Stardock Gets Heat for "Aqua" Skins
Apple, Inc. has reportedly requested that Stardock take down skins for its desktop application DesktopX that resemble, or mimic entirely that of Apple's Aqua interface. Brad Wardell, according to the ZDNet report, asked Apple for further clarification on what violates its Intellectual Property rights so as to prevent further violations in the future. DesktopX has been popular amongst Windows users because it allows them to break out of the traditional Windows interface. The best part about the software is that designers were able to mimic and create the Aqua interface even before Apple faithfuls got their hands on the real thing.
Grab Snoopstar For Your File Sharing Needs
With all the recent heat involving Napster, and the decision to make it a pay service, many people are talking about the alternatives available to those who still want to get their files for free. With many programs out there, including BearShare, a Gnutella client, and SongSpy and a thousand others, Snoopstar has also joined the mix. This one however, makes it easy on you by connecting OpenNapster, Gnutella, IMesh and/or Napster. Betatesters who send in bug reports are eligible for prizes including DVDs and CDs. For more information about the beta, and to download it, visit snoopstar.com.
Scour Begins User Transfers and OptOuts
Scour, having recently sold to CenterSpan Communications, notified its registered users that they can either transfer their existing information over to the new company, or optout to prevent further use of the new Scour services. Users have until February 14th to optout of the services, which can be done by entering your e-mail in the box here. They are also set to launch a new beta of Scour with legally downloadable music starting at the end of March, and you can sign up here if you are interested.
Symantec Launches Beta 2 of Norton 2001
In other antivirus news, Symantec also released the second beta of Norton Antivirus 2001 for Windows. This latest version includes all of the features of Norton 2001 with added script blocking technologies to prevent your computer from executing arbitrary code that could be brought on by an e-mail worm. The first 50 users to submit undocumented bugs in the software will win free copies of the final release. For more information, and to download the beta, visit www.symantec.com.
Symantec Antivirus for Your Palm
Symantec recently unveiled the next version of its antiviral software for the Palm OS, making it available for download to the general public for a short time. Symantec 2001 features an autoprotect function that runs the software in the background to make sure your handheld does not suffer an infection. It also scans files after you synchronize with your PC. You must be running PalmOS 3.0 or higher to use the software, and it can be found here. Its generally not a bad idea to have this software, with a growing trend towards virii aimed at handhelds and cellular phones, which will only grow in the future.
IBM Embraces Linux
Big Blue President Sam Palmisano told Reuters today that Linux is "ready for real business" and that the company is betting the open source operating system can give it the edge in "strenuous business workload" as the Reuters report highlights. Just after the first of this year Linus Torvalds released the most powerful Linux kernel yet, packed with more features and functions than ever. The majority of Linux retailers have already encorporated the newest version into their products, some launching official new versions this past week. IBM is making a big run at Sun Microsystems, rebranding its servers and mainframes to eServers, and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to assist customers in deploying the new Linux operating system.
Microsoft Announces New Windows and Office Names
Microsoft announced today in a statement that it will be officially calling its upcoming version of Windows and Office Windows XP and Office XP respectively. Rumors circulated last week as one BetaNews reader said he had heard a Microsoft representative slip the names in a seminar, and ZDNet reported on it last Friday. The "XP" stands for Experience, according to the release and the Reuters report. Bill Gates told reporters "These breakthrough versions of Windows and Office will give people the most powerful end-to-end computing experiences ever available." Stay tuned as both products are set to launch by the end of this year.
Juno To Sell Off Your Excess Processing Power
Struggling net provider Juno said today that it has plans in the works to turn its network of home computers into a supercomputer for research institutions to borrow. Much like the way Seti@Home works, users will leave computers on 24-hours a day and institutions will be able to use your excess processor power and hard drive space to analyze data sent over the net. Juno reports that the new setup only activates when users are not at their computers, and that it should not slow anything while they are using it. For more information read the Associated Press report.
Big Blue Launches Faster Server Hard Drives
IBM announced today the availability of a new hard drive for servers that is said to run faster than current drives. Keeping up with Seagates current fastest drive, Reuters reports that the IBM Ultrastar 36Z15 runs at 15000 revolutions per minute, matching its Seagate competitor. According to the article, the IBM drive has a better seek time than that of the Seagate, making it the fastest on the market at the moment. A Seagate spokesperson told Reuters that by the time IBM ships the product his company will be back on top with its next-generation products.
Redhat "Fisher" Beta
Redhat has released the first beta of its next Linux operating system upgrade, codenamed "Fisher", for the public to download. Version 7.1 features the new 2.4.0 kernel and a wizard to help you set up a basic firewall on your system. Redhat follows SuSE as the second major Linux distributor to incorporate the new Linux kernel in release editions of its software. As you may recall, Linux kernel 2.4 was released less than two weeks ago by guru Linus Torvalds.
Redhat Fisher also includes support for the Intel Itanium processor and improved XFree86 installation and setup guidance. A new setup for laptops has been added which features automatic PCMCIA card support.
Its Official - Dreamcast No More
Sega made it official today, after rumors had been circulating for weeks about the eventual end of Dreamcast production. As of March 31st, the company will no longer be producing the console, instead focusing on making games for current and upcoming consoles. The list includes Playstation2, Dreamcast, Gameboy Advanced, Nintendo Game Cube, and Microsoft's X-Box. Sega had been losing money in the console market, and was rumored to be producing the final units using existing parts in plants. AP reports starting Sunday the Dreamcast console will retail for $99.95 in hopes to liquidate stock.
Intel Intros New Low Power Mobile Processors
Monday chip-giant Intel launched a new line of mobile processors taking aim at Transmeta's Crusoe processor line. The new chips, both the PIII and the Celeron model, are said to only consume as little as half a watt of power at the 300MHz level under one volt, according to the AP report. The new line is also said to outperform rival Crusoe processors, introduced by Transmeta last year. Operating at 500MHz while plugged in, the PIII model automatically steps down to 300MHz when running on battery power to achieve said engergy consumption levels. IBM will be the first to use the new chips, introducing them to Japan today and the US shortly thereafter.
AMD Launches "VirtuHammer" Software
AMD today announced the availability of its Hammer emulation software VirtuHammer at LinuxWorld in Paris and New York. The software allows developers to emulate the upcoming Hammer family of processors AMD is currently developing so that application deployment will be rapid and successful. The Hammer family will be AMD's first line of 64-bit processors, extending on current X-86 technologies to provide enhanced performance for all software. For more information read the press release over at Yahoo.
Gnotella2 Set to Blow Up File Sharing
ZDNet is talking about Gnutella, and how its popularity seems to be on the decline as of late, after a huge surge in interest when all of Napsters problems began to happen. In the report, reporter Ben Charny sat down with J.C. Nicholas of GnutellaWorld to talk about the upcoming release of Gnotella, Gnotella2, and the impact it will have on the filesharing community.
Nicholas was so bold as to tell Charny he thinks Gnotella2 "is going to be one of the greatest revolutions since Linux. It will revolutionize the way we exchange information on the Internet." He also wrote that they are looking for an "earthquake" on the Internet to reshape the way the world views and uses the Internet.
Napster Subscription Service This Summer
German-based record company Bertelsman AG announced today that it could launch its Napster-based subscription download service as early as July. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Bertelsman CEO Thomas Midelhoff touted "I’n convinced we can introduce in June or July of this year a subscription model, with a real working digital rights management system."
While no one with the record company or with Napster could say how much the service might cost, it is rumored to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $5, not too shabby if you take into account how many files you could download in a month. But that is contigent on Napster not losing its user-base due to the fee.
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