Yahoo Adds RSS Feeds into Web Mail
Taking a different approach than Google, which launched a separate Web RSS reader last month, Yahoo on Wednesday rolled out an update to its Yahoo! Mail Beta that integrates RSS feeds directly below e-mail folders. Feeds can be synched from My Yahoo! or added manually.
Full posts from RSS feeds show up like an e-mail message, and can be forwarded, printed or saved for later viewing. An "All Feeds" feature creates an aggregate list of updates from the feeds, order chronologically.
Windows OneCare Beta Goes Live
Microsoft is waving goodbye to Symantec and McAfee it seems. On Tuesday, the company opened the doors to its Windows OneCare Live beta, a PC protection and maintenance service that offers an antivirus and firewall, along with tune-up and backup functionality.
Any Windows XP SP2 user can now register to download the latest beta release.
Apple Plugs 13 Mac OS X Security Holes
Apple late Tuesday issued Security Update 2005-009 containing 13 fixes for security vulnerabilities, two of which only affect server versions of Mac OS X. The update plugs holes in Apache, CoreFoundation, curl, OpenSSL and fixes four flaws in Apple's Safari Web browser.
Two of the updates for Safari cover problems in JavaScript, while another corrects a problem with overlong file names in which downloads could be saved to a different location than requested. Safari's WebKit rendering engine also contained a heap overflow that could potentially lead to the execution of arbitrary code. Mac OS X users can download the patch through Software Update.
Microsoft Cancels November Vista CTP
Microsoft announced in a conference call on Tuesday that no Windows Vista CTP would be released for November, with the development focus shifting to a "quality based schedule, rather than a calendar date one." Instead, a December CTP will be issued before the Christmas holidays.
Amitabh Srivastava, who heads up Microsoft's Windows engineering efforts, explained that the company was endeavoring to finish the code for all Windows Vista features by the end of December, with a feature-complete build of Vista shipping "early next year."
WindowBlinds 5 Brings Vista UI to XP
One of the most anticipated features in Windows Vista is its redesigned user interface that features glass-like title bars and alpha blended windows. But with the upgrade a year away, Stardock has released WindowBlinds 5 to offer Windows XP users the same capabilities right now.
Version 5 of Stardock's flagship Windows customization software has been in the works for over a year, according to company CEO Brad Wardell. Initially, Wardell's team was dubious that such features could be added without severe performance lag to Windows XP, which lacks Vista's new advanced graphics subsystem.
Apple Mac DVR on Tap for January?
Apple may soon offer a way to copy television shows onto that new video-enabled iPod you receive this Christmas. According to rumor site Think Secret, the company will take the wraps off a new Intel-based Mac Mini with digital video recording capabilities at Macworld Expo in January.
The move would pit Apple against both Microsoft and TiVo in a race to control the living room. The new Mini will reportedly include a built-in iPod dock and a new DVR application that integrates with Apple's recently released Front Row software. The upgrade could result in a larger Mini, however, as a full desktop hard drive would likely be required to hold recorded television content.
Firefox 1.5 Final Released
Firefox hit its second major milestone Tuesday with the release of version 1.5, arriving just over a year after the alternative browser debuted at 1.0. The update sports Mozilla's new Gecko 1.8 rendering engine to speed up Web surfing, along with a myriad of other fixes and improvements.
Notable changes in Firefox 1.5 include the ability to reorder tabs, faster back and forward buttons, a feature to clear personal data, improved accessibility and popup blocking, along with support for more Web standards such as SVG, CSS 2 and CSS 3, and JavaScript 1.6. Firefox 1.5 is available now for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
TiVo Bringing DVR Service to Taiwan
TiVo has inked a deal with TGC to build digital video recorders using the company's technology, which would be initially available in Taiwan with possible expansion into China, Hong Kong, Macao and Singapore. The move marks TiVo's second venture outside the United States.
Despite only temporarily offering TiVo service in Britain, the company remains eager to expand overseas. "Consumers around the world want the TiVo experience," said TiVo CEO Tom Rogers. "We are committed to enhancing the TiVo brand and to delivering a superior television-viewing experience to living rooms around the world."
