Ed Oswald

At least two Mac-focused security firms warned late this week of a Trojan horse that takes advantage of flaws in remote management software in Mac OS X to run code on the affected computer.

As with most Mac flaws, the user must first download and open the file in order for it to take effect. Once it is opened, the Trojan -- dubbed "AppleScript.THT" -- adds itself to the login process and can perform a variety of functions, including keystroke logging.

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Dan Hesse told attendees of a communications trade show Wednesday that its much hyped 4G data network will see its first commercial deployment in September in Baltimore.

Sprint's Xohm WiMAX technology aims to provide data rates well above what current 3G technologies provide. In tests, Sprint's network is able to transfer data at rates of 2-4 Mbps, roughly the same as the average DSL line.

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Sources told Australian IT Thursday that Telstra will offer the iPhone 3G, making it the third carrier to do so in the country.

Telstra is Australia's biggest 3G carrier with over 2 million customers. It has a little over 9 million subscribers overall, according to a company fact sheet.

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Continuing its dominance in the music industry, iTunes has passed yet another milestone in its storied history.

With the number of iPods and iPhones increasing ever more rapidly, sales on iTunes have followed a similar path, and have also been accelerating as well.

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Verizon will double its speeds across its entire fiber-based Internet footprint, with promised speeds topping out at 50 Mbps.

Customers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Florida already had a 20 Mbps symmetrical option as well as a 50 Mbps download / 20 Mbps upload option.

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After 13 straight quarters of growth, revenue from online advertisements shrunk slightly. Either way, Internet ad revenue is up year over year.

The data comes from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and shows that overall revenues were still up year over year by 18 percent, to $5.8 billion USD. But this was down slightly from the $5.9 billion recorded in the last quarter of 2007, which was a record.

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Playing a little bit of catch-up to rival Google, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Navic Networks on Wednesday, giving it a foothold in the television advertising business.

The interactive TV advertising market has been considered a "new and burgeoning" industry for well over a decade now, and for perhaps all of that time, Microsoft has been working to gain a competitive position there. But this morning's announced acquisition of interactive ad platform provider Navic Networks is being perceived as a catch-up play with Google, whose recent deal with Dish Network has been the talk of the industry.

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In a stunning announcement, the city of Philadelphia said that it had reached a deal with a group of private investors to keep its wireless network alive and free.

Although details are still being worked out, free wireless access will be available to Philadelphians as of today. The system will be reassessed over the the next few months along with a formal roll-out later this year.

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A Pew Research survey released Sunday indicates that nearly half of all Americans have used electronic media to get or spread information about the presidential election. And those active Web users are looking more blue than red.

How much of Americans' news about this year's national elections comes from online sources, and which segment of the voting populace will that news most likely impact? That's the subject of a Pew Research study, conducted with Princeton Survey Research, that polled 2,251 Americans of voting age between April 8 and May 11 (Full report in PDF format available here.)

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Apple and AT&T said Monday they had reached a licensing agreement with Klausner Technologies over two of that company's patents related to visual voicemail.

Klausner filed suit in December, asking for damages and royalties totaling $460 million. Separate cases have also been filed against Comcast, Cablevision, and Skype for an additional $300 million in damages. Reuters also reports that the firm has settled with Skype parent company eBay and with US iPhone carrier AT&T as well, both of which will be licensing the patents. Discussions with Comcast and Cablevision are said to be "ongoing."

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Sony said Monday that its version 4 PSP firmware will allow users to access Google's search engine directly from the XMB interface.

Once the PlayStation Portable user installs Sony's new Version 4 firmware, a new "Internet Search" option will appear in the Xross Media Bar. Clicking on it will pop up a search box where the user can enter queries. The software also saves the user's past 20 searches through the device.

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Last Saturday, an arbitrator ordered Scott Richter, the president of online advertising and direct marketing firm Media Breakaway, to pay a stiff penalty to MySpace, including $1.2 million in legal fees.

The settlement is the second major one for Richter, who previously settled with Microsoft in August 2005 for $7 million. He was once considered one of the most prolific spammers, sending out over 100 million messages per day.

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With fewer customers nowadays needing or wanting to replace their landline phone, either because they don't need a new one or don't really want the old one anymore, Verizon is preparing to offer a "double play" in place of its "triple play."

Customers of Verizon Wireless will be eligible to add either FiOS TV and/or DSL and FiOS Internet to their plans in order to receive a discount on services. It will mark the first time the company offers a bundle that does not also require a landline telephone plan.

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Depending on the plan selected, Deutsche Telekom customers will be able to purchase an iPhone at a deep discount, the company said on Monday.

Apple's new subsidized pricing scheme has resulted in its carriers offering the 3G iPhones at substantial discounts in certain cases. O2 already announced last week that it will give the 3G iPhone away for free to those who sign up for its higher-priced plans.

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Billionaire investor Carl Icahn says the deal between search companies Yahoo! and Google "might have some merit," but he is continuing to study it.

In a surprise statement -- part of an interview with Reuters whose full transcript has yet to be released -- not only did Carl Icahn actually hold out hope for supporting last Thursday's AdSense deal between Yahoo and Google, but actually declined comment as to whether he would press on with his bid to upset Yahoo's board of directors.

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