Pc News

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Redesigned Lala.com, More Busted Myths

Lala.com Now Has Free Streaming Music
I've used the CD trading site Lala.com for over a year, spent almost $100 in trading fees, and enjoyed every minute of it. I logged on every other day, explored my trades, checked out other member collections, and listened to my radio station. And yesterday I talked with a Lala.com representative about the new version of the site.

Yep, like other things in life that were already good (think XP), someone had to come along and make it better.

The "better" is that Lala.com now gives you free streaming music, which is a good thing. PC World's crackerjack streaming music expert, Eric Dahl, talks about Lala's redesign in "Lala.com Bets Big on Free Streaming Music."

Is New Really Better?
My focus is on the redesigned site. It takes some getting used to. Okay, I'll say it: I found it utterly confusing. Though if you're a new user and have nothing to compare it to, you'll probably be happy.

What you won't be happy about is the site's sluggishness. How slow is it? (Ed McMahon is probably calling his lawyers as we speak...) As I moved from tab to tab, I felt like I was back on dial-up.

Despite my kvetching, please do visit the site. If you're a Lala.com old-timer, it's definitely worth re-learning. And if you have a tabbed browser, you can read some of our blogs and columns while you're waiting for Lala.com to load.

Dig This: We're thinking of a trip to Africa, so I started doing some research. I ran across this video of an African animal mishmash--lions and water buffalo and crocodiles. And despite it all, there's a happy ending.

What I Like About the New Lala
I love the fact that I can now listen to my own playlist. It's also terrific that I can easily add an entire CD, or individual cuts, to my playlist. (Lala.com used to call the playlist a "radio station," and the rule was that owners couldn't listen to their own station.)

Lala.com now has a small, handy applet that sits in the System Tray to let me see what's playing, stop the music, or move to the next track.

Something else you might like: Lala.com works with Apple's iTunes and iPod. That really hampers me and my Creative Zen; I may have to break down, join the 21st century, and get an iPod.

Lala.com Responds
I sent the Lala.com rep a note with all of my complaints about the redesign. Here are a few excerpts from his reply.

"We've been experiencing an enormous amount of traffic over the last 24 hours, so this likely accounts for the slow speeds."

"This is just the first iteration, a beta. We'll be making it more intuitive and will be improving functionality and ease of use. And as always, we wanted to get this release out there, so our members and users could guide us in development and fine tuning."

"We made the decision to support only the iPod at launch as the market has clearly spoken on its device of choice. We're attempting to get as many people as possible into checking out more music, so the iPod was the logical place to start. We will certainly support other platforms."

Dig This: This video from a TV news show is about an police officer who called 911 after eating some special brownies. He says, "time is going by really, really, really slow." I'll bet.

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Yahoo Improves Mobile Suite

Yahoo said today it will upgrade its free software suite for mobile phones, improving capabilities such as search, mapping, e-mail and photo management.

Yahoo Go for Mobile 2.0, which has been in test mode since its introduction in the U.S. in January, will shed its test tag on Friday.

That day, Yahoo will also launch beta versions of the suite in 13 other countries. Those versions will be "localized," meaning their user interface will be in the countries' local languages and that other default data will reflect local settings for things like weather and time.

In related news, Yahoo plans to announce on Wednesday at the CommunicAsia conference in Singapore that six mobile operators in the Asia-Pacific region have agreed to make its oneSearch the exclusive search engine of their mobile Web portals.

The deal gives Yahoo access to a combined universe of almost 100 million mobile subscribers in those markets. The operators are Globe Telecom in the Philippines, Idea Cellular Ltd. in India, LG Telecom in Korea, Maxis Communications Berhad in Malaysia, PT Telekomunikasi Selular "Telkomsel" in Indonesia and Taiwan Mobile Co.

Yahoo, like other major Internet players, is busy porting its software and online services for mobile devices, which are fast becoming the preferred Internet access vehicle for millions of people around the world, thanks to improvements in mobile bandwidth and hardware.

In the U.S. and the other 13 countries, the Yahoo Go for Mobile 2.0 suite, which is free to download, will be available for more than 200 different mobile phones by the end of July, and for more than 400 by the end of the year, according to Yahoo.

It will also be preloaded on some new devices from Nokia Corp., Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., LG Electronics Inc., Research In Motion Ltd. and High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) that will ship later this year, saving those handset owners from downloading the software.

