Microsoft claims a consumer 'shift' to 64-bit Vista, but where are the drivers?
A big "shift" is now on to 64-bit Windows Vista PCs, even among consumers, according to Microsoft product manager Chris Flores. But he acknowledges that, even now, few if any 64-drivers are available for some categories of consumer products, including DVD/RW devices.
"The installed base of 64-bit Windows Vista PCs, as a percentage of all Windows Vista systems, has more than tripled in the US in the last three months, while worldwide adoption has more than doubled during the same period," Flores contended, late on Wednesday.
EarthLink eyes what's left of AOL's dial-up business
Saying it is "best positioned to be the consolidator in this industry," EarthLink may be looking at acquiring AOL's dial-up business, the Wall Street Journal reports.
EarthLink CEO Rolla Huff argued that it made sense for the industry to start consolidating, especially considering there are no longer any growth prospects for the market as consumers have moved onto broadband.
Yahoo exec builds Yuil to parody Cuil, but then removes it
Using Yahoo's Build your Own Search Service (BOSS), Yahoo Vice President of Platforms Sam Pullara built a parody of the newly-launched search engine Cuil, calling it Yuil.
Cuil launched this week with its proverbial fists swinging, claiming its search index was nearly triple the size of Google's, and promising superior privacy and zero data retention.
Surveys: Many people are now watching TV online
As much as 20 percent of all TV viewing in the US now happens online, says a survey released this week by Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI), supporting other recent research which also indicates that the Internet is fast turning into the top choice for many.
For the first time this year, a significant part of the online audience for primetime TV episodes is not watching some portion of the show on TV, according to IMMI's new survey results. Recent launches of sites like Hulu, offering full episodes of programs, is surely bolstering the trend.
Toshiba to shut down mobile broadcast TV service
Mobile Broadcasting Corporation, a subsidiary of Toshiba, announced yesterday that it will be closing down in March of 2009 due to weak consumer interest.
MBCO's service MobaHo! opened in Japan in 2004 and has only managed to gain around 100,000 subscribers since that time. Toshiba expected over a million subscribers by the fourth quarter 2007.
Microsoft says it needs more Internet Explorer 8 beta testers
With Beta 2 of the Web browser due next month, Microsoft is looking to sign up more official testers for Internet Explorer 8, saying it's the only way for individuals to directly file bug reports.
Like with Beta 1, the second beta of IE8 will be made available for public download. Still, there's good reason to become a participant in Microsoft's IE8 Technical Beta program. In addition to filing a direct bug reports, official testers can be invited to other beta programs, such as Windows 7 or Office 14.
Garmin nuvifone delayed due to 'carrier-specific requirements'
In Garmin's second quarter earnings announcement today, the GPS company said its nuvifone that was anticipated for release this year will be delayed.
The company's iPhone-like hybrid 3G handset and GPS device was originally expected to launch in the third quarter of this year in American markets. It was then gently pushed to a fourth quarter release, which Garmin has now rescheduled for the first half of 2009.
British hacker who broke into Pentagon may finally be sent to US
A British hacker who admitted hacking into Pentagon and NASA computers searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life has lost his latest extradition appeal. After fighting the case for more than six years in UK courts, the British House of Lords officially dismissed his appeal.
Gary McKinnon, 42, admitted to illegally accessing around 100 U.S. military and government computers while living in his north London flat from Feb 2001 to March 2002. While roaming around the systems, he was caught after downloading an image that he thought could have been an alien spacecraft.
Microsoft's Live Search homepage adds background image with clickable spots
While it doesn't add much to the overall function of the search engine itself, Microsoft's latest update to the Windows Live Search homepage adds a background image with "hotspots" that can be clicked.
For example, the first background appearing on Live Search shows a picture of the Okavango Delta in Botswana, with four clickable areas are included on the map. One over the trees in the distance asks "What will you see on your safari in Botswana?" with links to search results on animals on the country. Another link, over the boater's head takes users to an overhead view of the region using Live Search Maps.
Hackers take out EA's Scrabble after Scrabulous removed from Facebook
After a legal threat from Hasbro, Scrabulous has been taken down from Facebook. But EA's official Scrabble game went up only to be promptly taken down by attackers.
The drama between Electronic Arts and Hasbro against Scrabulous and Facebook closely mimics that of a daytime soap opera, and it only continued this week as Scrabulous has officially ended service to North America.
Intel's low-cost Classmate PC gets boost from Portugal
Portugal will take delivery of 500,000 low-cost Intel laptops, known as the Classmate PC, a move that boosts the effort's profile as an alternative to One Laptop Per Child's XO device.
The order is Intel's biggest to date for the Classmate PC, and instantly puts it at nearly the same level as competitor OLPC. That organization, founded by MIT's Nicholas Negroponte, has only received orders for about 622,000 XO laptops.
Dell may try to compete with Apple's iPod once again
Talk of Dell's movements in handheld technology have been at a high recently, with rumors of a smartphone from the company and now of a new digital music player to compete with Apple's iPod.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Dell has been testing a new digital music player that could be released as early as September. Details on the device are scant other than that it will have Wi-Fi, and likely capitalize on Dell's dormant Zing property that it acquired last year.
MobileMe looks to finally be stable as Apple recovers lost e-mail
Apple said late Tuesday that mail service to customers affected by the MobileMe outage should have full access once again, ending for some what became a three week ordeal.
Since MobileMe launched on July 11, at least one percent of all users have been unable to access e-mail properly, and in some cases losing access altogether. Making matters worse, Apple said over the weekend that it lost some e-mail messages during July 18 to July 22.
Banks to lose IM security tools due to Reuters/FaceTime license fracas
Because Thomson Reuters made a licensing payment to FaceTime two weeks late, a US judge has ordered the removal of security and regulatory compliance tools from an instant messaging product used by more than 100 stock brokerages and banks.
Reuters had integrated the tools from FaceTime into Reuters Messaging, an IM service sold to dozens of customers in the financial services industry. One of the tools is designed to assure compliance with an SEC mandate to record and archive the electronic communications of securities traders and brokers.
China to block Web sites, snoop on hotel guests during Olympics
Amidst admissions by Olympics officials that China will block journalists' access to "sensitive Web sites" during the summer games in Beijing, a US senator is charging that authorities also plan to spy on foreign guests staying in Chinese hotels.
"We are going to do our best to facilitate the foreign media to do their reporting work through the Internet," said Sun Weide, a spokesperson for China's Olympics organizing group, the BOCOF, at a news conference in China.
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