding company, is at it again. The New York-based company said late Tuesday that it has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Verizon Wireless, LG Electronics, Google and a long list of others.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Texas said Verizon Wireless' visual voice mail and LG's Voyager phone infringe on Klausner's patent that covers the ability of a user to view and retrieve voice mail via a menu.
"We anticipated Klausner's action," Robin Nicol, a Verizon Wireless spokesperson, told us in an interview. "We filed a declaratory judgment action in New York federal court on Aug. 13. We are seeking a declaration that Klausner's visual voice mail patent is invalid and that Verizon's system does not infringe the patent in any event."
Citrix Systems Inc., Cox Communications, Comverse Technologies, Embarq Communications, RingCentral, Phone Fusion and Grand Central, purchased in June 2007 by Google, are also named in the lawsuit.
The company is known for its lawsuits against other tech giants for infringement, including AT&T, Apple, Skype, Comcast, Simulscribe and Cablevision. Skype's Voicemail, Cablevision's Optimum Voicemail, and Comcast's Digital Voice all violate Klausner's IP rights, it says.
Klausner sought $360 million in damages from Apple, claiming the inbox display featuring the ability for a user to retrieve voice mail on the iPhone infringed on Klausner's patent. The inventor also sought $300 million from each of the other companies listed in the suit.
Time Warner AOL, however, was the first to be sued by Klausner, for $200 million. Since the 2006 lawsuit, AOL has settled and is currently a licensee of Klausner's patent.
To date, all of the companies have settled accept Cablevision, according to a company spokesperson. Sprint was the only company to proactively license technology from the company and avoid litigation, said the spokesperson.
Judah Klausner, the inventor of...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Firefox Plug-In Simplifies Interactions with Web Pages
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61577
Mozilla Labs has rolled out an experimental Firefox plug-in that promises to streamline the way Web surfers manage the mountains of information online. Called Ubiquity, the proof-of-concept prototype is an experiment with two parts -- it's both an interface and a development platform, notes the plug-in's developer, Aza Raskin.
"Ubiquity 0.1 focuses on the platform aspects while beginning to explore language-driven methods of controlling the browser," Raskin said.
The main goal of Ubiquity is to simplify the time-consuming interactions that Web surfers typically perform on the Internet today, Raskin said. "It's even worse on mobile devices, where limited capability and fidelity makes this onerous or nearly impossible," he added.
Browser users now must use cut and paste along with a separate Web site such as Babel Fish to translate foreign-language content on the Web. With Ubiquity, however, users simply highlight the text they wish to translate, then right-click to open a menu of commands that includes the "translate" option. The text is then automatically converted into English and inserted right onto the original Web page.
The same technique can be used to initiate a wide range of other commands, such as defining an unfamiliar word or technical term, access weather information, or even Twitter friends with the latest news. Moreover, Web developers eventually will be able to build customized Ubiquity commands to which online visitors can subscribe.
Ubiquity also features a separate command-line box that opens in the upper left-hand corner of any Web page whenever a user presses the Ctrl and spacebar keys simultaneously. The command line, Raskin said, empowers users to control browsers with language-based instructions.
"Let's say you're arranging to meet up with a friend at a restaurant and you want to include a map in the e-mail," Rankin said. "Today, this involves the disjointed tasks of message...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Nvidia Sees Smartphones as a Second PC Revolution.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61576
It will come as no surprise that Nvidia CEO and cofounder Jen-Hsun Huang believes in the future of graphics processing. As he pointed out in a two-and-a-half hour presentation at the Nvision 2008 conference, today's GPUs have the equivalent of 1,000 times the processing power of a Cray supercomputer from 30 years ago.
What's less obvious is that Huang also sees Nvidia's future in smartphones.
"Few technologies have made the leaps that the GPU has over the past 10 years. Years ago, the GPU was really just an accelerator, an application-specific integrated circuit. Now it's a general-purpose parallel computing processor," Huang said in his keynote.
But smartphones, he added, are no less than a "second personal computing revolution." Huang said when it comes to smartphones, Nvidia is "completely focused on Windows Mobile 7."
"Focusing on smartphones. That's our strategy," he said.
The overarching goal of Nvidia's smartphone strategy will be to set on its ear the current assumption that the devices are phones first, computers second. Apple's iPhone and iPod touch -- with full Web browser and third-party applications sold via the App Store -- have made it clear to most observers that there's a market for what are essentially mobile computers that happen to have phones built in (or not, in the case of the iPod touch.)
With cell-phone penetration clearly peaking, the opportunity is to put more computing functions in consumers' pockets. And that's where Nvidia steps in.
Toward that end, Nvidia is working to optimize its chips for VIA, a Taiwanese maker of low-power chips, and its new CPU called Nano. "We're excited about VIA; we're optimizing our entire software stack for Nano," the Nvidia boss said.
As Nvidia's fortunes have risen and those of Intel's chief rival, AMD -- which appears to have choked on its $5.4...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Apple's 'Misleading' iTunes Ad Banned in the UK
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61575
There's more trouble for the iPhone. The United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banished an iPhone ad because it deems the content misleading.
The ad shows the iPhone in someone's hand and a finger switching it on. The menu page pops up, and the finger touches the weather icon to show the forecast for Cape Town. The finger then navigates through a Heathrow Airport area map, a Safari icon, hotels and a stock market Web page. The iPhone rings, and the hand is shown answering it.
The ad's voice-over says, "You never know which part of the Internet you'll need. The do-you-need-sun-cream part? The what's-the-quickest-way-to-the-airport part? The what-about-an-ocean-view-room part? Or the can-you-really-afford-this part? Which is why all the parts of the Internet are on the iPhone."
According to the ASA, two viewers complained that the iPhone ad was misleading because the device does not support Flash or Java, both of which are key to viewing many Web pages. The ASA ruled in favor of the viewers.
The ASA noted in its ruling that Java and Flash proprietary software was not enabled on the iPhone, so users could not access certain features on some Web sites or view Web sites that relied solely on Flash or Java.
"We noted Apple's argument that the ad was about site availability rather than technical detail, but considered that the claims 'You'll never know which part of the Internet you'll need' and 'all parts of the Internet are on the iPhone' implied users would be able to access all Web sites and see them in their entirety," the ASA said in its ruling.
