Google holds its line as mobile rumours increase

After Apple's iPhone, what about the Googlephone?The search engine company has been secretly developing prototype mobile phones and testing a host of new software and mobile services, with some estimates putting its investment in the project at hundreds of millions of dollars. Google is being increasingly open about its desire to crack the market for mobile phones, but speculation still swirls about whether it will develop its own handsets or just work to have its search software pre-installed in other phones. It is also mulling a bid for parts of the radio spectrum in the US, which could turn it into a mobile phone operator in its own right.The company has shown prototype phones to several wireless carriers in the US to try to persuade them that they should be offering new Google services, such as maps and Yellow Pages-style local business searches - all of which it can sell adverts on. The company brings in more than $40m (£20m) a day from adverts next to search queries on personal computers, but it believes it would get access to a whole new set of local advertisers on more mobile devices. Rumours of a Googlephone have been rife on the internet for months, but the company is stonewalling detailed questions. "At Google we are dedicated to providing access to the world's information, with an ultimate goal of helping users access the information they want, no matter when or where they want it," a spokesman said yesterday. "What our users and partners are telling us is that they want Google search and Google applications on mobile, and we are working hard to deliver that." Read full story...

 


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Microsoft Cuts Vista Price By Over 50% in China

Microsoft has more than halved the retail price of its Vista operating system in China.The Home Basic edition dropped from $201 (1,521 yuan) to $66, and the Home Premium package dropped from $238 to $118. The move was effective as of Wednesday.The price cut is the company's latest effort to tackle the rampant software piracy in China, according to The Wall Street Journal. The theory is that if legitimate software costs less, people will be less likely to turn to pirated versions.Microsoft had sold 60 million Windows Vista licenses globally by the end of June, including 20 million copies sold since mid-May, the company said last month. News source: c|net Read full story...

 


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Reports: BitTorrent index SuprNova.org to rise again

SuprNova.org, a well-known BitTorrent hub before being forced to shut down three years ago, is apparently making a comeback.An agreement was reached that allows the operators of The Pirate Bay to use the domain name, according to reports published Thursday on blogs, TorrentFreak and Slyck.com.Like The Pirate Bay, SuprNova helped users locate BitTorrent files of movies, TV shows, and books. It's believed that a large number of the files are copyright copies and scores of people from all over the world download them in violation of copyright law. Hollywood has accused such sites of encouraging piracy.TorrentFreak reported that the new SuprNova will debut sometime in the next week. The Pirate Bay founders could not be reached for comment on Thursday.  View: news.com Read full story...

 


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Sony recalls 350,000 cameras

Sony announced Thursday it's recalling 350,000 digital cameras, a point-and-shoot model called the Cyber-shot DSC-T5 released in 2005, because of a problem that could cause metal on the bottom of the camera to cut or scratch the photographer."Sony has recently discovered that some DSC-T5 Cyber-shot digital still cameras may experience peeling and warping of the metal coating on the bottom of the camera that could result in a slight cut or scratch to the user's skin," Sony said in an advisory on its Web site. The Japanese electronics giant will replace the part and pay shipping for free for anyone affected by the problem. View: news.com Read full story...

 


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Trend Micro fails anti-malware test

All three of the anti-malware products submitted by Trend Micro for Virus Bulletin's independent tests failed because they produced false positives.Of the 20 products submitted for testing, six generated false positives when scanning a set of known clean files and failed to meet the requirements for VB100 certification."Trend Micro, one of the 'big four' anti-malware companies, submitted no fewer than three of its anti-virus products, all of which falsely identified a Microsoft development tool as spyware," said a statement from Virus Bulletin."Other products to generate false positives were Fortinet's FortiClient, Ikarus Utilities, and VirusBuster." View: Vnunet.com Read full story...

 


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Microsoft and Apple Extend Font Licensing Agreement

At TypeCon2007 today, Microsoft Corp. and Apple announced they have renewed their font licensing agreement, giving Apple users ongoing use of the latest versions of Microsoft® Windows® core fonts. Under the agreement, Apple and Microsoft are extending the seamless Web and software experience Apple users have enjoyed for years when using and viewing popular Microsoft fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial and Verdana®. Apple customers, developers and Web designers can safely specify fonts knowing that their documents, presentations and Web pages will appear as they are meant to be seen on screen and in print. View: Microsoft Press Release Read full story...