The new version of Yahoo Go for Mobile 2.0 operates faster than its predecessor, with lower page loading times, including in its Flickr photo management service.

Its Yahoo Mail capabilities have been expanded. Previously, it could open plain text and image attachments, but the new version adds the ability to open Adobe Software Inc.'s PDF (Portable Document Format) files and Microsoft Corp.'s Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents. Also new is the ability to access Yahoo Mail folders.

The Yahoo Maps/Local service now shows satellite image maps, as well as so-called hybrid maps, which combine the satellite images with the traditional cartographic representations. Also new is the display of real-time traffic conditions on the maps and better overall performance for the service. It also provides GPS (Global Positioning System) services on some devices.

The suite's new version also makes it easier for users to search contacts in their Yahoo Address Book and initiate calls or get driving directions from that interface.

Yahoo Go for Mobile 2.0 also has the oneSearch service and mobile versions of other Yahoo services like Yahoo Messenger, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports and Yahoo Weather.

The 13 countries getting beta versions of the suite are Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, the U.K., Thailand and Vietnam. These beta versions will have "much of the functionality" available to U.S. users, according to Yahoo.

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What Blu-ray's Blockbuster Popularity Proves

Finally, there's some outside perspective on the so-called Blu-ray Disc vs. HD DVD format war.

Movie rental giant Blockbuster announced that it will roll out Blu-ray Disc movies for rental in 1450 corporate-owned Blockbuster stores in the United States. The decision followed a pilot program launched in late 2006, in which Blockbuster offered selected titles for rental and sale in 250 stores.

Seven months later, Blockbuster says it sees a clear enough trend among its customers to pinpoint Blu-ray as its format of choice. "This was a move that was driven by Blu-ray rentals outpacing HD DVD rentals 70 percent to 30 percent," says company spokesperson Randy Hargrove. "In our online rentals, it's favoring Blu-ray as well. We're not looking at this as a format endorsement; we're looking at this as following the demand of our customers. In the future, if that means adding more HD DVD titles, we'll do that as well."

The company will continue to offer both Blu-ray and HD DVD for rental and sales in the 250 stores that participated in the pilot program. However, the 1450 additional stores coming on board with Blu-ray will offer the discs for rental only (at least for now). Rental still comprise the majority of Blockbuster's business: first quarter global rentals revenue was $961 million, as compared with movie sales of $105 million.

Both formats will continue to be available through Blockbuster's online service--a world that is free of the space constraints that brick-and-mortar stores face. Likewise, for now this is a U.S.-only initiative: Blockbuster in Canada, for example, has been offering both Blu-ray and HD DVD in about 75 stores, and "they will continue to monitor the marketplace," says Hargrove.

Sony PlayStation 3 Effect
Blockbuster's own data offers the first confirmation outside of Sony that the company's PlayStation 3 is actively being used as a Blu-ray Disc player. "When we saw the Sony PlayStation 3 go into the marketplace, that's when we saw Blu-ray sales go up. PlayStation 3 has had an impact on the rentals at our stores," says Hargrove.

The PS3 impact makes more sense when you consider that PlayStation 3 owners already rent PlayStation games at Blockbuster. Picking up a movie seems like a natural extension of customer shopping habits.

Tempting though it might be, few think Blockbuster's actions alone spell the end of the format war. Says -- Parsons, chair of the promotion committee for the U.S. region of the Blu-ray Disc Association, "I think it would be presumptuous that this is the make or break in the format war. But it does reflect what we've said all along: if you have more content available, people will come. It's not spin, it's not hype--it's just reality. These are the titles people want to watch."

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China GrenTech Wins Mobile Contract for Olympics

China GrenTech Corp. Ltd. said it won a bid to supply wireless network equipment to China Mobile, the world's largest mobile phone operator, for next year's Olympic Games, sending the Chinese wireless services company's shares up.

China GrenTech did not disclose the size of the contract.

However, Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Adele Mao estimated the potential contract value in the range of $1 million to $3.5 million.

In addition to supplying equipment, GrenTech will also help design and construct the Olympic wireless local-area network, the company said in a statement.

The network will be used to provide high-speed wireless Internet access for users and cover the Olympic gymnasiums, stadiums and surrounding areas in six Olympic cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai.