"We considered that, because the ad had not explained the limitations, viewers were likely to expect to be able to see all the content on a Web site normally accessible...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Enterprises Likely To Turn Off IE8 'Porn Mode'
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61574
Anyone perusing porn sites at home will appreciate Microsoft's latest efforts at browser privacy, but it's not clear it will do much for the enterprise. Internet Explorer product manager Andrew Ziegler discussed the new privacy features of IE8, currently in its second beta, in an extensive blog post Monday. Users of the new software will be able to turn on Microsoft's InPrivate Browsing and Blocking features.
When what many observers are calling "porn mode" is turned on, IE8 doesn't store history, cookies, form data, passwords, URLs, search queries or visited links.
Ziegler suggested the need for such privacy is completely on the up-and-up. "Maybe you need to buy a gift for a loved one without ruining the surprise," he wrote. "Maybe you're at an Internet kiosk and don't want the next person using it to know at which Web site you bank."
While the problem of clearing sensitive passwords on public machines is real, observers say the hands-down, number-one reason most people would want to clear history, URLs and search queries is to erase signs of pornography viewing. "The most likely situation is the obvious one. Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more," said Ars Technica. "Microsoft dishes dirt on IE8 'prOn mode,'" British Web site the Register smirked.
People can do what they want at home, but enterprises need to know where people are surfing at work. Porn surfing can expose a corporation to liability for sexual harassment, and managers obviously need to know employees are working.
"The enterprise is more concerned with keeping user information guarded from untrusted Web sites than making sure your off-business Internet habits are kept secret," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Network Security, in an e-mail. "The features so far described by Microsoft seem to fall more squarely into the...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Computer Virus Hitches Ride on Space Station
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61573
Perhaps you've seen this movie: A virus infects a human-piloted spacecraft, and within days the mission is compromised and Earth is lost to the alien attackers. There's now a report that the first part of that storyline has come true -- only it's a computer virus on the International Space Station.
Space-oriented Web site SpaceRef.com has reported that a laptop aboard the International Space Station has become infected with a Level 0 virus, and on Tuesday the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) confirmed that a virus was carried aboard last month.
The governmental agency says the virus is a "nuisance," adding that it was on non-critical laptops that are used for relatively low-level functions like e-mail and experiments about nutrition.
NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries noted that the agency has previously had to deal with virus control as one of the threats in space, although specifics weren't given. "It's not a frequent occurrence," Humphries said, "but this isn't the first time."
While NASA didn't identify the virus, SpaceRef said it was one called W.32.Gammima.AG worm. This virus' claim to fame is that it tries to steal sensitive information, like credentials, from any of about a dozen online games, including ZhengTu, Wanmi Shije (Perfect World), HuangYi Online, Seal Online, Maple Story, Talesweaver, R2 (Reign of Revolution), and others. The games are popular in Asia.
The virus, which was first detected in 2007, was found on more than one laptop in the space station. No word on whether the infection was laptop-to-laptop, through an intranet or a USB drive, but the evidence points to a drive.
The mystery is how the virus managed to hitch an unpaid ride on the most expensive vehicle in or out of this world.
NASA's Humphries said that it was not clear which country had purchased the laptops, or...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Mac Cloner Psystar Sues Apple Under Antitrust Laws
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61572
Psystar, the plucky Mac cloner in Doral, Fla,, has thrown down the gauntlet and countersued Apple. At a small press conference in the office of Psystar's attorneys in Palo Alto, Calif., the lawyers said they have answered Apple's original lawsuit filed July 3 and upped the ante by filing one of their own in a Northern California federal court.
The countersuit filed Tuesday alleges that Apple is in violation of the Sherman and Clayton antitrust acts. In particular, Psystar contends that Apple, by tying its Mac OS X operating system to Apple hardware, creates restraint of trade.
Citing Microsoft and Linux as examples, Psystar attorney Colby Springer of the antitrust law firm of Carr and Ferrell said these OS providers have no such restrictions on hardware.
Psystar President Rudy Pedraza affirmed that his company believes Mac OS X is a great operating system, but customers shouldn't have to pay high hardware prices for what he termed "generic hardware." Psystar maintains it is giving customers a hardware alternative to Apple's Macintosh.
Psystar's OpenPro Mac-compatible computer retails for about $1,600, half the cost of a similarly equipped Mac, while its entry-level Open Computer lists on the company's Web site for about $550.
In its original lawsuit, Apple charged that Psystar was damaging its intellectual property in violation of the end-user license agreement (EULA) that states Mac OS X must be installed on Apple hardware only. Apple alleges that installation on unapproved hardware may cause problems and thereby diminish the reputation and worth of its operating system.
Apple's suit also says Psystar was selling modified versions of Mac OS X Leopard on its white-box clones. Both Springer and Pedraza denied that Psystar modified any portion of Apple's Mac OS X and underscored that every copy of Mac software sold is a legitimate license. Pedraza said all...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
iPhone News: Orange Caps 3G Speed; Security Flaw Seen
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61571
The iPhone took hits on two fronts Wednesday as Orange -- an iPhone 3G carrier in France -- admitted to limiting 3G bandwidth for its customers, and a security flaw was discovered in the iPhone that enables unauthorized users to access private data on the phone when it is supposedly locked.
When 3G-bug rumors and substandard network performance on the iPhone prompted a groundswell of irate customers last week, forums overflowed with anecdotal tales of the 3G network's slow performance. One Internet forum began to collate users' data speeds to get some answers. After thousands of results were in, France's 3G carrier Orange came in consistently at the bottom of the performance heap.
Calls to the company by angry customers resulted in many of those consumers receiving special treatment by tech-savvy support folks, who upped their bandwidth. After online petitions and more calls to the company, Orange officials reluctantly admitted they had been throttling iPhone users to a paltry 384KB bandwidth. By comparison, neighboring German iPhone users are logging 1MB speeds, as posted in the forum.
In a statement released by Orange, the company admitted its bandwidth restrictions, and promised that it would up the speeds to 1MB by mid-September. No word on why customers have to wait that long to get full 3G service or whether they will see compensation on their bills.
The French Connection problems have fueled Internet rumors that AT&T may be rigging its 3G data speeds here in the United States, as more and more customers complain about substandard data rates.
Reports began surfacing today that the iPhone suffers from a serious security flaw that could put users' private data in jeopardy. Nearly all cell phones have the option of providing a lock code that prevents anyone from using the phone...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Google Suggest Comes Late to Search-Assist Party
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61559
It's a product four years in the making: Google Suggest debuted on Tuesday to help users formulate queries and get better results.
