IE Usage Falls Again, Firefox Gains
Use of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser has fallen for the seventh straight month, and the decline is beginning to accelerate, according to new data from research firm WebSideStory. Usage of IE stood at 90.3 percent, a one month decrease of 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, Firefox usage rose nearly a full percentage point to 5 percent of the market.
WebSideStory also showed gains in Apple's Safari browser and Opera Software's flagship browser. The original Mozilla browser showed some weakness, falling slightly since December.
Digital Music Sales Soar in 2004
Digital music aficionados downloaded 200 million tracks in 2004 - a tenfold increase over the previous year, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) announced this week. Sales totaled $330 million, a sixfold increase over last years numbers.
Also increasing was the number of Web sites where user can by music legally, now up to 230 sites. "Digital music is now in the mainstream," said John Kennedy, Chairman and CEO of the IFPI. "There was major growth in 2004, it has really taken off."
Sony Sells 800k PlayStation Portables
Sony announced Thursday that 800,000 PlayStation Portable units have been sold in Japan since its launch last month. The PSP, priced at 20,000 yen ($190 USD), is slightly more expensive than Nintendo's DS unit, which costs 15,000 yen ($145 USD). Both companies have reported strong sales of their respective units.
"I must admit (sales) are not big enough yet," Sony Computer Entertainment president and chief executive Ken Kutaragi told reporters during a news conference. "But demand is so strong that we already do not have enough supply." Sony plans to boost PSP production to 1 million units per month in order to meet demand.
Toshiba Connects Cell Phones with PCs
Electronics maker Toshiba announced earlier this week that it has developed software that will allow Windows PC users to access their home computer through a mobile phone.
Dubbed "Ubiquitous Viewer," the program will allow the user to use Microsoft Office and other productivity software remotely, as well as enable them to open and modify files. It will also allow the customer to access e-mail, and use the computer's Web browser and other programs on the home PC.
eBay Prepares to Drop .NET Services
One day after eBay sent an e-mail reminding users that .NET Passport sign-in was coming to an end, the auction giant sent another notice Thursday stating that .NET Alerts would be discontinued January 24. This brings to an end a four year partnership between eBay and Microsoft for its .NET services.
In the e-mail, eBay urged its .NET Alert users to sign up for the company's own wireless alerts, or the eBay Toolbar. The toolbar includes a .NET alert-like feature that will send a notification when an item a user is watching or bidding on is about to end, or if the user is outbid.
'MOOL' Takes Subscription Outlook Live
Microsoft Thursday announced the availability of Microsoft Office Outlook Live, the first Office component offered as a downloadable subscription service. As first reported by BetaNews in early December, Outlook Live enables subscribers to use MSN Hotmail to view their e-mail accounts, contacts and calendars from anywhere with an Internet connection.
Outlook Live, or MOOL, will be a paid service available for $59.95 USD per year, although Microsoft will offer the service at a promotional price of $44.95 USD until April 11, 2005. With the subscription, users get a special edition of Outlook 2003 for Subscription Services, in addition to 2 GB of online storage and the ability to send attachments of up to 20 MB.
RCN Ups Cable Speeds to 10Mbits
RCN announced Wednesday that it will give its cable modem users additional speed at no extra cost. Users of its MegaModem Mach 7 service will be upgraded to 10Mbits per second, and its MegaModem Mach 5 users to 7Mbits per second. The upgrades would make RCN the fastest cable modem provider currently available.
Time Warner was the first to announce plans to boost cable speeds in December, which Cox Communications followed with a similar announcement. Comcast announced a speed increase earlier this week.
Long Wait for Mac Mini, iPod Shuffle
Users wanting to get their hands on the latest Mac or iPod will have to wait a while. According to Apple's Web site, the Mac Mini and iPod Shuffle are both backordered by about 3-4 weeks. Apple experienced a similar problem during the launch of the iPod Mini, when customers faced wait times of up to 6 weeks through online ordering.
EA Inks 15-Year Deal with ESPN
Video game maker Electronic Arts has signed a 15-year deal with sports channel ESPN, giving it the exclusive right to use the cable channel's brand in its video games. The deal is intended to further separate EA from its competitors and is similar to one struck with the NFL for the exclusive use of the likeness and names of players.
"EA Sports recreates the real life experience fans enjoy while watching or playing their favorite sport, while ESPN programming captures the look, sound and excitement of the sports they follow," said Electronic Arts Chairman and CEO Larry Probst.
Cell Phone Market to Continue Growth
Resarch firm Deliotte and Touche said Tuesday that it expects the mobile phone market to grow to 2 billion subscribers during 2005. Driving the market as a whole will be developing markets in Central America and Asia. The firm also said market penetration would pass 100 percent in some areas as users acquire a second phone for data or personal uses. There were 1.5 billion cell phone subscribers at the end of 2004.
MSN Out: Yahoo New Verizon Partner
UPDATED Search giant Yahoo announced Monday that it has finalized terms of a multi-year agreement with Verizon to become the default Web portal for the company's new DSL customers. This will also take effect for customers who sign up to Verizon FIOS, a super-fast broadband connection to be rolled out this year. MSN previously provided the default site for Verizon.
Yahoo will provide a branded browser and start page to new Verizon customers and will get a portion of the revenue for every new broadband or FIOS subscriber, much like a similar deal with SBC Communications. In return, Verizon will get a portion of advertising revenue, as well as revenue generated through premium services that users subscribe through Yahoo's Web sites.
Huygens: Almost Flawless Titan Mission
The European Space Agency's Huygens Probe has successfully sent back the first image ever from the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, according to the ESA's Web site for the mission. The first picture with clear detail, which arrived at 1845 UTC (2:45pm ET), showed what appeared to be drainage channels on Titan as the probe descended towards the surface.
Huygens successfully landed on the surface of Titan around 1145 UTC (7:45am ET) this morning, which was confirmed by radio telescopes on Earth about an hour later.
Verizon Users Sue Over Phone Features
A lawsuit filed in California accuses Verizon Wireless of shortchanging its customers by disabling features of some of its cell phones. If successful, the suit could end a common practice of U.S. cell companies to disable functionality of mobile phones in order to encourage use of paid services offered by the provider.
The suit, filed Thursday, alleges that Verizon Wireless disabled some Bluetooth features in Motorola's v710 phone. Bluetooth is a technology that allows a device to link wirelessly, usually within about 30 feet, to a variety of devices including phones, computers and headsets.
Sony Set-Top Box Makes TV Clearer
Television viewers wanting a clearer picture off their older, non-high definition TV sets may find interesting a new product from Sony. However, with a price tag of $4,800 USD it may be more worthwhile to spend the money on a new high-definition set anyway.
Sony's Creation Box, to be released in Japan later this month promises to make pictures clearer and more vivid. Users with high-definition sets can also zoom in without distortion.
Google Targets Small Biz with 'Mini'
Google unveiled late Wednesday the "Mini," a scaled down hardware version of its search technology. The company hopes that small businesses will purchase the unit in order to search their public Web sites and allow employees to better traverse internal networks.
Carrying a price tag of $5,000 USD, the slimmed down Mini has less bells and whistles than its larger counterpart, the Google Search Appliance, which can cost anywhere from $32,000 to $500,000 USD. For example, the mini can only search 50,000 documents, whereas the Search Appliance can search 15 million.
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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