The Technophilez

Microsoft has launched a beta of its Windows Media Center Internet TV platform. Microsoft's Internet TV initiative was first hyped for the Xbox 360 platform, but it will first show up on Windows Vista machines.

Owners of Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate will be able to access free ad-supported TV content without the need for a hardware TV tuner. Over 100 hours of programming will initially be available during the beta phase including episodes of "Arrested Development" along with music concerts by John Mayer and Snoop Dogg.

Vista users will also have access to news clips from MSNBC and sports highlights from FOX Sports.

Owners of Microsoft's Xbox 360 will be happy to know that their consoles can be used as Windows Media Extenders to view the same content available on Windows Vista.

Microsoft also announced that Linksys, D-Link and HP Windows Media Center Extenders would be capable of streaming Internet TV content to high-definition TVs.

Microsoft is extending the time it will allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and retail outlets to sell PCs with Windows XP as customers continue to balk on upgrading to Windows Vista.

Microsoft had planned to stop selling XP through OEMs and retailers on Jan. 31, 2008, while custom system builders have until Jan. 31, 2009, to pre-install XP on machines. But because sales of Vista PCs have not been as strong as expected, OEMs and retailers have asked Microsoft to extend XP's availability. OEMs and retailers will now have until June 30, 2008, to sell PCs with Vista preinstalled on machines, Microsoft said. Retailers also can sell XP out of the box until that time if they choose, the company said.

In fact, some PC makers are selling Vista-equipped systems with an XP Pro recovery disc to those who request one so that it can be used in case the purchaser isn't happy with the new Microsoft OS.

On the heels of AT&T's uninspiring BlackBerry 8820 comes what may be the hit BlackBerry— even the hit handheld—of the fall season. Today, T-Mobile announced the BlackBerry Curve 8320, which combines the popular BlackBerry Curve cameraphone with the ability to make calls over 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi networks.

The 8320's Wi-Fi calling feature is part of T-Mobile's Hotspot@Home system, which charges an extra $10 per month for unlimited calling from Wi-Fi areas. While you can use public unencrypted networks, call quality is much better at home using a specially-tweaked router that T-Mobile sells for $49 (with a $50 rebate, so it's essentially free). When I reviewed Hotspot@Home, I experienced trouble with handing off calls between Wi-Fi and cellular networks—but that was months ago, so I'm looking forward to seeing if handoffs have improved.

Millions of MySpace addicts can get their fix a little easier now: The social networking site is launching a free version for mobile phones.

Starting today, anyone with a Web-enabled mobile phone or PDA can access a scaled-down version of MySpace while on the move, to update friend requests, post messages or just tool around the site. Users will be subject to advertisements, provided and powered by Baltimore's Millennial Media.

Previously, mobile MySpacers had to pay about $3 a month to access a phone-friendly site. Now the popular site joins other Web content providers in scrapping subscriber fees for advertising support in a race to best deliver content to the small screens of mobile telephones and personal digital assistants.

Microsoft Corp. is inviting hackers onto its Redmond, Washington, campus again next week and this time software virtualization and mobile security will be the hot topics.

The company's semi-annual BlueHat hacking conference will run Thursday and Friday, giving Microsoft engineers and executives a chance to hear first-hand reports on the latest in computer security research. This will be Microsoft's sixth BlueHat conference, since it introduced the event in early 2005.

This year, representatives from companies such as Symantec Corp., 3Com Inc.'s TippingPoint division, and Sourcefire Inc. will speak on topics ranging from embedded system security, software "fuzzing," and exploit creation, according to a preliminary schedule of the event obtained by the IDG News Service.

"The BlueHat speakers, both leading external security researchers and internal Microsoft engineers, will pierce the security veil of virtualization and process isolation," wrote Microsoft security group manager Andrew Cushman on the BlueHat blog. "Plus, we've got a couple of talks on Windows Mobile and more about automated exploit creation-- this time using Metasploit."

There will also be a discussion of WabiSabiLabi Ltd.'s controversial exploit marketplace given by Roberto Preatoni, strategic director with the company, according to the preliminary agenda. Friday morning will be devoted to a discussion of mobile hacking tools and techniques and software virtualization will be discussed later in the day.

A more up-to-date agenda is expected to be posted within a few days, according to Microsoft's public relations agency.