Google began developing the search-suggestion product in 2004. The feature started as a "20-percent project" (a Google philosophy that allows employees to spend one day a week working on something not in the regular job description). But now, the tool has expanded and is included on Google Labs, the Google Toolbar, the Firefox search box, Google Maps and Web Search for select countries, the iPhone and BlackBerry, YouTube, and now Google.com.
Google Suggest is officially available by default on the Google.com home page. Over the next week, the company plans to roll out the tool so that more and more searchers will start seeing a list of query suggestions when they start typing into the search box.
"Have you ever been stumped in finding the right words to search for? Back when I was planning my wedding, I had a list of wedding songs in mind, but the problem was that I couldn't remember any of the artist names or song titles," Jennifer Liu, a Google product manager, wrote on the company's blog.
Liu tells the story of how she started typing into the Google search box parts of the lyrics that she did remember, and saw suggestions with the artist name and song titles that she wanted. "We find that by providing suggestions up-front, we can help people search more efficiently and conveniently," she wrote.
Liu outlined three key benefits of Google Suggest: help formulate queries, reduce spelling errors, and save keystrokes.
Google Suggest helps users formulate more precise queries that yield more accurate results. So, instead of just typing "hotels in Florida," the technology will ask you a "Did you mean?" question that encourages you to select a...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Immersion and Microsoft End Six-Year Court Battle
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61558
After more than six years of disputes and battles between Immersion and Microsoft, the companies are waving white flags. After suing Microsoft for patent infringement on Xbox controller technology and winning, and then suing again for breach of a confidentiality agreement, Immersion will now pay Microsoft $20.75 million of the $26 million it received in a previous settlement.
The resolution gives Microsoft the one-time payment and makes Immersion part of Microsoft's Partner Program, according to Immersion. "We are pleased to resolve our outstanding dispute with Microsoft and to put this litigation behind us," said Client Richardson, Immersion president and CEO.
In February 2002 Immersion, the developer and licensor of haptic feedback technology, filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Microsoft and Sony in U.S. District Court in California. Immersion said Microsoft and Sony's use of haptic technology in the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation systems and controllers infringed on its TouchSense technology.
Haptic technology gives users touch sensations from a game controller. Immersion has been focused on haptic-based products since 1993, according to Immersion, and held more than 150 patents worldwide as of 2002. Today, the company has more than 400 filed and pending patents.
Bob O'Malley, the then-chief executive of Immersion, said Immersion had exhausted its attempts to settle infringement issues with Microsoft before filing suit to protect its intellectual property.
Microsoft agreed to settle and paid $35 million to Immersion ($26 million of which was settlement costs) in return for licensing rights and equity.
The two companies also agreed that in the event that Immersion settled with Sony, it would pay Microsoft a minimum of $15 million for any amount received from Sony up to $100 million, plus 25 percent of any amount over $100 million up to $150 million.
Four years later, Sony settled its patent-infringement lawsuit with Immersion after...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Nokia Unveils Smartphone 'Multimedia Computers'
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61557
Nokia has taken the wraps off two new smartphones in its N series -- the N79 and the N85. Both phones further blur the distinction between a phone and a computer, a blending that Nokia is encouraging by describing each of them as a "multimedia computer."
The N79 features integrated navigation, 3.5G HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, music with a built-in FM transmitter, Web browsing, built-in GPS, a five-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash, and a 4GB microSD card. Video can be edited right in the camera, and images can be geotagged to reference specific locations. The FM transmitter allows the music on the device to be heard on a car radio. It will begin shipping in October.
Juha Kukkohen, director of the N series, said the new model "packs cutting-edge technology into a compact design," as do others in this line. He noted that it comes with "interchangeable covers that have automatically matching screen themes." Those XPress-on "smart covers" have five possible colors -- Light Sea Blue, Expresso Brown, Olive Green, White and Coral Red -- and three come with each N79.
The Finnish company said the N85 sets "new standards for mobile entertainment, gaming and sharing." It features a 2.6-inch OLED screen, N-Gage gaming, music with a built-in FM transmitter, a five-megapixel camera with Zeiss optics, 30-frames-per second video, geotagging, high-speed connectivity, GPS and a three-month license to turn-by-turn voice directions. It also is expected to ship in October.
Nokia said the N85 is a "complete entertainment package designed for connecting, sharing and discovery," noting that the "iconic" Nokia N-series dual slider design has become smaller and sleeker.
The N85 comes preloaded with "at least" 10 made-for-mobile N-gage gaming titles, plus a voucher to activate one full game. Gaming keys light up...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Online Olympic Games Audience Unprecedented
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61538
Steve Ferguson woke up early on Friday -- 3 a.m. to be exact -- to watch his stepdaughter Margaux Isaksen, a 16-year-old Olympian, complete a grueling 11-hour performance in the modern pentathlon.
Ferguson did not watch Margaux compete in person. From his home in Fayetteville, Arkansas, he watched a live stream of her sport on NBCOlympics.com, where 2,200 live hours of the Summer Olympics were shown for Internet users.
The ratings for NBC's television coverage of the Games were record-breaking this month. But the extent to which the Internet served as a supplement to television was unprecedented, and there were two clear winners: NBC's own Web site and Yahoo's Olympics section.
Benefiting from the growth in broadband Internet access, NBCOlympics.com served up more than 1.2 billion pages and 72 million video streams through Saturday, more than doubling the combined traffic to its site during the 2004 Games in Athens and the 2006 Games in Turin. The popularity of the site will very likely make digital rights more significant in next year's bidding for the 2014 and 2016 Games.
As this Olympics demonstrated, the Internet turns the action into a digital version of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" children's books, where every sport can receive its time in the spotlight. Enjoy cycling? NBC had 90 videos of the competitions by Sunday. Prefer softball? Yahoo had 186 photos.
The Internet is "allowing people to create their own broader Olympics experience," said Jon Gibs, the vice president for media analytics at Nielsen Online.
During previous pentathlons, Ferguson would sometimes have to wait until a Wednesday to see Margaux's performances from the prior weekend.
"It's really nice to have this available," he said of the streaming video, even though his connection at home was somewhat slow.
NBC, as the holder of U.S. rights to the Olympics, was the sole source for online...
Thu, 28 Aug 08
VoIP Invades the Mobile-Phone Service Market
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61534
Scott Goldman uses his mobile phone to call friends and business contacts all over the world, from Britain to Australia. But the Southern California-based consultant doesn't pay a dime in international tolls to his mobile-phone carrier, AT&T, the biggest in the U.S.
