Yahoo Opens Up Mail Source Code
Yahoo said over the weekend that it was opening up its market-leading mail service technology in order to allow developers to innovate on top of the service and build new applications. The move is called one of the largest code giveaways ever.
By doing so, the Sunnyvale, Calif. company hopes to spur a host of applications built around Yahoo Mail. The service is accessed by more than a quarter of a billion Internet users worldwide, Yahoo says.
Netflix Wants to Improve Recommendations
Looking to improve the personalized recommendations process, Netflix on Monday announced the Netflix Prize, a $1 million contest that awards the first researcher who can reach a certain level of accuracy in recommending movie picks.
After a period of significant advancement in the field, innovation has slowed dramatically. Thus, the Los Gatos, Calif. based movie rental firm was spurred to create the contest to urge researchers to look into better ways to employ recommendation systems.
Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.4.8
Apple on Friday pushed what is likely the second-to-last update to Mac OS X 10.4, code-named "Tiger." The update includes several fixes to printing, Finder and Apple applications and networking, as well as several third-party fixes among other modifications.
The company said that on Intel-based Macs, the update would require two restarts, but did not specify the cause. PowerPC-based systems would require a single restart.
Zero-Day Windows Shell Exploit Emerges
Microsoft confirmed the existence Thursday of a vulnerability affecting the Windows Shell feature in Windows XP, 2000, and 2003. The issue exists in the WebViewFolderIcon ActiveX control, and successful exploitation could result in an attacker gaining the same user rights as a local user.
According the FrSIRT, the vulnerability was first discovered in mid-July, however exploit code did not surface until recently.
NBC, Intel Partner on Content for Viiv Users
NBC Universal said Friday it had partnered with Intel to launch NBC VIP Access, a service that will provide free entertainment content to Intel Viiv desktop and Centrino laptop users. Users will have access to season premieres and other content available on the NBC networks.
Among the shows included is the entire fall season of "Heroes" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." In addition, the service will also make available the season premieres of "Friday Night Lights", "30 Rock" and "Ghost Hunters," and scenes from the new seasons of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Battlestar Galactica."
Verizon Wireless Sues HP Investigators
On the same day HP execs were being grilled by a House Subcommittee over their use of pretexting and other methods to rout out the source of press leaks, Verizon Wireless on Thursday announced it had sued 20 unnamed data brokers over fraudulent access of customer records related to HP's investigation.
Federal law permits the so-called "John Doe" lawsuits when the exact identity of the defendant is not known. The plaintiff is then given an amount of time to discover their identities. In this case, the defendants are named "Jane and John Does" I through XX.
Morpheus Loses in Court, May Appeal
File sharing network Morpheus lost a crucial case earlier this week, calling into question the service's future and handing the entertainment industry a major victory. A U.S. District Judge ruled that StreamCast, the service's parent company, had aided copyright infringement on a massive scale.
Judge Stephen Wilson also said the company did little to block the trading of copyrighted material, and built its business on the trading of such files. StreamCast had been fighting the entertainment industry since 2001, and was the only P2P service to continue litigation after the Supreme Court's Grokster ruling.
HP Selects Yahoo for Default Search
Yahoo said Thursday it had signed an agreement with Hewlett-Packard to place a co-branded Internet toolbar on the company's computers in North America and Europe. In addition, Yahoo would be the default search portal when HP computers start shipping with Internet Explorer 7 later this year.
In addition to the positioning deals, all HP computer users would gain access to Yahoo e-mail, search, news and finance through co-branded pages. Effective immediately, the default homepage would be the Yahoo portal for computers shipped in Europe, while computers in the US would ship with the new Yahoo/HP co-branded toolbar.
New Sony Laptop Battery Recalls Announced
Sony's laptop battery woes got even worse Friday, as one computer maker announced a new recall and two others expanded their already existing recalls of batteries made by the Japanese manufacturer. With these latest announcements, about 7 million Sony batteries have been recalled.
Fujitsu has said it will announce a broad recall across 19 of its laptop lines, although it did not specify an exact number. Meanwhile, Toshiba announced a new recall affecting 830,000 laptops, and Dell said it was recalling an additional 100,000 units as part of its current recall.
Lenovo Recalls 560,000 Sony Batteries
In conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, both IBM and Lenovo announced that they were calling for the voluntary recall of approximately 526,000 laptop batteries manufactured by Sony. Lenovo had announced earlier this week that it was investigating reports of issues with laptops containing batteries from the manufacturer.
The two companies become the fourth and fifth computer makers behind Toshiba, Apple, and Dell to recall Sony batteries due to overheating problems. Altogether, nearly 6.8 million laptops have been affected, although in fairness Toshiba's recall of 340,000 had to do more with a defect in the laptop manufacturing itself.
Mobile ESPN Cuts the Cord
After less than nine months in operation, ESPN's mobile phone service is expected to announce that it will cease operations, and instead focus on licensing out its content to other carriers. According to the Wall Street Journal, the service has struggled to build a customer base.
Known as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), the company leases access from another wireless provider who owns the towers and spectrum - in this case Sprint Nextel. However, Mobile ESPN could never gain footing in a highly competitive market.
Sony Ericsson, Fossil Merge Watch with Phone
Convergence took another step forward Thursday as mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson announced a partnership with watchmaker Fossil to produce watches that integrate with the company's phones. Through a Bluetooth connection, the watch would connect with the cellular phone.
An LCD screen on the front of select Fossil watches enables consumers to view Caller ID information and text message alerts. In addition, the watch would alert the user of new voicemails, and allow for one touch muting and rejection of incoming calls.
Sling Media Diversifies Product Lineup
Sling Media diversified its product portfolio on Thursday, introducing three new devices designed to cater to the different needs of its users. Dubbed the Slingbox PRO, AV and TUNER, the units will start at $179.99 USD.
The entry-level device, the Slingbox TUNER, will retail for $179.99 USD and is designed for those who wish to use the device only to view their television channels while on the go. No set-top box, DVR or AV device is needed with the unit, and the coaxial cable connects directly into the box.
Microsoft Matches iPod Price for Zune
As first confirmed by BetaNews earlier this month, Microsoft said Thursday that it would match the price of Apple's 30GB iPod, and lower the price of its Zune portable music device to $249.99 USD. The announcement means that Microsoft will now lose money on every player - at least initially.
Sources told BetaNews in mid-September following Zune's initial official announcement that pricing and availability was pulled at the last minute due to the surprise cut in price of Apple's hard-drive based music players. They also said at the time that Microsoft would match the iPod's new price.
T-Mobile Bets on Wi-Fi, Drops Zeta-Jones
Fresh off a major spectrum grab at the recent wireless frequency auction, T-Mobile USA plans to step up efforts to gain new customers and separate itself from its competition. The changes will also include the exit of Catherine Zeta-Jones as T-Mobile's spokeswoman, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The nation's fourth biggest wireless carrier will introduce new phones as early as next month that can use Wi-Fi hotspots in order to make phone calls. Sources have told BetaNews that the company had been testing the phones in the Oregon/Washington area since mid-summer, and although buggy at first, the service had generally worked well.
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.
Ethics Statement© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.