News Corp May Have Tried to Buy Skype
Coming just a few short weeks after its much-publicized purchase of personal site MySpace, news surfaced Sunday that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. had been in talks with VoIP service Skype over a $3 billion takeover bid.
British daily The Independent reported on Sunday that sources close to the two companies said that talks had broken down, but had given no reason as to why.
Daylight Saving Change to Affect Tech
An energy bill that will be signed into law Monday could have ramifications for technology. Beginning in 2007, Daylight Saving Time will start three weeks earlier and end a week later. But many gadgets automatically adjust for DST using a system that has remained unchanged for 18 years. That could mean problems such as DVRs recording an hour late or your telephone company billing incorrectly.
Adding to the problem is Canada. If they don't approve the changes as well, software would have to create two zones for Canada and the United States. Technologists say there is not much to worry about, however, as most issues will be minor inconveniences and will not pose a major problem for consumers.
Sony Rolls Out Third Walkman Phone
Sony Ericsson on Monday announced the third in its series of Walkman-branded phones, and the second to sport a swivel form factor. However, unlike the first two phones, the W550 is aimed at game enthusiasts, although some will notice that the phone is essentially identical to the W600 - Sony's second Walkman phone.
The W550 sports a 1.3-megapixel camera with 256MB of internal memory. It plays back MP3 and AAC audio file formats, and features up to 30 hours of battery life per charge. The phone is tri-band capable (900/1800/1900 MHz), unlike its predecessor, the W600, which also included the 850 MHz band.
Gizmondo Delayed Until October
Tiger Telematics has delayed the highly anticipated Gizmondo device until October following consultation with U.S. retailers. The company previewed the Gizmondo at this year's E3 conference in Los Angeles. Tiger blamed the change in plans on delays in a GPS device and a "significant game title" that was to coincide with the launch.
According to Tiger CEO Mike Carrender, the Gizmondo will now have 500,000 units available at launch, along with a wider portfolio of games. Also, the device will hit right before the holiday shopping season, which the company sees as beneficial to its success. "We're mindful that North America is a hugely influential and strategically important market, and we're determined to package every aspect of the US launch to succeed," company chairman Carl Freer said in prepared remarks.
Organic Battery Could be UPS of Future
Japanese electronics maker NEC said on Friday it was in the process of developing a high-power organic radical battery, or ORB, that could be used in standard desktop PCs as a built-in emergency power source in the event of a power failure.
The company says it could also be used in other ways across a variety of household appliances.
FCC Gives DSL Right to Block Access
The Federal Communications Commission has ruled that DSL providers can exclude access to their lines from competitors if they wish to do so, a decision that could make it harder for independent ISPs to offer high-speed Internet. The new law puts DSL on equal footing with cable services, which also have the right to exclude competitors.
A recent Supreme Court decision granted the FCC the authority to change the rules for cable Internet services. DSL providers will still have to comply with wire tapping regulations and disability access, as well as continue to contribute to the Universal Service Fund, which helps to provide telecommunications services to low-income families.
Camcorder Pirate Faces Up to 17 Years
It has been going on for well over a decade - as long as camcorders have been small enough to hide away. But up until recently there was no federal law prohibiting it. Now, a 19-year-old Missouri man will be the first person charged under a law enacted in April that prohibits taping movies in movie theaters.
Curtis Salisbury of Saint Charles, Mo. made copies of two movies, "Bewitched" and "A Perfect Man," and then attempted to distribute them on peer-to-peer networks. As well as uploading the movies, Salisbury was also caught downloading other movies and software from the P2P service.
Reports of First Vista Virus Inaccurate
Several news sources reported late Thursday that the first virus for the next generation operating system Windows Vista had been discovered. However the virus is written for Monad, a Unix-like command shell replacement for DOS, which may not even ship with the operating system and may not be part of any Microsoft OS until at least 2009.