Instead, Goldman places the international portion of the calls -- roughly 100 minutes a month -- through a service called Gorilla Mobile that relies on Internet-based technology to route wireless calls virtually toll-free. Goldman, a user of Apple's iPhone, estimates that he saves hundreds of dollars a year with Gorilla's service. He stands to cut wireless bills even more by signing up for another, iCall, that's due for the iPhone in the coming weeks. The service will let him place low-priced calls from Wi-Fi hotspots -- bypassing the AT&T network altogether. "Once I can make calls using the Wi-Fi network, I will, in all likelihood, reduce the monthly minutes I have [with AT&T,]," Goldman says.
Gorilla, iCall, and a growing number of other services rely on what's known as Voice over Internet Protocol technology that delivers speech via the Internet in much the same way as e-mail. VoIP calling is already raising a ruckus in telecommunications, putting pressure on the price of land-line calling and luring subscribers toward upstarts like Vonage and Comcast away from incumbents such as AT&T, and Verizon. Now, the technology threatens to erode sales for mobile-phone service providers too.
By 2011 the number of mobile VoIP users around the world may rise to 100 million from 7 million in 2007, according to ON World, a consulting firm based in San Diego. ON World estimates that in 2011, mobile VoIP voice services may generate $33.7 billion, up from $516 million in 2006, the most recent year for which the figure is available. If that sounds...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
Nvidia Challenges Intel, Others in Smartphone Chips
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61556
Nvidia Corp., a 5,000-employee company known for its graphics processing units, is gearing up for battle against giant chipmaker Intel. During the first day of the Nvision 2008 conference Monday, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsuan Huang said his Santa Clara, Calif.-based company plans to focus on the smartphone market.
He added that he expects smartphones to become the next personal computer and noted that today's smartphones are focused on the phone first and computing second. He said it should be the opposite.
On one side of the ring is Nvidia's Tegra, a graphics system on a chip. In the other corner is Intel's Atom, the smallest mobile-device processor.
Bill Henry, general manager of Nvidia's mobile Internet devices division, said Tegra, which has one-tenth the power consumption of the Atom, is at the heart of an experience that gives users the better battery life of a cell phone, the graphical environment of a computer, and Internet browsing capabilities.
Nvidia has been working with Taiwan-based Via Technologies, maker of the Nano central-processing unit, on other products that are notebook-focused.
Asked if Nvidia plans to partner with Via in the smartphone market, Henry said, "We have a solution all our own and don't need other components." From a smartphone perspective, he said, the Tegra has everything it needs.
Henry added that he sees a lot of opportunity in mobile Internet devices, calling Tegra a big move forward in computing.
"One of the demos we did (while in Taipei, Taiwan), is compare our Tegra that uses one watt versus the Atom-based Netbook that was using over 13 watts," Henry said from the Nvision 2008 floor. "When you are trying to make something mobile, you have to make things small. Everything is integrated into one chip."
With Intel's chip there are different components doing different jobs, according...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
Next Firefox Update To Feature Dramatic Speed Boost
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61554
The Mozilla Foundation is on the verge of adopting a new software-programming technique that promises to dramatically improve the speeds at which browsers interact with the Web. The first step, the nonprofit organization said, will be to optimize the way that JavaScript runs in Firefox 3.1 -- the next incremental update to Mozilla's popular open-source browser.
Originally developed by Netscape and currently maintained by Mozilla, JavaScript is a powerful cross-platform scripting language that is already used in millions of Web pages and server applications worldwide. Moreover, the scripting language's deployment in Internet applications such as Firefox is driven by an embeddable JavaScript engine that Mozilla calls SpiderMonkey.
Earlier this summer, Mozilla engineers launched a new project called TraceMonkey that promises to revolutionize Web-browser performance, noted Mike Shaver, Mozilla's vice president of engineering.
"Based on a technique developed at UC Irvine called 'trace trees,'" Shaver said, "a few of us have spent the last two months -- and most of the last few nights -- teaching SpiderMonkey some exciting new tricks."
University of California researchers have succeeded in building a compiler featuring the ability to dynamically detect frequently executed byte-code instructions and then generate code on the fly for exactly these hot code paths, called "traces."
"Tracing follows only the hot paths, and builds a trace-tree cache," noted Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich. Given that "cold code never gets traced," memory bloat is avoided, he explained.
The early results from Mozilla's ongoing TraceMonkey project -- which adds native code compilation to the organization's SpiderMonkey engine -- takes JavaScript performance to "another level, where instead of competing against other interpreters, we start to compete against native code," Shaver said. "Even with this very, very early version, we're already seeing some promising results."
TraceMonkey employs a new kind of just-in-time compiler to boost JavaScript performance by...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
Adobe Photoshop Elements Goes Online and Mobile
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61553
Adobe Systems has announced major updates to its Photoshop Elements suite of video- and photo-editing software, including online sharing and mobile-phone options. In beta now, the software is expected to be on retail shelves in early October.
Photoshop Premiere Elements 7 adds significant features to video editing, while Photoshop Elements 7 incorporates major enhancements to the photo-editing program. Mobile features cover only a limited number of phones.
Have too many grumpy-looking locals in the background of your shot of the Eiffel Tower? Elements 7 promises you can "scrub" unwanted elements from pictures with its new Scene Cleaner feature. Quick Fix tools whiten teeth, enhance colors, and soften details, among other things. A powerful new Smart Brush allows users to assign repetitive tasks to the brush tool, then use it on multiple sections of a photo, like removing wrinkles.
The Premiere video suite gained a few IQ points with a new analysis mode that scans video files for picture quality, number of faces and sound levels, and applies Smart Tags as placeholders for what the software believes are the best clips. If you agree, you can just click a button to assemble a finished movie.
InstantMovie is a quick way to assemble a themed video. Dragging and dropping clips into a theme, such as Birthday, will add appropriate music, transitions and graphics. Green-screen technology has a Videomerge feature to superimpose you and the family going for a stroll on the moon, for example. Version 7 now outputs to DVD, Blu-ray and the AVCHD high-definition tapeless file format, and it supports instant uploads to phones and YouTube accounts.
To compete with online sites such as Flickr, Adobe announced an enhanced online service for Photoshop Elements customers called Photoshop.com. A basic subscription with 5GB of storage is available free for storing and...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
AT&T Lowers 3G International Roaming Rates
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61552
Perhaps it was the resounding howls of pain from AT&T international business travelers when they opened their monthly 3G phone bills, or a fit of corporate generosity, but AT&T unveiled new international roaming data plans on Tuesday. While still pricey, they cut the cost of iPhone Web surfing overseas a great deal over previous rates. The new rates to into effect as of Wednesday, for the asking.
