Two days after being sued by wireless e-mail patent holder Visto, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion filed a lawsuit of its own, asking a court to determine that Visto's patents are invalid. RIM was accused of infringing on four patents, one of which is already under review by the USPTO.

RIM is now seeking to preemptively invalidate the other three, which are related to remote synchronization of data. The suit from Visto comes just two months after RIM paid a $612.5 million settlement to NTP over similar patent infringement claims. Visto is currently in patent litigation with Microsoft and Good Technology as well.

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A draft version of the proposed 802.11n wireless networking standard failed to pass Tuesday, leading some to criticize "pre-802.11n" products that have begun to flood the market. Only 46 percent of voters approved the draft, far short of the 75 percent needed for ratification.

It should be noted, however, that the group did not expect the draft to pass on first vote; typically it will take several revisions before the necessary majority approves a draft. In fact, an official roadmap does not predict final ratification until September of next year.

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Internet telephony company Skype on Wednesday rolled out a new beta of its software, which adds support for sending SMS text messages to mobile phones. Version 2.5 also has a better display of rates when placing an outbound call, and video calling is no longer limited to Windows XP.

Text message fees vary based on country, but largely fall between 2 and 10 cents per message. Replying back to the Skype user is not supported, but users can get SMS replies to their mobile phones. Skype additionally previewed its new Skypecast service Wednesday, which enables customers to host and moderate 100-person conference calls.

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Nokia on Wednesday said it began shipping the Nokia E61, a phone intended to compete with RIM's BlackBerry. The first deliveries began last week, the company said. The E-Series line of phones -- which also includes the E70 and E60 -- was introduced in October of last year in an effort to grab more of the lucrative enterprise market. However, software problems have delayed the release of the E-Series phones, as well as several of Nokia's N-Series Multimedia phone as well.

The E61 looks much like RIM's BlackBerry with a large screen and full QWERTY keyboard. The E70, which comes with a 2-megapixel digital camera, will start shipping later this month. The first E-Series phone, the E60, started shipping last month. Nokia has hopes that the new phones will help turn a profit in its otherwise loss-plagued enterprise division.

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A study commissioned by the movie industry has left those involved both baffled and embarrassed, as the issue of piracy seems to be much bigger than anyone thought. Some industry executives have even advocated not releasing the information to the public.

Carried out by LEK Consulting for the MPAA, the study found that U.S. studios lose $6.1 billion annually, much more than earlier estimates of $3.5 billion in losses. Not only is the issue affecting ticket sales, the study found, but also DVD sales, which the studios have increasingly turned to for revenue.

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Opera Software on Wednesday released the second revision to its Opera Mini browser for mobile phones. The software brings full Web capability to non-smartphone owners, supporting any handset with Java capabilities. Opera Mini 2.0 adds a number of new features, including content downloads.

Users can now save MP3s, images and other files directly to their phones when browsing. In addition, version 2.0 adds support for mobile commerce through the user of SMS, skins, multiple search providers, and speed dial for favorite URLs. Opera Mini 2.0 can be downloaded by loading mini.opera.com in any phone's WAP browser.

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The OpenDocument Format Alliance said Wednesday that it had won approval of ODF as an standard by the International Organization for Standardization. The approval ends a two-year process by ODF supporters to have the format officially recognized.

In May 2004, OASIS was urged by the European Commission's Interchange of Data between Administrations Management Committee to submit ODF to the ISO. OASIS obliged, which led to a vote that ended on May 1.

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Lawyers for several California municipalities said Tuesday that Microsoft has agreed to pay $70 million in vouchers to settle an antitrust claim, pending court approval. The suit, filed in August 2004, claimed that the Redmond company had overcharged government customers. While denying the charges, Microsoft said that it settled the case out of a desire to focus on the future. The company argued that its prices for software were fair.

The vouchers, which can be used for either new hardware or software, will be divided among California state and local government agencies. Microsoft would reimburse purchases with cash refunds, according to the settlement. The agreement is the second for Microsoft in California. Another, settled in 2003, forced Microsoft to reimburse state residents for overcharging for its Windows operating system.

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Creative's losses widened in the third quarter as the company's digital music player business continued to struggle in the face of price pressures and fierce competition from the Apple iPod. But Creative showed no signs of a willingness to abandon the effort that has been spearheaded by its vociferous chairman.

Sim Wong Hoo made digital media players Creative's premier business two years ago in a bid to take on the iconic iPod. However, while vehemently defending his decision and products since then, none of the company's players have caught on with consumers.

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With Google's dominance in the search market continuing to grow, Microsoft has turned to an unlikely ally with an olive branch in hand: Yahoo. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Redmond company has held discussion about acquiring a stake in Yahoo, although the talks are not currently active.

Microsoft is currently reorganizing its search business, bringing in former Ask.com CEO Steve Berkowitz to head MSN. However, sources say the two companies have discussed possible options over the past year, including a minority investment in Yahoo and even a full buyout. Microsoft had previously considered buying a stake in Time Warner's AOL division before Google offered $1 billion.

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Samsung on Monday announced the U.S. availability of the Q1, the company's first device to fall under the Ultra Mobile PC platform. The unit would retail for $1,099 USD, just above Microsoft's target of $599 to $999 for the "Origami" line of devices. UMPCs largely resemble a small Tablet PC with 7-inch touch screen, and run a full version of Windows XP with special software.

However, the high price limits the appeal to a small segment, say analysts. "Clearly, the goal is a toy for boys," says Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox. "With Q1 the S isn't just for Samsung, it's for "status symbol." Everything about the Samsung Q1 is uptown." Another company, Founder, will release a UMPC model later this quarter, with a device by ASUS expected over the summer.

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Research firm Gartner said Tuesday that it believed Microsoft would miss its targets and release Windows Vista another three or so months after its current November-January timeframe. The firm claims Vista's features are too complex to be finished that quickly.

Windows Vista was originally scheduled for a 2005 release, but has been repeatedly delayed as the Redmond company struggled to finish upgrades and ensure a quality release. Vista is the first major upgrade of the Windows platform in five years.

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A revised class-action settlement involving online DVD rental service Netflix has been approved six months after an original settlement was proposed. Netflix had been sued for promising "one day delivery" and "unlimited" rentals after it disclosed it delayed DVDs to frequent renters.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Thomas Mellon Jr. had taken issue with a number of points in the initial settlement, including a payout of $2.5 million to lawyers involved in the case. The FTC voiced its opposition in January saying, "the settlement would serve more as a promotional vehicle for Netflix."

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For the first time since its "switcher" campaign in 2002, Apple has turned to commercials to advertise the superiority of its Macs overs PCs. The six television segments feature an older corporate suit representing a PC and a trendier 20-something as a Mac.

Each "Get a Mac" commercial discusses one aspect of why Macs are better than PCs, from being less prone to viruses and crashes, to including applications that handle music, photos and movies. The ads began airing Monday evening during primetime shows on Fox and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

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Google has raised objections over Microsoft's plans to integrate its new search engine into Internet Explorer 7, press reports indicate. The company's concerns have even led Google to speak with the Justice Department and the European Commission.

Much like Firefox does with Google, the new version of Internet Explorer will be set up by default to send search queries to MSN Search. Google contends that this gives Microsoft an unfair advantage over its competitors.

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