The PS2 Turns 7, New Model on Tap
Despite its struggles with the PlayStation 3, Sony's PlayStation 2 business continues to press forward, with the company celebrating its seven anniversary Friday by announcing that more than 120 million consoles have been sold worldwide.
This is combined with sales of over two billion software titles, which makes the PS2 the most popular gaming platform ever released. Despite claims that it is cannibalizing PS3 sales, Sony plans to continue development for the PS2 into the next decade.
SanDisk Files Patent Claims Against 25 Companies
Flash memory leader SanDisk has filed patent infringement suits against no fewer than 25 companies in the US International Trade Commission, as well as in Federal Court.
Though public statements have yet to reveal which of SanDisk's over 780 U.S-issued patents (and over 400 foreign-issued patents) the companies are infringing upon, SanDisk says it is enforcing its patents to be fair to third parties who legitimately license from them.
Opera 9.5 Hits Beta with 'Rock Party'
To coincide with its "Rock Opera" launch party held last night, Opera Software has released the first beta of version 9.5 of its eponymous Web browser. Company developers say hundreds of bugs have been fixed since the first alpha, with speed and compatibility the primary focuses.
New features in version 9.5 include the ability to search the browser's full history, restore closed windows, better UI integration on Mac and Linux, support for Mac OS X's VoiceOver technology, new skins and a revamped Opera Mail client. Download Opera 9.5 Beta from FileForum and tell us what you think.
Mozilla Looks to Bring Web Apps to Desktop
Mozilla is working on a new application called "Prism," which will help to blur the line further between applications for the web and the desktop.
Prism lets popular Web services such as GMail and others be used just like a normal desktop application, without a need to open the Web browser. Prism itself will be built on Firefox, meaning any Web technology Firefox supports could also be used within Prism.
Third-party Updates Not Enough to Plug Hole in Windows Shell
It's another humbling admission that would have been distinctly uncharacteristic of Microsoft just years ago. But this morning, the company's security response communications manager, Bill Sisk, told customers on the MSRC blog that recent "third-party" efforts to plug a potentially serious vulnerability between Internet Explorer 7 and Windows XP can't go far enough to solve the underlying problem.
"Third party applications are currently being used as the vector for attack and customers who have applied the security updates available from these vendors are currently protected," Sisk wrote, alluding to a recent patch from Adobe without referring to the company by name. "However, because the vulnerability mentioned in this advisory is in the Microsoft Windows ShellExecute function, these third party updates do not resolve the vulnerability - they just close an attack vector."
Sony Posts Profit, Gaming Loss Widens
Sony returned to profitability in its fiscal second quarter thanks to a weaker yen and strong digital camera sales, however its gaming and TV divisions -- including the PlayStation 3 -- continued to struggle.
The Japanese electronics company posted revenues of 2.08 trillion yen, up 12.3 percent from the year ago quarter. Operating profit came in at 90.5 billion yen, up sharply from the 20.8 billion yen loss Sony posted last year due to the battery recall and PS3 launch costs.
Microsoft Suspends Desktop Search Availability Through WSUS
After having explained away a problem with Windows Server Update Services yesterday as a problem with administrators not understanding the "applicability rules" for patches to updated software, a Microsoft product manager today acknowledged there was indeed a problem with how WSUS pushed a patch for Windows Desktop Search onto enterprise networks, calling it a "publishing process error."
"I want you to know we are working now to correct the issue and have temporarily suspended the distribution of the Windows Desktop Search through WSUS," reads an explanation published at around midnight last night by WSUS product manager Bobbie Harder.
Vonage Settles With Verizon, Will Pay At Least $80 Million
The cost of Vonage's VoIP technology development policy - build now, ask questions later - hardened a bit more after the close of stock trading this afternoon. Vonage has agreed to settle with the first of its three aggrieved parties, Verizon, in an unusual deal that hinges upon a forthcoming ruling from an appeals court and a separate injunction ruling from a district court.
Earlier this month, Vonage filed a motion with the DC Court of Appeals for a rehearing en banc (all three judges in session) of an earlier appeal of that court's Verizon decision, which Vonage had lost. That rehearing is a long shot (even more so now), so if the Appeals Court decides to deny Vonage's motion, it has agreed to pay Verizon $117.5 million. This after a jury had already awarded Verizon $58 million in damages, in a ruling which was partially remanded last month.
