Ed Oswald

A draft version of the proposed 802.11n wireless networking standard failed to pass Tuesday, leading some to criticize "pre-802.11n" products that have begun to flood the market. Only 46 percent of voters approved the draft, far short of the 75 percent needed for ratification.

It should be noted, however, that the group did not expect the draft to pass on first vote; typically it will take several revisions before the necessary majority approves a draft. In fact, an official roadmap does not predict final ratification until September of next year.

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Nokia on Wednesday said it began shipping the Nokia E61, a phone intended to compete with RIM's BlackBerry. The first deliveries began last week, the company said. The E-Series line of phones -- which also includes the E70 and E60 -- was introduced in October of last year in an effort to grab more of the lucrative enterprise market. However, software problems have delayed the release of the E-Series phones, as well as several of Nokia's N-Series Multimedia phone as well.

The E61 looks much like RIM's BlackBerry with a large screen and full QWERTY keyboard. The E70, which comes with a 2-megapixel digital camera, will start shipping later this month. The first E-Series phone, the E60, started shipping last month. Nokia has hopes that the new phones will help turn a profit in its otherwise loss-plagued enterprise division.

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A study commissioned by the movie industry has left those involved both baffled and embarrassed, as the issue of piracy seems to be much bigger than anyone thought. Some industry executives have even advocated not releasing the information to the public.

Carried out by LEK Consulting for the MPAA, the study found that U.S. studios lose $6.1 billion annually, much more than earlier estimates of $3.5 billion in losses. Not only is the issue affecting ticket sales, the study found, but also DVD sales, which the studios have increasingly turned to for revenue.

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The OpenDocument Format Alliance said Wednesday that it had won approval of ODF as an standard by the International Organization for Standardization. The approval ends a two-year process by ODF supporters to have the format officially recognized.

In May 2004, OASIS was urged by the European Commission's Interchange of Data between Administrations Management Committee to submit ODF to the ISO. OASIS obliged, which led to a vote that ended on May 1.

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Creative's losses widened in the third quarter as the company's digital music player business continued to struggle in the face of price pressures and fierce competition from the Apple iPod. But Creative showed no signs of a willingness to abandon the effort that has been spearheaded by its vociferous chairman.

Sim Wong Hoo made digital media players Creative's premier business two years ago in a bid to take on the iconic iPod. However, while vehemently defending his decision and products since then, none of the company's players have caught on with consumers.

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Research firm Gartner said Tuesday that it believed Microsoft would miss its targets and release Windows Vista another three or so months after its current November-January timeframe. The firm claims Vista's features are too complex to be finished that quickly.

Windows Vista was originally scheduled for a 2005 release, but has been repeatedly delayed as the Redmond company struggled to finish upgrades and ensure a quality release. Vista is the first major upgrade of the Windows platform in five years.

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Google has raised objections over Microsoft's plans to integrate its new search engine into Internet Explorer 7, press reports indicate. The company's concerns have even led Google to speak with the Justice Department and the European Commission.

Much like Firefox does with Google, the new version of Internet Explorer will be set up by default to send search queries to MSN Search. Google contends that this gives Microsoft an unfair advantage over its competitors.

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A new flaw has been found in Internet Explorer by security firm Secunia through research into another vulnerability present in the browser. The issue was initially believed to be a successful exploit of a problem discovered last week, however Microsoft said it was actually a new flaw.

Researcher Anreas Sandblad discovered the vulnerability, which Secunia has issued an advisory for and rates as "highly critical." Like the previous problem, the bug is in the handling of the OBJECT HTML tag. In this flaw, memory can be corrupted to compromise the user's system.

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Sirius Satellite Radio said on Tuesday that its quarterly loss doubled, mainly due to a $225 million stock payment to shock jock Howard Stern. For the quarter ending March 30, the satellite radio operator posted a $458.5 million loss, compared with $193.6 million a year ago.

Stock compensation charges were nearly $285 million of that loss. This compares with a $38.7 million charge a year ago. However, revenue tripled from $43.2 million a year ago to $126.7 million, and the company showed strong subscriber growth.

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McAfee said Monday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had awarded it a patent regarding methods to update computer files on mobile devices. The company says that the technology could be used to update a file on a mobile device with a newer versions that exists on another device.

For example, a communication link is established between two devices with the file. The wireless device first determines whether the file stored is updated. If there is an up-to-date version on the other device, the file is downloaded. Once the file is fully downloaded, it can then replace the older file.

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Helio, the joint venture between Korea's SK Telecom and EarthLink targeted towards young consumers, officially launched on Tuesday. The company is leasing bandwidth from CDMA provider Sprint Nextel, however it has added features on top of what Sprint's towers can already provide.

The MVNO, or Mobile Virtual Network Operator, is focusing on Internet features. Helio's phones provide easy access to content such as games, music and video. Additionally, functionality from Yahoo and MySpace.com are built into the phones.

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Wireless e-mail firm Visto said Monday that it had won a patent infringement case against Seven Networks, and upon receipt of the verdict it filed another lawsuit against BlackBerry maker Research In Motion. Monday's victory could also give Visto leverage in its ongoing suits against Microsoft and Good Technology.

A federal jury said Seven had infringed on three patents regarding Visto's mobile e-mail system, and awarded the company $3.6 million in damages. However, Seven says it plans to appeal the verdict and is still pursuing attempts to have Visto's patents thrown out.

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The digital music player market is expected to double in size by the end of the decade, research firm In-Stat said in a report released Monday. Shipments of players will jump from 140 million units last year to 286 million units by 2010.

Spearheading the rapid growth will be falling price points, growth in both the pay-per-download and subscription online music stores, enhanced functionality, and increasing flash memory capacities.

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Rhode Island is in the process of setting up a wireless network that would provide statewide coverage. The $20 million project is expected to be completed by 2007, and would focus on commercial, emergency, and government uses.

The move is an effort to lure businesses away from the Boston metropolitan area, some 50 minutes away from Rhode Island's capital of Providence. Office rents in the Massachusetts city are some of the highest in the country, and a Wi-Fi network may be enough to lure many away.

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RCA has begun a project that will soon allow the company to add thousands of tracks to online services in a genre that has been generally underserved since the days of disco: dance music.

First launched in March through online store iTunes, the initial release included remixes of Kelly Clarkson's hit "Walk Away," as well as other current dance tracks. Also included are promo-only tracks, such as a 12-minute extended mix of Eurythmics' "Right By Your Side," and Odyssey's 1977 hit "Native New Yorker," which has been re-released for the first time.

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