Segway's Human Transporter may be priced too high for most consumers, but the company has found another way to spread its technology: third party licenses. Segway will provide the Smart Motion tech used in its two-wheel scooters to other manufacturers and, in some cases, co-develop the products.

Robotics company WowWee will be the first licensee. The company will integrate Segway's Smart Motion into its next line of robotic toys slated for debut in 2006, including the Robosapien, Roboraptor and Robopet.

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Hewlett-Packard isn't the only one expanding its horizons with non-Microsoft software: Lenovo said this week it will ship the new ThinkPad R51e notebook with Sun's StarOffice 8 productivity suite. However, the bundle is only available in Singapore and Lenovo has no plans to feature StarOffice worldwide.

StarOffice 8 is based on the OpenOffice.org project and includes a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software. As part of the version 8 launch, Sun is stepping up its efforts to expose consumers to the Microsoft Office alternative. The company this week inked a deal with Google to promote the suite.

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Once fierce rivals Microsoft and America Online are again at the bargaining table, according to a report Friday in the Wall Street Journal. Sources familiar with the discussions say the main topic revolves around use of the MSN search engine to power searches on AOL.com.

While a report of talks in mid-September indicated an agreement could have also included a merger of the two companies' ad sales units, the WSJ remained vague on any additional topics that were discussed.

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In the second major blogging-related acquisition in as many days, VeriSign on Friday said it purchased Weblogs.com, a service that alerts users when Web logs are updated.

The Web site was one of the original "ping servers" and was developed by Dave Winer, most known for his work in creating RSS and Web logging tools.

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Microsoft plans to fix several holes in the security of Windows during its monthly "Patch Tuesday" release next week, including at least one deemed "critical." Eight of the patches will deal with problems in the operating system, and one will fix a flaw in the company's Exchange Server.

While Microsoft is never specific as to what it will be patching ahead of the actual release, eWeek is reporting that at least one fix with deal with code execution vulnerabilities within Internet Explorer.

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Google has announced that it plans to step up efforts to lobby in Washington, but it says that it would be working on behalf of the technology industry in general rather than in its own best interest.

The search giant will open up an office in the nation's capital, and the first member of its lobbying team will be Alan Davidson, a veteran technology lobbyist and Director at the Center for Democracy and Technology.

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These days, Microsoft is no longer content with just being on your computer screen. The largest software company in the world has repositioned Windows to not only become the operating system for home computers, but also for other devices that we use everyday.

"These embedded devices serve a single purpose," Mike Hall, technical product manager for Windows Embedded, told BetaNews. "Things like ATM machines, a point-of-sale system in a retail store, or a traffic control system."

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The increasingly litigious record industry could be ready to take on the burgeoning satellite radio market next over what it sees as potential copyright infringement by XM and Sirius.

Press reports indicate that the RIAA is upset over recording capabilities being built into the newest portable players from the two services. XM has offered its MyFi player with such capabilities since last year, and Sirius plans to bring out a similar player by the holiday season. The Sirius model relies solely on recorded programming to operate.

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Google Local finally left beta in the U.S. and Canada on Thursday, offering local search results with integrated map information. Users can pull up nearby businesses blended with satellite imagery and overlaid driving directions from Google's index and Yellow Pages data.

"With today's launch of Google Local, users will be able to go to one location to find all the local and mapping information they need," said Marissa Mayer, director of Google's Consumer Web Products. "Whether it's directions to the nearest pharmacy or reviews of nearby dim sum restaurants, we will continue to develop innovative technologies that enrich our users' lives."

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AOL wants to make its AIM instant messaging service presence more ubiquitous on the Web, and it has joined forces with several popular social networking sites to make that happen.

Through these partnerships, consumers will be able to show their online status on Web sites, as well as give other AIM users one-click access to communicate with them.

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Nintendo said on Thursday its free Wi-Fi Connection service for wireless gaming will officially launch on November 14. The service will work with the company's Nintendo DS console and support a number of games, including Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing and Metroid Prime Hunters.

Wi-Fi Connection will be accessible from inside or outside the home, at select Nintendo Hotspots across the United States. The service will also be compatible with Nintendo's next-generation game console, known as the "Revolution." Players can connect and seek out known friends, or automatically play with others based on skill-level.

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UPDATED A 14 year-old girl is in the middle of a dispute with the record labels that could have broad implications for future cases involving minors downloading illicit music files from peer-to-peer services.

An effort is underway by EMI, Warner, Universal and Sony BMG to force the courts to appoint an official legal guardian for Brittany Chan so they can move forward with their lawsuit against her.

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Symantec has issued an advisory on a security vulnerability discovered within the web-based Administrative Interface of its AntiVirus Scan Engine. The flaw could lead to a buffer overflow that enables a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code and access a system.

Security firm iDefense discovered the problem, which is only a risk if the Web interface is enabled and open to outsiders. Symantec has issued a patch for the AntiVirus Scan Engine that can be downloaded through its support site. The company says it is unaware of any customers that were affected by the flaw.

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MCI said on Thursday that its merger with Verizon had received the approval of 64.2 percent of its outstanding shares and 88.2 percent of votes cast. The company said it planned to get the votes certified as soon as possible.

From the results, it appears that talks of Qwest possibly trying to influence the vote either were false, or fell mostly on deaf ears.

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Building upon its newly announced security software for businesses, Microsoft on Thursday officially established a new consortium called SecureIT Alliance alongside security industry heavyweights such as Symantec, Trend Micro, McAfee, and Panda among others.

Those in the Alliance will share information about new threats and best practices, along with gaining access to Microsoft betas, software development kits, early adopter programs and development labs. The online portal to facilitate this cooperation will launch later this year.

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