Usually Microsoft says nothing about its BlueHat hacking conferences prior to the event, but this year the company preannounced the confab, saying it wants to be a little more up-front about what's going on. "BlueHat is unique and still a closed door conference for MS product teams, but this year we will open up a little-- with info about the conference before it starts and with more info made available during the conference," Cushman wrote.

Mozilla Corp. updated the preview of Firefox 3.0 to alpha 8 Thursday, unveiling for the first time to users several security features it's talked up for months.

Among the security provisions debuting in the new alpha of "Gran Paradiso," the code name for Firefox 3.0, are built-in anti-malware warnings and protection against rogue extension updates, according to documentation Mozilla posted to its Web site.

The malware blocker, which was first mocked up in June, will block Web sites thought to contain malicious downloads. The feature, a companion to the phishing site alert system in the current Firefox 2.0, will use information provided by Google Inc. to flag potentially-dangerous sites, warn anyone trying to reach those URLs with Firefox and automatically block access to the site.

Mozilla also pointed to a URL that demonstrates the new malware blocker for alpha 8 users.

Also taking a bow is a check meant to prevent plug-ins' automatic updates from sending users to malicious sites where they might be infected by attack code or drive-by downloads.

To stymie attacks through a compromised extension update, Mozilla will require updates-- both the actual update package and the much smaller "manifest," or notification of an update-- to be delivered over an SSL-secured connection. Or the update must be digitally signed.

The change doesn't affect the initial installation of an extension, something Mozilla recognized. "[This] has no impact on the security of initial add-on installs," it told developers in the online guide.

This newest preview, which can be downloaded in versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux from the Mozilla site, still comes with a warning to end users. "Alpha 8 is intended for Web application developers and our testing community. Current users of Mozilla Firefox should not use Gran Paradiso Alpha 8," the browser's release notes.

Mozilla has not officially committed to a release date for the final version of Firefox 3.0.

  "Halo 3," the highly anticipated video game from Microsoft, won high praise on Sunday from game reviewers who gushed over the lush settings, cinematic feel and array of multiplayer features.

The game, the final chapter of a trilogy that began in 2001 with the launch of Microsoft's original Xbox, is a key part of the company's strategy to take a bigger share of the console gaming market from Sony.

Gaming news Web site GameSpy gave "Halo 3" five stars, its highest ranking, saying it was so good that it was worth buying an Xbox 360 just to play it. The Xbox 360 costs $280 to $450, depending on features.

"Quite simply, 'Halo 3' is the reason the Xbox 360 exists," GameSpy said.

Since "Halo 3" is the game industry equivalent of a new "Harry Potter" book or "Star Wars" movie, few expected it to be a flop. Specialty gaming retail chain GameStop said the title set a record for advance orders while Microsoft has said it expects initial demand to surpass that for 2004's "Halo 2," which racked up $125 million in its first 24 hours.

The game is set to go on sale on September 25.

Reviewers did voice a few complaints. Some said the game's graphics, while impressive, fell short of titles such as Take-Two Interactive Software's  "BioShock" and "Gears of War," also from Microsoft. Others said the behavior of computer-controlled enemies wasn't very realistic.

"Will 'Halo 3' live up to the hype? No. There isn't perfection here. There isn't an absolute, please-all quality," said gaming blog Joystiq.com, though it added that the game was still a must-have.

Most critics said any shortcomings were more than made up for by unprecedented variety that includes a cooperative mode that allows four people to play together online, and editing tools to let gamers modify levels to compete against each other in "deathmatch" competitions.

Dan Hsu, editor-in-chief of gaming magazine EGM, gave the game a perfect 10 rating. "It's such a huge package. It's hard to imagine something gamers don't like here," Hsu said. GameSpot, another top gaming news Web site, weighed in with a rating of 9.5, saying the new features refreshed the familiar feel of the "Halo" universe.

"When you roll all this stuff together ... it really feels like a dramatically different game, and a dramatically bigger game. It comes together in an amazing package that is definitely one of the year's best," GameSpot said.

Adobe PDF documents might compromise your PC, according to a security Relevant Products/Services researcher. Petko Petkov, a "creative hacker" who has previously found that Windows Media Player can harbor malicious files and that there's a critical bug in the way the Firefox browser works with QuickTime, is now reporting problems with PDFs.

