Intel Macs, Plasma TVs at Macworld?
With the keynote address from Apple CEO Steve Jobs less than 24 hours away, the rumor mill has shifted into overdrive concerning what the company will unveil on Tuesday at Macworld in San Francisco.
These rumors range from the believable -- that some type of Intel Mac would be announced at the show -- to the more outlandish, including speculation that Apple could be set to introduce its own line of plasma televisions based around its Front Row media center application.
Clear Channel to Offer Music Videos
Clear Channel is launching on Tuesday a beta of an on-demand music video service across 16 of its radio stations in five cities. Altogether, videos from 40 labels would be featured, including content from major labels Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and EMI Music.
Videos on Demand would be completely interactive, Clear Channel says, giving users the ability to customize the service and vote for their favorite music videos. Each radio station would have the ability to customize the site to its own liking.
Apple Sues Patent Holder Burst.com
Apple this week asked a federal court to invalidate claims by Burst.com that it is infringing on patents owned by the company. At issue are certain technologies within Apple's iPod player and iTunes software that Burst says are not properly licensed.
Burst attempted to settle with Apple two years ago, when Burst lawyers first informed the Cupertino company that it was illegally infringing on patents. Apple attempted to negotiate a deal, but talks broke down.
5,198 Linux, Windows OS Flaws in 2005
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team released its year-end summary of computer vulnerabilities. While Windows is regarded as the most insecure operating system, the US-CERT found four times as many vulnerabilities specifically related to Unix and Linux. Of 5,198 reported flaws, 812 were for the Windows, 2,328 for Unix and Linux, and 2,058 more affected more than one operating system.
Notably missing from the list of Windows vulnerabilities is the recently discovered Windows Metafile issue. No vulnerabilities were listed for Apple's Mac OS X, however several had been disclosed during the year. Also, since OS X is based on Unix, it is vulnerable to some of the flaws associated with its core operating system.
Skype Looks to Extend Consumer Reach
Skype said Tuesday that it had partnered with networking equipment manufacturer D-Link to bring a solution to market that would allow its subscribers to place Skype calls over a traditional phone line.
D-Link will offer a USB phone adapter that enables Skype users to plug in a traditional corded or cordless telephone to use with the service. Both a Skype and traditional phone line can be connected to the device, allowing users to switch between services.
XM to Demo In-Car Video at CES
Building on an agreement first announced at last year's CES, On2 Technologies said on Tuesday that it would demonstrate in-car video receivers at this week's show through partner XM Satellite Radio. The devices would receive video content through XM's satellites, encoded in On2's proprietary format.
XM rival Sirius had announced previously that it intended to launch a video service with partner Microsoft later this year, however no further announcements as to the progress of the service have been made.
Motorola to Show Off iRadio at CES
Motorola on Tuesday unveiled its plans for iRadio, an upcoming subscription radio service. iRadio would first run on the company's forthcoming Rokr E2 cell phone, due out in October of this year.
However, in a possible sign of early trouble with the Apple-Motorola partnership, the phone will not include the iTunes music software. The company had promised more phones with the feature included, but so far only one has been announced.
Slingbox Moves to Mobile Devices
Sling Mox said on Tuesday that it would demonstrate new features to be added to its Slingbox product at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas. Among those is a feature that would allow users to watch their home TVs over a mobile device.
The company says this will allow for users to have freedom to watch what they want on their portable players. Currently, there are services that allow for live and recorded television content over cellular connections, however the selection of content is usually very limited.
Starz Launches Movie Download Service
Starz Entertainment Group launched a new video download application dubbed Vongo on Tuesday, which allows playback of content on Windows-based PCs, laptops and portable media devices, including televisions. The service would provide unlimited access to 1,000 movies and videos, as well as streaming video of the Starz television channel for a monthly fee.
Each account would be permitted to download content on up to three devices for the $9.99 USD monthly rate. Some movies would be available on a pay-per-view basis for $3.99 USD per download, Starz said.
Two More NTP Patents Deemed Invalid
BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion celebrated another win in its fight against NTP, saying on Friday that the U.S. Patent Office had rejected two more of NTP's patents in "non-final actions." With these latest rejections, only one of eight patents surrounding BlackBerry technologies still stands.
With its court options exhausted, RIM has had to turn to the Patent Office for any hope of avoiding a disconnection of service. A U.S. judge in Virginia is currently considering a lifting of a stay that prevented the BlackBerry service from being shut down, and has indicated his patience with the case is wearing thin.
Kodak Delivers First Dual-Lens Digital Camera
Kodak will unveil the world's first dual-lens digital camera at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas, the company said. The EasyShare V570, will combine a 5X optical zoom lens with a ultra-wide angle lens in a camera that is less than an inch thin.
As well as being able to shoot still images, the camera can record TV-quality video at 30 frames per second using MPEG-4 compression. Shaky images will be automatically stabilized through the camera's internal image stabilization technology.
Year in Review: Apple Continues to Wow
Apple continued to build on its dominance of the digital music industry in 2005, and saw the successes slowly bleed into its personal computer business as industry analysts began to gauge the iPod's "halo effect."
The folks at Cupertino would also do the once unthinkable and admit that Apple was falling behind the rest of the industry by continuing with the PowerPC architecture, a decision that could shape the company in 2006 and beyond.
Patent Lawsuit Targets Google Talk
A company that holds patents on the way voice over IP (VoIP) calls are placed said on Friday that it was suing Google over its use of certain technologies within the Google Talk instant message application.
New York-based Rates Technology Inc. has no products. However, it is one of several patent companies now in existence whose entire business is based on collecting royalties from firms that use technologies covered by patents they own.
Google Founders to Finance Indie Film
It's good to have friends in high places -- at least that's what Reid Gershbein has found out. The computer graphics designer turned film director has received financial assistance from Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to pay for his independent film. Called "Broken Arrows," the film is a story of a man whose wife is killed by a terrorist attack, driving him to become a hitman to deal with her death.
Gershbein, Brin and Page became friends in the late 1990s at Stanford. Costs of production are estimated to be $1 million, and the two have contributed roughly half that. The final version is hoped to see its debut at film festivals in the fall of 2006.
Intel to Overhaul Brand at CES 2006
Intel said Thursday that it plans to unveil an all-new branding scheme and marketing campaign at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. The company is now expanding into markets outside of its traditional personal computer business, and the change is to be symbolic of that new path.
The two most visible changes will be to the company's logo, which has not updated in nearly three and a half decades. Gone will be the word Intel with the lowered "e," instead replaced with an oval swirl with the company's name inside.
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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