Bush Administration Puts 12 Countries on Piracy Notice
Twelve nations have been put on a list by the Bush administration to be more closely monitored for piracy violations as part of a broader crackdown by the US Government on the problem. Among the countries on the list are the more commonly recognized problem areas like Russia and China, as well as Argentina, Chile, Egypt, India, Israel, Lebanon, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela.
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said that Thailand was added to the list due to worsening conditions surrounding copyright protection, while noting Brazil had been moved from the "priority" to the "watch" list amid improving conditions. Others, including Bahamas, Bulgaria, Croatia, the EU, and Latvia were removed from the list altogether.
Sling Debuts SlingPlayer for Mac OS X
Sling Media said Monday that it had released the first version of its SlingPlayer application for the Mac OS platform. The release ends the company's year long trek from concept to release, as it first confirmed its existence in an interview with BetaNews in April of last year. In addition to the standard Sling features, the SlingPlayer for Mac also supports Apple entertainment products including Apple TV, Front Row, and iPods in either a iPod Hi-Fi or universal dock, the company said.
SlingPlayer takes advantage of the native user interface of the Mac OS platform and is available free of charge for all Slingbox owners. It supports Mac OS X 10.3.9 and higher, and runs on either PowerPC or Intel-based computers.
Barbie Moves from Doll to MP3 Player
Apparently, plain dolls just aren't enough for kids these days. Mattel is introducing a new line of Barbie MP3 players that come with their own accessories and link up to the new Barbie Girls Web site - a virtual world of all-things Barbie that is currently in beta.
Mattel says the traditional Barbie doll is sticking around, but notes that among its target demographic, physical toys are becoming much less prevalent as kids spend ever more of their free time on the Web. Barbie is also facing competition from Bratz dolls, which have more appeal to older kids. The Barbie MP3 player will go on sale in July for $59.99, although the beta Web site is open now.
More Battery Woes for Apple MacBook
Apple on Friday acknowledged yet another battery problem in its MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops, but this one does not pose a safety hazard. Instead of potentially overheating, Apple says in an advisory its MacBook batteries may be underperforming or not charging correctly.
The company has released a battery firmware update, which it hopes should do the trick, but says customers can also receive a replacement if they continue to see problems. Apple notes the issue could affect any MacBook notebook built since the product line was introduced last year.
TiVo Drops Price of Series3 by $300
High-definition aficionados looking to upgrade their television setup to a Series3 TiVo but were hesitating over the high $799 price tag are in luck: TiVo has dropped the price to $499 and is including a free wireless network adapter for good measure.
The lower pricing is part of a special promotion that runs through the end of the month and includes 80-hour and 180-hour Series2 TiVo units as well. Customers must also sign up for a TiVo plan that ranges from a 1 to 3 year commitment and has an early termination fee.
AOL Tests New, Yahoo-Like Homepage
AOL on Thursday began a limited beta test of a new AOL.com portal, which streamlines the look and utilizes AJAX to make the page more snappy. However, initial reviews of the site point out it's almost a direct copy of Yahoo's latest homepage that went live last July.
Approximately 5 percent of users will see the beta. The new AOL.com is expected to be finalized this summer, so changes could appear in the interim. AOL says it's attempting to build a unified look and feel that will extend across all of its Web services in numerous countries, and brings the most important features front and center.
Hitachi Officially Shipping 1TB Drive
Hitachi this week announced it has ramped up production on its 1 terabyte hard drive, shipping the unit to retailers across the United States. Pricing for the drive, which spins at 7,200 RPM and features a Serial ATA interface is set at $399 USD.
In order to achieve the record-breaking storage space, Hitachi utilized perpendicular recording, in which bits stand vertical enabling more to be placed on a single platter. The Deskstar 7K1000, a line that Hitachi acquired from IBM, contains five platters. Other features include an 8.5ms seek time, 32MB buffer, and improved shock protection.
Secunia Warns of Photoshop Exploit
Exploit code is available that could take advantage of a security flaw within both Adobe Photoshop Creative Suites 2 and 3, resulting in a hacker taking complete control of a user's machine. The software handles bitmap files incorrectly, which results in a buffer overflow. Security firm Secunia first reported the issue, and suggests users of any version of Photoshop do not open untrusted bitmap files until a patch is released.
