Facebook to integrate Microsoft Web search, search ads
Microsoft and Facebook strengthened their existing partnership Thursday with the announcement that Microsoft would be powering the social network's Web search and sponsored links.
The announcement was made at Microsoft's annual financial analysts meeting in Redmond. Sources indicate the search services will be integrated into Facebook without many changes to the overall site design.
Hitachi introduces third-gen Blu-ray camcorder
Hitachi today announced the third version of its Blu-ray camcorder that is able to record and store video directly on a disc so it can be later viewed on any PC or TV with a Blu-ray drive -- but not a PS3.
The new Blu-ray camcorder, DZ-BD10H, has a 30GB hard drive and CMOS image sensor along with an optional 32GB SDHC memory card that is able to store up to five hours of video in 1920x1080 AVCHD resolution.
WD's new 10,000 RPM 2.5-inch drives still aren't for laptops
Despite reducing power consumption by 35 percent, Western Digital's new 10,000 RPM 2.5-inch hard drives won't be making an appearance in laptops. The updated VelociRaptor line, with capacities up to 300GB, are designed for 1U and 2U servers.
The new VelociRaptor drives sport a SATA 3 Gb/s interface with 16 MB cache, technology that optimizes the drive if there is vibration, and a reliability rating of 1.4 million hours MTBF. WD is going after a new market for smaller drives in servers, where 3.5-inch drives were previously the norm.
Scrabulous creators sued in United States by Hasbro
Game maker Hasbro, just weeks after the release of a properly licensed Scrabble Facebook beta, have filed suit against the creators of the unauthorized, and apparently too-popular Scrabulous, asking for removal of the game in addition to unspecified damages.
At the beginning of the year Facebook was contacted about Scrabulous by Hasbro, owner of the game's rights in the United States, asking that it be taken down.
Windows Live for Mobile updated, but still missing calendar sync
Microsoft on Wednesday announced an updated version of Windows Live for Windows Mobile, the company's client software for cell phones. But some users were still lamenting the lack of calendar syncing.
The mobile Windows Live client enables users to synchronize their Live contacts (such as those in Live Mail and Messenger) with their device, sync e-mail from Hotmail, respond to e-mails with voice recordings, and upload photos to Windows Live Spaces.
Sony's Reader opens support for more publishers, formats
Sony announced today that its Reader e-book will support the EPUB and Adobe PDF/A formats with the device's next firmware upgrade.
The PRS-505 (or Reader) currently has a selection of about 40,000 titles available from Sony's eBook Store. But next month, new models and those with upgraded firmware will be able to load IDPF/EPUB, and PDF/A files. The device previously supported BBeB (Marlin) Books, PDF, TXT, RTF and Microsoft Word files (converted with Sony's CONNECT software).
Internet Explorer 8 shipping this year, Windows 7 still on track
At Microsoft's Financial Analyst Meeting Thursday, Bill Veghte, who heads up the company's Windows and online services division, said that Windows 7 is progressing well and confirmed that Internet Explorer 8 will ship before the end of the year.
Beta 2 of IE8 is slated for release next month, with a focus on new features for consumers and IT professionals. The first beta -- released in March -- was focused largely on developers, and Microsoft said the long delay between betas was due to the heavy feedback it received.
Brits who download music illegally to receive warning letters
If you live in England and download a lot of copyrighted music, check your mailbox. The British government said Thursday that the recording industry and the country's largest ISPs have agreed on a deal to cut down on piracy through warning letters.
ISPs will identify and send postal letters to the most prolific downloaders, warning them of being detected. What the companies would do next is not yet known, as procedures have not been finalized.
Zimbra Desktop Beta 3 takes Yahoo Mail, Gmail offline
In its Beta 3 release of Zimbra Desktop today, Yahoo has added free IMAP access and other new features to its crossplatform software, geared at competing against e-mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird by working as both a standalone desktop application and an online e-mail interface.
Based on technology obtained through Yahoo's Zimbra Software buyout in 2007, Zimbra Desktop can now provide e-mail access and offline synchronization to Yahoo Mail users on a choice of Windows, Linux, or Mac OS.
Creative adds to music player lineup with Zen Mozaic
Creative expanded its music player lineup Thursday, releasing new models designed to be fashionable with a mosaic design where the buttons are located.
The Creative Zen Mozaic comes in four sizes -- 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB -- with a stronger emphasis on the music player's looks than functionality.
Sophos: Google's Blogger hosts 2% of world's malware
Security research and analysis firm Sophos has released its cybercrime report for the first half of 2008 and found Blogger, a property of Google, to be the prime distributer of malware today.
Where infected e-mail attachments used to be the vehicle of choice for delivering malware, Sophos notes that most attacks today come from infected Web sites. Last year, one in 332 e-mails contained a malicious attachment. Today, that number has dropped to one in every 2,500.
Study says bank Web sites leave clients vulnerable to theft
When you hop on the Internet to check your online bank statement or pay some bills, do you ever wonder how secure your bank's computer network is? A new study claims most bank Web sites are vulnerable to identity theft.
A study done by Atul Prakash, a professor at the University of Michigan who teaches in the department of electrical engineering and computer science, found that more than 75 percent of 214 financial institutions checked in 2006 had at least one design flaw that could open up online bank users to potential identity theft.
XM, Sirius talking to FCC about finalizing merger approval
XM Radio and Sirius appear ready to accept concessions that would finally bring their 17-month merger effort to a close, according to a statement issued Thursday.
XM and Sirius confirmed they are in talks with the FCC enforcement bureau to accept specific conditions that would gain the merger approval from the body. It appears that the stipulations match those of Republican commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, who is the lone holdout.
Qualcomm and Nokia end fight and settle on patents
Since 2006, Finnish Cell phone producer Nokia and California chipmaker Qualcomm have been engaged in an intellectual property battle which began as a disagreement over patent licensing royalties. Just as the two companies were scheduled for a federal trial, they reached an amicable solution.
Yestderday, Nokia and Qualcomm announced that they had entered a 15-year agreement covering GSM, EDGE, CDMA, WCDMA, HSDPA, OFDM, WiMAX, LTE and "other technologies." This came at almost the same time as the announcement that a German court -- the third body, in addition to the UK High Court and The US International Trade Commission-- had ruled that Qualcomm's GSM patent suit against Nokia was invalid.
Microsoft reorganizes and rethinks, chief architect of Yahoo bid exits
With Microsoft's stock prices down 20 percent since February, CEO Steve Ballmer is reorganizing and rethinking the company, and the chief architect of Microsoft's abandoned attempt to acquire Yahoo, Kevin Johnson, is leaving to head up communications equipment maker Juniper Networks.
In a concerted effort to catch up to Google in the online space, Microsoft is now carving up its Platform and Systems Division (PSD), formerly headed by Johnson, into two divisions: "Windows/Windows Live" and "Online."
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