AT&T's new data-roaming rates come not a billable minute too soon for some customers. Past rates for roaming came in at roughly $40 for 2MB of data -- not hard to do when you hit YouTube or a Facebook photo gallery.
"AT&T has worked diligently to provide affordable options for international roaming because the feature-rich mobile experience of [the] iPhone is indispensable to users," said Bill Hague, AT&T wireless operations international executive vice president. "With these new international data plans, iPhone users can access more data in more countries for less cost."
Less cost equates to either $119 or $199 per month. The $119 plan gets you 100MB of data, while the $199 plan doubles your data to 200MB. The per-month packages can be added and deleted at will, with no penalty, giving international callers a great pay-as-you-travel option when planning overseas trips.
To that end, AT&T also announced a travel site (www.wireless.att.com/travelguide) to help customers decide on rate plans according to their itinerary. The roaming-rate packages cover more than 67 countries worldwide, including Japan and South Korea. Countries off the rate-plan list -- including Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates -- are charged at the standard $0.0195/KB rate.
M
Asked if AT&T intends to add to the list of countries covered on the new data-plan list, Jenny Parker, spokesperson at AT&T, said, "We're always looking to find ways to...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
BlueAnt's Bluetooth Headset Takes Your Voice Commands
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61551
In a move to set itself apart from the flood of Bluetooth headsets on the market, BlueAnt Wireless on Tuesday introduced the BlueAnt V1 headset.
The BlueAnt V1 is the only fully voice-controlled Bluetooth headset. The headset is powered by Sensory Inc.'s BlueGenie Voice Interface and BlueAnt's voice-isolation technology. The headset aims to change the way consumers interact with technology by providing a new spin on hands-free calling. The device retails for $130.
"The intuitive voice interface not only appeals to technology power users, but also first-time Bluetooth headset users looking for a simple yet effective hands-free solution," said Taisen Maddern, BlueAnt's CEO.
The new headset taps Sensory's BlueGenie Voice Interface technology to let users control their headset with voice commands rather than pressing multiple buttons or even looking at the phone. Other headsets do support voice-dial capabilities through a mobile phone's voice features, but the BlueAnt device embeds voice technology into the headset itself rather than relying on the handset's functionality.
In addition to voice-dial capabilities, the V1 also lets users control all headset features such as pairing, volume and connection status by voice command. For example, the user would issue commands such as, "Pair Me," "Redial," "Call Back," "Answer/Ignore Call," and "Call GOOG-411."
Users who aren't sure what commands the voice-activated headset will respond to can ask the question: "What can I say?" and the headset will verbally list all features available on the device. Users new to voice technology or to Bluetooth headsets can also say "teach me," and the device will talk users through its functions.
"The BlueAnt product is very nice. In a market that's quickly becoming commoditized, it's difficult for Bluetooth headset manufacturers to distinguish themselves," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of Mobile Research for Jupiter Research. "Some, like the Jawbone, have tried to set themselves...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
New, Larger Kindle Could Appeal to Textbook Market
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61535
A number of news outlets say they have confirmed that Amazon.com is on the verge of releasing an updated version of its Kindle e-book reader. And, rumors say, Amazon will change its focus from mass-market books to the education market.
Tim Bueneman, an analyst with McAdams Wright Ragen, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that Amazon sees a major opportunity for the Kindle with college students. He also told the paper that Amazon is planning several new versions of the device.
"There are already several new, improved versions of the Kindle in the works," Bueneman wrote the paper in an e-mail. "We guess the new version will have improved interface operating controls. This has been an issue with some buyers."
While Amazon doesn't release sales figures for the Kindle, some analysts have put sales as high as 380,000. Those numbers are probably off the mark. Amazon managers told the analysts "that the Kindle is definitely selling very well, but they also said the analysts and reporters giving out these extremely high estimates 'did not run them by the company,'" Bueneman wrote.
Of course, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' hopes for the Kindle go well beyond that mark. In launching the product last year, Bezos predicted it would do no less than "change the way readers read, writers write and publishers publish."
Kleiner Perkins venture capitalist John Doerr -- and presumably Bezos -- has predicted the Kindle will be a $1 billion business. One year out, the Kindle has a long way to go in that regard, said Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies, in an e-mail.
"The Kindle is by far the best implementation of a complete digital book ecosystem on the market today, thanks to its over-the-air instant delivery of books," Bajarin said. "However, we are at the dawn of the digital-book...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
Facebook Spells 'Banned' for Scrabulous -- Except in India
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61530
If you're on Facebook and were thinking about playing Scrabulous -- an online, unauthorized version of the classic word game Scrabble -- the word you're looking for is "banned." As in "banned from Facebook," since that popular social-networking site has now pulled the game from most of the world that could still play it.
Announced Monday by Facebook, the action resulted from protests about copyright ownership by Mattel, which has rights to the game outside the U.S. and Canada. Scrabulous had already been pulled voluntarily from North America by its developers because of a lawsuit filed by Hasbro, which owns the rights in that region.
Facebook said it had to act outside North America as well, after Mattel made a formal request and the game's developers took no action.
The ban applies to all countries except India. A lawsuit by Mattel is pending in India, and Facebook's approach there is that this is a matter for Indian courts to handle. Scrabulous was developed by two brothers, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, of Calcutta, India.
After Scrabulous was removed in North America, the brothers offered Wordscraper instead. The alternative game uses circles instead of Scrabble-familiar squares, which the developers hope will resolve legal issues.
"It surprises us that Mattel chose to direct Facebook to take down Scrabulous" even before the court in India had issued a ruling, Jayant Agarwalla said in an e-mail to news media. "Mattel's action speaks volumes about their business practices and respect for the judiciary. It is even more astonishing that Facebook, which claims to be a fair and neutral party, took this step."
Neither Facebook nor Mattel has commented on the matter.
Facebook has been encouraging outside developers to create applications for its platform, so the battle over Scrabulous counters that effort. But it could have faced legal...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
Microsoft Plans Native Privacy Features for IE8
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61529
Microsoft on Monday revealed some new privacy features for Internet Explorer 8, the next version of its market-leading Web browser. The features address the concerns of consumers and privacy advocates, who called the plans a positive step.
