Archive for December, 2006
Samsung Electronics has developed a docking station complete with a fuel cell that can power a laptop computer for up to a month. Samsung plans to launch the product at the end of 2007.
A fuel cell is an electronic device similar to a battery that produces electricity from an external fuel supply as opposed to relying on limited internal energy storage. Hydrogen and oxygen are typical reactants used in fuel cells, which have been proposed to power everything from automobiles to laptop computers. Their only byproduct is water vapor.
“Fuel cell technology is on the brink. It’s coming. There’s still engineering to be worked out, which is why it’s not on the shelves yet. But fuel cells are very promising for the future,” Endpoint Technologies Associates Principal Analyst Roger Kay told TechNewsWorld.
Click here to read the rest of this story on TechNewsWorld.
December 29th, 2006
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday announced that he will propose nearly US$95 million in the state budget to create the Governor’s Research and Innovation Initiative.
The initiative would provide funding for major projects aimed at growing California’s economic strength in key innovation sectors, including cleantech, biotech and nanotech.
“With some of the world’s finest universities and research institutions, the Golden State has more scientists, engineers and researchers and invests more on research and development than any other state,” Schwarzenegger said. “As a leader in developing new technologies, California will reap tremendous rewards for our economy and environment from this investment in our innovation infrastructure.”
Click here to read the rest of this story on TechNewsWorld.
December 29th, 2006
For all the talk about safety and security as a foundational promise of Windows Vista, Microsoft’s new operating system, released to business users in late November, has already been found to contain several potentially serious vulnerabilities.
A programming flaw, thought to be the first identified in the new OS, could let hackers take full control of a computer running the software. It was recently disclosed on a Russian Web site.
Another flaw, which can be executed via Internet Explorer and Firefox Web browsers, can corrupt memory during handling of certain types of requests.
Yet another flaw has been identified in Microsoft Exchange. It allows anyone to shut down the Exchange server by sending a malformed e-mail. Though this flaw does not allow a remote attacker to take over the system, it does cause the mail server to crash.
Click here to read the rest of this story on TechNewsWorld.
December 28th, 2006
Apple Computer shares dropped 4 percent — the biggest drop in about six months — after reports that federal prosecutors are investigating whether company officials falsified documents in what may be the latest in a string of corporate stock options scandals.
The Apple options investigation story originally broke in October, when Apple’s internal probe uncovered suspect transactions, according to The Recorder, a San Francisco-based legal newspaper.
At that time, Apple said its investigation turned up “irregularities related to the issuance of certain stock option grants made between 1997 and 2001.” While one of the grants in question was to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, those options were never exercised, the company said at the time.
Apple could not immediately be reached for comment, but The Recorder reported a development in the case that apparently sent Apple’s stocks down Wednesday morning: Jobs has hired his own attorney to represent him in the probe.
Click here to read the rest of this story on MacNewsWorld.
December 28th, 2006
Two billionaires are burying the technology hatchet this holiday season. Rupert Murdoch and John Malone ended a two-year battle over Liberty Media’s stake in News Corp. with a US$11 billion deal.Specifically, Liberty Media has agreed to exchange its 16.3 percent stake in News Corp. for News Corp.’s 38.5 percent stake in DirecTV, as well as regional sports networks in Denver, Pittsburgh and Seattle, and $550 million in cash. The deal marks one of the largest stock buybacks in corporate history.
“We are extremely pleased with the successful, tax-efficient conversion of our News holding. Our investment in DirecTV will create financial, operating, and strategic flexibility,” said Liberty Chairman John Malone. “Liberty’s ownership of News has created tremendous value for our shareholders, and we are grateful to Rupert Murdoch and News management.”
Click here to read the rest of this story on CRMBuyer.
December 24th, 2006
Sony BMG on Tuesday settled lawsuits with consumers in Texas and California whose computers were infected with spyware hidden on CDs.
The attorneys general of both states filed lawsuits last year charging the music giant with unfair business practices and violations of anti-spyware statutes.
Under the terms of the settlement, each state will receive US$750,000 in damages and legal fees. Sony will also refund up to $175 each to consumers in Texas and California who paid to have the spyware, which left computers vulnerable to hackers, removed from their computers.
Sony must also destroy any existing CDs embedded with the problematic digital rights management (DRM) technology, continue working to withdraw those CDs from the marketplace, and submit to independent, third-party monitoring of any software-enhanced music CDs for the next five years.
Click here to read the rest of this story on TechNewsWorld.
December 22nd, 2006
Microsoft on Tuesday fixed at least one of the issues with the Zune digital media player: a compatibility problem with Windows Vista, its new operating system scheduled for release on Jan. 30.
The patch may not be enough to turn around poor holiday sales of the software giant’s so-called iPod-killer, though.
Zune’s Vista incompatibility has drawn criticism as a launch blunder on Microsoft’s part — reminiscent of a similar issue that cropped up shortly after Apple’s iPod launch several years ago.
Apple saw high post-Christmas return rates on the MP3 player after consumers discovered it wasn’t compatible with Windows.
Click here to read the rest of this story on TechNewsWorld.
December 22nd, 2006
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