Pc News

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Blu-ray Disc Drive Coming Soon?

Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology (TSST) has moved a step closer to commercialization of a Blu-ray Disc drive for personal computers with the completion of technical development work, it said this week.

Blu-ray Disc is a new optical disc format primarily aimed at storage of high-definition movies. A single-layer, single-sided disc can store up to 25GB of data and a double-layer version provides double the storage space.


Samsung Electronics, which is a partner in TSST with Toshiba, said it will launch internal and external Blu-ray Disc drives later this year under its own brand name.

On Display

A prototype of such a drive was on show at the recent International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

At the same show Pioneer unveiled its first commercial Blu-ray Disc drive. The BDR-101A was due to begin shipping this month, however a delay in the start of Blu-ray Disc licensing will mean it's a little late, Pioneer said Friday without specifying the possible length of the delay.

[Rasputin]

Spam Slayer: Next-Generation Spam

Beware of instant messages that contain hyperlinks. In early January a virus spread via America Online's AIM. The message, which appeared to be from someone on the recipients' buddy list, contained an invitation to view photos at Myspace.com. People who clicked on the link unknowingly downloaded spyware.

Spammers adapt quickly. One day they're sending out mortgage leads using a computer server in Shanghai. The next day, they're sending pitches for Viagra using a zombie PC in Detroit. It's all part of their efforts to avoid getting caught, and to trick ISPs' spam filters into letting their messages through.


Spam exterminators know this cat-and-mouse game all too well. Nonetheless, they say that 2005 was a good year in the fight against spam. In 2005, the volume of spam being sent stopped growing at double-digit rates, and many ISPs and e-mail providers claimed to have prevented more than 90 percent of unwanted e-mail from reaching their customers' inboxes.


But in the anti-spam world, there is barely time to rest on your laurels. Reps at several ISPs whom I spoke with say they are gearing up for new challenges in 2006, when they expect spammers to grow more sinister.


What follows is a list of what spam experts and ISPs say will be keeping them on their toes in 2006.

[Rasputin]

Making Movies: HD Camcorders not Ready for Prime Time?

I was at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, and it seemed that everything there was about high-definition video: Vendors were showing huge HDTVs, high-end HD camcorders, and high-definition satellite TV services. Pretty much the only thing that wasn't high-definition was the coffee in the press room, which was distinctly lacking the sharpness and clarity that most HD video systems offer. Anyway, all of this might make you think that it's the right time for the home-movie maker to think about getting on the bandwagon. But making HD movies is rather different than watching them, and there are several good reasons why it might still be too soon to go high def for your home movies.

The Sony HDR-HC1 has been a big seller since it was launched in July 2005. If you're planning on buying a new camcorder, you're probably considering it, even though it's expensive ($1600 to $2000, depending on where you buy). It shoots video in the same high-definition 1080i resolution that you get from an HD cable or satellite TV service. It records that video using a new format called High Definition Video, or HDV, which can store video at up to 1080i resolution on the same MiniDV tapes that standard-definition MiniDV camcorders use.

[Rasputin]

NEW YORK - Hoping to ease the nightmare of flying next to a crashing bore, a company in New York will match like-minded passengers to help make the time fly.

Inspired by a flight where he found himself happily seated next to Miss Texas, company founder Peter Shankman says he set up AirTroductions to give travelers a chance to choose their seatmates.

"It is for anyone who travels who does not want to have to deal with the psychological hell of sitting 2 inches from someone you don't know for eight hours," he said.

To use AirTroductions, travelers register online, listing personal details in a profile. When they post their traveling itineraries, the registry provides information on other people taking the same flights.

The registry is free until a user opts to contact a fellow traveler for a $5 fee. Typically, they meet in an airport, where they can arrange to sit together, Shankman said. Nearly 4,500 people have enrolled, although only about 60 have made matches since the registry kicked off last fall, he said.

[Rasputin]

Music marketing gets digital tune-up

LOS ANGELES - Before the dawn of the digital age, music marketing and promotion used to be all about getting played on radio and MTV and scoring good reviews.

But the game has changed dramatically as fans turn increasingly to the Web and digital and mobile music services.

While the music industry has suffered sales declines and been forced to reevaluate its business models, one area that has benefited is marketing, where costs have increasingly been underwritten by new partners in the technology sector.