The new features will let users control their history, cookies and other information that IE8 stores. Other features aim to help users control how their browsing history is shared by Web sites. By default, IE8 browses the Web the same way IE7 does.
"Having privacy native in the browser as opposed to just an extension is something we've been advocating for a long time from all the browser manufacturers," said Ari Schwartz, deputy director at the Center for Democracy and Technology. "Incorporating all of these privacy features at once is a major step forward. Safari has some built-in privacy and Firefox has extensions. Native privacy is better."
When a new feature called InPrivate Browsing is activated, new cookies are not stored. Rather, all new cookies become session cookies and existing cookies can still be read. New history entries will not be recorded and new temporary Internet files will be deleted after the private browsing window is closed. Form data, passwords, queries typed into a search box, visited links, and addresses typed into the address bar are not stored.
"If you are using a shared PC, a borrowed laptop from a friend, or a public PC, sometimes you don't want other people to know where you've been on the Web. Internet Explorer 8's InPrivate Browsing makes that 'over the shoulder' privacy easy by not storing history, cookies, temporary Internet files, or other data," Andy Zeigler, a program manager at Microsoft, wrote in the company's blog.
IE8 will also offer a feature to delete browsing history without deleting cookies that allow trusted Web sites to remember...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
Hooking Up Your Home, Without the Wires
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61512
In Singapore, the Dutch consumer electronics maker Philips is designing a multimedia server to stream audio and video through the air, from the Internet to any device in the home. In Munich, a former unit of Siemens envisions a cordless phone that would double as a music player, wirelessly drawing music from home computers. In Japan, members of Sony's global "digital home team" are redesigning 90 percent of the company's home electronics components to connect wirelessly to the Internet by 2011.
Across the consumer electronics industry, the leading players are revamping their audio and video equipment for a future centered around the Internet, a world in which televisions, stereos, computers -- even kitchen appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators -- can communicate with each other over a wireless home network.
Expanded lines of "networked entertainment equipment" will take center stage this week at the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin, the largest consumer electronics convention in Europe, with 1,200 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors.
Sony plans to introduce plug-in adapters to enable some of its Bravia television sets to connect to the Internet wirelessly. Philips will demonstrate a line of hard-disc stereo systems that can wirelessly read and play music stored on personal computers or laptops in other rooms, streaming music selectively through the house.
Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp will present flat-panel TVs that hook up to the Internet, some with wires, some without. Hewlett Packard's MediaSmart LCD TV will wirelessly stream high-definition video. Some industry executives say the new focus on Internet content and wireless networks reflects a fundamental shift in home entertainment.
"The Internet is so massive," said Tim Page, technology marketing manager at Sony Europe. "So are the opportunities for electronics makers, content providers and consumers to get connected. The push to develop networked devices is one of the main directions for Sony now."
The convergence of...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
SAP Plans New Strategies to Overtake Oracle
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61511
Henning Kagermann wants you to know that he is more than just a software geek.
Kagermann, the longtime chief executive of SAP, the giant maker of complex computer applications for business, is in the middle of a slow transition in which he will yield the top job entirely to Leo Apotheker, now the co-chief executive, when he retires in March.
Apotheker rose through the ranks of the SAP sales force, taking a notably different career path than Kagermann, a former physics professor who made his name as a developer.
The transition from Kagermann to Apotheker has fed an irresistible narrative in financial markets: The software egghead who shoveled cash into new projects is yielding to the uncompromising moneymaker. It is also a story that Kagermann dismisses with an unprintable barnyard epithet, and a terse reminder that he can do more than write code.
"People forget that I was head of sales for a few years," Kagermann said during an interview. "I was not always the tech guy."
There is some truth to the tale being told in the markets, but the reasons run deeper than a mere change of chief executives. The company is indeed shifting its focus more toward the bottom line, and less on the multibillion-dollar investments in technology that helped make it the market leader in the lucrative field of business software.
The goal, it seems clear, is for SAP to show that it can not only produce sophisticated software that companies depend on to run their businesses, but that it can do as well as its American archrival, Oracle, in satisfying the demands of investors.
Oracle achieved a pretax profit margin of about 35 percent last year, well ahead of the 26.7 percent operating margin that the German company managed in 2007.
And despite its edge in market share, SAP has lagged behind...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
Newark and the Future of Crime Fighting
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61509
One recent spring day, two cops in the Newark Police Dept. watched a shoot-out erupt in broad daylight. Two suspected drug dealers started blasting away at each other in the middle of an apartment complex. The cops didn't witness the violence on the beat, though. They watched it from the city's new communications command center, which collects live video feeds from more than 100 surveillance cameras scattered across the crime-ridden city.
As the shooting broke out, the policemen zoomed in on the scene with a joystick controller. They saw one gunman flee, while the other dragged himself into a nearby apartment, one blood-soaked leg trailing behind. Because of the camera network, the Newark police were able to dispatch a team to the crime scene immediately -- 90 seconds before the first 911 calls. The gunman who crawled into his apartment was arrested on the spot. "Those complexes are like mazes, but we knew exactly where to send the unit," says Sergeant Marvin Carpenter, commanding officer of the communications post.
The surveillance system is the centerpiece of Mayor Cory Booker's ambitious plan to use cutting-edge technologies to slash Newark's violent crime rate. This August, Newark finished its initial deployment of 111 cameras, adding 76 to the 35 that were in place last summer. Newark is investing in a whole range of tools, everything from mundane PCs to more novel technologies such as a new citywide broadband wireless network that will let cops fill out police reports from their squad cars instead of schlepping back to the station house. By late fall, Newark expects to complete the deployment of an audio sensor system to pinpoint gunshot locations that cameras fail to catch. "We are trying to leave the Flintstones and get to the Jetsons," says Booker.
Major cities such as London, New York, and Chicago...
Wed, 27 Aug 08
Trulia's New iPhone House Finder
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61507
House hunting? Forget the listing agents and classified ads. Now you can find homes for sale with a few taps on a smartphone.
Trulia, one of the Web's most visited home listing sites, on Aug. 25 is introducing a tool available on Apple's iPhone that can locate all the listings and open houses in a user's vicinity.
The free software application uses navigation technology to summon data and displays the results on an interactive map. It lets users call up such information as price, photos, square footage, and number of bedrooms. Another tap of the screen sends a call or e-mail directly to the listing agent. "It's all about convenience," says Trulia CEO Pete Flint.
