Seagate Unveils 12GB 1-Inch Hard Drive
As consumer devices such as phones and MP3 players continually shrink, storage has remained a persistent drawback that limits their usefulness. Seagate thinks it may have found the answer thanks to perpendicular recording technology. The disk maker on Monday unveiled a 12-gigabyte drive squeezed into a 1-inch form factor.
The new ST1.3 drive doubles the capacity of Seagate's current 1-inch drive, while reducing its footprint by 23 percent and utilizing 30 percent less power. Seagate is targeting the drive at the mobile phone market, which has been converging with digital media to offer users audio and video capabilities while on the go. The ST1.3 is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2006.
Microsoft Acquires Mobile Search Firm
Microsoft said on Monday that it had acquired Paris-based MotionBridge in an effort to improve its mobile search offerings. The company's technologies would be integrated into Microsoft's Windows Live products. MotionBridge will continue to support its current partners, which include Orange, Sprint and O2 Ltd. However, the company would focus on mobile search solutions for Windows Live.
"The emerging field of mobile search is strategically important and crucial to delivering on our vision for Windows Live of providing a seamless and rich information experience for individuals and businesses across devices," said MSN Search vice president Christopher Payne. Microsoft made the announcement at 3GSM, along with more details of its push-email concept, first announced in June of last year.
CBS Programming Coming to iTunes
CBS has confirmed that it is in talks with Apple to bring its programming to the iTunes Music Store. CBS Digital Media president Larry Kramer confirmed the news in an interview with financial site MarketWatch. The plans to offer shows on iTunes is part of a larger initiative aimed at attracting new viewers by providing access to the network's programming in a variety of formats.
Episodes of the hit TV show "Survivor" will be made available from CBS.com at a cost of $1.99 USD per episode. However, unlike iTunes that places no time limit on viewing, the episodes would only be viewable for a period of 24 hours after they are ordered. Revenue generated from these new projects would be shared among the network's affiliates, Kramer said.
AOL Inks Broadband Deal with Charter
Further expanding its list of agreements with broadband cable and DSL providers to offer low-cost high-speed Internet, AOL this week inked a deal with Charter Communications. The news follows similar deals with BellSouth, AT&T and Qwest announced last week.
AOL will bundle its content and software with Charter's cable service for $25.90 USD per month. With its dial-up business dwindling, AOL has turned to advertising as a way to keep revenues flowing. And such deals with broadband providers expand the company's reach among a new generation of ever-connected consumers.
RIM Wins UK Court Battle Over Patents
Embattled BlackBerry maker Research In Motion celebrated another legal victory on Thursday, announcing that the English High Court had ruled in its favor in a case against Luxembourg patent holding company InPro. The decision ensures RIM will likely not have to deal with a situation similar to the one with NTP in the US.
InPro claimed that the BlackBerry device infringed upon patents held by the company within the UK, which it had previously also asserted in Germany. The German case was ruled in RIM's favor on January 27. InPro was not available for comment, but it can still appeal the case in the UK.
Amazon Launches Author Blogs
Amazon.com on Wednesday rolled out a new feature for book authors called "Amazon Connect," which enables authors to post blog entries that appear on book detail pages, customer accounts and author profile pages. Amazon users can then reply to the postings, and sign up to receive updates.
"We invite authors to communicate with their readers in a way that hasn't before been possible," said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a statement. "Amazon Connect brings the author's message to the reader instead of waiting for the reader to find the message."
Government Clears Google Radio Buy
United States antitrust officials on Wednesday gave the green light to Google's proposed purchase of dMarc Broadcasting, a company that deals with the sales, delivery and reporting of radio ads. Google will pay $102 million in cash, but performance based payments could reach another $1.14 billion.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission reviewed the deal and found no issues of concern. The purchase of dMarc will give Google AdWords subscribers a radio distribution channel for their advertisements. The company has already branched into print ads, and was rumored to be looking into the television market as well.
IE7 Beta 2 Preview Open to DoS Attack
Security researcher Tom Ferris says he has discovered a security vulnerability in the Beta 2 Preview release of Internet Explorer 7. The bug lies in the urlmon.dll file and causes the browser to crash when it encounters a URL with the "file://" protocol followed by a long string of dashes.
