Verizon Dials Up Revver in Content Deal

Just a day after it announced a similar agreement with competitor YouTube, the nation's second largest cellular provider announced it would also included selected videos from Revver.

It appears at the heart of Verizon Wireless' decision to push forward with more content for VCAST is a desire to lure more of its consumer base of 57 million customers to sign up for the service. After spending billions on its 3G network, it now is looking to recoup that.

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Canadian Networks Consider End to Broadcast TV

Faced with the impending obsolescence of US-based analog television, Canada's broadcasters must decide how -- or whether -- to continue expensive transmitter upgrades to meet the requirements of the digital era.

Since before Canada was declared a sovereign nation, the country's telecommunications services were intended to be compatible with those of the United States and Mexico. Today, its AM and FM radio bands are the same, its telephone system of area codes is compatible with that of the original Bell System, and its VHF and UHF analog broadcast television channels basically use the same spectrum.

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Apple Plugs 18 Security Holes in Tiger

Apple on Tuesday released its seventh security update this year for Mac OS X, correcting 22 vulnerabilities in total - 18 of which affect the company's latest 10.4.8 version of Tiger. Among the list of fixes is a buffer overflow in the Airport drivers, and four updates to the system's Security Framework.

Other patches in the 2006-007 update include a fix to Finder and the HTML engine built into Mac OS X. Apple additionally corrected a problem with Windows file sharing, which enabled an attacker to make an unlimited number of connections and could lead to memory exhaustion. Mac OS X users can download the security update via the operating system's Software Update feature.

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Opera Mini 3.0 Released for Phones

Opera Software on Tuesday released the final version 3.0 of its Opera Mini Web browser, which is designed for mobile phones. The upgrade introduces a number of new social networking features, such as photo sharing and a built-in RSS reader.

Other additions include support for secure SSL connections and speed improvements. Opera Mini uses server-side compression to make browsing the Web faster. The software is available free of charge, but a data plan is required from a wireless carrier to use Opera Mini. Most mobile handsets are supported, but recent Cingular phones are not compatible due to the carrier's Java Virtual Machine that asks the user to approve each data connection as it is made.

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Russia Poised to Shutter AllofMP3

AllofMP3.com will likely be shut down by Russian authorities as part of its entrance into the World Trade Organization (WTO). But the site is fighting back, providing a legal argument for its continued operation.

A document released by the Office of the United States Trade Representative seems to indicate that Russia and the US have come to an agreement that would remove one of the biggest roadblocks to its entry into the WTO - intellectual property rights.

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Study: Violent Video Games Affect the Brain

A study released Tuesday indicates that violent video games cause noticeably different effects on the brains of teenagers then non-violent ones.

Increased activity was noted in the region of the brain that governs emotions, while activity decreased in the area that deals with self-control, focus, and concentration.

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Reverse Engineering DRM on CDs Deemed Lawful

The US Librarian of Congress is recommending that Congress officially recognize that engineering intended to expose flaws in DRM schemes on audio CDs to be non-infringing.

Every three years, advisors to the US Library of Congress meet to determine whether certain technological measures that could be considered circumventions of copyright - and thus, running afoul of "fair use" provisions - are actually necessary in order to further the lawful use of copyrighted works.

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Wal-Mart Enters Video Download Biz

The nation's largest retailer has taken it's first steps into the nascent video download business by offering the Superman Returns DVD bundled with a downloadable copy.

Wal-Mart has been rumored to be the cause of the breakdown in negotiations between movie studios and Apple over providing their content on the iTunes Music Store. Although company executives have denied any meddling, such a move by Wal-Mart has long been expected.

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YouTube Brings Videos to Cell Phones

The Web's largest purveyor of user-generated content has signed a deal with Verizon Wireless. The deal will bring YouTube videos to VCAST subscribers in early December.

YouTube says it would provide the most popular videos exclusively to Verizon Wireless for a limited time. After that, it appears as if the site has plans to market the offering to other wireless carriers with capable handsets.

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TiVo Debuts Ad Placement Service

TiVo has long been looking for ways to keep advertisers happy, and a new service introduced Tuesday is no exception. Companies will now be able to insert their ads to the TV series of their choice, or across multiple programs or a specific genre.

By inserting the ad at the end of the program, the DVR maker hopes that since there is nothing left to fast forward through, the user may take the time to watch the ad before moving on.

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Zune Sales Lagging Behind iPod, Others

Sales of the Microsoft Zune appear to be trailing off rather quickly after a fast start, leading some analysts to believe consumer interest is waning.

The player, which stayed in the top 10 in sales in the Amazon.com electronics category for several days following its launch, has now nearly fallen out of the top 100. As of midday Tuesday, only the black player registered, coming in at #96.

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Motorola Unveils 9mm Entry-level Phone with E-Ink Display

For the past few years, mobile phone development has followed a PC-like, “top-down” model, where new technologies and concepts are tried at the high end first. For Motorola’s next act, however, it’s trying the reverse angle: a sweeping new architecture for significantly lower power consumption, using the same display technology that premiered in the Sony Reader device, in a form factor that could deliver as much as 450 minutes of continuous talk time or 400 hours of standby, on a single charge.

At just 9mm thick, Motorola’s new Motofone series debuts today, with the first F3 models to be connected to India’s GSM network. It’s important to note that this is a basic phone, although it does include texting.

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'Cyber Monday' Ain't No Christmas Myth

The first raw data on Internet usage yesterday indicate shoppers rode heavy on the net. But there's one important question outstanding: Were those shoppers also purchasers?

If ever you happen to be up to your neck or deeper in snow, you could say you didn't see any avalanche. Despite some early anecdotal indications that "Cyber Monday" either fizzled or was a non-event, nay-sayers awoke from a prematurely long Christmas nap to find some raw numbers that spoke otherwise: According to estimates from corporate Web services provider Akamai Technologies, North American Internet traffic yesterday to the 270 major retail sites tracked by the company was 19% higher than for the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2005, and global traffic was 14% higher.

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Adware Proof of Concept Targets Mac

Finnish security firm F-Secure has discovered what is believed to be the first adware application built specifically for Mac OS X. The program does not require administrative privileges in order to install itself on the user's computer. Dubbed "iAdware" by the firm, it could be used as a popup launcher from Mac's built in web browser, Safari.

The program is currently not out in the wild, but has been provided as proof-of-concept code to researchers. Once a bastion of Internet safety, the Mac is now becoming an increasingly popular target for hackers as it's popularity grows.

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EC Confirms it Received Microsoft Docs on July 18

In a statement issued Thanksgiving Day -– perhaps timed appropriately, since the holiday is celebrated mainly in the US -– Microsoft said it had released all 8,500 pages of its technical documentation for interoperability, as requested by the European Commission, back in July.

The implication was that the company did not withhold or fail to complete documentation, contrary to the EC’s argument one week prior. At that time, the EC issued an ultimatum demanding what it characterized as the remainder of its documentation package, or else face a fine of as much as €3 million per day, retroactive to July 31.

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