"The overall marketing dollars may or may not be the same, but the money's not just coming out of labels' pockets anymore. There are many new partners who want exclusive content and are willing to pay for it," one music executive said.

For Madonna's multimillion-dollar marketing campaign for her album "Confessions On A Dancefloor," the singer released her single "Hung Up" as a ringtone ahead of the radio debut in October, marking a first for a star of Madonna's stature.

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AOL lands new Internet partnerships

NEW YORK- America Online, the Internet division of Time Warner Inc., on Friday said it had landed three new partnerships with broadband providers so it could to offer low-cost, high-speed service.

AOL has signed deals with telephone companies BellSouth Corp., AT&T Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. to offer a bundled service that includes high-speed Internet access and exclusive programming and security features at prices that range from about $26 to $30 per month.

The company has also expanded existing agreements with Time Warner Cable and Verizon Communications Inc., helping it stitch together a national network of service providers that will also sell the AOL service.

Once the Internet leader, the company that made getting online easy has lost millions of subscribers over the last few years. It has also seen Internet media companies Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) split the booming market for online advertising between them.

[Rasputin]

Google Hearing on Providing Search Records Set

BOSTON-Google attorneys will square off against the U.S. Department of Justice at a February 27 hearing over the issue of providing the government with information about searches for pornography on the company's site.

U.S. District Court Judge James Ware set that hearing date in the case, which will be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales filed a motion in that court to compel Google to comply with a subpoena for search records. The DOJ claims that it needs the records to bolster its argument that a federal law is more effective than filtering software when it comes to restricting access by children under the age of 18 to pornographic content on the Internet.

Background

Google has refused to provide the records, which the government says it requires for its defense of a lawsuit brought in 1998 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenging the Child Online Protection Act, which is meant to keep minors from accessing Web sites with sexually explicit content. The ACLU contends that the act violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

[Rasputin]

Yahoo, Linksys Play a Wireless Tune

Consumers wanting to move digital music from PCs to stereo sound systems in the home wirelessly may be interested in a new product from Cisco-Linksys and Yahoo.

The two companies have developed a plug-in that allows the Linksys Wireless-G Music Bridge to complement Yahoo's Music Engine application, the companies said this week.


The plug-in is integrated into both the hardware and software components.


The Linksys wireless device, which retails for $99.99, and Yahoo's free music management software, enable users to move digital music from their computers to other stereo devices in the homes over the airwaves, without the need to connect each device individually to a cable.


Although the Music Bridge connects to the home stereo system via a standard cable, it communicates with the PC via 802.11 wireless technology.


With a touch of a button on the Yahoo interface, users can send music to the Music Bridge, which then transmits it to the sound systems.

[Rasputin]

Could Your VoIP Phone Be Tapped?

CALIFORNIA- Several privacy and civil-liberties organizations are mounting a legal challenge to prevent VoIP and other Internet-based communications from being subject to taps from law-enforcement agencies.

The group, which includes the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the COMPTEL association of communications service providers, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says it will fight the FCC's plan to expand the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) of 1994. It filed a brief this week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.


The FCC's final rule, issued on August 5, 2005, would extend CALEA to all Internet-based communications, according to EFF Chairman Brad Templeton, who spoke at this week's Emerging Telephony Conference here, sponsored by O'Reilly Media. Once the FCC issues a final rule, vendors have 18 months to comply with it.

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Warner Music, Skype team up on ringtones: report

NEW YORK- Warner Music Group Corp. and Skype Technologies SA, the telephone company, are likely to announce a licensing agreement on Monday that will put ringtones on Internet phone services, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The report said voice-over-Internet telephone company Skype, which is owned by eBay Inc., will sell the song snippets that substitute for traditional telephone rings for $1.50 each.

It said the service will start in two months, adding that Skype will initially promote Madonna as a featured artist.

Representatives for Ebay and Warner Music could not immediately be reached for comment.

[Rasputin]

Google to Release Enhanced Toolbar

Google today plans to release an improved test version of its browser toolbar whose functionality can be extended with custom buttons.

With these buttons, users can search Web sites directly from the new Google Toolbar 4 Beta. The buttons can also be used to link to Web sites and display syndicated feeds.


"By letting them personalize the toolbar, we're putting power in the hands of users," says Sundar Pichai, a Google product manager. Google plans to have about 50 such buttons available today (you can find the new toolbar and information on the buttons here), and you can download the toolbar here.