Petkov said he has tested the issue with Windows XP Service Pack 2 and the latest Adobe Reader 8.1, but said that previous versions of Reader are also vulnerable.

For users, he is advising only one course of action at the moment. Users should not "open any PDF files (locally or remotely)," he wrote, adding that other PDF viewers besides Adobe Reader could also be affected.

"Adobe Acrobat/Reader PDF documents can be used to compromise your Windows box," he wrote Thursday on his blog. "Completely!!! Invisibly and unwillingly!!! All it takes is to open a PDF document or stumble across a page which embeds one."

He described the issue as a high-risk vulnerability of critical importance, given PDF's popularity for business use. PDFs are frequently used to distribute press releases, contracts, designs, manuals, and other material that the creator does not want altered.

Petkov said that because of the importance of PDF as a format, and the fact that "it may take a while for Adobe to fix their closed source product," he would not be publishing any code until Adobe has issued an update. He has reported that Adobe has confirmed the issue.

With more than a month to go before Leopard's release, Apple seeded a large update (6.5GB) to ADC members on Friday, AppleInsider reports. There are only two major issues left in this build.

First, the Archive and Install procedure seems to be failing on PPC-based machines, which is a biggie. The second issue wasn't clearly defined, but involves users with HP printers connected to their Macs (as well as users upgrading from a Tiger install that included an HP printer). At this point, Apple is suggesting developers do a custom install that excludes the HP drivers. That sounds like a pain to me, but I'm sure it will be fixed before October.

It looks like Leopard's iCal dock icon displays the proper date at all times! The dozen or so people who have clamored for this may rejoice.

Microsoft and Philips Electronics submitted tests to the Federal Communications Commission on Friday which they say prove that wireless devices using spectrum intertwined with that used by television broadcasters can operate without the risk of interference.

The companies, along with several other electronics firms, have been lobbying the FCC to authorize the use of spectrum, known as white spaces, to support mobile devices used to access the Internet via a wireless broadband connection.

A previous round of tests in July by FCC engineers of prototype devices had been a partial failure, as the unit submitted by Microsoft was broken. At the time, Microsoft said the device itself was faulty, rather than anything being inherently wrong with the concept of using the white spaces spectrum.

A Philips prototype had been successful in avoiding television signals at that time. Philips Electronics is owned by the Netherlands' Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (PHG).

The results of the tests by the companies' engineers said they vindicated the notion that the devices could work.

"We encourage the FCC to pursue its own field measurements to corroborate our successful testing, even though it may require the Commission to extend its timeline for approving these devices for a couple of months," said Ed Thomas, technology policy advisor at Microsoft in a statement.

A majority of FCC commissioners, including Chairman Kevin Martin, have publicly supported the use of white spaces spectrum, as long as its use is proved to be safe.

Those in favor of the use of the white spaces spectrum argue that it is the only way to extend wireless broadband service to rural parts of the U.S. where it isn't economic for existing wireless companies to offer service.

Shortly after the new iPod Touches hit the streets complaints about a glitch with the screens began popping up on the Web. Those afflicted with the bad iPod Touches report that they play video very darkly, with black shades so exaggerated they resemble an old film negative.

A post on a Web site called Apple-Touch.com actually included videos comparing a flawed iPod Touch playing the same scene side-by-side with an iPhone, which also sports a 3.5-inch screen. The difference in quality and the issue with dark areas in the iPod Touch’s video is obvious.

Some unhappy customers asserted that the flaw resulted from Apple using a poorer quality LCD screen in the iPod Touch relative to the one used in the iPhone. Some exchanged their bad unit for another bad unit. In forums, some customers countered that their new iPod Touches looked perfectly fine.

With accusations flying in every direction, I decided to stop by the Apple Store in Towson Town Center yesterday to have a look at the iPod Touch for myself. The store had four on display. I looked at some video on each one and could detect no hint of the problems I saw depicted on several Web sites. In fact, I thought the video on the iPod Touch looked pretty darn good.

I then moved over to the iPhone table and repeated the exercise (for the record, I played videos stored on the devices, such as the Ratatouille trailer, not YouTube videos). Frankly I could not discern a quality difference between the iPhone and iPod Touch, although I could not study them side by side since all the devices were tethered to their respective display tables.

