Invite-only Windows 7 beta testers get their free copies after all
Microsoft's support for a public "eager to begin using Windows 7" has now extended to Technical beta testers, who will be getting a free full version of the operating system.
Earlier this month, word got out that Windows 7 tech beta testers would actually not be receiving a free copy of Windows 7 as testers of Vista did, which elicited the expected amount of criticism.
Pirate Bay shut down in Netherlands
BREIN has won its suit against the Pirate bay, and now the troubled torrent indexing site has 10 days to block all traffic coming from within the Netherlands.
Anti-piracy group Stichting BREIN (loosely translated as "the BRAIN Foundation,) took The Pirate Bay to court in Amsterdam last month for copyright infringement and demanded that the site block all Dutch visitors. The court announced its ruling today that the Pirate Bay's operators must "both separately and together permanently stop the infringements on copyright and related rights of Stichting BREIN in the Netherlands." Every day the site remains up will earn the owners an additional €30,000 fine.
Dell lands in hot water over Taiwanese pricing glitches
In late June and early July, Dell's Taiwanese Web shop accidentally created some outlandishly cheap deals on Dell hardware which resulted in a huge influx of orders that Dell could not fill. The company is now facing fines from Taiwan's Consumer Protection Commission and Fair Trade Commission for misleading customers.
From about 11pm on June 25 until 7am the next day, Dell mistakenly had a 19" LCD monitor on its site listed as costing NT$500, or roughly $15. In that 8 hour period, deal-crazed consumers ordered more than 140,000 of the cheap monitors only to later be told that it was a mistake. Taiwan's Consumer Protection Commission reported 471 complaints, and then recommended that Dell give each customer one monitor at the $15 and then offer the rest (since everyone ordered multiples) at a discount.
Nintendo and Sony report steep declines in video game and console sales
Today, both Nintendo and Sony reported substantial declines in video game revenue and console sales for the quarter ending on June 30. While much of the decline stems from the strengthened Yen which is causing huge currency exchange losses for all Japanese electronics companies, video game spending has hit a brick wall.
Nintendo, which has spend most of the current console generation far ahead of competitors Sony and Microsoft, sold approximately half as many consoles as it did in the previous quarter. Wii unit sales were down 47% in Europe, 60% in Japan, and 65% in the Americas. Globally, Nintendo's popular DS handheld sold 6 million units, or a decline of 20% over last year. This drop in sales, accompanied by the exchange problem with the Yen amounted to a 61% decline in profits year over year, or ¥42 billion ($443 Million.)
Microsoft warns about activation crack, but 'pleased' people want to install Windows 7
As to be expected, Microsoft responded to news today that Windows 7 activation had already been cracked by telling Betanews that customers should not pirate the operating system. But the company also said it was happy to hear that people wanted to install Windows 7.
Following the publication of an activation crack for Windows 7 mere days after it was released to manufacturing, we contacted Microsoft to hear its take on the issue, which appears to be a repeat of the Windows Vista crack from 2006. Windows XP activation was also cracked not long after its launch.
New bill could make texting while driving illegal nationwide
A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate today seeks to make text messaging while driving illegal.
The bill is sponsored by Democratic Senators Charles E. Schumer (NY), Robert Menendez (NJ), Mary Landrieu (LA), and Kay Hagan (NC) and impels states to draft laws that ban texting while driving, or otherwise face a 25% cut in their annual highway budget. Such laws have already been passed in 14 states and the District of Columbia.
LG hooks up Vudu with Netflix, YouTube
The streaming-enhanced device market may still be dominated by Netflix, but video on demand service Vudu continues to fight its way into the picture. Today, the company announced its partnership with South Korean company LG will put Vudu directly on connected HDTVs.
Vudu debuted its own streaming set top box nearly two years ago, and managed to be one of the first companies to pump out HD streams. Though it had partnerships with such companies as Sharp and Best Buy, the streaming service was only available on Vudu's own hardware. Netflix, Amazon on Demand, and CinemaNow meanwhile all moved to put their services on hardware from a number of different manufacturers.
