Nokia Debuts Updated Internet Tablet
Nokia on Wednesday introduced its updated Internet Tablet device, although it still lacks phone capabilities via the cellular network.
The new N810 will include both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity as well as options to expand data storage up to 10GB, and a nearly 4 1/4" display with 800x480 resolution. The device goes on sale in November at a price of $479 USD.
Two Spammers Face Over Five Years
Two men behind a spam ring that sent millions of pornographic mails are the first to be convicted under new federal spam laws, the Justice Department said.
The law, known as CAN-SPAM, was passed in 2003 in order to criminalize the sending of unsolicited mail. Since then, many companies including AOL and Microsoft have used the law to fight back against spammers.
Open XML Negatively Impacting ISO Standards Body
Since the number of "principal" or "participating" (P-class) voting members of the International Organization for Standardization's JTC 1 SC 34 working group increased by eleven prior to last month's preliminary ballot on the approval process for Microsoft's Office Open XML format suite, participation by nearly all members on important matters other than OOXML appears to be waning.
Of the three non-OOXML ballots that were voted on since September 2, ISO documents reveal, Poland was the only new member to vote yea or nay, while Colombia voted twice to abstain, and all other new members failed to cast ballots at all.
HTC Touch Comes to Sprint in US
As reported earlier this month the HTC Touch smartphone will soon be made available in the United States by mobile carrier Sprint for a price of $249 USD.
The touch screen-enabled Windows Mobile device is currently available in European and Asian markets. For notification on the exact date of when the handsets are in stock, Sprint's Web site offers an abbreviated sign-up sheet.
Best Buy Sells Its Last Analog TV Set
Best Buy announced today that it has pulled all remaining analog television products from store shelves and will henceforth only sell digital tuners. The company is the first consumer electronics retailer to publicly announce its departure from the analog television business.
Congress has mandated that the FCC re-claim the wireless spectrum used for analog TV by January 2009. The spectrum is being auctioned early next year, with Verizon and Google among the interested bidders. Consumers will soon begin seeing ads on TV announcing the impending transition to digital.
Yahoo Senior Counsel to Be Grilled by Congress Over China Disclosure
Stepping up his rhetoric against Yahoo yesterday, the chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Tom Lantos (D - Calif.), said he has issued requests for CEO Jerry Yang and senior vice president and general counsel Michael Callahan, to appear before the committee on November 6. Their purpose there will be to answer allegations and respond to evidence Rep. Lantos says he will present that Callahan made false statements to Congress in February 2006, regarding whether Yahoo turned over private customer data about a Chinese journalist to Chinese government authorities.
"Our committee has established that Yahoo provided false information to Congress in early 2006," reads a statement from Rep. Lantos last night. "We want to clarify how that happened, and to hold the company to account for its actions both before and after its testimony proved untrue. And we want to examine what steps the company has taken since then to protect the privacy rights of its users in China."
AT&T Decides to Prorate Termination Fee
Following a similar move by Verizon Wireless in January of last year, AT&T said Wednesday that it will change its policies to reduce early termination fees and change their contracts without penalty.
Like Verizon's new method, termination fees will be prorated and based on how much time is remaining in the contract. Additionally, fees for changing calling plans will be reduced.
Adobe: Pros Like Lightroom Better
Professional photographers are about four times as likely to use Lightroom versus Apple's competing application Aperture, Adobe's Photoshop product manager said Tuesday.
According to data compiled by research firm InfoTrends, Aperture's market share in the segment stands at about 5.5 percent. The rest are using some type of Adobe product: 66.5 percent use the PhotoShop Camera Raw plug-in, and 23.6 percent use Lightroom.
Jobs Speaks: Apple to Deliver iPhone SDK in February
After months of silence on the matter, Apple finally announced Wednesday that it plans to enable developers to create native third-party applications for the iPhone (not just Web-based applications), and will deliver an SDK in February. The delay has been blamed on security concerns.
"It will take until February to release an SDK because we're trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once - provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc.," company CEO Steve Jobs said. Apple notes that Nokia does not allow third-party applications on its newer phones without a digital signature for this very reason. Jobs adds that applications can also be created for the iPod Touch.
Novell-Microsoft Antitrust Suit Moves Forward
An appeals court ruled Monday that two remaining antitrust claims brought against Microsoft by Novell could go forward, upholding an earlier court decision that dismissed the company's other four claims.
Novell had originally sued Microsoft in November 2004 for monopolistic behavior in the productivity software market, which prevented it from selling its WordPerfect word processing and Quattro Pro spreadsheet applications from 1994 to 1996.
Cisco Brazil Offices Raided in Tax Fraud Investigation
The Sao Paolo and Rio de Janiero offices of Cisco in Brazil were temporarily closed yesterday, and employees were reportedly arrested under suspicion of tax fraud amounting to approximately $830 million dollars in unpaid duties.
Cisco is under major tax fraud investigation for allegedly using tax havens like Panama, the Bahamas, and the British Virgin Islands to ship undervalued goods into Brazil to avoid paying applicable duties. Its Brazilian unit is believed to have imported $500 million worth of network and telecommunications equipment over the course of five years without paying necessary taxes.
Leopard to Natively Support ODF
OpenDocument took another step away from obscurity Tuesday, as Apple confirmed that Mac OS X version 10.5 -- known as "Leopard" -- will natively support ODF files, alongside Microsoft's Word 2007 formats. Apple had previously added support for the format in its Pages word processing application.
Leopard users will be able to view ODF and Word 2007 documents without an external program; they will open directly in the operating system's TextEdit application. While TextEdit provides only very basic editing capabilities, it will suffice for viewing of most documents. Microsoft supports ODF in Office 2003 and 2007, but only when an external plug-in is installed.
Journalist Shield Law Passes US House, President Threatens Veto
A bill intended to grant journalists the right to protect the identity of their sources when questioned in court passed the US House of Representatives yesterday, by a vote of 398 to 21. The version as passed contained much clarified language, closing a legal loophole that might have enabled courts to compel journalists to divulge their sources anyway.
But another late addition to the House version of the Free Flow of Information Act altered the extent of its coverage to professional journalists only - specifically, those who make money. Specifically, it narrowed the scope of protection to "a person who, for financial gain or livelihood, is engaged in journalism and includes a supervisor, employer, parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of such covered person."
High-Def TiVos Get External Storage
Although the TiVo Series3 has been out for more than a year, its external storage expansion port has remained inoperable - until now. With software update 9.2, TiVo customers can boost the amount of programming they can store by simply plugging in a verified Serial ATA hard drive.
The feature is also compatible with the new TiVo HD. The company has not yet said what will be considered a "verified" drive, or whether it will sell its own branded hard drives. The 9.2 update also brings an important feature for Amazon Unbox customers: progressive downloads. Users can begin watching the movie the moment it downloads, rather than waiting for it to complete.
Microsoft Revamps Windows Live Maps
Microsoft has launched what developers are calling version 2.0 of Windows Live Maps, which has been completely revamped inside and out. A number of new features have also been added, including "Party Maps," which enables users to send invitations to 50 people with a simple link to directions.
Like Google Maps, Windows Live Maps now displays traffic data and can route around congestion, although you can't change your route by simply dragging it on the map. 3D birds-eye views are also now integrated in maps, although with adding 3D models of buildings onto maps that are stored in Collections. More information the new features can be found on the Virtual Earth blog.
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