Ed Oswald

Apple may have slipped up and given the first public confirmation of the long-rumored touch-screen iPod. In a PDF document intended for developers discussing the iPod notes feature, the Cupertino, Calif. company references such a device.

In a section titled "Advanced Uses of Notes," Apple tells developers: "Linking to photos and videos is supported only for 5th generation iPods running iPod Software version 1.2 or later. All other Notes feature capabilities described in this document are supported for iPod models with display screens, beginning with the touch-screen models."

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Google began offering a mobile-application based version of its Gmail product for mobile phones capable of running Java applications on Thursday. The company says the new product offers much faster access to e-mail than its WAP-based offering.

"We realize the role mobile phones play as a key driver for balancing online and offline worlds, and we're committed to developing products that help people stay connected when they're away from their computers," Google product management director Deep Nishar said.

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Microsoft will just barely make its November deadline for the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows Vista, announcing an event November 30 in New York City to launch both the next-generation operating system and Office 2007.

A select number of journalists have received an invitation to the "New Day For Business Event," to take place at the Nasdaq stock market and featuring Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. In addition, Ballmer is expected to talk about the new version of Exchange, although that would release in December.

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Cingular is expected to launch its own music service, sociality the help of Windows-based music services like Napster, Yahoo Music, and eMusic, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The service, like Verizon's VCAST, would play on selected multimedia-capable phones.

Like VCAST, Cingular will permit customers to transfer songs from their own collection to the phones. Songs from the music service's subscription services could be transferred to the phone, and in 2007 the carrier plans to offer an over-the-air downloading option.

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Apple is targeting the ever-increasing numbers of Latino consumers by offering a dedicated section of the iTunes Store focused on content aimed at that demographic. It also announced the addition of television shows from the Telemundo and mun2 networks.

The Latin area would feature music tracks and videos, as well as audio books, podcasts, and television shows. Apple vice president Eddy Cue said that Latin Music has been a big hit for the music service.

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AT&T said Wednesday that it had launched its Homezone service across its broadband footprint. The service combines the company's high-speed Internet and Home Networking services with satellite television service through DISH Network.

The combined package is the first phase of a planned rollout of fiber-optic television services by the company, much like Verizon's FiOS TV offering. However, AT&T is far behind its bigger rival, with a wide scale availability not expected for another two years.

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Nintendo said it plans to make at least four million Wii consoles available between its launch November 19 and the end of the year. While most of those consoles will be shipped to the Americas, the company still expects demand to be outpaced by supply.

A rapid replenishment system has been designed by Nintendo that is intended to keep Wii shipments flowing to store shelves on a consistent basis, it said.

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In its continuing battle with Netflix, Blockbuster announced Wednesday that it was changing its online rental service to allow users to return their movies in-store in exchange for free rentals. The new service would be available to all Blockbuster Online users.

Blockbuster Online had 1.5 million subscribers as of the end of September, a 50 percent increase. Over the past quarter, the service added 150,000 new subscribers. This is still far smaller than Netflix, which counts 5.7 million subscribers and added 493,000 new customers in the third quarter.

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Microsoft said Tuesday that it would bring its Office Live service out of beta in the United States on November 15, while at the same time launching new free betas in France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. With the official release also comes new functionality, it said.

According to Microsoft, nearly 160,000 businesses tested out the service's various features, and through that feedback it has made several changes.

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Google said Tuesday that it had acquired JotSpot, a three-year old startup that deals with collaborate Web pages called "wikis." The company said that joining the Mountain View, Calif. based search giant will give it access to both "world-class data centers and a team of incredibly smart people."

While the company makes the transition from its own platform to Google's software architecture, new registrations will be closed. However, interested users can sign up for a mailing list on JotSpot's Web site that would send out updates on the progress of the transition.

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The pain of entering phone numbers into your cell phone may soon become a thing of the past thanks to a new application being offered by Plaxo. The service will allow users of the address book network to have their information for contacts automatically updated.

Plaxo Mobile Plus will be initially offered through Verizon Wireless on 30 BREW-capable phones. The service will be expanded to additional models and two additional carriers, Alltel and US Cellular, over the coming weeks, the company said.

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Microsoft has taken action against nearly 55 defendants worldwide in an effort to curb online dealers from selling counterfeit software through auction sites such as eBay. The company said it had warned many of the parties involved through cease and desist letters, among other methods.

By region, the actions include 15 within the United States, 10 in Germany, 10 in the Netherlands, and five each in both France and Britain. In addition, complaints were filed in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Korea, Mexico, and Poland.

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Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) accused U.S. firms of assisting China in its censorship of the Internet, and called on governments to prevent such cooperation in the future. The comments came as part of a UN-sponsored forum on Internet governance in Athens, Greece on Tuesday.

Specifically, RSF was referring to companies like Yahoo and Google, which have made concessions to operate within the country. For example, the Chinese version of Google omits certain Web sites and material that the Chinese government may consider subversive.

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News Corp., the parent company of MySpace, said Monday that it would be employing technology aimed at keeping copyrighted material off its pages. Additionally, the site would crack down on violators of the policy, kicking them off the popular social networking site.

Technology from Gracenote would scan music uploaded to the site's profile pages and then compare it to the privately held company's database. If it detects the file does not match a filing with the company, it would be blocked.

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In an attempt to thwart Microsoft's plans for video game console dominance in this year's holiday shopping season, Sony said Monday it would be releasing a limited edition Silver PlayStation 2 console for $129.99 USD. A limited edition Dualshock controller would also be included.

Microsoft has said it plans to sell at least four million additional consoles before the end of the year, at least double that of Sony's highest estimates for the PlayStation 3.

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