The "proof of concept" viruses, named Danom, have five variants and will infect and either edit or overwrite .msh, .bat, and .cmd files. Security software firm F-Secure first reported the "Vista Virus" emergence, but admitted it "will never became a real-world problem."
Amazon to Move Into Digital Music Biz
The Wall Street Journal reported late Thursday that online retailer Amazon.com is considering an entrance into the digital music business, and has held talks with industry executives over the past two weeks to license content.
Further fueling speculation is a job listing on the Amazon Web site that asks for a content acquisition manager to work in its "forthcoming" music service. According to the post, this position "will seek and license digital-music content world-wide, including content from major recording labels and independent recording labels and artists."
Microsoft to Patch Six Security Flaws
Microsoft on Thursday gave advance notice of the patches it intends to release as part of its monthly security bulletin. Six patches will be issued for August, with at least one of them deemed "critical" - the highest rating given by Microsoft. Information was not available for what the patches would address, but a serious flaw in Windows 2000 that could open systems up for attack may be fixed.
Also to be released next Tuesday is an updated version of the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, as well as one high-priority update that is not security related. Each month Microsoft provides advance notice of security updates that are released on the second Tuesday. Three "critical" security patches were issued in July, two for Windows and one for Office.
Microsoft Shops Wal-Mart for New COO
Microsoft has appointed former Wal-Mart executive Kevin Turner to the positon of Chief Operating Officer, filling a position that had remained vacant since 2002. Turner was the president and CEO of Sam's Club, a chain of warehouse stores owned by Wal-Mart, as well as an executive vice president of the company.
Microsoft said in a statement that Turner would be tasked with leading the company's sales, marketing and service operations. "Kevin’s leadership...will help ensure we harness this potential and fully realize the growth opportunities before us," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement. Turner's first day at Microsoft will be September 8.
MS: When in Doubt, Black it Out
While its timing may be purely coincidental, Microsoft earlier this week released an add-in for Microsoft Word that enables users to mark sections of a document for redaction. Redaction is a process used by governments and corporations to black out certain sections of text in a document in order to protect sensitive or potentially damaging information.
Microsoft may have used the add-in to redact text in documents released Tuesday relating to its lawsuit with Google, where most of the words except for "MSN," "Longhorn" and "Google" were blacked out. Microsoft urges caution in using the plug-in, however: "We recommend that you carefully review any documents redacted using this tool to confirm that all the information that you intended to redact was successfully redacted."
AOL Launches Online Radio With XM
AOL said on Thursday it has began testing a version of its radio service that includes XM Satellite Radio content. AOL first announced details of the partnership with XM in mid-April, which also includes the company taking over XM's current online radio offering. AOL is requesting during the beta phase that customers send their feedback.
Preliminary tests of the service by BetaNews showed it was free of any major problems. The most noticeable difference between the current XM online service -- and even its broadcast offering -- was sound quality. AOL offered a crisper and less tinny sound than what normally occurs with online radio, and also to some extent with the XM satellite service.
AOL Buys Storage Firm Xdrive
AOL on Thursday announced that it had acquired Xdrive, a privately held online storage and backup service for an undisclosed amount. Xdrive will operate as a stand-alone company and remain in its Santa Monica, California headquarters. Now a wholly owned subsidiary, it will fall under AOL's Digital Services unit.
"The digitization of consumer home media is skyrocketing, with consumers and AOL members increasingly looking for easier ways to protect and manage a wide variety of important data files and digital media assets," Hunt said. "Xdrive will further enhance AOL’s consumer storage offerings to deliver a more safe and secure digital lifestyle for our members."
Freenet: Anonymous P2P by Year's End
A group of developers on Wednesday said a new software tool that will allow for the swapping of files over the Internet would be available before the end of the year.
The Freenet Project is creating what is called a "darknet," where the computer user will remain anonymous while transferring files. The system is also set up much like the Internet, meaning it is decentralized and practically impossible to shut down.
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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