Google Gulps Down April Fool's Day
Just because Google has gone public doesn't mean it can't partake in some April Fool's Day laughs. The search giant has unveiled a line of juice drinks called Google Gulp, which claim to make you more intelligent and less thirsty. Each Gulp features "Auto-Drink" technology that changes one's brain chemistry for the better.
Although company officials say you'll need a PhD from Stanford to comprehend how Google Gulp works, the drink essentially speeds up the process of electrical impulses in the brain. It may sound dangerous, but Google says it's "pretty sure you won't die."
Gmail Storage to Reach 2GB and Beyond
It's not an April Fool's joke: Google is once again upping the ante in the Web mail wars, announcing plans to double the storage offered by Gmail to 2GB. The news comes as Yahoo moves to match Google's previous 1GB limit. Google officials also said they will make additional storage increases over time.
The upgrade arrives on the one-year anniversary of Gmail's launch. Although less than 1 percent of users have neared the 1GB limit, Google says it doesn't want people to worry they will run out.
Google Speeds Up Results for Firefox
Software engineer Reza Behforooz announced Wednesday on the Google Blog that the company has added "prefetching" to some searches, which instructs the Web browser to automatically start downloading the top result. The feature is only available in Mozilla and Firefox, and can be optionally disabled.
By prefetching the destination site's content, users that click the top search result will find the page loads much faster. Sites that want to block or ignore prefetch requests can do so by configuring their Web server. Google notes that with prefetching, "you may end up with cookies and web pages in your web browser's cache from web sites that you did not click on."
Windows Server 2003 SP1 Released
The first and long-awaited service pack for Windows Server 2003 has gone gold and is now available for download. SP1 includes many of the same enhancements found in Windows XP SP2, fortifying the operating system with a bevy of security updates. SP1 also provides the groundwork for Microsoft's 64-bit Windows releases.
"I am happy to announce that Windows Server 2003 SP1 has been shipped for English and German. Just a short time ago, at 5:20 PM Pacific Standard Time, the final call was made," Microsoft beta coordinator Sam White announced in an e-mail to testers.
Microsoft Completes 64-Bit Windows
Ending a year and a half of testing, Microsoft has released to manufacturing 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. The new releases, branded x64 Edition, pave the way for a new era in desktop computing built atop advanced processors architectures.
General availability of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition is slated for next month during Microsoft's WinHEC 2005 conference.
COMDEX Cancelled Once Again
Once a conference staple of the IT industry, COMDEX has been cancelled for the second year in a row. Its new organizers, MediaLive International, confirmed the Las Vegas show will not take place due to lackluster interest from exhibitors. January's CES, also in Las Vegas, has now become the conference of choice for the industry.
"Through our continued discourse across the community of IT buyers, vendors and other stakeholders, we've made significant progress," MediaLive said in a statement. "However, considerable work remains to build an industry event to serve the industry as it matures with the same success that Comdex did in its infancy."
MSN Debuts Portable Video Downloads
Microsoft on Wednesday launched a new video download service designed for Windows Mobile-based devices, including Portable Media Centers, smartphones and Pocket PCs. The subscription service offers programming from over 10 partners, including MSNBC, iFilm and MTV.
Windows Mobile users can pay a yearly fee of $19.95 USD for MSN Video Downloads, or access a limited amount of content for free. Specific programming can be scheduled to download each day, with an automatic deleting feature to avoid a backlog of clips.
Mac OS X 10.4 Reaches Final Candidate
Confirming reports from last week, sources say Mac OS X 10.4, known as "Tiger," has reached final candidate stage. Developers who received the latest bits, build 8A425, say Tiger has dropped its "pre-release" tags and only two known issues remain, which pertain to nVidia graphics cards and the Japanese character set.
Final candidate means the build is under consideration for being declared gold, although its likely that more candidates will be released. Mac enthusiast site AppleInsider first reported on the final candidate and cited a report for rumor site Think Secret that said Mac OS X 10.4 may be announced as early as Friday.
Intel Announces 'Truland,' 64-Bit Xeon
Intel is topping off its single-core Xeon offerings with a new 64-bit processor platform code-named Truland, as the company transitions towards dual-core chips. Truland is billed as Centrino for servers, and is comprised of Intel's E8500 chipset with PCI Express support, DDR2-400 memory, and 64-bit Xeon MP processors.
Truland is targeted at mid-range enterprises for servers with four or more processors. Intel touts performance increases of 70 percent over previous Xeon chips, which is aided by support for 8MB of Level 3 cache. Truland's E8500 chipset features a faster 667 MHz bus and will eventually support dual-core Xeon's, known as "Paxville."
TiVo Begins Testing of 'Pop-Up' Ads
Much to the chagrin of many of its users, TiVo has begun testing out a new form of advertising on its subscription digital video recorder service. The ads were designed to appear on the screen while a user is fast-forwarding through commercials, but some TiVo customers say ads are popping up during TV shows.
The new billboard-style advertisements, which TiVo calls "Icons" or fast forward tags, come as the company faces increasing pressure to become profitable. Although subscriber numbers recently topped 3 million, most of TiVo's customers are coming from its now-in-doubt partnership with DirecTV rather than sales of standalone units.
Data of 100,000 Berkeley Grads Stolen
For the second time this month, a California university has exposed personal information of its students, highlighting the increasing risk of identity theft. UC Berkeley officials acknowledged Monday that a laptop stolen on March 11 contained names and Social Security numbers of more than 98,000 individuals.
The university waited to announce the theft with hopes that police could track down the person responsible. The crime occurred in a "restricted area of the Graduate Division that was momentarily unoccupied," Berkeley officials said.
MS Renames Media Player Free Windows
Unhappy that it could not underscore the fact that a version of Windows XP for European customers lacking its media player is reduced in functionality, Microsoft has reluctantly agreed to use the European Commission's chosen moniker: the letter "N." The names used will be Windows XP Home Edition N and Windows XP Professional Edition N.
Microsoft is concerned the "N," which ostensibly stands for "not with media player," is too vague.
Springsteen Debuts Net-Only Single
While some artists battle online file sharing networks, others have embraced the new market for digital music. Bruce Springsteen is launching the first single off his upcoming album, "Devils & Dust," exclusively on the Internet via AOL Music and Apple's iTunes Music Store.
"Devils & Dust" won't be available in stores until April 26, but will feature special content using the DualDisc format, which functions as a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. Apple isn't the only company shoring up exclusive tracks; Microsoft recently announced it had signed Mariah Carey to debut her new single on MSN Music.
Supreme Court to Decide P2P Legality
The United States Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday a landmark case that could have far-reaching consequences for both copyright holders and the technology industry. At issue is whether two P2P network operators, Grokster and StreamCast are liable for the copyright infringement committed by their users.
Both file-sharing companies contend that P2P networks can be used to share legal content and they cannot control, and thus are not liable for, any piracy going on. Sharman Networks, owner of Kazaa, has mounted a similar defense in a case brought by the record industry in Australia.
File Swappers Moving Away From P2P
A recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows file swappers are increasingly moving away from peer-to-peer networks to swap music and movies. 48 percent of downloaders have used sources such as someone else's MP3 player, e-mail, instant messaging and Web logs to trade files.
The survey, which involved 1,421 adult Internet users and was conducted earlier this year, also found that the number of music downloaders that have tried paid services such as iTunes has jumped from 24 percent to 43 percent. Pew Internet additionally reports that 53 percent of Internet users believe P2P networks should be held responsible for illicit file sharing. Only 18 percent believe users are culpable.
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