Vista's image problem personified
It might not have even been a story meriting any extent of coverage -- Microsoft's hiring yesterday of comedian Jerry Seinfeld as its new commercial spokesperson -- had it not been for the fact that Microsoft has an image problem. That problem is due in large part to Windows Vista, and the public perception of it as somewhat less than the savior of modern computing that it was originally promoted to be in the early months of 2007.
As was widely reported yesterday, Microsoft is reportedly investing $300 million in a new advertising campaign starring comedian Jerry Seinfeld, and designed by the firm responsible for Burger King's popular, yet disturbing "King" ads. You may recall, the ones where ordinary people find themselves conversing with a plastic, motionless, mute Burger King statue that they find in their midst for no apparent reason.
Apple's iPhone 3G gets ho-hum response in Poland and India
Mobile service provider Orange Poland this week hired actors to help "warm up" reception to Apple's latest phone. Meanwhile, in India, a new iPhone 3G costs the US equivalent of $712 -- another indicator of barriers in some emerging markets.
Although earlier launches of Apple's iPhone 3G created big stirs in the US, northern Europe, and Japan, in a later wave of rollouts this week, the reaction has been more ho-hum in countries like India and like Poland -- a place where actors actually got paid to stand in line.
Apple makes e-mail harvesting easy with MobileMe
A curiously simple oversight may have opened every MobileMe user to the risk of having their e-mail address harvested just by looking through the company's iDisk folder hierarchy.
Specifically, the oversight appears to be that every MobileMe user's iDisk folder is named with the exact same username as his or her e-mail address. All a spammer would need to do is add '@me.com' to this information, and the legitimate e-mail address is complete.
Nintendo sued for controllers again
A Maryland company has sued Nintendo, alleging that the Wii's controller infringes upon four of the company's patents.
Earlier this year a small Texas company called Anascape sued Nintendo for the designs of its Wii classic and GameCube controllers, two peripherals especially popular at that time because of the game Super Smash Brothers: Brawl. That company walked away with $21 million after Nintendo lost the patent appeal.
Corel: We are not...not for sale
The Canadian software producer published a statement this morning confirming that it is discussing a sale to undisclosed third parties.
Earlier this week, Corel announced that its majority investor Vector Capital had withdrawn its March buyout offer that valued the company at nearly $280 million, in the interest of Corel's pursuit of other "potential strategic third-party alternatives," which would best suit shareholders.
'Contractor error' suspected in $12,000 FEMA phone hack
FEMA is now investigating a hack attack against its voice mail system that racked up $12,000 in international calls, with preliminary evidence indicating that "contractor error" was probably involved.
Debbie Wing, a spokesperson with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, told BetaNews today that the government agency -- which is part of the US Dept. of Homeland Security -- first noticed "inappropriate" calling patterns on Saturday, August 16.
McKinnon's extradition delayed again over human rights
EU courts have asked Great Britain to not send the accused mastermind of a DOD systems break-in to the US, in order that they can review his complaint that conditions in US prisons are inhumane.
Gary McKinnon is accused of "the biggest military hack of all time:" breaking into computer systems owned by the Pentagon, US Army, the Navy, and NASA systems. Motivated by a search for real-world evidence of UFOs, he is accused of doing $700,000 worth of damage to the computers he broke into.
UK law firm looks to begin prosecuting file sharers
Davenport Lyons has been working with the music industry in the UK to sniff out P2P users. Now it will ask the UK courts to force ISPs to release information to identify them.
The firm is looking to identify about 7,000 individuals in total. Representatives said they will seek an order from the High Court Wednesday, and will use the information to launch civil suits against those individuals.
Judge affirms takedown notice recipients' right to sue
A two-year-old California boy may today be the hero of the digital age, as a Federal Judge ruled that the holder of the copyright to the song he was dancing to in a YouTube video, should have thought twice before suing his mommy.
When a copyright holder believes that a person uploading a file to a public site has infringed his rights, he must take into consideration whether that upload followed US law's definition of "fair use." And if that person is sent a takedown notice by the copyright holder, she has the right to challenge its assertions in court. That's the ruling of a US District Judge in San Jose yesterday.
AT&T to form its own 'Geek Squad'
AT&T today launched ConnecTech, an in-home support team that deals with setup and repair of home media services, and not exclusively to AT&T customers.
For fees beginning at $69, AT&T will send a technician to your home to perform installation or support-related tasks. Services include: wireless network setup, setup and connection of PCs, digital media, printers, music or photo setup, PC upgrading, home theater and TV installation, as well as in-home or telephone support.
Analysts: Consumers, businesses want phones with more 'features'
Customers are now buying more costly cell phones with features such as GPS, Bluetooth, and music enablement, not just in the US but worldwide, according to recent research by two industry analyst firms.
According to a new study from analyst firm NPD, mobile handsets sold in the US during the second quarter of this year were, "by and large, more feature-rich than those sold the year prior." Meanwhile, demand is increasing throughout the world for handsets with features such as GPS, touchscreen, and multimedia, concurs a study by IDC released at the end of July.
FTC clears EA's bid for Take-Two, talks continue
The FTC has given EA the go-ahead to purchase the smaller rival, and EA has indicated that it had shifted strategies away from a hostile bid to more friendly talks.
US Federal Trade Commission approval of the deal had been something that was eluding EA for several months now. Along the way, the agency had extended its own deadline to approve the merger, most recently in early July until this Thursday.
Intel, Yahoo, Comcast to partner on widgets for live TV
Are you ready for 3D, overlaid, interactive widgets to move off of the PC desktop onto your television set? An initiative announced yesterday by a powerhouse team of developers will probably make it happen, whether you're ready or not.
In one of the many intriguing developments to come out of this year's Intel Developers' Forum in San Francisco, both Yahoo and Comcast stated yesterday they will partner with Intel in the creation of a system that will conceivably deliver interactive, overlaid widgets -- the kind you see on the Mac OS X Dashboard or the Windows Vista Sidebar -- directly through live, digital TV.
Comcast will cut back some customers' speeds after FCC order
Just one day after the Federal Communications Commission released its official opinion and order regarding the cable provider's throttling practices, Comcast has changed its ways.
Called Fair Share, the service's new protocol will slow down the connection speeds of Comcast's most bandwidth-heavy users for periods of up to 20 minutes. It will be application-agnostic, and will be triggered by the customer's overall use of bandwidth.
Apple hit with class action suit over 'defective' iPhone 3G
Claiming that the iPhone 3G doesn't really perform "twice as fast for half the price," a user in Alabama has filed a class action suit against Apple, charging that the phone is "defective" and that it has failed to live up to its hype.
The disgruntled customer, Jessica Alena Smith, issued the complaint against Apple in the US District Court in southern Alabama on behalf of herself "and all others similarly situated," a number estimated in the court filing at "thousands and perhaps tens of thousands" of other people.
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