Though the contract will not significantly impact the company's bottomline, it signals the improvement of GrenTech's relationship with China Mobile, Mao said by phone.

China GrenTech shares rose about 6 percent to $14.23 in late morning trade on the Nasdaq.

The 2008 Olympics, which will be hosted by Beijing, open on August 8 next year.

[Rasputin]

Do Alternative Search Engines Measure Up?

When the name of a product becomes a verb in the common vernacular, you know the owners have a hit on their hands. Just ask Xerox or the makers of Scotch Tape, right? In the case of Google, though, is it always the best place to start searching?

We know there are alternatives out there: Yahoo, Ask.com, MSN. In so many ways, however, these alternatives feel about the same. Sure, the results will vary slightly, but the search experience really isn't markedly different.

But there are products out there that do offer a very different search experience. I Googled ... ahem, I scoured the Web to find a handful of search engines that really do have a different feel to them.

Mahalo -- They're here to help.

Mahalo attempts a seemingly insurmountable task: human-powered search results. To accomplish this, Mahalo (the name means "thank you" in Hawaiian) employs "Guides" to handcraft results for the most popular search terms. The site is in alpha now and has about 4,000 terms prepared but hopes to get to 10,000 by the end of the year, when it'll go into beta. If you search on a term that Mahalo hasn't created a results page for, you'll get standard Google results.

When you do get a Mahalo page, it's a very nice experience. The results are categorized into "Top 7" links and "Recent News" (for all results), and then relevant categories such as "Background and Profiles" for people or "Information and Reviews" for a product. You might find an embedded YouTube video on the page. In the sidebar is a "Fast Facts" section, "Guide Notes" and a "Top Submitted Links" section, which brings us to the next point.

Even the most diligent Guide may miss something, and Mahalo lets you suggest links that should be included. These will be reviewed by a Guide for possible inclusion in the main page, or for listing in the Top Submitted Links section (Mahalo estimates that 60% to 70% of its links come from Guides, and the rest are user-submitted). Some suggestions will be refused, and by clicking through to the Submitted Links page, you can see what has been rejected and why. It's a nice "full disclosure" touch.

Mahalo is an excellent alternative to Google if your search is pretty simple -- searching for a person, place or thing, basically. If you're looking for an explanation of the molecular structure of gold, Mahalo isn't going to be of much help. If you want to know what foolishness Paris Hilton has been up to, or the lowdown on Apple's iPhone, then Mahalo is a great place to start.

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Solar Jacket Charges Gadgets on the Run

Heavy users of mobile phones, iPods and other portable devices may want to try on a new coat lined with solar modules and a battery to charge their gadgets on the fly.

At a fashion show in Florence on Thursday, Italian fashion company Ermenegildo Zegna Holditalia SpA (Zegna) showed off Solar JKT, an outdoor jacket lined with integrated wearable electronics developed by Germany's Interactive Wear AG and Innovative Solarprodukte GmbH (Solarc).

Zegna aims to ship the Solar JKT coat in the second quarter of 2008. Pricing information was not available.

Two solar modules in the coat's collar convert the solar energy into electricity. The electricity is routed by conductive textile cables to a buffer battery, which can be used to charge a device directly or store the power until needed.

The silicon-based polycrystalline solar module measures 9 centimeters by 5.5 centimeters and can generate up to 1 watt of power by full sunlight.

The battery measures 70 millimeters by 60 millimeters by 13 millimeters and weighs around 100 grams. It requires four to eight hours to load and, when full, can charge a mobile phone or iPod in less than four hours. A 5-volt connection is available for USB (Universal Serial Bus) devices and a 6-volt connection for mobile phones.

Interactive Wear was founded in 2005 following a management buyout of the Wearable Technology Solutions business unit owned by German chip maker Infineon Technologies AG.

Solarc consists of a small team of engineers in Berlin who work closely with the Hahn-Meitner-Institute and the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration.

[Rasputin]

iPhone Versus Your Phone: Tips to Avoid iPhone Envy

Yes, the iPhone is sleek and sexy, and it has a slick interface that performs so many techno-tricks even confirmed Luddites are salivating. But there's no reason to junk your current handset--in fact, Your Phone is more than ready to meet the iPhone challenge head on.

You already can get many of the features that Apple's cell phone offers--music, photos, and visual voice mail--in similar form for the vast array of mobile phones on the market today. Moreover, some of the downloadable applets that can run on assorted cell phones are slicker and cooler, and go beyond what the iPhone ostensibly does.

