The Technophilez

Microsoft had a 'Live'ly Wednesday, releasing beta versions of three different Live products. Product Manager Nick White, on a Vista blog, announced the betas for Windows Live Messenger 8.5, Windows Live Mail, and Windows Live Writer.

Live Messenger 8.5 is probably the product that has changed least from previous versions. White said the beta "largely affects the back-end," but added that it will integrate with Windows Live OneCare Safety Center. Instant messaging programs have been increasingly targeted by virus and spam writers in recent years, so upgrading the safety of Messenger has likely been a priority within Microsoft.

Windows Live Mail is a new e-mail client that takes over from and improves on several other mail clients, namely Outlook Express, Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail desktop.

Some of the top features, according to Program Manager Ellie Powers-Boyle, include close integration and functionality with Hotmail; access to Hotmail e-mail, folders and contacts when offline; automatic syncing of changes made offline when a user reconnects to the Internet; and the ability to aggregate multiple Hotmail accounts at the same time in one view. Windows Live Mail also works with any other e-mail accounts, including POP3 and IMAP accounts.

And, in one note more ominous than comforting, White adds that "there will not be any graphical advertisements in Windows Live Mail at this time." He didn't address the possibility of future ads popping up in Live Mail.

Windows Live Writer is primarily a blogging tool. According to White, it works with, among other blog-publishing programs, Windows Live Spaces, WordPress, TypePad, Movable Type, LiveJournal and Blogger. The beta has features like inline spell checking, the ability to easily insert graphics, edit tables and add categories. Also included in the beta is an application programming interface (API) that allows customization by blog providers, and syncing of local and online edits.

A number of bloggers who cover the blog industry have reviewed Live Writer, and the consensus is that it works very well and is simple to use.

The betas can be found here:

• Windows Live Messenger 8.5
• Windows Live Mail
• Windows Live Writer

According to Zune Insider Microsoft will be releasing firmware update version 1.4.  This firmware update "brings an improved shuffle experience" making successive shuffle actions produce more random lists. Still no word on when the Zune will support pod/netcasting or whatever you choose to call it these days.

Fedora 7, the latest version of the popular community-driven Linux distribution sponsored by Red Hat, was released this morning. This is the first Fedora release to incorporate and unify both the Core and Extra platform components, thus obviating the need for the traditional inclusion of the word "Core" in the distribution's name. This is also the first release to be constructed with Fedora's new build system, which will vastly simplify development of custom versions and derivatives.

Today Apple announced that it would incorporate Google's You tube video services on the Apple TV Set-top box.  More Interestingly they announced that they would be offering a version of the Apple TV with a 160 Gigabyte hard drive for $399 a $100 premium over the current product which has a 40 gigabyte hard drive.  This would increase the capacity of the device to four times the original allowing for up to 200 hours of video.   To round up the apple announcements, they revealed iTunes Plus.  The new download service will offer the anticipated digital rights management(drm)-free content from EMI which currently includes Cold Play, Joss Stone and The Rolling Stones.  Look for the You Tube update and service in mid June with a limited portion of the available content.  They reportedly will make the full catalog of You Tube's Content available in fall.

According to PC World, Symantec's Threat Analysis team, DeepSight, has identified a flaw in version 3.0.10 of Samba that ships with OSX.  It is apparently open to "Request Mulitple Heap-Based Buffer Overflow" vulnerability which affects all versions of Samba prior to v3.0.25.

Symantec noted that Apple last updated Samba as part of its security update 2005-003. 

A patch was released by the samba team earlier this month but initially only Windows systems were thought to be vulnerable to this exploit.

Symantec recommends all Mac users that require Windows Sharing update their Macs with the latest version of Samba. If that is not possible, the security vendor recommends disabling Samba completely.

Picture a surface that can recognize physical objects from a paintbrush to a cell phone and allows hands-on, direct control of content such as photos, music and maps. Today at the Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer will unveil Microsoft Surface™, the first in a new category of surface computing products from Microsoft that breaks down traditional barriers between people and technology. Surface turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, dynamic surface that provides effortless interaction with all forms of digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. Beginning at the end of this year, consumers will be able to interact with Surface in hotels, retail establishments, restaurants and public entertainment venues.

The intuitive user interface works without a traditional mouse or keyboard, allowing people to interact with content and information on their own or collaboratively with their friends and families, just like in the real world. Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor that small groups can use at the same time. From digital finger painting to a virtual concierge, Surface brings natural interaction to the digital world in a new and exciting way.

“With Surface, we are creating more intuitive ways for people to interact with technology,” Ballmer said. “We see this as a multibillion dollar category, and we envision a time when surface computing technologies will be pervasive, from tabletops and counters to the hallway mirror. Surface is the first step in realizing that vision.”

