Palm Intros Voice Activated Calling
Palm Inc., long known for its extremely popular handheld devices, has teamed up with Delphi Automotive to create the Communiport Mobile Productivity Center. The new software will allow any person to use their Palm V or Vx handheld in conjunction with certain Ericsson cellular phones to make phone calls without the use of any hands. With the new suite of tools drivers will be able to dial the phone with voice-commands, drawing names and numbers directly from the Palm address book. The unit will premiere at the Consumer Electronics show on January 6th in Las Vegas. Check out News.com for the rest of the story.
Microsoft's New Ally?
Many analysts have said that Microsoft would fair better with George W. Bush as president than with Al Gore in the Oval Office. In recent weeks the attitude has started to change slightly, saying that even with Bush in office, a quick remedy to the Microsoft woes is unlikely. With key appointments delayed by the lengthy Florida vote counting process, Bush's administration is not likely to place bandaging Microsoft at the top of its priority list.
The Court of Appeals is already expected to overturn much of the governments victory in the anit-trust trial against Microsoft, but it should be noted that the word most was used, and not all.
FCC Extends Merger Review
Wall Street Journal confirmed reports from last week that the Federal Communications Commission would be extending its review beyond the original New Years Eve deadline previously set. BetaNews reported last week that the FCC had in fact reset the clock on the merger, but AOL and Time Warner officials said they expected a speedy decision early next year. Some of the delay is due to the FCC waiting on the Federal Trade Commission to issue its decision on the merger, which it conditionally approved just a few weeks ago. For more visit ZDNet and read the rest of the article.
Sega to Provide Game Boy Advance Software
After rumors circulated around the net yesterday that Nintendo was in talks with Sega to purchase the company for some $2 billion, Reuters reports today that although Sega will not be selling to Nintendo, the company will be providing software for the upcoming Game Boy Advance. Next March Nintendo will launch the unit, being its next generation wireless game player coming as an offspring of the already existing and hugely popular Game Boy.
Security Stories 2000: Top Ten
Robert Lemos over at ZDNet wrote up an interesting piece a few days ago outlining the top ten security stories of the year 2000, which will quickly come to a close in less than five days. Bringing up the rear of the list comes "VBS/Kakworm--at-large for more than a year--has resulted in more tech-support calls than the LoveLetter virus." Topping the list is the home user himself/herself, as Lemos writes about how the average user has become the heel in the Achilles myth, with denial-of-service attacks running rampant. Read the rest of his report over at ZDNet.
Win2k for Alpha Leaked to Web
The Register is reporting that Windows 2000 for the Alpha platform is not only steaming ahead in its development cycle, but also available for download on the net. This comes as no surprise, as Windows 2000 early betas were leaked to the Web almost as quickly as they were created. The Alpha platform available on the net stands at 2128 Alpha build, and The Register warns that the code has not been checked to see if it is officially build 2128 alpha, and that it carries a 444 day time bomb. For more information visit The Register.
P4 Glitch Not Gone Away
The glitch in the upcoming Pentium 4 from Intel that delayed its burst onto the market has still not been corrected, according to newsbursts over at ZDNet. The report says the potential for damage and problems is relatively small at this point however. News.com reports the glitch can slow the processor down, causing decreased computer speed or data corruption should the user attach a second monitor or second graphics card in a PCI slot. Further delays are not expected in the release of the processor, as the error seems to affect a small number of the chips.
Further delays are not expected in the release of the processor, as the error seems to affect a small number of the chips. Workarounds for the problem have been developed, and are outlined over at News.com.
Sega to Sell Company?
Reuters is reporting that Sega is in the market to sell itself, some saying to rival Nintendo for close to $2 billion. Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi denies any talks with Sega, saying there was no chance they would purchase the rival console maker. New York Times originally reported on the subject, saying talks had been going for months but the terms of the deal were not solid yet. NYT also said Sega had been in discussions with Microsoft about a possible purchase. For more information read the rest of the article.
AIM 4.4 Alpha Leaked
A new tech site Newriot.com received an internal copy of AOL Instant Messenger version 4.4 Alpha. Several new features are in the works over at the Online Giant, including a new logging feature that will create logs on your hard drive. A log manager has been added to manage the file transfer, chat, IM, and talk logs. The preferences menu has been redone to make it more streamlined, as the company expands upon its large number of existing preferences and customizations. You can read about and download the new AOL over at Newriot.com.
Netdocs - MS Next Big Thing
Everyone is talking about Microsoft's Netdocs, slated to be one of its showcase products in the next year. The News.com article reports that though Microsoft will not discuss it publicly, nor is it said to be in either alpha or beta testing, the service should debut sometime in 2001, and be big. Sources at Microsoft told News.com the new .Net service is a ".Net application/service for knowledge workers."
According to the article, the sources also told News.com "Netdocs is a single, integrated application that will include a full suite of functions, including email, personal information management, document-authoring tools, digital-media management, and instant messaging." And Netdocs will not be a retail software package, but rather hostly soley over the Internet as a service.
Hard Drive Technology Protects Copyrighted Material
According to CMPTR.com, hard drive manufacturers are currently working on technology that would prevent computer users from holding copyrighted and illegal materials. The article reports that the drives would be assigned a unique identification number to a 1MB read-only keyblock, which would be used by other devices to retrieve information about the drive. With this a CD manufacturer could prevent the data from being copied to the users hard drive. The technology is currently being used in certain MP3 players, and will soon be encorporated into CD-ROM and CDRW drives. For more information read the article over at CMPTR.com.
X-Box Logistics Revealed
Microsoft has revealed its plans behind the much anticipated X-Box rollout coming to North America and Japan in the fall of next year, and to Europe in early 2002. To meet the expected enormous demand, the Redmond Giant says it will be working with Flextronics International Ltd. to establish facilities for manufacturing the gaming console in several regions throughout the world. Initial plants will open in Mexico and Hungary, with a plant in Asia to follow shortly after to meet demand in that region. For more information visit Microsoft.
Wrapping Up A Rocky Year
It's that time of year again, where every news site on the net is giving its readers wrapups for one of the most exciting years in tech history. In 2000 we've seen many things, some of them good, some of them bad. Over at ZDNet the entire front page is full of stories summarizing the year, ranging in topic from security, to search engines, to the newest technologies. So head over there if you are interested in reading about this year in a nutshell. News.com is offering its readers a special section for its special reports from this year, and you can check that out here. Even the Redmond Giant Microsoft gives a year in review perspective for interested people. Enjoy!
BaySpider - Tracking Digital Music
US-based security firm BayTSP is telling reporters they have finally created software that can track digital music over the Internet. The software works by scanning the net 24 hours a day every day of the year to identify Web sites, newsgroups, and P2P networks who are illegally holding and trading copyrighted materials. And the list isn't limited to MP3s either, as the software can trace WAVs and other such formats.
If illegal materials are found, a "snapshot" of the URL is taken and the ISP as well as the site are informed.
Create Your Own e-Books for Microsoft Reader
Microsoft has released an add-in for all you potential authors out there so you can create your own e-books for use with Microsoft Reader. The add-in, for Word 2000, allows users to create new documents that are MS Reader compatible, or convert existing documents into MS Reader formatted ones. You can download the add-in from Office Update over at Microsoft.
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