Windows 7 Ultimate cracked already
UPDATE 6:30PM ET Microsoft has responded to news of the crack, telling Betanews that it's "pleased" customers are eager to upgrade, while warning about pirated copies.
Even though it's been In the hands of OEMs for barely a week and has not even made it to general availability yet, Windows 7 has already been cracked.
Palm Pre can't help Sprint from losing $384 million and 257k subscribers, but prepaid is booming
Sprint, the United States' third largest mobile phone network operator reported its second quarter earnings today, showing a total loss of $384 million, and 257,000 subscribers. For Sprint, these numbers actually represent a minor improvement.
In the past two years, Sprint's number of subscriptions has dropped by more than 7 million, or roughly one million subscribers per quarter. This quarter Sprint lost 991,000 contract subscribers, but coupled it with the biggest gain in prepaid customers from any U.S. mobile carrier in three years (more than 777,000).
Twitter's evolution starts with a new homepage
In Twitter's efforts to make the microblogging service more welcoming to first-time users, a new homepage has been unveiled which focuses on search and trending topics.
"We have a lot of work to do when it comes to the quality of our search results and trend analysis but repositioning the product to focus more on discovery is an important first step in presenting Twitter to a wider audience of folks around the world who are eager to start engaging with new people, ideas, opinions, events, and sources of information," Co-founder Biz Stone said in the site's blog.
California, Arizona will get first Microsoft Stores
The first of Microsoft's planned retail stores will be opening in Scottsdale, Arizona and Missioin Viejo, California, according to reports today.
Images of Microsoft's potential in-store design were leaked late last week and later confirmed by Microsoft to be real, though they were dismissed as "early prototypes" of plans for their retail stores.
Microsoft issues emergency patches for Visual Studio vulnerability
Microsoft today issued security updates for the Active Template Library (ATL) which address a vulnerability that could allow remote code execution.
Libraries are collections of codes upon which software is built, and Microsoft's ATL is used by developers to create controls or components (such as Automation and ActiveX) in Windows. But any components or controls created with the vulnerable version of ATL may now become vulnerable due to how ATL is used or due to issues in the ATL code itself.
AT&T makes Barnes and Noble Wi-Fi free
To tie in with Barnes and Noble's increasing emphasis on eBooks, AT&T announced today that Wi-Fi connections at any of the 777 United States Barnes and Noble bookstores will be free for anyone to use. Previously, only AT&T subscribers had free access to the network.
Last week, Barnes and Noble launched a Web-based eBook store and free eReader apps for the iPhone/iPod Touch, BlackBerry, and Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS 10.1+. The bookseller is gearing up for the launch of its own eBook reader, made by Plastic Logic which will compete with the market-leading Amazon Kindle.
Chinese censorship extends to gang-themed games
Yesterday, the Chinese Ministry of Culture announced that gangster-themed online games have been banned in China as they pose "a serious threat to distort the rule of law and moral standards of society."
Games which promote "fighting, murder, robbery, rape, cheating, or other antisocial behavior" have been deemed illegal content. Web sites hosting, publicizing or linking to games that have organized crime as a major theme face severe punishment. The severity of punishment, however, was not explained by state media.
Sprint to acquire Virgin Mobile USA for $483 million
Sprint, the United States' third largest Tier 1 mobile carrier, will be acquiring mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Virgin Mobile USA for an estimated total of $483 million.
Sprint already owned 13.1% of Virgin Mobile USA, and the MVNO was the first prepay-only business to lease Sprint's mobile network. After the deal closes, Virgin Mobile USA's CEO Dan Schulman will lead Sprint's prepaid business, which already includes Boost Mobile.
Tim's Bio
Tim Conneally was born into dumpster tech. His father was an ARPANET research pioneer and equipped his kids with discarded tech gear, second-hand musical instruments, and government issue foreign language instruction tapes. After years of building Frankenstein computers from rubbish and playing raucous music in clubs across the country (and briefly on MTV) Tim grew into an adult with deep, twisted roots and an eye on the future. He most passionately covers mobile technology, user interfaces and applications, the science and policy of the wireless world, and watching different technologies shrink and converge.
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