Motorola, Intel to Push WiMax Standard
Motorola has become the latest company joining Intel in order to push adoption of wireless broadband through WiMax. The two tech industry heavyweights will collaborate on the 802.16e specification within the WiMax Forum to ensure interoperability between devices.
Sprint and Nokia previously announced collaborative efforts with Intel, which makes the chips to be used in upcoming WiMax products. Motorola currently offers the MOTOwi4 line of devices for WiMax that include access points, PC cards and even in-vehicle safety devices and services. "We believe 802.16e is going to be the way to go for both fixed and nomadic applications," said Motorola Networks CTO Dan Coombes.
AOL to Choose: Microsoft or Google
According to reports, Time Warner's board of directors is hunkering down Thursday for discussions on the future of AOL, and is expected to choose between partnering with Microsoft's MSN division or Google. However, a final decision is not expected for a few weeks, says the Financial Times.
AOL currently utilizes Google for its Web search service, bringing a moderate percentage of revenue to the world's biggest search engine. But MSN has reportedly come to the table trying to unseat Google in order to grow its own share of the search market, which it has struggled to do organically.
Microsoft Loads Apps into Works Suite
Microsoft on Thursday announced a new release of its Works Suite, which doesn't include any new core features, but instead bundles a number of consumer-oriented software titles. Microsoft Works is intended to offer a low-cost alternative to Office, while focusing more on home environments.
Works 2006, priced $50 more than the standalone $49.99 Works 8, includes the latest editions of Microsoft Money, Streets and Trips Essential, Digital Image Standard and Encarta. The idea, says Microsoft, is to help families be more productive with better organization and easy to use tools.
Google Video Adds TV Interviews
Google's Video search is slowly building up its repertoire of content, and on Wednesday the company announced the addition of over 450
MSN Joins Yahoo to Build Book Search
Microsoft's MSN division is following in Google's footsteps with plans to roll out a book search next year. But to avoid the same legal troubles that have plagued its rival, MSN will adopt an opt-in policy while focusing on books in the public domain and other print material not under copyrights.
MSN has also joined the Open Content Alliance (OCA), which was founded by Yahoo and the Internet Archive earlier this year. The OCA is a collaborative effort to digitize information so it can be globally shared. In addition to a number of libraries worldwide, Adobe and HP are contributors as well.
Google Web Accelerator Returns
Google's controversial Web Accelerator application that is designed to lessen the time it takes to load Web pages has returned after a four-month hiatus. But the second revision of the application, which is still in beta, does not address concerns with the first release, webmasters say.
In order to speed up Web surfing, the tool automatically downloads URLs linked from the page a user is visiting. The concept is called "pre-fetching," and was also added as an optional feature in recent builds of Mozilla Firefox.
Yahoo Launches Trip Planner Beta
Taking advantage of its new Flickr acquisition, Yahoo is rolling out a beta test for its Trip Planner service that will be offered through Yahoo! Travel. Visitors will be able to tag, share and print personalized trip itineraries, which can be joined by photos, maps and driving directions.
Pictures from a trip can be shared via Flickr, and users can submit reviews and ratings of destinations, hotels and restaurants. In addition, Yahoo will make available classified listings for vacaiton rentals and other travel-related content from partners such as Fodors, The New York Times and Conde Nast Traveler.
Mass. Secretary Attacks Open Doc Plan
Massachusetts' plan to drop Microsoft Office in favor of open standards formats has drawn criticism from the Commonwealth's Secretary of State, who says he has "grave concerns" about switching to OpenDocument. But politics could be playing a larger role in Secretary William Galvin's opposition.
The proposal, which was finalized last month, calls for all electronic documents created by Executive Department agencies 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.
Chasing Vulnerabilities for Fun and Profit
PERSPECTIVE Cross-site scripting attacks have recently shot into the spotlight following a high-profile MySpace worm and banks taking extra measures to stop phishing. In a guest column for BetaNews, security expert Jeremiah Grossman delves into the XSS problem with a peek inside the world of those hunting down security flaws.
As the CTO of a Web application security service company, much of my time is spent educating companies on how to reduce the risks of conducting business online. Most of the people I speak with are stunned to learn that nine out of ten Web sites contain vulnerabilities. Think about it. Every time you visit your favorite online store, check your account balance or participate in a chat, there's a 90 percent likelihood that the site can be compromised in some way.
MySQL 5.0 Ready for Primetime
The long-awaited 5.0 release of MySQL has arrived to bring the free open source database up to par with its pricey enterprise rivals. New features include stored procedures, triggers and views, along with support for the ANSI SQL standard to ensure compatibility with other database systems.
Such features were once limited to expensive offerings from Oracle and IBM. Stored procedures enable administrators to embed business logic directly into the database to improve performance. Trigers enforce rules at the database level, while Views secure protected information.
Google to Offer Giant Web Database
Let the "All your base" jokes begin. Google is preparing to unveil a new service that will serve as a giant Web database for miscellaneous content submitted by users. Called Google Base, the site will host all types of items and make them searchable through the use of "attributes," or tags.
Google says examples of items that could be added include a description of your party planning service, listing of your used car for sale or a database of protein structures. Standard Google searches, including Froogle, could even include Google Base items if their relevance is high. Google is expected to launch the service today at its invite-only Zeitgeist conference.
Microsoft Refreshes OneCare Beta
Microsoft on Tuesday will issue a refreshed beta of Windows OneCare to testers, which brings a number of improvements to the PC protection and maintenance service. New features include the ability to backup to an external drive, scan incoming files from MSN Messenger and perform on-demand virus detection.
The updated beta will be delivered automatically through OneCare's built-in update facility. However, changes to the firewall and anti-virus component means currently policies and exclusions will be lost in the transition. Developers have also now integrated Windows OneCare into the new unified Microsoft Update download center for patches.
BitTorrent User Convicted of Piracy
A 38 year-old man from Hong Kong has become the first person convicted for sharing copyrighted material over BitTorrent. Chan Nai-Ming used the P2P technology, which requires you to distribute what you are downloading, to share Hollywood films "Daredevil," "Red Planet" and "Miss Congeniality."
Nai-Ming was arrested last January and pled not guilty to the charges of copyright infringement. He was convicted after a four-day trial and released on bail until a sentencing hearing scheduled for November 7. Nai-Ming could face as much as four years in jail and a fine for his actions.
Microsoft Details a Few Office 12 Plans
Microsoft on Monday talked up a few features of its next-generation Office release, due next year, which revolve around the concept of "business intelligence." A major focus of Office 12 will be on improving the way users access data in existing applications, thereby making business intelligence (BI) more pervasive.
At the core of this strategy lie changes to SharePoint, Microsoft's intranet and collaboration solution for businesses. Office 12 will tie together SQL Server Reporting Services into SharePoint, as well as offer Web-based support for Excel spreadsheets.
Disney to Encrypt, Track Oscar DVDs
Oscar time isn't only a boon for the movie industry as hot Academy Award candidates pack the cinemas - it's also beneficial to pirates looking for DVD-quality copies of new flicks. But this year, Disney is looking to change all that.
In the past, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members who vote on the Oscars received VHS tapes of nominees, which posed little risk of piracy. Now, however, movies are distributed on DVDs that can be digitally copied onto computers and uploaded to the Internet in mere hours.
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