One of the store employees said the staff there knew of the problem (although they learned of it by reading about it on the Internet; the Mother Ship hadn’t supplied any info yet) but had not seen any defective units, either in the store or brought in by a customer. In fact, he said they checked their entire iPod Touch inventory just to make sure.

In what may be the first action of its kind in the U.S., the Software Freedom Law Center has filed a lawsuit to enforce an open-source license.

The SFLC filed the suit on Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Monsoon Multimedia Inc., on behalf of the developers of BusyBox, Erik Andersen and Rob Landley. The suit charges Monsoon with using BusyBox under the GNU General Public License version 2 but failing to publish its source code. Under the terms of the license, distributors of software that uses the licensed software must make their source code available. Failing to do so is considered copyright infringement.

BusyBox, members of the public and the SFLC legal team notified Monsoon of its responsibilities, but Monsoon has not yet published the code, said Dan Ravicher, legal director at SFLC. While it's relatively common for licensees to neglect to share their code, parties typically work through the issue without having to go to court, he said.

This case is a last resort after Monsoon failed to rectify the situation, he said. The suit is necessary because from a legal perspective, copyright owners can start to lose rights if they don't act to protect them, he said.

BusyBox is a lightweight set of Unix utilities used in embedded systems. Monsoon develops digital video products, including a Slingbox-like device that enables remote TV viewing.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has announced the addition of its Phenom triple-core processors to its desktop roadmap.

The Phenom triple-core processors integrate three computational cores on a single die of silicon. Offering state-of-the-art platforms and a next-generation architecture with expected availability in the first quarter of 2008, the x-86 triple-core desktop chip will ship in 2007, officials said.

"With our advanced multi-core architecture, AMD is in a unique position to enable a wider range of premium desktop solutions, providing a smarter choice for customers and end users," said Greg White, vice president and general manager, desktop division, at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD, in a statement. "This innovation is a direct result of our development of the industry's first true, native quad-core design, coupled with AMD's manufacturing flexibility, to create multi-core processors in two, three, and four computational core configurations on a single die of silicon. As a customer-centric company, AMD is committed to working with our OEMs to deliver compelling value propositions across their multi-core product families with capabilities that address their requirements and aspirations."

VOIP (voice over IP) company's security team as of Sept. 11 was working with domain owners to shut down malicious sites that are infecting Skype for Windows users with a virus being spread via cleverly composed instant messages.

Initially, Skype was calling the virus w32/Ramex.A, but Finnish security firm FSecure is calling it W32/Skipi.A, whereas Symantec, in Cupertino, Calif., is referring to the worm as W32.Pykspa.D—a new variant in the family of worms called Pykspa.

Infected systems are sending chat messages to other Skype users asking them to click on a link that appears as a harmless .jpeg file. If clicked, the worm then transmits the infection anew.

The worm is camouflaging itself with a bitmap file of soap bubbles—namely, a default bitmap graphic contained in the Windows installation directory. If Skype users see the bubbles image after clicking on a link in a Skype message, Symantec said chances are they've been infected.

Talk of the government's pending auction of valuable wireless spectrum has focused largely on one intriguing newcomer to the bidding: Google. But another tech powerhouse has considered joining the bidding as well: Apple.

Two sources tell BusinessWeek that Steve Jobs & Co. have studied the implications of joining the auction, which will be held Jan. 16. The winners will get rights to use the spectrum that analog TV broadcasters are handing back to the government in 2009, given their mandated move to digital television.

Dubbed "beachfront property" by the Federal Communications Commission, it's the last swathe of wireless spectrum likely to become available that would have the attributes necessary for a new mainstream broadband network (BusinessWeek.com, 8/1/07). Signals at the 700Mhz spectrum, for example, could provide far faster Internet access than today's cellular or even Wi-Fi networks, and the signals can easily pass through buildings and work glitch-free, even in lousy weather.

Advanced Micro Devices today is unveiling powerful microchips that feature four cores, or processing brains, on one piece of silicon.

Known as "quad-core," the technology boosts the speed of computer servers and workstations and uses energy more efficiently.

