TiVo Owners Uncover Storage Hack
Owners of Series3 high-definition TiVos will soon be able to expand the amount of programming they can store on the digital video recorder using an external Serial ATA hard drive. While the SATA ports have been on the TiVo since the beginning, a hack to activate them only surfaced over the weekend.
Hard drives up to 750GB in size have been reported to work with Series3 TiVo, which normally stores only 30 hours of high-definition programming. The feature requires pressing pause and 62 on the TiVo remote. Coincidentally, the code leaked out shortly after CableLabs, which certifies CableCARD devices like the TiVo, changed their policy such that the use of external storage does not affect certification.
Windows Live Hotmail Desktop Client Due Shortly
Amid the announcement that Windows Live Hotmail is launching globally on Monday, Microsoft said that it plans to release a beta of its desktop client called Windows Live Mail "within weeks." The application replaces both Outlook Express and Windows Mail as the company's signature e-mail client. Sources indicate that Windows Live Mail would be similar to the Windows Live Desktop Mail client currently being tested.
That application provides desktop access to POP and IMAP e-mail accounts, as well as the Hotmail service. It also integrates with other Live services, including Contacts, Messenger, Spaces. Users of the free client are shown advertising, while subscribers to Hotmail premium services did not. It was not immediately clear whether or not ads will be displayed in the updated version.
Windows Live Hotmail Launches in US on Monday
As first reported by BetaNews in mid-April, Microsoft is on track to launch Windows Live Hotmail in the United States on Monday, sources are now confirming. The exit of the revamped service from beta is also being confirmed by an e-mail sent to testers of the service thanking them for their support and saying the product was now ready for public release. It is not yet clear whether the company is allowing the registration of live.com e-mails.
Windows Live Hotmail will offer several enhancements over the current user interface and is built upon Microsoft's AJAX platform. It includes right click menus, a paneled interface, and updated search bar. The UI is very similar to that of Outlook, the company's desktop e-mail application.
Yahoo to Migrate Photos Users to Flickr
Yahoo is planning to shut down its photos site in favor of Flickr, the popular photo sharing site the company bought in March 2005, News.com and Techcrunch reported on Friday. The move is likely aimed at consolidating the Internet company's web properties, something senior vice president Brad Garlinghouse has made a priority for the company to address after he clamed Yahoo was "spread too thin last year."
Users of the original site will gradually be migrated to Flickr over the next several months, and will have the option to transfer their pictures to that site or choose to export them to either Shutterfly or the Kodak Gallery. Yahoo Photos is the largest photo-sharing site on the net, with about 2 billion photos. This is four times the size of Flickr, although the social photo site has been growing much faster than Yahoo Photos in recent months.
Dell History Donated to Smithsonian
Michael Dell next week will donate a number of items from his namesake company to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. As one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world, Dell will be featured in a special "Treasures of American History" exhibit.
Among the donations will be a PC's Limited computer from 1985, Michael Dell's employee badge, a Dell OptiPlex GX520 built in 2005 at the new manufacturing facility in Winston Salem, N.C., objects used by workers at the factory, in addition to company documentation.
AOL Falls to Third Largest ISP
In yet another sign of the ubiquity of broadband, AOL said yesterday it now counts only 12 million subscribers - a far cry from the company's peak of 26.7 million in 2002. AOL is now only the third largest ISP, behind both AT&T with 12.1 million subscribers and Comcast with 12.9 million.
AOL has ceased marketing its dial-up and high-speed Internet services, instead focusing on its advertising-based Web business. The company says 8 million users have signed up to the free offerings, although nearly half are former AOL ISP customers. Still, the company remains upbeat about its progress, saying users are now spending more time on AOL Web properties, meaning advertising revenues should increase.
Microsoft Acquires Mobile Ad Provider
Almost exactly a year following its acquisition of in-game advertiser Massive, Microsoft further expanded its ad reach Thursday with the purchase of mobile advertiser ScreenTonic. Based in Paris, ScreenTonic provides advertisers a variety of ways to reach mobile users and has deals with wireless operators.
Microsoft plans to integrate ScreenTonic's offerings into its Digital Advertising Solutions division, enabling marketers to reach an audience that spans the computer, game console and mobile phone. Microsoft says it will now "be able to provide relevant ads where consumers are, when they are actively engaged and communicating." Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Dell to Offer Ubuntu 7.04 Linux
Following through on a plan announced in late March, Dell confirmed this week that it will soon begin shipping consumer desktop PCs and laptops with Ubuntu 7.04 - one of the most popular Linux distributions. Systems running the open source software will be available in "the coming weeks."