 


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Disney Joins the Social Networking Club

Social networking, a phenomenon which has experienced enormous growth since MySpace brought it into the mainstream, apparently has become so profitable that even Disney, mastermind behind animated classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, cannot resist its lure. Disney has reportedly bought Canadian site Club Penguin, a child-oriented virtual chatroom involving penguin avatars, for $350 million. According to figures released by Disney, Club Penguin boasts more than 12 million activated members, primarily from the US and Canada; founded in 2005, it is one of the fastest growing sites for kids aged six to fourteen. On the purchase, Disney President and CEO Bob Iger said, "Club Penguin embodies principles that are of the utmost importance to Disney, providing high-quality family entertainment and fostering parental trust." The new service will be called Disney's Club Penguin, and while the three original founders, Lane Merrifield, Dave Krysko and Lance Priebe, will join Disney's management team, the site will still remained based in Kelowna, Canada. View: Full Story on vnunet.com View: Club Penguin Homepage Read full story...

 


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AV Software Struggles on 64-bit Vista

Antivirus makers are having a particularly difficult time protecting users using the 64-bit version of Microsoft's latest operating system, Vista. According to the Virus Bulletin security certification body, 35% of the twenty products tested on Vista x64 failed to meet VB's latest test criteria. McAfee Virusscan, Symantec Antivirus, and Microsoft Forefront were three of several major vendors who managed to pass the test. Among those who failed were Computer Associate's eTrust, which comes with improper default settings instructing the application to ignore many file formats, and all three of TrendMicro's submissions, which mistook a Microsoft development tool as malware. John Hawes, technical consultant at Virus Bulletin, explained that "a false positive can cause as much disruption as a virus infection. False warnings often lead end-users to delete valid files in the belief that they are some form of attack and the resultant damage can be significant."The root of the problem seems to be a struggle by AV makers to adapt to Microsoft's PatchGuard technology, which prevents applications from accessing the OS's kernel. As developers explore new approaches to protecting the user in light of PatchGuard, teething problems are to be expected. Virus Bulletin's certification is particularly stringent: one false positive or one failed detection results in a failing grade. View: Full Story on vnunet.com View: Full Results on Virus Bulletin (Subscription Required) Read full story...

 


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Logitech Announces G9 Mouse, Updates G15 Keyboard

Logitech has just announced a new mouse and keyboard aimed once again at the gaming enthusiast. The Logitech G9 Laser Mouse (MSRP $99.99 U.S.) and the upgraded Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard (MSRP $99.99 U.S.) are expected to be available in September."Logitech unveiled an upgrade to the popular Logitech® G15 Gaming Keyboard today - now with native support from the most popular games for its exclusive GamePanel™ LCD screen, a backlighted 160 by 43 pixel screen that gives gamers critical information to help them win.With the corded G9 mouse, gamers can enjoy interchangeable grips, on-the-fly dpi switching ranging from 200 dpi to 3200 dpi, full-speed USB laser tracking, an onboard-memory profiling system, weight tuning, a custom-color LED and the hyper-fast MicroGear™ Precision Scroll Wheel, which was introduced last year and is exclusive to Logitech." View: G9 Pictures | G15 Update Pictures (Gamegrep) View: Logitech Press Read full story...

 


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AMD Claims Intel Collected $60 Billion in Illegal Profits

The latest development in a pending antitrust suit by CPU manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) against its cheif rival, Intel, comes in the form of a glimpse at the case AMD will present in a Delaware federal court. According to a report by Michael Williams, director of ERS Group, an economist hired by AMD, Intel allegedly pocketed $60 billion in ill-gotten, or "monopoly," profits from a decade of anti-competitive behavior. Naturally, Intel dismissed the claims as "wildly speculative and based on flawed assumptions about Intel and the market." "The only thing one can conclude from the study is that if you pay someone enough money you can get them to say almost anything," said Intel spokesman Chris Mulloy.In the wake of antitrust charges filed by European Commission regulators, AMD hopes to revitalize its case against Intel in the US; the company plans to show the study to US regulators over the next several weeks, in an effort to encourage government action. The study itself bases the $60 billion calculation on the charges filed by the EU commission, as well as a Japanese antitrust case against Intel in 2005. In the report, Williams concludes that absent Intel's market behavior, the average $1,000 computer would cost consumers nearly 1.5 percent, or $14.89, less.However, doubts about the accuracy of the report come not only from Intel, but from other antitrust lawyers around the US; they point at that economists can differ significantly in their analyses of a market. Colin Underwood, an antitrust attorney with Proskauer Rose in New York, states "Economists are hired to offer opinions to support a case, not to question it. They are hired guns. They will only shoot at the target you want them to shoot at."Intel has continued to claim it has broken no antitrust laws in any country and vowed last week to persuade EU officials to drop the charges filed against the company. View: Full Story on SiliconValley.com Read full story...