Here's a sampling of some of the best ways to dress up your current cell phone and avoid iPhone envy. While some of our favorite phone enhancements are free, others come with a nominal price tag of $30 or less--even if you load up on a bunch of them, you still won't get anywhere near the $500 to $600 that Apple's thingamajig will set you back. And most of these apps will work with the gamut of mobile models, from all the major carriers--namely AT&T (formerly Cingular), Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile, and Verizon--especially if they are Web-enabled.


iPhone: Visual Voicemail lets you see a listing of voice-mail messages and choose which ones to listen to.


Your Phone: Sign up with CallWave, a free service that sends copies of your messages to your e-mail. You see the callers and the message lengths in the subject line so you can select which to listen to, and you reply by text or a call back. It automatically creates a PC-based contact list, and notifies you of new messages through an SMS text note sent to your phone.

Alternatively, you can try the Web-based GotVoice, which grabs your new voice-mail messages, records them as MP3 files, and sends them to your chosen e-mail address. The messages are preserved on your phone's voice-mail service as well as in your GotVoice inbox. One-upping iPhone's Visual Voicemail, GotVoice works with multiple phones (say, your mobile, home, and work numbers), letting you see all of your voice mail wherever you access your e-mail. While the standard service is free, it is not free from advertising unless you pay $10 for a premium account.

[Rasputin]

RealPlayer Beta Allows Video Downloading

The growing popularity of video on the Web has prompted RealNetworks Inc. to launch a beta version of its RealPlayer software that allows users to easily record and download videos to their PCs.

The software, RealPlayer version 11, can be downloaded free, the company said Tuesday.

With the new version, users can surf the Web and select clips or longer videos by clicking a "Download this Video" icon that pops up whenever they view video content.

Videos are downloaded in the background, allowing users to view the content not only at their own convenience but also on the full screen of their PCs, according to RealNetworks spokesman Ryan Luckin.

Moreover, users don't have to worry about knowing video formats, Luckin said. The new version records online video in all major formats, including Flash, Windows Media and QuickTime. In addition, it recognizes video content protected by DRM (digital rights management) systems and blocks such content from being recorded.

RealNetworks plans additional features, including an option to allow video content to be downloaded to portable devices, such as iPods, according to Luckin.

With the free version of RealPlayer, users can burn videos to CDs in the VCD (video compact disc) format. For US$29.99, users can purchase RealPlayer Plus, which allows them to burn to DVDs.

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Dell Announces Thin 13-inch Laptop

Dell today announced the Dell XPS M1330 Ultramobile notebook. Dell claims the XPS M1330 is the world's thinnest 13-inch laptop PC.

The existing Dell XPS range consists of high-end gaming laptops. Prices for the new XPS M1330 start from $1,798.

The XPS M1330 model we saw comes in a glossy midnight black chassis, but the M1330 is available also in white and red. Dell's new ultramobile laptop weighs less than 4 pounds and is less than 1 inch thick, but can be specified to contain a massive 2TB hard disk space (comprising four 500GB hard drives).

The Dell XPS M1330 comes with Intel dual-processors and, according to Dell, can house all of Intel's Mobile Centrino chipsets -- the highest spec model contains Intel's 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7700. The M1330's high-definition 13.1in wide-screen display can be upgraded to a bright white LED screen.

Dell claims a battery life in use of eight and a half hours but, although the model we tried was initially cool to the touch, Dell has no data as to how hot the XPS M1330 gets after prolonged use. What is impressive, however, is the M1330's full-sized keyboard, which is comfortable in use. Dell also gets plaudits for including as standard draft-N wireless capabilities, and a Wi-Fi seeking device that works even without the PC being booted.

Other standard features include an HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) and two USB 2.0 ports, plus a headphone socket and microphone input.

Each flavor of the Dell XPS M1330 include an 8-in-1 card reader and DVD+/-RW dual-layer disc-burner. Purchasers can choose from four-, six- or nine-cell lithium-ion batteries, and decide between nVidia GeForce Go 8400M GS graphics with 128MB of dedicated memory, and the less battery-intensive Intel integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100.

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Microsoft Releases Windows Server 2008 Beta

Microsoft Tuesday released the next beta version of Windows Server 2008 that adds options for installing Microsoft's newest Web server.