The along-awaited game is set to hit Xbox Live Arcade tomorrow.

Microsoft has announced that Load Inc's Mad Tracks will be released on the Xbox Live Marketplace tomorrow from 9am UK time.

You'll b able to download additional races and mini-games for the game as the Bravo and Encore expansion packs will be released tomorrow too for 350 Microsoft Points.

The regular game features six races and nine mini-games, 12 power-ups and 12 cars. You'll be able to play against three friends over Xbox Live and local split-screen multiplayer.

Twenty-eight new planets have been discovered outside the solar system in the past year, scientists announced yesterday.

The new discoveries raise the total number of exoplanets—worlds that circle other stars—to 236.

Many of the discoveries were published in scientific journals over the past year.

Monday's announcement at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu, Hawaii, was the first time the finds were presented together to the public.

Most of the new planets are probably huge balls of gas, more like Jupiter than Earth.

But scientists say the increasing rate at which they're finding new exoplanets makes it almost certain that the galaxy is swarming with smaller, rocky, and potentially habitable worlds that have so far eluded detection.

"We're finally now getting a sense that our solar system is not a rarity," said Geoff Marcy, who led the California and Carnegie Planet Search team that made many of the discoveries.

"There are indeed tens of billions of planetary systems out there, no doubt some of them rocky Earths, lukewarm, and suitable for life."

According to the president of the Entertainment and Devices Division, Robbie Bach, the head of the division of microsoft responsible for both the Zune and the Xbox 360, Microsoft has sold 1 million Zunes to date.

The Chronicle reports Bach as saying they met their goal of selling 1 million Zunes beating their June target, a target that reportedly gives the 10% of the market share.

Bach also told of a new factory being built in China which will manufacture 2nd generation hard drive Zunes as well as a new flash model. Questions about a Zune phone seemed to suggest Microsoft was happy with its existing Windows Mobile smartphones, without expressly ruling out a Zune Phone and exclaiming that the iPhone certainly was an interesting device.

Interestingly, Bach was asked about the Wi-Fi features in the Sansa Connect, which are superior to those of the Zune, and he explained that while they were keeping an eye on Sandisk’s progress, improvements to the Zune could come as easily as writing new software to support more Wi-Fi capabilities, giving hope that the Zune’s Wi-Fi could be about to get a whole lot more useful, without specifically making any such promises.

Bach was also delighted with the success of the pink and watermelon colored Zunes that have just been released, with the watermelon colored model a favorite of his children.

The battle over Internet radio royalties entered a new phase Tuesday, with the organization representing copyright holders pitching a two-tier system and the SaveNetRadio coalition rejecting it.

Following a direct request from a House of Representatives subcommittee for the parties to begin negotiations, SoundExchange proposed that a modified version of a now-expired royalty structure be reinstituted, with "temporary below-market royalty rates for small Internet radio stations in order to provide them additional time to build their businesses."

SoundExchange, a spinoff of the Recording Industry Association of America, represents several recording artists and record labels.

Cisco Systems has released a security patch to fix vulnerabilities in a number of its products that are at risk of a denial of service attack.

The vulnerabilities are found in a third-party cryptographic library in Cisco IOS, Cisco IOS XR, Cisco PIX and ASA Security Appliances, Cisco Firewall Module and Cisco Unified CallManager products, according to a security advisory issued by Cisco.

The security flaws could allow attackers to send a few small packets through the routers to shut down the network in a DOS attack.

The vulnerabilities can be exploited without a valid username or password, given some of the older Cisco products have the cryptographic library set to default. And while attackers may be able to launch a DOS attack, they are not known to gain access to information that has already been encrypted, Cisco noted.

In its advisory, Cisco includes various links for downloading fixes, as well as offering suggestions for potential workarounds.

Although the vulnerabilities affect a wide range of Cisco products, no exploits have yet surfaced.

ZDNet is reporting that Microsoft released an oficial statement that they would not litigate over the purported patent infringements by Linux and associated open source software.

"If we wanted to go down that road we could have done that three years ago," said a Microsoft spokesperson. "Rather than litigate, Microsoft has spent the last three years building an intellectual property bridge that works for all parties -- including open source -- and the customer response has been tremendously positive. Our focus is on continuing to build bridges."

Via Gamespot

Rockstar Games announced the pricing for the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV.  While not surpassing upcoming Halo 3's $130 pricetag GTA IV will be priced at $89.99 for the Special Edition for Xbox 360 and PS3, a $30 increase over the current standard of $60.00.

The game will ship with extras to include a limited edition duffel bag and a book containting production artwork from the game.