Apple on Friday released Security Update 2005-008 to correct seven flaws in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, along with three others affecting version 10.3. Among the fixes is a patch for Mail that prevents the exposure of encrypted content, and update to Safari that prevents cross-site scripting attacks.

Some internal Mac OS X services have also been fixed, including malloc, ImageIO, SecurityAgent and securityd. The update additionally brings enhancements to the Mac OS X login window that improve interaction with the system's parental controls. Security Update 2005-008 can be downloaded from Apple or by using a Mac's Software Update feature.

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AtomFilms announced on Friday it had penned deals with AOL, Singingfish, Blinkx and other video search engines to put the company's content in front of millions of new viewers. Online since 1999, AtomFilms provides online distribution to independent movies and animation. The company says that its viewership has nearly doubled in the past year thanks to increasing adoption of broadband.

"Consumer interest in online video is exploding and it is one of our highest priorities to provide consumers with a top-notch and entertaining video experience," said Jim Bankoff, Executive Vice President of Programming and Products at AOL. "With its extensive library of short films and animation, AtomFilms is one of the leaders in this industry and we are pleased to be working with them."

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Embattled credit card processing company CardSystems, which in June exposed the card numbers of approximately 40 million customers, has agreed to be acquired by CyberSource, an electronic payment solutions provider.

CardSystems' servers were hacked in June, resulting in a federal investigation of the company. While only 200,000 of the cards were marked as a high risk for fraud, the FBI called an investigation for a theft of that size "the next logical step."

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Microsoft is bringing Windows XP Starter Edition to India, where it will offer the stripped down operating system in English for the first time. The low-cost version of XP drops home networking and limits the number of programs that can be opened simultaneously.

In June, Microsoft launched a Spanish version of Windows XP Starter Edition across Latin America. The idea of the special release is to bridge the digital divide and reach the underprivileged populations, along with teaching customers about the dangers of software piracy.

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Looking to improve the security and anti-phishing capabilities of its products, Symantec on Thursday announced that it had acquired WholeSecurity. The firm's technology analyzes worms and viruses in order to better provide protection against attacks, rather than looking for signatures of specific threats.

This approach works better than traditional methods says WholeSecurity, because it can stop an unknown attack immediately by looking for a set of characteristics common to viruses, worms and code attacks.

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At a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York on Thursday, Cingular chief operating officer Ralph de la Vega told Reuters the company was ramping up to launch a music service in 2006, which would utilize high-speed wireless technology to download songs over the air.

Cingular was the first U.S. carrier to offer the Motorola ROKR iTunes phone, and de la Vega said he hoped the new service would involve Apple as well. However, it's not clear if wireless downloads will appeal to consumers who have flocked to iTunes, as Cingular expects to charge more for each song.

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Two entertainment trade groups announced the launch of a new software tool on Thursday that they hope could curb the ever-increasing tide of illegal file sharing across unregulated peer-to-peer networks.

The International Federation of Phonographic Industry and the Motion Picture Association unveiled Digital File Check, a program that will remove or block file-sharing programs, as well as delete copyrighted work from a computer so it cannot be shared.

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European security firm F-Secure on Wednesday detailed a new mobile phone trojan that attacks Symbian based phones with a new trick: the potential to jump to a PC if the phone's memory card is inserted into a computer. Cardtrap.A actually contains a payload of two Windows worms, Win32/Padobot.Z and Win32/Rays.

Padobot.Z attempts to copy itself using an autorun.inf file. However, the threat is minimal, F-Secure says. "To our knowledge, no Windows version supports autorun from a memory card, but it still might work with some Windows version and third party driver combination," said F-Secure researcher Jarno Niemela.

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Just 48 hours after Opera Software removed the ads and license fee from its popular Web browser, Opera 8.5 has been downloaded by over 1 million people, the company said Thursday. The number is double Opera's previous download record, which it achieved in April with version 8.0.

Opera's new freeware status puts added pressure on Microsoft's aging Internet Explorer and even Mozilla Firefox, which soared to popularity as a free alternative to IE 6. Opera says the majority of downloaders were IE users. "The success of our free browser proves the world is ready for a fresh option," said Opera CEO Jon S. von Tetzchner.

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Google is showing an interest in moving into yet another form of media: television. A job posting that first appeared on Wednesday seeks a product manager for a service dubbed "GoogleTV." According to the listing, the candidate would be expected to study trends in television viewing and see where the search engine's technologies could further enhance that experience.

The posting seems to indicate that while Google is unlikely readying a television channel, GoogleTV could possibly be an extension of Google's prototype search that scours the closed captioning text of television shows. Results are displayed with a still image of the video, along with snippets of text that contain the search terms.

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Windows customization software maker Stardock announced that it had launched DesktopGadgets.com, a Web site devoted to the mini-applications that can reside on a user's desktop. Unlike Konfabulator or DesktopX, these programs do not require an additional program in order to be used. Stardock said these gadgets could be created with DesktopX Pro, as well as Microsoft's new Sparkle tool.

"We believe with Microsoft's embrace of gadgets along with their inherent usefulness that users will want a place to get high quality, useful gadgets to extend their desktop, place on their side bar, or use in ways no one has thought of yet," said Stardock President Brad Wardell. "Because gadgets don't require any extra downloads, we believe developers are more likely to create sophisticated content than what has typically been seen with 'widgets'."

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Verizon on Thursday announced it had begun its rollout of its fiber-optic based cable TV alternative. Called FiOS TV, the service will offer access to 180 digital video and music channels as part of its main offer for under $40 USD per month.

The service has launched first in Keller, a Texas city 30 miles west of Dallas. Verizon plans to expand to Wylie, Sachse and Westlake, Texas later in the year. FiOS TV will then expand to cities in Florida, Virginia and California - places where it has obtained permission to offer service.

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Squashing rumors that AOL is on the auction block, Time Warner says it remains committed to AOL, according to comments made by CEO Richard Parsons at a Goldman Sachs media conference. Parsons told attendees that he thought the driver for the company "is going to be AOL in the short term and the long term."

AOL has had a rough go of it since its merger with Time Warner in 2000. The firm was the subject of investigations and lawsuits by the federal government and shareholders alike, leading up to the removal of "AOL" from the combined company's name.

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First, it was Microsoft. Now Sony has announced plans to restructure the company and cut 10,000 jobs. Sony executives made the announcement Thursday at a press conference in Tokyo, where they acknowledged past mistakes have cost the company both in profits and market share in several key businesses.

"We have made promises before, but we failed to execute them," Howard Stringer, Sony's CEO, admitted.

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UPDATED The RIAA's latest attempt at curbing illegal peer-to-peer downloads appears to be working. On September 15, the group sent out cease and desist letters to seven undisclosed P2P networks. As of Thursday, it had appeared that at least two of them have now closed their doors.

According to reports, WinMX has ceased operations, and its Web site, winmx.com, has gone offline. The offices of another file sharing service, eDonkey, were reported closed by Reuters, although its Web site remained online Thursday and sources say the company known as MetaMachine simply moved locations.

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