The Community Technology Preview (CTP), which is Microsoft's lingo for its release cycle of beta software, is available to MSDN subscribers, TechNet subscribers and Connect customers.

This is the first CTP since Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 was released in April. Microsoft officials say 200,000 copies of Beta 3 have been downloaded.

With the new CTP, Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0 is now an installation option under the Server Core feature of the server.

Server Core is made up of the Windows kernel and a set of infrastructure "roles," which install only the components needed for any of eight specific functions: Active Directory, Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services, DHCP, DNS, File, Print, Windows Media Services and Windows Server Virtualization (when it ships).

The idea is to make deployment less complex and more secure by eliminating unneeded services and installing only the parts of the OS needed for a specific workload.

IIS 7.0 lets users define a configuration using an XML schema architecture to more easily manage configuration of multiple deployments of the software.

It also has a new feature called Failed Request Tracking that helps pinpoint errors in IIS and applications, and allows diagnosis while the software is still running.

Windows Server 2008, which is slated to ship by the end of the year, is focused on three primary areas: management, including Server Core; security, such as BitLocker drive encryption and Read-only Domain Controllers; and performance, including a redesigned TCP/IP stack.

The server also represents the gateway into the world of 64-bit-only server operating systems from Microsoft. The R2 version of Windows Server 2008 slated to ship in 2009 won't include a 32-bit version.

In addition, the server is the other shoe that will drop on capabilities intertwined with Vista, such as Network Access Protection and new Terminal Services features.

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Greenpeace Praises Apple

Greenpeace has moved Apple up its green electronics rankings thanks to Steve Job's promises to phase out PVCs and other chemical nasties from its products, but the top spot goes to Nokia.

Greenpeace takes an aggressive tone in criticizing electronics manufacturers for e-waste, stating: 'The electronics ranking guide has been our answer to getting the electronics industry to face up to the problem of e-waste. We want manufacturers to take responsibility for the unprotected child laborers who scavenge the mountains of cast-off gadgets created by our gizmo-loving ways.'

Despite this, Apple scores higher in the new edition of Greenpeace's Green Electronics Guide, having apparently improved its ways since being ranked low by other environmental organizations as well as Greenpeace.

Greenpeace also states: 'We've been happily surprised at how quickly many corporations have risen to the competitive challenge. It's especially rewarding to see more than a few CEOs openly vying for the top green spot, and challenging their competitors to adopt industry-wide policies to reduce the problem of e-waste.'

The top-ranked company is Nokia because, Greenpeace states, it has already phased out PVC, and met or exceeded a wide set of benchmarks Greenpeace has laid down to reduce the amount and toxicity of electronic waste piling up in Asia and Africa.

Dell and Chinese manufacturer Lenovo are tied for second place. Dell scores top marks for reporting its current recycling rate based on sales 7 years ago, and for a strong global take-back policy for outdated gear.

Lenovo's support for precautionary policies and legislation making producers responsible for their products at the end of their lifetime mean high marks for it. In the third issue of the ranking Lenovo scored higher points for a global take-back policy. But Greenpeace's check of this policy in practice reveals incomplete implementation.

Sony is the biggest loser in this edition, languishing at the bottom along with LGE, penalized for double standards on its waste policies.

Apple was the lowest-ranked electronics manufacturer in the last edition, but makes the biggest jump this time, into 10th place due, Greenpeace says: 'to pressure from Apple fans around the world through the Green my Apple campaign.'

It thinks Apple may start to rival other, greener companies if the much-awaited iPhone becomes the company's first truly greener product. Apple uses at least one of the same suppliers that currently provide Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, and other phone manufacturers with components free of PVC and brominated flame retardants.

Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner, said: "Clearly, companies are racing to produce greener products. Steve Job's latest commitment to eliminate toxic materials, moved Apple up the chart and it now faces a challenge, with the iPhone, to meet customer expectations to be the environmental leader Apple-lovers want."

A scan of it will show many missing IT suppliers: EMC; Google; HDS; IBM; Seagate and Sun to name a few. Having a Greenpeace nod of environmental approval could be considered a mixed blessing by them, as Steve Jobs might confirm.

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Early iPhone Buyers Strain to Resell Them Online

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Many people who lined up to be the first buyers of Apple Inc.'s iPhone made good on promises to try to flip the gadgets online at inflated prices, but a quick buck appeared out of reach for many.

