No chance of a FiOS-like UK option, says Virgin Media CEO
Although Verizon's broadband FiOS service might be helping to tank the subscribership of US cable provider Broadcom, Virgin Media's CEO believes that kind of slam-dunk isn't exactly about to happen on the other side of the Atlantic.
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - "There is no threat in the UK of fiber to the home," insisted Neil Berkett, CEO of Virgin Media, one of the biggest cable providers in the UK and an offshot of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin financial empire. Berkett spoke yesterday at the UBS Media & Communications Conference in New York City.
AMD quad-core 'erratum' creates problems for early adopters
A "design and process tuning step" is being blamed for the first quad-core AMD processors at 2.4 GHz being shipped with a BIOS fix, containing a workaround for what now appears to be a serious erratum.
An AMD spokesperson told BetaNews this afternoon that the first wave of its quad-core Opteron server CPUs and Phenom desktop CPUs were shipped on the November 19 launch date with a known erratum -- a documented bug. Customers received CPUs along with a BIOS fix that includes a workaround.
Samsung's next-gen DVD combo player ships
Despite rumors of delays, the Korean electronics maker says its dual-format player is still on track for a release this month. The BD-UP5000 will also ship with a lower price than originally announced. Samsung said that it will lower the price to $799, $200 cheaper than its original listing. According to a spokesperson, the player has begun shipping and will appear on retailers' shelves soon.
Even with Samsung's assurances, the Amazon.com list page for the product still says the player will be released on January 15, 2008.
Canada's passport application system has security hole
An Ontario man discovered last week that the Web site meant to allow Canadians to apply for passports was allowing access to information on other applicants.
By changing a single character in the URL while filling out the application, he was able to pull up data on another applicant. Jamie Laning told The Globe and Mail that doing so was effortless, and the site did nothing to prevent him from viewing the data.
TerreStar teams with Nokia on Vermont satellite broadband test
With big technology and government partnerships, hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, and a 2008 launch date now in hand, TerreStar is convinced that 4G satellite services aren't just "pie in the sky" of any flavor.
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - "2008 will be the 'Year of the Pilot,'" said Robert L. Brumley, chairman of the board of TerreStar Corp. (formerly known as Motient), a company that hopes to test its emerging satellite-based 4G "end-to-end solution" with multiple state governments in the US if the first two LoStar units launch as planned next August.
Yahoo Messenger previews a new Vista-centric version
Last night, Yahoo opened the pre-beta preview version of Yahoo Messenger for Vista, with graphic features that appear to be more at home in the Vista environment than with XP.
Yahoo's newest version of its Messenger client has been designed from the ground up for Vista, with an interface different from all prior incarnations, built upon the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
Dell continues retail push with Best Buy deal
After moving back into retail this summer in Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, the computer manufacturer is expanding into 900 Best Buy stores nationwide.
Several models of the company's XPS and Inspiron desktop and notebook lines will be made available at the retailer. The move is meant to strengthen the company's retail offerings even further and open more choices for consumers.
MovieBeam to shut down on December 15
One of the first online movie download services is calling it quits after failing to make its business model work despite over $100 million in funding.
It hasn't even been a year since MovieBeam was sold by Disney to Hollywood Video owner Movie Gallery, but the service told customers this week that it will shut its doors on December 15. Some newer customers will be eligible for a refund on the hardware.
IBM complains to ITC over ASUSTeK infringement
The Armonk, N.Y. company has asked the International Trade Commission to issue an injunction to prevent the importation of ASUSTeK products into the United States.
IBM says it has repeatedly tried to reach a licensing agreement with the Taiwanese company. "IBM's position has been -- and remains -- that ASUSTeK either must license or stop using IBM's patented technology," it says.
Declaring AT&T's GSM network 'open' could be premature
A comment by the CEO of AT&T's wireless division was interpreted to mean the company was following up Verizon Wireless in opening its services to the customer's choice of handsets. But that may not be what he really meant.
"You can use any handset on our network you want," AT&T Wireless CEO Ralph de la Vega is quoted by USA Today as having stated, adding later that his company does nothing to police its customers and that has already established itself as the most open of US carriers.
Microsoft PDC conference back again next year
After canceling the 2007 Professional Developer's Conference scheduled for October, Microsoft is bringing back PDC for 2008, with the event scheduled to take place October 27 to 30 in Los Angeles.
Traditionally, PDC is held every 2 years to preview major Microsoft platform advances. PDC 03 highlighted Windows Vista -- Longhorn at the time -- while PDC 05 reiterated that focus with Vista and Office 2007, as well as the recently launched Expression Suite.
Microsoft still short on details surrounding IE8
With customers looking for some answers regarding what changes the next version of Internet Explorer will bring, Microsoft provided them with little more than a name.
In a post to the official Internet Explorer blog, general manager Dean Hachamovitch revealed the not-so-surprising detail that the next major release of Internet Explorer will be called IE8. But he failed to provide any details on actual features.
Windows XP lives: Testing begins on new version for OLPC
Copies of Microsoft's former flagship operating system will be placed on XO laptops as part of a limited field trial. As a result, for the first time in a long while, it finds itself in the role of PC hardware tester.
Microsoft says it's testing Windows XP one more time, for deployment in a new environment: the OLPC system for emerging markets.
House votes to tighten net child porn regulations
The US House of Representatives late Wednesday approved a measure by a vote of 409-2, to expand the responsibilities of ISPs to reign in child pornography on their servers.
Under the new law, Internet service providers will be required to preserve child pornography images as evidence, and report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children the online screen names and locations of suspected child predators, along with the times when the images in question were accessed.
New Flash player brings streaming HD video support
The final build of Adobe Flash Player 9 Update 3 -- or more affectionately known as "Moviestar" -- has been released, adding support for high-definition content.
It's been a long time since YouTube first brought online video to the masses, and now its users are clamoring for better quality. The last couple years have seen an uptick in broadband speeds as well, meaning it's only logical that Adobe would expand the capabilities of Flash, which has become the dominant delivery method for Web video.
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