3GSM Congress Moves to Barcelona
Barcelona will be the new home to the 3GSM World Congress beginning in 2006, ending a ten-year stint in Cannes, France. Officials released a statement Tuesday that said the group needed more convention and conference space than its Cannes location could provide, making a move necessary.
"As our industry has grown to serve more than a billion people, the scale and scope of Congress has increased equally dramatically," GSM Association CEO Rob Conway explained. The new location, the Fira de Barcelona, will provide twice the convention space and the capacity needed for the 40,000 some visitors annually the GSMA expects over the next several years.
EU Study: Cell Phones Damage DNA
The radio waves from mobile phones harm body cells and damage DNA according to findings by a study commissioned by the European Union. The study was conducted by 12 groups in seven countries across Europe, but was inconclusive as to whether or not mobile phones are dangerous to human health.
DNA subjected to radio waves showed signs of damage that cells could not repair on their own. In addition, "there was remaining damage for future generation of cells," said project leader Franz Adlkofer, meaning the cells were mutating. None of the world's top six mobile phone vendors could immediately respond to the results of the study.
IAC to Spin Off Expedia, Travel Business
Citing that consumers and business partners inaccurately see InterActiveCorp as a travel company and not a Web commerce company, IAC CEO Barry Diller told shareholders Tuesday that IAC and Expedia will be split into two companies.
Microsoft sold its controlling stake in Expedia to IAC -- then USA Networks -- in 2001 following antitrust concerns over .NET.
$498 Laptop Coming to Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart introduced a USD $498 notebook computer Monday, the first factory-new laptop to break the sub-$500 price barrier. The company approached San Diego-based Linspire earlier this year to build a low-price laptop that would be competitive, yet inexpensive enough for Wal-Mart's normally bargain-minded customers. It will run Linspire OS, which is based on the Linux operating system.
The notebook comes with a 1.0GHz processor, 128MB of RAM, a 30GB hard drive, a CD-ROM drive, two USB 2.0 ports, and a 14.1" LCD screen. OpenOffice.org is also included, which is an alternative office suite that is compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.
Trend Micro to Scan Hotmail E-mail
Antivirus company Trend Micro announced that it will provide antivirus scanning for Hotmail's 183 million plus customers starting Monday. MSN Hotmail had previously used McAfee VirusScan, and gave no official reason for such an abrupt switch other than "to expand the e-mail protection of our Hotmail customers."
The Hotmail deal will likely give Trend Micro much higher visibility in the crowded field of antivirus software. "Our relationship with MSN Hotmail gives Trend Micro a tremendous opportunity to help protect millions of users with the same virus protection that we have been providing to our customers around the world for many years," Chang said.
Music Choice Finds Mobile Partner in Sprint
Music network Music Choice announced that it will partner with Sprint to offer wireless audio music channels to Sprint Vision customers Monday. In addition, Vision customers will also be able to access video clips and music news through a mobile website created by the Kansas-based company.
David Del Baccaro, President and CEO of Music Choice said that the company's announcement is part of a bigger plan by the company to extend its services to other broadcast mediums other than television. Music Choice Wireless will take the company "from the home to the mobile universe," he said.
VMWare Releases 5.0 Public Beta
VMWare released a public beta of the new version 5 of its virtual desktop software Sunday. As first reported by BetaNews, the latest release includes a host of new features ranging from improved collaboration and networking, better performance and security, to enhanced cloning capabilities and Microsoft Virtual PC compatibility.
More information on new features in VMWare 5 can be found on the company's Web site. The VMWare 5.0 Workstation beta can be downloaded from FileForum.
Microsoft Fixes XP SP2 Firewall Flaw
Microsoft announced Friday that it has released a patch to remedy a potential security breach in its firewall utility shipped with Windows XP Service Pack 2. The flaw could make files visible outside of a local network if file and print sharing was activated.
Microsoft had acknowledged the problem on its SP 2 Web site back in September, however a patch was not released until Tuesday.
IE Bug Makes 'Spoofing' More Believable
Normally, it is easy to spot a spoofed or fake Web site if the user knows what he or she is looking for. However, a new IE flaw discovered by Danish company Secunia may change all that. Researchers found a way that a scammer could make a fake Web site look real -- right down to the URL of the real site.
What is troubling for Microsoft is that the bug was discovered in the IE version shipped with XP Service Pack 2, touted by the company as much more secure than its predecessor. The bug could occur in any Internet Explorer running ActiveX controls, although Secunia says it has only tested for the bug on XP computers.
Man Fired for eBaying Queen's Pudding
The Queen Mum's figgy pudding is not for sale. That's what a Buckingham Palace worker found out after he tried to put up a gift of Christmas pudding from Queen Elizabeth on the Internet auction site eBay. The gift, bought at the high-class Fortnum & Mason food store in London, costs 6.25 pounds ($12.18 US).
The gift, bought at the high-class Fortnum & Mason food store in London, costs 6.25 pounds ($12.18 US). However, Ben Church, the 25-year old former palace property administrator, had it listed on eBay for a starting price of 20 pounds ($38.98 US). A palace spokesperson confirmed to the London paper Daily Mirror that "someone was dismissed" but refused to give out further details.
Siebel to Buy Edocs for $115 Million
In yet another merger this week, Siebel agreed Friday to buy Edocs for $115 million. The deal combines Siebel, a customer-relations software company, with Edocs, which specializes in electronic billing.
"This acquisition brings together a leading provider of eBilling and customer self-service solutions with a leading provider of customer service, call center, and field service automation solutions, and is consistent with Siebel Systems' strategy to expand our front-office solutions," Siebel CEO J. Michael Lawrie said in a statement. The agreement is expected to be finalized next year.
Firefox's NY Times Ad a Reality
Firefox's New York Times ad finally made it to the paper Thursday after several delays. The two page spread listed the 8,000 users who contributed to a fund for the creation and placement of the advertisement.
The ad had been delayed due to production issues, namely an incorrect setting in the software used to design it. Designers had to wait hours even after adding only one name to the list to allow the ad to fully render. The problem was fixed through the weekend allowing the organization to finish the ad, although two weeks later than hoped.
Bush: Give Me Plans for GPS Shutdown
U.S. President Bush has asked the Department of Defense to draft plans for shutting down the nation's GPS network in the event of a national emergency. This action would prevent terrorists from using the technology to carry out a widespread attack, the White House told reporters Wednesday.
A White House official requesting anonymity explained further that a shutdown would only occur in the most extreme cases.
Symantec and Veritas to Merge
In the second software industry merger this week, Symantec and Veritas announced plans for a $13.5 billion merger Thursday morning. The merger would create the world's fourth largest software company, and will operate under the Symantec name.
Symantec, best known for its security and antivirus software, sees Veritas' work in computer backup as a perfect fit for the newly merged company. "The new Symantec will help customers balance the need to both secure their information and make it available, thus ensuring its integrity," Symantec CEO John Thompson said in a statement.
Yahoo! Releases Video Search Beta
Yahoo! released its new Video Search feature for testing Wednesday, which the company hopes to add to its site in early 2005. Yahoo!'s video search tool follows AOL's late-November release of SingingFish, which performs a similar function.
Although Yahoo! was not making public comments on the release, an entry appeared on the company's official blog Wednesday. Jeremy Zawodny of Yahoo! Search says there is a lot of video on the Internet that regular search engines are missing. "That's exactly why we're talking to a lot of our existing media partners, many of whom have sizeable video assets which have yet to be indexed," Zawodny said.
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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