Although the exploit code is publicly available, Secunia says it has so far received no reports of attackers using it in the wild. However, the company does not expect many incidents since Photoshop is not widely installed among general computer users. Adobe says it is aware of the problem, and is looking into a possible fix.
Google Offers Updates to MySQL
Google this week offered up changes to the open source MySQL database, which are designed to improve the free software's ability to perform under heavy load. The improvements were released under a GPL license and may be freely implemented by the MySQL community, the company said.
Although MySQL has gained traction on the Web as a free alternative to Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server, the database still has its drawbacks with regards to high availability and manageability. Google uses MySQL in some of its non-search products, and says it would love for its changes to be included in the official MySQL release. More details can be found on the Google Code blog.
Microsoft Updates Vista Media Center
Microsoft has release an April 2007 Cumulative Update for Windows Vista's built-in Media Center application, which aims to resolve a number of issues reported by users. On the list of fixes are DVD freezes, errors when deleting a picture, Media Center rotating the wrong picture, among others.
The Online Media feature in Media Center has additionally been improved with caching, and is now supported on 64-bit versions of Vista. Video Playlist support has also been added for Windows Media Center Extenders. The April 2007 update is available for download now from Windows Update.
Nokia: 100 Million S60-based Phones Shipped
Nokia boasted Wednesday that it had shipped over 100 million phones using its Series 60 platform. The operating system has been deployed across Nokia's high-end phones, and has also been used in smart phones by Samsung and LG. Nokia's success with its Symbian-based platform is evident by its growing market-share: it now controls 54 percent of the market according to research firm Canalys.
"This announcement represents a significant landmark for S60," Nokia's software sales and marketing vice president Matti Vanska said. "The open platform gives mobile users more choice and provides a platform upon which new applications and services can be built."
Microsoft: Upgrade Your Vista Betas
Microsoft reminded users of Windows Vista beta builds Tuesday that their operating system will expire on May 31. However, those running the free pre-release copies of Vista may be happy to discover they can simply purchase a cheaper Upgrade version of the OS.
The beta builds were provided as part of the company's Customer Preview Program. Microsoft notes that Vista Beta 2, RC1 and RC2 will all expire and can be upgraded to any final edition -- although the Upgrade copy must perform a "clean install." After May 31, customers who continue to use pre-release versions of Windows Vista will only be able to log in for 2-hour sessions to retrieve data.
Warner, Bertelsmann Settle Over Napster
NEWS IN BRIEF German media conglomerate Bertlesmann said Tuesday that it had agreed to settle with Warner Music for $110 million surrounding claims related to its involvement in Napster, in which it had invested in 2000. However, in the settlement, the media company admitted no wrongdoing, even though the version it invested in was the previous incarnation, well known for the piracy of music.
Prior to the Warner settlement, Bertlesmann also settled with EMI this year for an unknown amount, and Universal last year for $61.22 million.
Time Warner Says Yes to Sharing Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi access startup Fon said Monday it had come to an agreement with Time Warner Cable that would allow customers of the cable provider's high speed Internet access to share their connections publicly via a specialized router available from Fon. Right now, the company only has about 60,000 users in the US sharing their net access, but the deal could add Time Warner's 6.6 million customers to that number.
Fon -- headquartered in Spain -- says it hopes to sign agreements with other US providers, as it already has deals with ISPs in both Asia and Europe. The move also clears the way for the company to operate legally, as many ISPs currently forbid the public sharing of connections. Details of the partnership are still being worked out, however the company will receive a cut of revenues from paying users of the public hotspots where Time Warner is the Internet provider.
Google to Offer Video Conferencing
Amidst announcing its first quarter earnings that surpassed analyst expectations with $1 billion in profit on revenues of $3.7 billion, Google quietly noted on its blog that it had acquired video conferencing software maker Marratech - placing Cisco's WebEx right in its sights.
Marratech, based in Sweden, provides online meeting software that includes a whiteboard, video and IM chat, along with built in VoIP capabilities. Google has not said how it plans to integrate the functionality into its own offerings, but the company recently rolled out a suite of Web applications for businesses. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
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