Microsoft Income Up 23% in Fiscal Q1 2008 on Skyrocketing Revenue
In early numbers from Microsoft prior to its quarterly financial results call to analysts this afternoon, the company reported revenue gains of 27% annually to $13.76 billion, and net income nicely higher by 23% annually to $4.29 billion, in what the company is calling its fastest first quarter of growth since 1999.
In the early afternoon statement, the company is crediting increased consumer demand for Windows Vista, primarily the Premium Edition, though analysts are likely to ask whether the Vista "sales mix" is actually weighted more toward pre-installations. The release of Halo 3 will also have played a factor, but certainly not to the tune of several billion more dollars in revenue in three months. All that means the company's stellar performer could turn out to be, once again...SQL Server, which has blossomed to becoming a principal profit center whose growth rivals its applications division.
Intel 300 mm, 45 nm Facility Opens in Arizona
The second of four production facilities for Intel's 45 nm semiconductors is now online, with the opening of the company's entirely new Fab 32 in Chandler, Arizona. Built specifically to use the company's breakthrough HK+MG manufacturing process that miniaturized the transistor all over again, Fab 32 represents the beginning of the big payoff of Intel's restructuring, establishing what it hopes to be a substantial and permanent "generation gap" between its CPUs and AMD's.
The building's million-plus square feet of space includes 184,000 square feet of dedicated clean room. By comparison, the company's D1D 45 nm facility in Oregon contains 176,000 square feet of clean room, and AMD's Fab 30 facility in Dresden, Germany is said to contain 120,000 square feet. There are two more 45 nm facilities under construction for Intel, including the colossal Fab 28 facility in Kiryat Gat, Israel, which will house over 200,000 square feet of clean room.
Vongo Video Downloads to Support More Media Center Devices
In response to what its parent company today called the top request voiced by its "passionate customer base," video download service Vongo announced today the 2.0 revision of its software, which now supports more Windows Media Center Extenders.
Vongo previously supported only two Windows Media Center 2 devices: the Toshiba Gigabeat S and V series. It has now more than tripled that lineup with the addition of the Archos 405 and 605WiFi, the Creative ZEN, the award-winning ZEN Vision: M, and ZEN Vision: W.
Samsung Cancels Blu-ray Player, Delays Dual-Mode Unit
Samsung confirmed Wednesday that it was canceling one of its Blu-ray players, while delaying its dual-format model until the end of the year.
The Blu-ray-only BD-P2400 was set to debut at a price point of $649 USD. However, the device was essentially the same as the $100 cheaper BD-P1400, save for the addition of HQV video processing.
Quandary: Is Windows Desktop Search Installing Itself?
At least two independent, private network administrators have reported on their blogs since yesterday that their Windows Server Update Service has downloaded and deployed to their network clients the most recent update to Microsoft's Windows Desktop Search engine, even though those services are set up not to deploy updated software automatically.
"Thank you Microsoft, for once again bypassing my Windows update policies," wrote admin Robert Kloosterhuis this morning. "I can now go explain to my managers why 500 workstations and 12 servers have ended up with Microsoft Desktop Search, without anyone's explicit approval."
Hackers Can Tap Into Vonage Lines, Says Security Firm
A security firm disclosed Wednesday that a security hole in Vonage's VoIP system could allow an attacker to reroute and effectively hijack phone calls.
"This leaves the Vonage customer subject to spam, social engineering vulnerabilities, and scams," reads a security advisory issued yesterday by Sipera Systems, a relatively unknown VoIP security firm out of Richardson, Texas. The company said it had alerted Vonage to the problem over a month ago, however it never received a response.
Rep. Boucher Asks Comcast to Stop Blocking BitTorrent
While Congresspeople have recently been quite vocal about their opposition to file sharing services, at least one has presented a contrarian view: Fair use promoter Rep. Rick Boucher (D - Va.) said in a CNET interview that Comcast should lay off BitTorrent.
"The inability of customers to (share files) significantly diminishes their ability to utilize the Internet for one of its most important applications, which is user-to-user content." Rep. Boucher told CNET, adding that Comcast's attempts at regulating Internet traffic were a mistake.
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