Auction Web site eBay had more than 400 listings for iPhones just two hours after the combination mobile phone, Web browser and music and video player went on sale on the U.S. East Coast.

But the vast majority of offers failed to attract even a single bid, and many of those that had were not yet above the list prices.

A handful of offers did draw enthusiastic bidding. One eBay auction had attracted 35 bids and a leading offer of $1,520. Another was up to $960 with 25 bids.

The iPhone is available at Apple and AT&T stores in two models costing $500 and $600 depending on whether it has 4 or 8 gigabytes of memory. It requires a service contract from AT&T Inc. that runs at least $1,400 over two years.

Online classifieds site Craigslist had 404 iPhone listings for New York City, with most seeking about $1,000 and one optimist wanting $10,000 from "collectors only."

[Rasputin]

The iPhone: 10 Things Apple Did Right, 10 Things That Need Work

10 Things Apple Did Right in the iPhone
The display, the display, the display. Everything looks good on it.
The menu design: It's simple and clean, and the home screen icons look like so much eye candy.
Fingertip navigation, zooming and scrolling that's intuitive, effective and fast.
Video playback that's so good you can tell when you've done a sub-par job of ripping your movies.
Visual voicemail lets you get to the calls you care about faster.
Great integrated applications, including Google Maps, YouTube, and a world clock that packs a timer, stopwatch and multiple alarms. Cover Flow. It's incredibly fun to choose your music by visually flipping through album art.
It's tough: Our initial stress tests suggest that the iPhone is more durable than you might expect for such a sleek handset.
The first Apple music player with a built-in speaker--and it's not half bad for a phone.
No disconcerting "do not disconnect" messages when syncing with a PC.
10 Things They Did Wrong
We want our AOL Instant Messaging--and Yahoo and MSN IM clients, too. What about MMS support for sending picture mail?
No voice recording--and more importantly, no voice dialing support. How are you supposed to use an iPhone with a hands-free car kit?
It's the most locked-down phone we've ever seen. Not only can you not swap out the AT&T SIM card for one from another network, you can't even swap it out for another AT&T SIM card.
AT&T is building out its mobile broadband network, but iPhone users are stuck with older EDGE technology--or battery-consuming Wi-Fi.
You know those great headphones you already own? They won't fit the iPhones headset jack, so your first iPhone accessory will be a bulky, ugly $10 adapter. The software keyboard invites typos--but when you're entering passwords there's no way of telling whether you've got them right.
It's great that the iPhone can reorient pages in Safari, CoverFlow, and the photo album, but why not extend that capability to other apps such as e-mail? Some messages could benefit from a widescreen display. And even when it does reorient, it doesn't always follow through with all features: CoverFlow loses access to the volume slider, for example.
No support for custom ringtones, surprising in a music phone.
The camera's rudimentary, with no audio/video or even zoom capability.
No to-do list support, a basic in most calendar applications.

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Worm Targets Harry Potter Fans

Sophos has warned Harry Potter fans not to open an e-mail which claims to contain the final instalment of the boy wizard book series.

Security companies have intercepted an e-mail promising a copy of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' -- which is not due for release until July 21. But rather than getting a sneak preview of the book, impatient muggles who click on the file will instead find their PC infected by the W32/Hairy-A worm.

"The W32/Hairy-A worm can automatically infect a PC when users plug in USB drives, which carry a file posing as a copy of the eagerly anticipated novel - 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'," said Sophos. "If the users have allowed USB drives to 'auto-run' they will see a file called HarryPotter-TheDeathlyHallows.doc."

Instead of the full text of JK Rowling's highly anticipated book, the Word document includes the phrase: 'Harry Potter is dead.'

After infecting Windows computers, the worm creates a number of new users -- namely the main characters from JK Rowling's celebrated series of books about student wizards: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

In addition, every time infected users open Internet Explorer they will find their start page has been redirected to an Amazon.com web page selling a spoof book entitled 'Harry Putter and the Chamber of Cheesecakes.'

"Much of the world is waiting with bated breath for the final Harry Potter novel, and the premiere of the new movie is looming too. There is a real danger that muggles will blindly allow their USB flash drives to auto-run and become infected by this worm," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Using such social engineering at this time is a trick dastardly enough for Lord Voldemort himself."