 


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Microsoft to delay Office for Mac 2008

Mac users must wait until next year for fresh versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, as Microsoft moves its intended launch of Office for Mac 2008 to January from the second half of this year."We had hoped to hit the Christmas selling season, but now we hope to target Macworld (in January)," said Craig Eisler, who became general manager of the Mac business unit at Microsoft six weeks ago. "We as a group were not satisfied with product quality."Details about any software development snags, as well as final pricing, were unavailable. Office for Mac 2004 is sold in three flavors at between $150 and $500.The company demonstrated early previews of Office for Mac 2008 at the Macworld 2007 convention in January. Microsoft will not open beta testing to the public as it did for more than six months while building Office 2007 for Windows.The 2008 release will be the first built for Intel-based Macs. The features and visual style of Office for Mac software differ from their Windows counterparts. Microsoft is introducing XML-based file formats, which require a converter to be opened in older Office software. A time-management, task-launching widget joins Office for Mac 2008 in addition to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and the Entourage e-mail application.  View: news.com Read full story...

 


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Lawyer Claims iPhone Buyers Ill-Informed About Battery

The lawyer who has filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple and AT&T said Wednesday the companies duped iPhone buyers by failing to disclose how expensive it would be to replace the battery.Larry Drury filed the suit last week in Circuit Court in Chicago, joining others in accusing Apple of failing to make clear to iPhone buyers how much it would cost to replace the battery. On Monday, the Consumer Protection Board in New York called on Apple to make replacing the battery easier and less expensive.Drury told InformationWeek that Apple and AT&T, the exclusive service provider, sold the iPhone without fully disclosing the cost during its lifetime. "As a mater of policy and good business practices, they should have disclosed to the public, who is paying a considerable amount of money for this phone, exactly what it was going to cost them at the end of the day," Drury said.The Consumer Protection Board echoed those allegations, saying in a letter to Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs that Apple should "review its practices in disclosing contract terms and conditions, warranties and return policies." Board Chairwoman and Executive Director Mindy A. Bockstein said disclosures on the cost of replacing the battery should be more prominently displayed in Apple stores and online."A high-end cell phone shouldn't have to have low-end customer service," Bockstein said.An Apple spokeswoman told InformationWeek the company does not comment on pending litigation.  View: Full Article News source: Yahoo! News Read full story...

 


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Eminem's Music Publisher Sues Apple

The publisher of Eminem's music has filed a federal lawsuit against computer giant Apple Inc. for selling downloads of his songs without permission. Apple has an agreement with Universal Music Group, the record company that owns the recordings, but doesn't deal directly with publishers, who own the rights to scores and lyrics. In the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, the rapper's music publisher, Eight Mile Style, and copyright manager Martin Affiliated seek more than $75,000 for copyright infringement, unfair competition and a violation of the Michigan consumer protection act. The lawsuit also asks for damages of up to $150,000 per infringement - or each time a song is downloadedEight Mile Style administrator Joel Martin says the lawsuit involves 70 to 80 songs, including tracks from the Grammy Award-winning "The Eminem Show." Apple had no comment Tuesday, spokesman Tom Neumayr said. Eight Mile Style attorney Norman Ankers contends that record companies need permission from copyright holders before downloads can be authorized. "This is a significant issue in the music industry," Ankers said. "This occurs with many artists and many record labels."  Read full story...

 


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Gaming a $2 Bil. Market by 2012

Advertising in and around videogames is expected to grow exponentially over the next five years, becoming a $2 billion market by 2012, according to a new report released by digital market research specialist Parks Associates.The report, Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home: Game Advertising, encompasses several forms of videogame related advertising, including product placement in games, banners in online games, dynamically inserted ads in console and PC games and even ads placed within mobile games. Overall, Parks Associates is bullish on the burgeoning ad medium, predicting that spending will climb from an estimated $370 million last year to more than $2 billion in 2012. Over that period of time, game advertising should achieve a compound annual growth rate of 33 percent, says the report - which should largely outpace the growth expected in other media, including the Internet.Those estimates corroborates some of the more optimistic forecasts delivered in recent years by the industry's biggest proponents, such as leading in-game ad firm Massive Inc., which is owned by Microsoft. And they're based on the general notion that videogames are currently underutilized by marketers. "Advertisers are not using the gaming medium to its full potential," said Yuanzhe Cai, director of broadband and gaming, Parks Associates. "If executed correctly, game advertising can provide a win-win solution for advertisers, developers and publishers, console manufacturers, game portals, and gamers." Read full story...

 


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