MacBooks May Launch Tuesday
Apple enthusiast site Think Secret reported Friday afternoon that sources expect the Cupertino company to release the highly anticipated MacBook on Tuesday. The laptop will be the Intel-based successor to the company's popular iBook line.
In related news, a coding glitch on the Apple Web site has all but confirmed the name change. Beginning late Thursday, and still appearing occasionally Friday, Apple's iPod page was replaced with a blank page with the hierarchy "Home > Hardware > MacBook" shown.
BearShare Settles with RIAA for $30m
Free Peers, the company that owned and operated the BearShare network, has agreed to pay $30 million to the Recording Industry Association of America to avoid a copyright infringement lawsuit, court documents indicated Thursday.
Free Peers has also agreed to disband and promised to not operate any unlicensed music download services.
Warner Target of 14 Digital Music Suits
Even after settling with Apple's iTunes on 99-cent downloads, at least one record label is still battling elsewhere to justify the price of digital music. Warner Music Group disclosed in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it has been named as a defendant in 14 class-action lawsuits related to the price of digital music. Five of the lawsuits were filed in New York, eight in California, and one in Washington, D.C.
Warner said it expected all the lawsuits to be combined into one case. All cases accuse the label of colluding with other labels to artificially fix prices for digital music downloads. "The company intends to defend these lawsuits vigorously, but its unable to predict the outcome," it said in the filing. As well as the class action suits, Warner is cooperating with inquiries launched by the New York Attorney General and Department of Justice into the same topic.
Google Sued Over Child Porn Links
A New York politician sued Google Thursday in the state's Supreme Court over allegations that it was profiting from links to child pornography. Jeffrey Toback of the Nassau County Legislature said the search engine's paid advertisements include links to minors engaged in lewd acts.
Google has denied such activity and said it takes steps to ensure access to child porn is difficult. The company has a policy of removing references to the subject, a spokesperson said. Additionally, the content is reported to law enforcement.
Sony Begins Shipping Blu-ray Discs
Sony said Friday that it had begun the first shipments of its 25GB single layer discs, and it expected to debut a 50GB dual layer version in June. The discs include the company's proprietary AccuCore technology that offers enhanced reliability and durability, and also made it possible for Sony to offer the discs without a protective cartridge. The discs support a 2x transfer speed and a data transfer rate of 72 Mbps.
The 25GB write-once and rewritable discs will have a retail price of USD $20 and USD $25, respectively. When launched in June, the 50GB discs would retail for USD $48 and USD $60, Sony said. The company also said Friday that its Blu-ray Disc Association had recently surpassed 160 members, which plan to begin releasing the first players and PCs compatible with the format beginning this summer.
OpenDoc in Microsoft Office a Reality
The OpenDocument Foundation has developed a plug-in for Microsoft Office that would provide transparent compatibility with ODF, allowing users to open and save like any other office document.
The group has apparently been working on the plug-in for quite some time, however only publicly acknowledged it after the state of Massachusetts put out a request on Wednesday.
CBS Debuts Web Television Network
CBS on Thursday debuted Innertube, a Web-only television channel that will feature original programming and eventually reruns of the network's hit shows. Content will be free and ad-supported, with most being targeted towards a younger audience, the network says.
Like a similar service from ABC, Innertube utilizes Flash and RealPlayer, meaning the content would be viewable by both Mac and PC users. Original programming includes shows such as the college-centric "Greek to Chic" and shows that are based off the hit series "Survivor" and "Amazing Race."
Sun Lends a Hand to Open Source
Sun said Thursday that it would alter its licensing terms in order to make Java easier to bundle with open source operating systems. The announcement is expected to come at the JavaOne conference later this month.
The changes specifically target the Java Runtime Environment, which is needed to run Java programs on the computer. Sun will allow developers of operating systems such as Linux, FreeBSD and OpenSolaris to include the JRE as part of the OS, without licensing restrictions.
Windows Live Search to Replace MSN
Windows Live Search will be brought out of beta this summer, Microsoft has said. The change would put the site as the company's flagship search engine, replacing MSN Search, marking the official beginning of a transition to the Windows Live branding. That effort is expected to continue throughout the rest of this year.
Additionally, Microsoft on Friday launched yet another Live service, Windows Live Product Search. The offering is intended to help users search for products for sale online. According to the Web site, the service indexes items from over 100,000 sellers. Users would be able to refine searches by related terms, brands or sellers, as well as change the level of detail of the results.
AOL to Launch VOIP, Profile Services
AOL has plans to offer a new service for users of its instant messaging client that would allow them to receive incoming telephone calls. Called Phoneline, the feature provides a telephone number to subscribers free of charge. A pay version would also be offered, which would allow unlimited calls to U.S. and 30 countries worldwide for $14.95 a month, AOL said Thursday.
Phoneline is intended to compete directly with VoIP provider Skype, which offers similar services through its desktop client. However, Skype users must pay an additional fee to receive a phone number for their account. AOL also plans to take on MySpace and MSN Spaces with the launch of AIM Pages, a social networking service that would alert the user's buddies through the AIM client when profiles are updated.
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