Trulia is also releasing home listing applications for Research In Motion's BlackBerry, Samsung's BlackJack, and Dash Navigation's Dash Express, which provides navigation services using GPS technology. Trulia's service will also be available on various mobile operating systems, and on devices made by Sony Ericsson and Nokia.
Trulia, which boasts information for 70 percent to 80 percent of the properties on the multiple-listing service database of real estate listings, will be the biggest listing site with an iPhone application. But it's hardly alone. FrontDoor.com says it will introduce an iPhone application later this year that not only searches nearby listings, but also integrates video and information about what it's like to live in a given neighborhood.
StreetEasy.com's two-week-old iPhone application, which provides location-based for-sale listing information for New York City, has been downloaded about 5,000 times. The application was designed with New Yorkers in mind, letting surfers see available properties not just in a neighborhood, but also in a given building.
Coming versions of StreetEasy's iPhone software will make it possible to search for open house and broadcast observations about specific buildings. "People are experiencing real estate by walking down...
Tue, 26 Aug 08
Intuit Brings QuickBooks To Blackberry and iPhone
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61527
For business professionals who can't stand to waste a minute, Intuit is delivering the ability to do accounting on a smartphone. On Monday, Intuit announced integration for both the iPhone and Blackberry with QuickBooks Online, a Web-based business accounting application.
Intuit is billing the integration as a means to give small-business owners more freedom to manage their business anywhere, anytime -- with or without a computer -- in what it calls an early version Web-based mobile application.
"A growing number of small businesses are looking to mobile technology to run their business," said Rick Jensen, senior vice president of Intuit's Small Business Division. "Our goal with these new mobile services is to give QuickBooks Online users the edge they need to compete and manage their busy lives by keeping tabs on their business even when they are out of the office."
Intuit said QuickBooks Online gives mobile customers views of their finances by checking current bank and credit-card balances, tracking who owes them money and who they owe, and finding vendor and customer contact information with addresses through Google Maps. The program also lets them run balance sheets and profit-and-loss reports.
Laura Olcott, treasurer for Twin Cities Co-op Preschool in Corte Madera, Calif., said QuickBooks Online is perfect for her company because there is no "office," just volunteers working from home or work offices.
"Given the virtual nature of our interactions, iPhone support helps us be more productive," Olcott said. "While waiting for an appointment, I was able to check QuickBooks Online using my iPhone to look up parents with open balances and send them an e-mail reminder to pay their bill."
Is mobile accounting a concept ready for prime time? Jaimee Steel, a vice president at M:Metrics, offers data that show the possibilities.
Fifteen percent of smartphone users traded stock...
Tue, 26 Aug 08
Survey Says Carriers Are iPhone's Problem
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61526
A survey of more than 2,000 iPhone 3G users shows that problems with the device strongly correlate to which network carrier is being used, rather than the device itself.
Wired.com surveyed 2,636 iPhone users in the United States, Europe, Australia and Canada. The results showed variation by country, major metropolitan areas and carrier.
"In our view, this data is a strong indicator that performance of the mobile carrier's network is affecting the iPhone 3G more than the handset itself," wrote Brian X. Chen of Wired.com. "[I]t's highly unlikely that Apple is going to wave a magic wand and say, '3G problems, be gone' with a software update. Before Apple can make such a claim, it needs to wait for all of its carriers to optimize 3G network behavior -- in terms of number of towers, how they're positioned and how much bandwidth each tower can handle."
The survey ranked U.S. carrier AT&T third, tied with Telstra, Telia and SoftBank. AT&T users averaged 990 Kbps, half of the 1,822 Kbps averaged on T-Mobile's European networks but miles beyond the 390 Kbps offered by Australian carriers Virgin and Optus. The average in Australia was 759 Kbps.
But the vast majority of participants reporting "0" speeds, meaning they dropped off of 3G entirely, were AT&T customers in the U.S. Out of more than 1,600 survey participants from the U.S., 63 reported speeds of 0. Only 80 participants worldwide reported speeds of 0.
In the American cities that should be the most built-out for 3G, many users are getting no better than EDGE speeds, the survey found. In San Francisco, one-third of respondents (10 out of 30) reported speeds just barely better than EDGE. This is probably because the number of iPhone 3G users are overwhelming the available 3G towers, the report said.
The...
Tue, 26 Aug 08
Verizon Targets Tween Market with New Blitz Phone
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61525
In a move to cash in on the back-to-school mobile phone-buying sprees, Verizon Wireless on Monday launched a new phone dubbed "Blitz."
Verizon Wireless is billing the phone as a device designed for the heaviest of texters. Loosely translated, that means tweens, or preteens.
The Blitz comes with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a dedicated My Messaging key. The tween-friendly phone also offers a 2.2-inch screen for browsing the Web or checking e-mail.
Also important to the youth demographic, the Blitz is a music player. Verizon's latest product comes equipped with an MP3 player that can access the Verizon V CAST Music with Rhapsody service.
"The nice part about technology, as with most things, is that mature platforms fragment," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of mobile research for Jupitermedia. "So we have these youth-optimized devices that we really have never seen just a few years ago."
The Blitz is selling for $69.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a new two-year customer agreement with Verizon. Customers can sign up for V CAST Music with Rhapsody for a $14.99 monthly subscription.
"What's nice about it is that it appeals to a demographic that doesn't have a whole lot of money in their pocket," Gartenberg said. "These kids don't have $200 or $300 to spend on a phone, although they'd like to. The Blitz is cool enough that you don't have to be branded as the person using the cheap phone in school."
The Blitz also incorporates a 1.3-megapixel camera with color effects and a self-portrait mirror. It supports Bluetooth devices; is mobile Web-capable; offers mobile e-mail functionality through MSN, Hotmail, America Online, and Yahoo; and offers a media center that lets young people download games, ringtones, wallpapers, location-based services, and other media.
The Blitz also comes with mobile instant-messaging capabilities and picture messaging, as well...
Tue, 26 Aug 08
Reports Say Apple's iPod Line to Get New Look, Features
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61524
Like Bigfoot in recent weeks, the Apple iPod is the subject of a wave of new reports and at least one photo. According to the postings, Apple's iPod line will undergo a restructuring by the end of next month. But given the credibility of those making the reports, the chances for accuracy behind the iPod reports seem better than Bigfoot's.
Kevin Rose, founder of the popular social-bookmarking site Digg, wrote on his blog Friday that there would to be a revamp of the entire iPod line, including both "small cosmetic changes" for the iPod touch and a "significant redesign" for the iPod nano.