Ferris previously discovered security flaws in Firefox, IE6 and QuickTime. He notes that arbitrary code could be executed on a machine running Microsoft's newest beta browser, but his proof-of-concept code simply crashes the application. The issue has been reported to Microsoft and Ferris says it is only of medium severity.
Microsoft Warns Over Mywife Worm
Microsoft has issued a public security advisory regarding the mass mailing Mywife worm that arrives as an e-mail attachment and sends itself to all contacts in a system's address book. The worm is designed to corrupt documents on the third day of each month. It also deletes files and registry keys associated with security software.
"As with all currently known variants of the Mywife malware, this variant does not make use of a security vulnerability, but is dependant on the user opening an infected file attachment. The malware also attempts to scan the network looking for systems it can connect to and infect," Microsoft warned. "Customers who believe that they are infected with the Mywife malware, or who are not sure whether they are infected, should contact their antivirus vendor."
Echostar, Others Invest in Sling Media
Sling Media on Tuesday said that it had secured another $46.6 million in financing, including investments from traditional media companies. Some of the higher profile investors include Goldman, Sachs & Co., Liberty Media Corporation and satellite provider Echostar Communications.
"It is refreshing to work with such established players who continue to push for new ways to delight and empower the consumer," Sling Media co-founder and CEO Blake Krikorian said. "In summary, we are stoked." Sling Media produces the Slingbox, a device that allows the user to broadcast what's playing on his or her television over the Internet. Slingbox has received several awards and attained a cult following among technology enthusiasts.
Google Tests Search Result Change
A minor update to a Web site rarely makes headlines -- unless you're talking about Google. The company began testing a tweak to its search result pages, and the news quickly spread across the Web on Thursday. In the test, Google moved links to each of its sites to the left side of search results.
Below each search category, such as Groups and Local, is a graph showing the quantity of results. "We're continually testing new interfaces and features to enhance the user experience. This is one such test, which only a small percentage of users will see," Google officials said in a statement.
Xbox 360 Sales Expectations Lowered
Citing production-related shortages, Microsoft on Thursday lowered its 90-day sales expectations for the Xbox 360. The company now expects to sell 2.5 million consoles worldwide by late February, backing away from initial estimates of 2.75 to 3 million.
However, Microsoft remained confident it would sell between 4.5 and 5.5 million units by the end of June. By the end of 2005, Microsoft says it sold 900,000 Xbox 360s in North America and another 500,000 in Europe. Demand was far lower in Japan, where the company sold only 100,000 units.
VirusScan Beta Stops Buffer Overflows
McAfee released a beta version of VirusScan 10.5 earlier this week, becoming the first company to offer intrusion protection with application-specific "Buffer Overflow Protection." The software would monitor specific processes for possible exploit activities, and alert the user if an attack is underway. Buffer overflows are a common attack method where a program attempts to fill a buffer with more data than it can hold.
"BOP will serve as an automatic shut-off, killing the exploiting process before the overflow occurs and protecting the user’s system," McAfee told BetaNews. "This technology will reduce the system’s exposure to vulnerabilities, therefore minimizing the need to update the product each time a new exploit is detected." The 10.5 beta can be downloaded now from FileForum.
Disney Board Approves Pixar Buyout
Disney's board late Monday cleared the way for CEO Robert Iger to complete a proposed acquisition of Pixar for $7.4 billion in stock. The deal makes Steve Jobs the single largest individual Disney shareholder and gives the Apple CEO a company board seat. Pixar animation guru John Lasseter will become Chief Creative Officer.
Rumors of a potential buyout surfaced last week after months of discussions between the two companies that started with renegotiating Disney's contract to distribute Pixar's films. Disney has been struggling to find success at the box office while Pixar continues to break records with each new animated feature.
Imation Acquires Memorex for $330M
Imation has agreed to purchase competitor and fellow blank media manufacturer Memorex in a cash transaction worth $330 million. Additional cash payments of between $5 and $45 million would be paid based on future financial performance. The combined company would maintain Memorex's headquarters in Cerritos, Calif.
The acquisition would complete in the second quarter, and Memorex should be fully integrated with Imation by the end of the year, the companies said. "Added to our technology expertise, strong B2B brand, global footprint, broad product portfolio and industry experience, we are creating a new global powerhouse in the data storage industry," said Imation chairman and CEO Bruce Henderson.
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