Create Your Own Button

Users will be able to create their own search buttons by right-clicking on a Web site's search box and selecting the "generate custom search" option.


Publishers can also put a custom button on their Web sites for users to add to their toolbars. Developers can use an API (application programming interface) to develop custom toolbar buttons.

[Rasputin]

Microsoft to set rules for gov't blog complaints

LISBON- Microsoft has pledged to create rules on how it will deal with government complaints about Web sites and blogs hosted by the U.S. software giant.

Following concerns on how Microsoft pulled the blog of a critic of the Chinese government, Microsoft said that in the future it will only block access to diaries on its MSN Internet portal when it is presented with a court order or another legally binding decision.

But the blog will only be banned in that particular country.

"Going forward we will have a policy of removing access for the country where the blog was issued, but not outside that country," Brad Smith, Microsoft's chief counsel, said at a Microsoft conference.

Microsoft will find a technical solution to make sure the blog will still be viewable in other countries.

"We want to formulate a new framework and new principles. Principles need to emerge," said Smith, adding that the need for clear guidelines became imperative after MSN took down the popular blog written by Zhao Jing last month.

[Rasputin]

Google Denies Napster Tie-Up, Music Store Plan

Google today refuted recent reports that it will open an online music store and that it plans to acquire Napster.

In the digital music market, Google is sticking with its strategy of delivering music-related information via its search engine and providing its users with links to third-party online music stores, the Mountain View, California, company said in a statement.

Napster's stock shot up more than 50 percent at one point on Tuesday after the New York Post reported in an anonymously sourced article that Google "is considering an extensive alliance with Napster, which could include an outright acquisition."

Napster

Napster operates an online music store and an online music subscription service, a hybrid model in this market. Users can purchase songs or entire albums, download them from the store and keep them forever. They can also pay a monthly fee and get unlimited access to the contents of the Napster music library.


Napster's stock closed at $3.12 per share on Monday, but climbed as high as $4.95 on today, fueled by the Post story. At press time, it was trading at $3.77, up about 21 percent. In the past 12 months, it has fluctuated between $2.95 and $9.84.


Last week, Bear Stearns financial analysts speculated in a research report that Google is building an online music store to rival Apple Computer's iTunes.


Making clear that Google hadn't confirmed their speculation, the analysts wrote that they expect the search giant to release a beta, or test, online music store in the next three to six months.

[Rasputin]

Microsoft Warns of File-Trashing Worm

Microsoft has published a security advisory warning Windows users of a file-trashing worm that has been circulating via e-mail for several weeks. The worm, which is programmed to destroy a wide variety of files on the third day of every month, has been circulating since mid-January, and is estimated to have infected between 250,000 and 300,000 systems worldwide.

Security researchers have given the worm a variety of names. Microsoft calls it Win32/Mywife.E@mm, but it is also known as Nyxem, Blackdoom, W32.Blackmal.E@mm, Tearec, and Kama Sutra. And while there have been reports that the malicious software has infected millions of computers, Microsoft believes that the attack is "much more limited and is not in the range of millions at this time," according to the Microsoft security advisory, released Monday.


In fact, several security researchers believe that the Nyxem threat has been overstated. "There's been way more attention given it in the media than it deserves," said Russ Cooper, a senior information security analyst at Cybertrust in Herndon, Virginia. The dramatic nature of this worm's behavior, with its file-destroying instructions, and inflated reports of infections have helped fuel media interest, he said.

[Rasputin]

Web site censorship doesn't work: Gates

LISBON Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates said on Wednesday that government attempts to censor Web sites or blogs would fail since the banned information could get out in defiance of official efforts.

The spread of private e-mail means online users could distribute banned news despite government injunctions, he told a news conference.

"You may be able to take a very visible Web site and say that something shouldn't be there, but if there's a desire by the population to know something, it's going to get out," he said.

However, Gates said Microsoft, the world's biggest computer software company, had to meet legal requirements of the countries where it does business.

Microsoft pulled the blog, or Web log, of a critic of the Chinese government in December after getting a government order to do so.

Brad Smith, Microsoft's chief counsel, said on Tuesday that company was creating rules to deal with government complaints about Web sites and blogs Microsoft hosted.