His blog showed a purported photo of a rounded nano. "The kind of smaller, fatter, chunkier nano is going away for something a lot skinnier and longer," he said in a video posted on his blog. He also said it would have "a kind of widescreen across the nano" and that it's going to be "rounded, kind of oval, so the actual glass on the outside will be curved."
He also said the iPod touch will get some small updates, and the touch will be the first device to have the new 2.1 software, with the "iPhone to get updates very soon after."
Rose also mentioned a new iTunes 8.0, which he quoted an unnamed source as calling "a big update with new features." Rose added that, according to his sources, the new iTunes "really is a true point upgrade," with a lot of new features and functionalities, not just bug fixes.
A big part of the refresh for the iPods, he said, are the relative price points. "They're really trying to get away from the iPhone" at $199, he said, adding that we'll see a lot of price cuts in iPods so that the "iPhone sales...
Tue, 26 Aug 08
Red Hat, Fedora Servers Face Hack Attack
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61523
Last week, Red Hat security specialists had a problem on their hands when they detected an illegal intrusion on the company's computer systems. The attack affected both the Red Hat Enterprise Linux servers and the servers of the Fedora Project, a Linux-based operating system supported by Red Hat.
Servers were instantly taken offline. Red Hat issued an advisory to its customers, telling them how to check to see if they had been compromised and offering an updated version of the affected packages, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.
"Security specialists and administrators have been working since [they discovered the attack] to analyze the intrusion and the extent of the compromise, as well as reinstall Fedora systems," said Paul W. Fields, Fedora's project leader. "We are using the requisite outages as an opportunity to do other upgrades for the sake of functionality as well as security."
A system used for signing Fedora packages was compromised, according to Fields. He also said he believes the intruder did not steal the pass phrase used to secure the Fedora package signing key, but had not yet confirmed that.
"While there is no definitive evidence that the Fedora key has been compromised, because Fedora packages are distributed via multiple third-party mirrors and repositories, we have decided to convert to a new Fedora signing key," Fields said.
Red Hat has built a custom hardware solution to prevent having to disclose private keys to developers. "Assuming that [this was done correctly], there was no risk of their key being compromised," said Justin Cappos, a post-doc student at the University of Washington who has studied and written papers on the subject. "Someone was able to get a token, but was not actually able to get the key."
Packages obtained by Red Hat Enterprise Linux...
Tue, 26 Aug 08
Quick Photosynth Action Lauded Amid Other Cloud Woes
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61522
Microsoft surprised the photography and tech communities last week by rolling out Photosynth, an innovative hybrid application for building 3-D environments out of overlapping photos.
But it seems no one was quite as surprised as Microsoft at Photosynth's popularity. The Photosynth site was overwhelmed shortly after launch and Microsoft took it offline Friday to add capacity.
Early Friday morning, a blog post hinted that Microsoft was not quite ready for the onslaught of "synths," as the creations are called. "We have been overwhelmed (in both good and bad ways) over the past 24 hours with the amount of interest Photosynth has attracted and the amount of creativity that many of you are demonstrating with your synths," the post read. "We've been working very hard to meet your expectations and learning and growing along the way. So how has the first day gone, you ask? Well, as of 1 a.m. (Pacific), more than 7,727 synths have been created containing 286,689 images."
By Friday night, less than 48 hours after launching the site, Microsoft announced, "We're changing out some hardware and adding capacity. We'll go offline around 11:30 p.m. PST (7:30 a.m. GMT) for about 30 minutes."
The root of the problem is that Photosynth is yet another cloud application, where users both create and store files remotely, on Microsoft's servers. In an earlier era, the company would have sold the software and let users store images on their own hard drives, resorting to bulletin boards or Web sites to share their creations. By centralizing both the user interface and storage, Microsoft is building an online property but has to foot the infrastructure bill itself.
In the aftermath of well-reported failures with Apple's MobileMe and Amazon's S3 services, does Photosynth's brief failure add more evidence to the argument that cloud computing is not...
Tue, 26 Aug 08
Google Takes Both Political Conventions Mobile
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61521
Were you one of the millions to receive news of Sen. Joe Biden's selection as Sen. Barack Obama's running mate via text message from the Obama campaign at 3 a.m. Saturday? Then Google's new mobile election coverage is probably right up your campaign trail.
Just in time for the Democratic National Convention this week and the Republican National Convention next week, Google has expanded its election news coverage, tailored specifically to mobile political junkies. The Democratic convention is in Denver and the Republican convention will be in Minneapolis.
According to Effie Seiberg on Google's Mobile Blog, mobile-phone users can get the latest political action sent directly to their phones by going to m.google.com/elections. The site includes a Mobile Search function that will pull up the latest news results without re-keying the candidate's names each time. Another link runs pre-searched news items related to the campaigns for quick access. Google is running constant back-end searches for political news and pre-serving them in mobile screens.
Both Democrat Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain have YouTube channels, and the Google service can dish out in video optimized for mobile the latest political ads and speeches as soon as they are posted by either campaign. And in a bid to snare as many political conventioneers as possible, Google has rolled out custom mobile maps for the Denver and Minneapolis areas.
The site also promotes Google's Power Readers in Politics site. Users who download and install the Google Reader have access to hundreds of political articles, commentaries and editorials from leading political pundits. Selections include blogs and the mainstream press from Time, Newsweek and CNN. Users can subscribe to content from these sources.
This season's presidential campaign will be the most tech-heavy ever. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and YouTube are among the technology companies...
Tue, 26 Aug 08
T-Mobile's iPhone 3G Sales in Europe Hit 120,000
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=61506
Apple's iPhone 3G is continuing its march around the globe with reports of 120,000 sold by T-Mobile in Europe, plus a deal for distribution in Russia.
In an interview Monday, the head of Deutsche Telekom told the German magazine Focus that its wireless arm, T-Mobile, has sold that number since it was made available on July 11. The sales figure was reached, said Hamid Akhavan, in spite of distribution problems.
Those problems, Akhavan said, include customers having to wait weeks for delivery, although he added that the backlog of deliveries will be resolved by the end of this month. He attributed the delays to Apple's decision to distribute the iPhone 3G in 22 countries simultaneously.
Akhavan said 75,000 of the sales were in Germany. In Europe, T-Mobile also sells the iPhone in Austria and the Netherlands.
The news about the iPhone 3G's progress in some parts of Europe comes on the heels of a report that Apple has agreed to a deal for distribution in Russia. A Russian business daily newspaper, Ve