Ed Oswald

T-Mobile quietly rolled out its planned combination of Wi-Fi and cellular phone service, called Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA). As expected, the service has initially rolled out in the Seattle market, with eventual plans to roll out the service across the country.

Called HotSpot@Home, the service would cost $19.99 USD per month, and requires the purchase of a router that would be free after rebate. The customer would need to sign up for a $39.99 USD per month or higher rate plan in order to qualify.

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Verizon Wireless said it was continuing to step up efforts to protect its customers from spam on Tuesday, specifically regarding unsolicited text messaging. Over the past four months, the company has filed three lawsuits, all in US District Court in Trenton, N.J.

"These lawsuits are just a small part of our company's efforts to stop unwanted messages from reaching our customers' handsets," general counsel Steve Zipperstein said.

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EchoStar responded to a injunction that would prevent it from transmitting network television stations to those who may not be able to receive the programming otherwise over the air on Monday, expressing its disappointment with the ruling.

The injunction was issued on Friday by a U.S. District Court in Miami.

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Ending months of speculation, Apple on Tuesday said its entire line of MacBook Pro laptops would now include faster Core 2 Duo processors, as well as double the memory and larger hard drives. The Cupertino company says the new models are 39 percent faster than their predecessors.

"We are thrilled that our notebook sales are growing twice as fast as the overall notebook market, and we hope these new MacBook Pro models continue that success," Apple's marketing senior vice president Phillip Schiller said in the announcement.

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Google will allow its search engine to be customized, enabling a Web site owner to focus the site's vast information into search results more relevant for its users. Along with its ability to generate revenue through ads, a Web site owner can also change the look to match their own site, Google said.

The Mountain View, Calif. company says it has received many comments from partners requesting that it offer such a feature. In addition, Google will allow friends and community members to add to and help build the customized product.

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Sony and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said late Monday that it would recall an additional 340,000 batteries due to a fire hazard. Fujitsu, Sony, and Toshiba have expanded their previously announced callbacks, while Gateway joined the growing list of affected companies.

While a spokesperson for Gateway says it has not received reports of Sony batteries overheating like they have in other companies systems, the company decided to issue a voluntary recall of 34,000 batteries across 18 lines.

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Following similar settlements in California and Wisconsin, an Arkansas court said Monday it had begun to issue notices regarding a proposed settlement against Microsoft. If approved, it would mean nearly $37.8 million in payments to businesses and consumers.

Microsoft has been accused of breaking state laws regarding antitrust, consumer protection, and competition through the overcharging for its Windows operating system, word processing and spreadsheet software. The court has not ruled on the merits of the suit, and Microsoft denies that it did anything wrong, despite agreeing to settle.

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In an apparent move to keep dissention at a minimum, the Internet Society of China has recommended that the government require bloggers use their real names when registering their blogs. While no decision has been made as of yet, officials say such a system will be put in place.

China's communist leadership has cracked down hard on Internet free speech in the country, claiming that some outside information would subvert the Chinese government. China regularly blocks certain Web sites, and monitors net communications.

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BitTorrent continued its efforts to separate itself from its illicit file-sharing roots by announcing a new initiative to incorporate the technology into consumer electronic products. ASUS, Planex, and QNAP are among the first companies to license the technology.

The BitTorrent download manager would be integrated into devices, allowing content to be retrieved, stored and played back. Products including routers, media servers, and network attached storage devices would incorporate the technology.

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AOL said Monday that it had added movie and television show downloads from Paramount Pictures to its Video site, bringing further content on top of deals already signed with 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros.

As with the deals with the other studios, the movie downloads would be available for prices ranging from $9.99 to $19.99 USD per movie. Currently, some 300 titles are already available from the service. The Paramount Deal would add more, including Failure to Launch, Breakfast at Tiffany's and others.

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Claiming it had come to an impasse in negotiations with the Web retailer, IBM said Monday it had filed two patent infringement suits against Amazon.com for unspecified damages. The company said it had attempted to reach a settlement with Amazon for the past four years.

"We filed this case for a very simple reason. IBM's property is being knowingly and unfairly exploited," IBM intellectual property chief Dr. John Kelly said. The suits were filed in two Texas district courts.

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Adobe on Thursday acquired video software maker Serious Magic, intended to continue its momentum in the streaming video industry. The company produces several applications, including direct-to-disk recording software DVRack as well as video tools Visual Communicator and Vlog It.

After having practically no market share in the streaming video market, Flash has quickly -- and silently -- become the de facto standard for Web video. Sites like YouTube and MySpace have put Adobe at the forefront, and the format continues to gain momentum.

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A Wisconsin state court said Friday that it had begun to alert Wisconsin consumers and businesses that are eligible for compensation through a proposed settlement in a class action suit against Microsoft. Those eligible purchased software between December 7, 1993 and April 30, 2003.

The Redmond company is accused of violating state laws by overcharging for its operating system, word processing, and spreadsheet software. The settlement is quite similar to one reached with the state of California in July 2003, which began disbursing vouchers in July.

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At an event for press in San Francisco Thursday, Sony demonstrated functionality that it hopes would erase one of the Microsoft Xbox 360's greatest strengths - its online service. Although the PlayStation 2 had some online functionality, the industry largely believes that the Xbox offered a superior broadband experience.

Called the PlayStation Network, the service will allow for users to voice and videoconference, as well as play and download games. While the downloadable games would come at a premium, Sony's offering would differ from Xbox Live in that the service itself is free.

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The movie adaptation of the popular Xbox video game Halo appears to be in trouble as both Universal Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox have apparently pulled out of the project. The move leaves the project without financing and distribution, entertainment publication Variety reported.

Negotiations broke down after the two studios attempted to force Microsoft and the filmmakers to reduce their take on any profits. Also rumored to be behind the decision was the film's ballooning cost, apparently exceeding its $135 million budget.

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