T-Mobile Unveils Q-Like 'Dash' Phone
T-Mobile USA continued its push towards more fully featured phones by releasing the T-Mobile Dash, a branded version of the HTC S620 announced last month. The device looks and performs much like the Motorola Q, which has been a success for CDMA carrier Verizon Wireless.
The HTC S620 may be one of the hottest devices from the Taiwanese phone maker if the success of the Q is any indication. A GSM/EDGE handset, the phone also supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The phone has been rumored to be launching in Europe through Vodafone.
Microsoft Patches 28 Security Flaws
Microsoft scaled back its October patch event by one on Tuesday, electing to release ten patches. Five patches are intended for Windows, the highest rating of those being critical; four for Office, with the highest rating also being critical; and one moderate patch for the .NET framework.
As is typical with information surrounding Patch Tuesday releases, Microsoft did not specify the nature of the dropped patch.
Spamhaus Could Lose Domain Name
After thumbing its nose at a US court, UK spam fighting organization Spamhaus could lose its domain name. The action would come as a result of an expected order by a federal judge in Chicago that would order ICANN to suspend the group's rights to spamhaus.org.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered Spamhaus to pay e360insight and its CEO David Linhardt $11,715,000 in damages, and immediately remove his company from the blacklist. In addition, the group was ordered to publish an apology and acknowledge that Linhardt was not a spammer back in mid-September.
PS3 Pre-Orders Sell Out in Minutes
The nation's largest gaming retailer GameStop began taking pre-orders Tuesday for the PlayStation 3 at both its GameStop and EB Games locations across the US, however in most cases the stores sold through their scant allotments almost immediately.
"Due to extremely limited supply, we expect to deplete this allocation very quickly, most likely in minutes," GameStop said.
Yahoo Builds Electronic Time Capsule
The historic Pyramid of the Sun will play host to another historic event - the first ever electronic anthropology archive, better known as a "time capsule." Search giant Yahoo put the call out Tuesday for submissions, asking Internet users to submit photos, writings and home movies to the project.
The time capsule would be opened in 2020 at Yahoo's Sunnyvale, Calif. heaquarters as part of the search engine's 25th anniversary celebrations. Copies of the digital archive would also be given to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC and The National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico City.
MySpace Merger Challenge Dismissed
The forces aligned behind overturning News Corp.'s 2005 purchase of MySpace suffered a blow Monday, as a Los Angeles Superior Court dismissed challenges to the merger. But News Corp. must still fight a federal case against the company.
Brad Greenspan, founder and former CEO of Intermix, the company that News Corp. bought out last year to purchase MySpace, has spearheaded the challenges. He and his supporters have set up FreeMySpace.com, a site where he argues the deal was one of "the largest merger and acquisition scandals in U.S. history."
YouTube Signs Three Content Deals
YouTube said it had signed content deals with three companies Monday, including one television network and two record labels. The new agreements come less than a month after the social video site penned an agreement with Warner Music Group to stream its content.
One of the companies YouTube came to terms with, Vivendi Universal, had apparently threatened to sue the site last month. However, it appears the two sides have put their differences aside, and the French-owned music label joined Sony BMG and the CBS television network in announcing the partnership Monday.
Warner, Sony BMG Partner with Google
Google said Monday that it had signed agreements with both Sony BMG and Warner Music Group to stream each company's catalog of music videos free from its Google Video service. The deal would also eventually allow the company's AdSense partners to also stream the videos as well.
The Mountain View, Calif. based search company is working on technology that would allow Google Video users to incorporate Sony BMG and Warner content into their own content submitted to the service. Such capabilities would be provided for free.
MS to Offer Free, Discounted Vista
Microsoft is set to offer either free or discounted Vista upgrades to those who purchase new computers during the holiday season, press reports indicate. To qualify for the coupons, a PC would need to be purchased after October 28 of this year, and the upgrade would be good through March 15, 2007.
The Redmond company would not confirm the program publicly, other than saying "we're working with partners on this." Reports indicate that the free or discounted upgrade would be based on the version of operarting system installed.
T-Mobile: 3G Deployments Underway
As previously reported, Deutsche Telekom announced Friday at a press conference in New York that it would begin transitioning the T-Mobile USA network to UMTS this quarter, with work continuing through 2009. The network upgrade is expected to cost the company some $2.7 billion, and service should begin in mid-2007.
The cost is expected to be offset, however, by a decrease in spending in the current network as the company transitions, T-Mobile executives said at the press conference.
News Corp., MySpace Merger Questioned
The founder of MySpace's former parent company Intermix spoke out against its merger with News Corp. on Thursday, issuing a report that says the company defrauded shareholders out of as much as $20 billion. He also called for a federal investigation into the matter.
Brad Greenspan claims that Intermix's CEO Richard Rosenblatt along with certain board members deceived shareholders into voting for the transaction even though they knew the company was undervalued. He cited internal reports showing that MySpace revenues were growing at a rate of over 1,200 percent a year.
Hitachi Recalls 16,000 Sony Batteries
Japanese electronics maker Hitachi said Friday that it would recall 16,000 Sony-produced laptop batteries, becoming the seventh company do so over the past month. The batteries are found in laptops sold to businesses mainly in Japan, and talks are underway to see who will be responsible for paying for the cost of the recall. Either way, the number of defective batteries is small enough that it likely would not have a large financial impact on either company.
Worldwide, well over 7 million Sony batteries have been recalled, and the company expects the problem to cost in excess of $250 million. In all cases, the batteries are said to overheat and pose a possible fire risk, although Sony contends that the actual occurrence of fire is extremely rare.
Cisco Looks to Increase Public Image
Cisco began a $100 million campaign Thursday to increase its public image and make the brand a household name. Among the changes is a new logo, as well as a new slogan focusing on what is called the "Human Network."
The company found through focus groups that it had a lower brand awareness than many other technology companies, despite in some cases generating far more revenue. Thus, it has decided to launch a large media campaign, including newspaper, television, Web and mobile phone ads.
Sony BMG Appeals Merger Annulment
Sony and Bertelsmann filed an appeal Thursday of a decision that would break up the world's second biggest music label. The EU's Court of First Instance annuled the merger in July, sending the merger proposal back to the European Commission and ordering the two companies to re-file.
Europe's high court, the Court of Justice, will preside over the case. A decision in the matter is not expected for at least a year, if not longer. In the meantime, however,the EC will have to review the merger and investigate any competition concerns.
US Official: AllofMP3 Must Shut Down
The United States is continuing to pressure Russia to shut down the music site allofmp3.com, with a top trade official saying Wednesday it would be hard to see the country being a member of the WTO with the site still operating in the country.
Calls for AllofMP3's demise are again surfacing as the two countries attempt to restart negotiations for Russia to enter the international trade group. Talks stalled in July after persistent disagreements related to agriculture and intellectual property issues.
Ed's Bio
Ed Oswald is a freelance journalist from the Reading, PA area. Although he has written across a variety of subjects, Ed’s passion and focus has been on technology and gadgets. His work regularly appears on tech news sites BetaNews, PCWorld, and Technologizer, and has been syndicated to eWeek, Time’s Techland blog, VentureBeat and the New York Times.
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