Attackers Use BBC to Exploit IE Flaw
Security firms are warning Internet users of a new method of attack that attempts to fool people into clicking on links to supposed BBC News stories. However, the page visited is a forged copy, and a keystroke logger is installed on the victim's computer through a vulnerability in Internet Explorer.
Attackers are taking advantage of an earlier discovered flaw in Microsoft's ubiquitous browser. The problem causes IE to interpret the "createTextRange()" method used for radio button controls in HTML forms incorrectly, allowing for malicious code execution.
Intel Joins Race for Low-Cost PC
Intel CEO Paul Otellini introduced a new initiative Friday that will aim to supply governments and telecommunications companies with a full-featured PC at an affordable price. The company's first partner is Telmex, a Mexican telecommunications company.
The "Discover the PC" initiative comes after the MIT One Laptop Per Child program rebuffed Intel when the decision was made to use AMD processors. The company's chairman has also publicly criticized the MIT program, saying consumers were looking for a full-featured device.
US Carriers Eager for Mobile WiMAX
While WiMAX has been around for several years, it has seen slow adoption here in the United States. The reasoning behind this, says Aperto Networks' director of product management Dean Chang, is business decisions on behalf of who owns the WiMAX spectrum.
In an interview with BetaNews on the cusp of the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas, Chang said it is the wireless carriers who own much of the spectrum -- namely Sprint Nextel and Verizon -- and they are holding off for the mobile implementations of the technology. That isn't due until 2007, he says.
Report: UMD Movies Close to Failure
Press reports indicate that Sony's proprietary Universal Media Disc may be in danger of failure as a movie format. Although sales of the PlayStation Portable -- the device used to play the disc -- are quite impressive, sales of movies in the format have been lackluster at best.
UMD movie releases have become more sporadic, and some studios have either stopped producing the disc or cut back on plans.
Microsoft, EU Argue Over Compliance
Microsoft's battle against the European Commission has moved forward on two fronts. The company was denied the right to force its rivals to reveal communications with the EU Wednesday, and a hearing on whether Microsoft has complied with a 2004 antitrust ruling began Thursday.
On Wednesday, a California judge refused to force Sun and Oracle to provide internal documents that would assist the company's case. U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Trumbull said in her decision that as a matter of courtesy, she would not interfere with the legal proceedings of a foreign court.
YouTube Adds 10-Minute Video Limit
Popular viral video site YouTube.com earlier this week made some moves to ensure that copyrighted material was not making it on to its site. Effective immediately, the length of videos would be limited to ten minutes or less. In an analysis by the company, it said a majority of those longer videos were copyrighted.
"We're constantly trying to balance the rights of copyright owners with the rights of our users," the company said in a statement.
Live Mail Desktop Makes Beta Debut
Microsoft has begun a limited beta test of its upcoming Windows Live Mail Desktop, BetaNews has learned. The offering is intended to provide users of Windows Live Mail and Hotmail with client-side access to e-mail services. While such a feature was previously only available to paid subscribers, Live Mail Desktop would expand the offering to all users.
"We felt it was important to enable broader email client access to our customers, but also balance these needs with those of running a responsible business," a Microsoft spokesperson said.
AMD Hires Away Key Intel Developer
Press reports indicate that AMD has hired away one of the leading designers of the Itanium processor, along with eight of his colleagues, from competitor Intel. Samuel Naffziger had only been with the company for less than a year, having been hired away previously from Hewlett Packard in 2005.
AMD confirmed the move Wednesday and said Naffziger would work on chip design as a senior fellow. However, the company would not elaborate on the work he or his counterparts would be doing. While Intel has downplayed the loss, Naffziger played a key part in several chip launches, including the McKinley and Montecito processors.
Microsoft Opens Up Hardware Tech
Microsoft said Wednesday it would license several of its hardware technologies to third-party manufacturers, as part of a broader effort to open up the company's innovations to others. Microsoft's U2, tilt wheel and magnifier technologies would be offered as part of the program.
U2 technology was developed by Microsoft to allow a peripheral device to automatically detect whether it needs a USB or PS2 port in order to operate. The tilt wheel enables the component to be tilted from side to side and up and down to move the cursor, and the magnifier allows a user to easily magnify data on the screen.
Apple Joins Windows Benchmark Group
Apple on Tuesday joined Windows benchmarking consortium BAPco, fueling speculation of its possible future moves. The group's benchmarks are used by computer companies Dell, HP and Toshiba, as well as publications such as CNET, Ziff Davis Media, and Computer Shopper magazine.
The move has stirred speculation across the Internet. Some believe that Apple may be interested in having the benchmarking tools ported to Mac OS X in order to more fairly compare Apple's desktops and laptops to equivalent Windows-based systems.
Microsoft Offers 60-Day ActiveX Reprieve
Microsoft has acknowledged that a planned update to the way Internet Explorer renders multimedia on Web pages could cause some serious problems, and promised to give developers an extra two months to modify their pages to ensure a smooth transition.
The Redmond company was forced to make the changes in response to a patent dispute with Eolas Technologies. The fix would affect the way ActiveX controls are displayed on Web pages, according to experts. If no changes were made, a user would have to "activate" an ActiveX or Java control before it would be usable.
Google Increases Search Dominance
MSN continued to fall farther behind its rivals in terms of search query market share, according to data released Tuesday by research firm ComScore. Microsoft's chief competitor Google increased its lead, grabbing a little over 42 percent of the search market in February.
MSN made it a publicly stated goal last year to increase market share on rivals Yahoo and Google, even unveiling a new version of its search portal that mimicked Google's simplicity. While the company pointed to the increased relevancy of its search results, so far users have not responded.
MSN Courts AOL Users with Lower Cost
While AOL is raising prices for dial-up subscribers in an effort to entice users to switch to broadband, MSN said Tuesday it would do the opposite. Through June 30, MSN would allow new subscribers to sign up for a free month of dial-up service, followed by 12 months at $17.95 USD per month. After that period, the monthly charge would return to the normal dial-up rate.
Currently, MSN charges $21.95 USD per month for dial-up access. In comparison, AOL currently charges $25.90, up from $23.90 USD previously. "As longstanding AOL dial-up subscribers begin exploring alternatives to a monthly price increase, Microsoft believes that this new competitive offer will give consumers an incentive to switch to MSN Dial-Up for their dial-up provider," a Microsoft spokesperson told BetaNews.
Cablevision DVR to Store TV Remotely
Watch out TiVo -- Cablevision has plans to make the popular digital video recorder and other hard drive-based models a thing of the past. The company will soon introduce a box that would store recorded programming at the cable facility, rather than in the home.
According to Cablevision, the new service is expected to cut down on the costs associated with installing and repairing hard-drive based DVRs. The cable operator says these DVRs are not as prone to malfunction, and would operate through current set-top boxes without additional equipment.
Group Sees Spy Threat in Lenovo PCs
Citing fears of espionage, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) said Monday it would call for a probe into the plans for Lenovo to supply 15,000 computers to the U.S. State Department. The USCC said the computers could be bugged to spy on the U.S. government.
The group's reservations about a deal highlight the increasing concern among those in the United States of foreign companies' dealings with American firms. However, Lenovo is not standing in the group's way, and invited an investigation saying it had "nothing to hide."
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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