Yahoo's del.icio.us Acquisition
Social bookmarking service del.icio.us announced on Friday that it had been acquired by Yahoo. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Joshua Schachter, creator of the site, said that the acquisition would allow it to work more closely with photo site Flickr, which was acquired by Yahoo in March.
Schachter created del.icio.us in 2003 as a way for himself and his friends to save and share Web pages that they visited. Earlier this year, del.icio.us, Inc. was formed to attract investment and help grow the service.
Cray Computer Founder Joins Microsoft
Microsoft confirmed on Friday that Burton Smith, formerly the chief scientist for Cray, would be joining the company as a "technical fellow." Smith will work to expand Microsoft's efforts in parallel and high-performance computing, and would report to chief technical officier Craig Mundie.
Smith had worked with Cray since its inception as Tera Computer Co. in 1988. He has also published several works on issues regarding parallel computing. "As microprocessor technology continues to evolve over the next decade or so, we're going to see the capabilities of a supercomputer cluster on the desktop which will require a different software architecture," Mundie said. "Burton will be investigating how to develop software to benefit from the opportunities which multi-core multiprocessors will present."
Gateway Prevails in HP Patent Appeal
Gateway announced late Thursday that it had won an appeal of a judgment that the company infringed on patents held by HP surrounding parallel port technology. The decision by the International Trade Commission remands the case to an administrative law judge for further proceedings.
At issue was the legacy circuitry involved to run parallel-port printers. The ruling stems from a decision in 2004 by HP to attempt to assert six patents against its rival computer maker. Three of the patent claims were dismissed before trial, and Gateway prevailed at trial on two others.
Study: ID Theft from Data Breaches Rare
Detailed analysis of four separate data breaches involving a half-million identities indicates that misuse of the information could be lower than what some may expect. Identity risk management firm ID Analytics announced the results of the findings on Thursday.
Research suggests the level of the breach and how the data was lost contribute to the risk factor. For example, the firm separated the incidents into two categories, "identity-level," where names and social security numbers were stolen, and "account-level," where account numbers were stolen, occasionally tied to accountholders.
Intel Chairman Derides $100 Laptop
Intel's chairman chided plans by rival AMD and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to build a $100 laptop for the developing world. At a press conference in Sri Lanka on Friday, Craig Barrett said that potential computer users would scoff at the computer's lack of features.
Barrett also said the device isn't worthy of being called a laptop. "I think a more realistic title should be 'the $100 gadget'," he mused. "The problem is that gadgets have not been successful."
Security Firm Cracks Sober Worm
Finnish security firm F-Secure said on Thursday that it had cracked the Sober worm, and could now warn of what URLs it would check to update itself.
The company claims it had cracked the code back in May 2005, but chose to stay silent, only alerting German authorities where the free hosting servers that host the update files exist.
Yahoo Ready to Launch Phone Service
Yahoo revealed on Wednesday that it had two new VoIP services in the works for its Yahoo Messenger client, which would allow users to place and receive phone calls. Called Phone In and Phone Out, the additions would allow Yahoo to compete with companies like Skype in the growing VoIP market.
The company has remained mum on when it plans to launch the services, although they are expected to debut first in seven countries including Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, Spain, and the United States.
Creative Unveils iPod Video Lookalike
Aiming to steal some of the thunder from the video iPod, Creative on Thursday introduced the Zen Vision:M, a device that looks quite a bit like its popular rival. The player sports a 30GB hard drive, 2.5"-inch screen, and will be available in five colors.
The Singapore-based Creative continues to struggle against Apple, even having trouble competing against other Windows-based player manufacturers such as iRiver. According to recent surveys, the company's players regularly come behind competitors Apple, Sony and iRiver in just about every country.
Piracy Hurting Software Industry Growth
Over one-third of the world's software is pirated, and groups considered legitimate business in some countries are contributing to the problem, a study released Thursday by research firm IDC said. The issue of piracy may also be preventing the industry from growing overall.
The study was a joint effort between the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and IDC.
RIM, NTP Talking Through Mediator
RIM may be attempting to settle with NTP in order to avoid a potentially damaging shutdown of both BlackBerry sales and service with the United States. Reuters quoted RIM vice president Mark Guibert acknowledging that the two companies were talking through a court-appointed mediator, but he declined to mention what was discussed.
NTP neither directly confirmed nor denied Guibert's comments, stating the last discussions on the lawsuit between the two parties occurred in June. The path seems clear for a shutdown of BlackBerry. On November 30, U.S. District Judge James Spencer ruled that the $450 million settlement between the two companies was not enforceable, giving the green light for enforcement of an injunction against the service.
Yahoo Launches Live Q&A Service
Yahoo on Thursday rolled out a beta of a new service intended to complement its search offerings by enabling users to ask questions and receive answers from actual people on a variety of topics.
The company said that once questions are answered, they would be archived and searchable. Users will also be able to subscribe to the RSS feed of a topic in order to receive continuous updates on the latest questions and answers.
Virtual Earth Now Windows Live Local
On Thursday, Microsoft plans to retire MSN Virtual Earth after just five months of providing maps and satellite imagery. Its replacement will be Windows Live Local, a service that brings together local search, mapping and business listings under the new Live.com brand.
Microsoft had originally aimed to make the 45-degree satellite views that will be a hallmark of Windows Live Local as part of the original Virtual Earth debut. However, when the service launched in July, the feature was notably absent.
IE Gets Two New MSN Toolbar Add-Ins
Microsoft on Wednesday released betas of two add-ins for its MSN Search Toolbar. One add-in allows users to store and access their Windows Live Favorites in a sidebar adjacent to the browser window, while the other offers thumbnail previews of search results before visiting the actual pages.
The Windows Live Favorites add-in enables users to import their current favorites from both Internet and MSN Explorer, and use them right away through the service. New sites can be added with a single click, and favorites can be searched by name, address or keyword.
Phishing Attacks Rise, Public Oblivious
Phishing attacks now affect one out of every four Americans every month, according to details of a survey released Wednesday by AOL and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). The study is the only one to actually go into homes and see what malware resides on users' PCs.
Worse yet, more than two-thirds of respondents are mistakenly identifying scam e-mails as legitimate, meaning a large number of computer users are at risk of identity theft.
.eu Domain Opens for Business
The European Union's .eu domain opened for registrations on Wednesday morning, with its supporters hoping the newest international domain will boost EU e-commerce. The launch of the domain ends a six-year process that began in 1999 and later received the support of the European Commission.
The domain will be the first to be shared by multiple countries. It will put the various member nations on equal footing, and could become the .com of Europe, industry executives say.
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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