Eliot Spitzer Warns Over Sony DRM
Things continue to get worse for Sony BMG following the discovery of a rootkit in its CD copy-protection software that degrades PC performance and puts users at risk for security attacks. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, famous for going after corporate corruption and recently spyware companies, has turned his attention toward Sony.
Spitzer sent investigators to a number of retail music outlets, who were able to purchase the affected CDs more than a week after they were allegedly recalled, according to BusinessWeek. Stores including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Sam Goody, Circuit City, FYE and Virgin continued to stock the rootkit-laden albums.
Symantec Axes Sygate Personal Firewall
The first casualty from Symantec's acquisition of Sygate in August is official: Both the free and paid version of Sygate Personal Firewall have been axed due to an overlap with Norton Personal Firewall. Users will be given a discounted upgrade path to Symantec's product, which runs $37.49 USD.
Sygate becomes the second free desktop firewall to be discontinued in as many months; Kerio Technologies will scrap its consumer firewall at the end of the year. Sygate's Enterprise firewall and endpoint compliance products will still be updated and supported, Symantec says.
$400 Laptop Sparks Frenzy at Wal-Mart
Cheap Apple iBooks aren't the only laptops that can get consumers in a buying frenzy it seems. On Friday at a Wal-Mart store in Orlando, Florida, customers pushed and climbed over each other to get their hands on a $400 HP notebook, with one man fighting a security guard.
One person described the scene as "crazy" according to reports, and another said the laptops were being thrown into the air. A similar scene broke out at a Wal-Mart in Washington, where police were called to help control a crowd that dislodged counters and displays to get their hands on the cheap laptop.
Service Offers File Sharing Over Gmail
P2P users have found a creative way to fill up the more than 2 gigabytes of e-mail storage offered by Google's Gmail: file sharing. A new service created by Dutch student Robbie Groenewoudt taps into Gmail and creates an index of files that can be accessed by other users.
Appropriately named G2G Exchange, the Web-based service does have some drawbacks. It requires users to hand over their Gmail account information, although it can be configured to index only e-mails with certain labels. G2G's FAQ page recommends that users create a new Gmail login specifically for sharing files.
Mass. Pleased with Microsoft's Progress
Microsoft's decision to submit its forthcoming Office Open XML format to European standards organization Ecma International seems to have done the trick: Massachusetts says it expects the new version of Microsoft Office to meet its "open format" requirement.
The Massachusetts plan, which was finalized in September, calls for all electronic documents created after January 1, 2007 to utilize only formats deemed "open," which include OpenDocument and Adobe's PDF. OpenDocument is the centerpiece in the new OpenOffice.org 2.0 release, but is not supported by Microsoft Office.
AOL Spins Off Desktop Search Product
AOL's Desktop Search software debuted last year as a component of the company's new AOL Explorer Web browser. Now, version 2.0 of the utility has been spun off as a standalone download with a revamped interface and support for removable media. AOL Desktop Search 2.0 indexes a variety of document types, emails, and even audio and video.
Unlike homegrown desktop search solutions from Microsoft and Google, AOL utilizes technology developed by Copernic. Version 2.0 will feature a full preview window for viewing entire files without opening them, and integrates with the standard Windows Open dialog box. Beta 1 of AOL Desktop Search 2.0 is available for download now, but it's not yet feature complete, company officials say.
Firefox Shifts Marketing Toward Videos
Perhaps taking a play from Apple's wildly popular "Switcher" ads, Mozilla is looking to take Firefox marketing to the next level with user-created videos. The campaign will have two components: testimonials about using the alternative Web browser and a 30-second video advertisement.
"Previous text-based efforts have been quite effective but we know they can't convey the real joy and excitement that people get from using Firefox. Only video can really get that across so we're going to be asking you all to bring Firefox to life with an exciting video campaign," wrote Mozilla developer Asa Dotzler on the Spread Firefox site.
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