Dell partnered with Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, to bring about the option after over 100,000 responses from interested users. "We believe that Dell’s decision is a strong endorsement of Ubuntu and to the work of many in coding, translating and promoting open source software," Canonical said in a statement. "It is also testament to the demand that exists for Ubuntu."
IBM to Cut 1,300 Service-based Jobs
IBM has given pink slips to approximately 1,300 workers in its services division. The cuts are aimed at getting costs under control in the United States. The cuts mean a reduction of less than a half a percent of its total worldwide workforce. Laid off employees have an opportunity to apply for jobs within IBM which they may be qualified for before their positions are officially terminated.
The Armonk, New York based company has made no public announcement of the layoffs: word of the cuts first appeared in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday through sources from IBM's union "The Alliance at IBM." IBM's general policy is to not announce layoffs, says the paper.
CBS, Brightcove Ink Syndication Deal
CBS said Wednesday that it had signed an agreement with Internet television company Brightcove to allow the site to syndicate ad-supported CBS News content to users of the service. The deal expands on previously announced partnerships with AOL News, Comcast and YouTube to allow small and medium sized sites that include Brightcove videos to license CBS News content.
As part of the deal, segments from the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, The Early Show, as well as other CBS News programs will be featured on Brightcove. In addition, the network plans to make available content produced exclusively for the web. From there, members could use the Brightcove Syndication Marketplace to apply to become an affiliate, the company said.
Nokia Sued Over Phone Messaging Patents
A New Zealand-based company has sued Nokia over certain messaging technologies within its phones, claiming the Finnish phone maker is using its technology surrounding data packaging. The suit was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on Monday. A case by Michael S Sutton Ltd. had previously been filed, but was voluntarily dismissed for an unknown reason.
To its defense, Nokia said it would "actively defend the rights" of the company in the case. The cell phone maker is also defending itself against another patent infringement case, dealing with patents on HSDPA held by Qualcomm. Both sides have filed several lawsuits against each other.
Blockbuster's Online Service Shows Strength
Blockbuster's online service seems to be catching on, as the company added some 800,000 subscribers during the first quarter of the year, it said on Wednesday. Over the past two quarters, it has nearly doubled in size to 2.8 million members, and beat its larger rival Netflix in subscriber additions for the first time. Netflix added 481,000 new customers to end this past quarter with 6.8 million subscribers.
The quick growth has not come without a price however. The nation's biggest brick-and-mortar movie renter swung to a much larger loss, posting a net loss of $46.4 million compared to $1.9 million in the year ago quarter. Cost of sales increased 17 percent, while operating costs increased 3 percent.
Apple Patches QuickTime Yet Again
For the third time this year, Apple has released a security update for its QuickTime media player, which corrects a flaw that could lead to code execution. The vulnerability was discovered as part of a "Hack a Mac" contest at the CanSecWest security conference earlier this month.
According to Apple, a problem exists in QuickTime for Java that allows reading or writing out of the bounds of the allocated heap. As a result, a malicious Java applet on a Web site could result in a full system compromise. QuickTime 7.1.6 resolves the issue, and is available for both Windows and Mac OS X.
Gateway to Bring Quad-Core to Retail
Saying it was the first major manufacturer to do so, Gateway announced Tuesday that it will offer at retail a quad-core system through both select online and brick-and-mortar retailers. The Gateway FX line includes Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processors, 512MB ATI Radeon X1950 Crossfire video cards, Ethernet connectivity, and either 500 or 1000GB of hard drive storage. Retail prices start at $2,099.99.
Gateway said it had seen "tremendous" demand for its quad-core line through phone orders and its own web site. However, it acknowledged many consumers prefer to purchase computers through local retailers, and said its decision had much to do with the buying habits of the consumer. The systems will be available at select Best Buy, Micro Center, and J&R locations and websites, as well as the online stores of Circuit City and CompUSA.
Jobs to Keynote Apple WWDC 2007
Apple confirmed the appearance of Steve Jobs at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11, Tuesday, saying he will be the keynote speaker at the event. Although it typically keeps the subject matter of his keynotes under wraps, the Cupertino, California company said developers will be shown a feature-complete version of Mac OS X Leopard and attendees will be given a beta copy to take home for final testing.
The WWDC runs from June 11-15 and includes some 150 sessions on various topics on Mac OS X software development. While Apple has traditionally also used the event to launch hardware products, Apple rumor sites have thus far not reported any possible hardware announcements.
© 1998-2026 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.