AMD plans to incorporate the processor into its Opteron line of chips for data centers. Filmmaker George Lucas' production company, Lucasfilm, is among the first customers.

The processor's arrival marks a pivotal point in AMD's struggle to win customers from Intel in the lucrative market for chips that power servers and workstations.

But analysts say the debut today is nearly a year after Intel introduced a quad-core version of its Xeon processor. Intel sells 20 quad-core processors and last week announced new versions.

AMD expects to launch Phenom, a quad-core processor for desktop computers, in December.

On Friday Apple released a press release stating that they have decided not to carry NBC's upcoming season of shows, since the contract would expire during the middle of the television season leaving iTunes buyers in the lurch. They also point out that NBC wanted to raise the price per episode to $4.99. I assume that past seasons' content will remain available until such time that NBC figures out a way to get out of their contract earlier.

“We are disappointed to see NBC leave iTunes because we would not agree to their dramatic price increase,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We hope they will change their minds and offer their TV shows to the tens of millions of iTunes customers.”

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Apple is expected to unveil revamped iPods at a special event on Wednesday in San Francisco.

The Internet is buzzing with speculation sparked by enigmatic Apple event invitations bearing an image of a silhouetted iPod-wearing figure dancing above the words "The beat goes on."

"It's an iPod refresh," principle analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley told AFP. "That is what the buzz is."

Apple's iPod has become the most popular MP3 audio player in the world since its debut in 2001. Its most recent addition to the iPod line is the matchbook-size Shuffle introduced a year ago.

The full-size iPod has not been updated since a video-playing "fifth-generation" was introduced in October of 2005.

A recent Apple earnings report shows an unprecedented year-over-year ebbing of iPod revenue growth as customers opt for cheaper models in the line.

"The iPod line is in desperate need of an update," Enderle said.

Apple watchers theorize the California company is poised to reveal iPhone-inspired improvements such as enhanced wireless capabilities and a large-screen iPod for better video viewing.

A challenge facing Apple is that consumers are likely to expect iPods that mirror the innovations in the new iPhone, which the firm began selling in the United States in June, Enderle said.

"People will be expecting iPhone level quality," Enderle said. "There is a real good possibility that people will be disappointed."

Making an iPod model that amounts to an iPhone without mobile telephone capability would result in a daunting price tag, according to Enderle.

The 599 dollar price of an iPhone is at a discount due to a 200-dollar subsidy from telecom giant AT&T, which is the sole mobile telephone service provider for the devices.

"If you take out the subsidy, an iPhone is an 800-dollar device," Enderle said.

The timing of Apple's event could be to buff its image in the wake of fall-outs with Hollywood and music studios that want more money for content sold on the iTunes online music store paired exclusively with iPods, said analyst Mike McGuire of Gartner Research.

Apple announced in August that it will stop selling NBC television shows on iTunes because the studio wanted increased charges that would have more than doubled the price of each episode to five dollars.

A month earlier Universal Music refused to continue making its catalogue of songs available on iTunes because it wanted a price hike for them -- something Apple has firmly resisted.

Analysts agree that whatever Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs has in store for Wednesday, all eyes will be on Cupertino, where the company has its headquarters.

"Apple generates more news just saying it's going to make an announcement than other companies do with their announcements," said Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg, who declined to speculate on the event.

On Friday Google began hosting material produced by The Associated Press and three other news services on its own Web site instead of only sending readers to other destinations.

The change affects hundreds of stories and photographs distributed each day by the AP, Agence France-Presse, The Press Association in the United Kingdom and The Canadian Press. It could diminish Internet traffic to other media sites where those stories and photos are also found - a development that could reduce the online advertising revenue of newspapers and broadcasters.

Google negotiated licensing deals with the AP and French news agency during the past two years after the services raised concerns about whether the search engine had been infringing on their copyrights. The Mountain View-based company also reached licensing agreements with The Press Association and The Canadian Press during the same period.

Financial terms of those deals haven't been disclosed.

The new approach doesn't change the look of Google News or affect the way the section treats material produced by other media.

Although Google already had bought the right to display content produced by all four news services, the search engine's news section had continued to link to other Web sites to read the stories and look at the photographs.

That helped drive more online traffic to newspapers and broadcasters who pay annual fees to help finance the AP, a 161-year-old cooperative owned by news organizations.