Technology News

LOS ANGELES - A Missouri woman was indicted Thursday for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbor who committed suicide.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Embattled Yahoo Inc has struck an advertising partnership deal with WPP Group that will let WPP buy ads on Yahoo's online ad exchange, the companies said late on Thursday.

Internet users in China have begun expressing solidarity with the victims of Monday's earthquake via their instant messaging...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Yahoo and Carl Icahn dueled Thursday as the corporate raider vowed to overthrow the firm's board and the Internet pioneer fired back that the billionaire misunderstood Microsoft's failed takeover bid.

InformationWeek - The two Internet companies began discussing an advertising partnership after Microsoft made its unsolicited offer for Yahoo.

BOSTON - The One Laptop Per Child project is about to find out whether Microsoft Corp., a rival the nonprofit group once derided, is the solution to its problems in spreading inexpensive portable computers to schoolchildren.

HighPoint Technologies has introduced a new firmware update for its RocketRAID 3522 host controller card to support booting on the Mac Pro and Xserve.

The entry level of the archival-quality photo printer market is heating up right now, with the simultaneous release of Epson’s Stylus Photo R1900 () and HP’s Photosmart Pro B8850. HP’s entry is a lower-priced version of the Photosmart Pro B9180 (), offering that model’s very good print quality and strong features (with a few intelligent omissions) at a lower price.

The One Laptop Per Child Project and Microsoft plan to make both Windows and Linux available on a version of the project's XO...

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp reached an agreement to make available its Windows operating system software for the One Laptop Per Child Foundation's XO Laptop, the company said on Thursday.

NEW YORK - Americans spent $1.23 billion on video games, hardware and accessories in April, up 47 percent from a year earlier, even as the price of more essential items like food and gasoline soared.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. sales of video game hardware and software rose 47 percent from a year earlier, as Take-Two Interactive Software Inc's "Grand Theft Auto 4" and Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii console stole the show.

Nintendo of America was hit with a judgment for $21 million in a patent-infringement case brought by a company that claims to be a small Texas game developer. A U.S. District Court jury found that Nintendo's designs for its Wii, WaveBird and GameCube controllers infringed on patents held by Anascape Ltd.

On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that its Xbox 360 video-game and entertainment system has sold more than 10 million units in the U.S., making it the first current-generation gaming console to break that mark. The U.S. installed base contributes to global sales of more than 19 million.

NEW YORK - Shigeru Miyamoto, the father of iconic Nintendo mascot Mario, among many others, doesn't just bring characters to life in his video games. He injects his life into his creations. That's why his latest project, Wii Fit, which arrives in stores Wednesday, is not really a game at all. It's a $90 software-and-gadget fitness package for Nintendo's revolutionary Wii, reflecting Miyamoto's interest in his own physical health. Wii Fit, which comes with a balance board, has a built-in virtual trainer that helps players with yoga, aerobics and muscle toning.

MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota woman ordered to pay $222,000 in the nation's first music download trial may get another chance with a jury.

Los Angeles (E! Online) - For those of you looking to cram your TiVo with dance competitions, this is some pretty great news!

InformationWeek - The addition of visitor age and gender information to YouTube Insight is part of Google's overall mission to make the video sharing site profitable.

SANTA ANA, California (Reuters) - A federal court jury on Thursday broadly cleared News Corp's NDS unit of satellite television piracy charges in a suit brought by DISH Network that could have been worth more than $1 billion.

InformationWeek - The MP3 Clips Widget lets users pick the song and albums they want to display or select the latest bestsellers or new releases within a specific genre.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The EU's top data protection supervisor said Thursday that Google Inc.'s "Street View" map and imaging feature could pose privacy problems if it launches in Europe.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - A US judge has ordered a pair of accused spammers to pay MySpace about 230 million dollars in what was being billed Wednesday as a record-setting punishment for such Internet abuses.

For a limited time Comodo is offering free malware cleanup to all. This isn't just a free scanner; they're literally offering experts who will remotely manage the cleanup. But from our hands-on experience, you'd be better off muddling through it yourself.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Hackers often harness the combined power of thousands of virus-infected personal computers to pump out spam e-mail or disable targeted servers by overwhelming them with Internet traffic.

A security researcher has developed malicious rootkit software for Cisco Systems' routers, a development that has placed...

HighPoint Technologies has introduced a new firmware update for its RocketRAID 3522 host controller card to support booting on the Mac Pro and Xserve.

The entry level of the archival-quality photo printer market is heating up right now, with the simultaneous release of Epson’s Stylus Photo R1900 () and HP’s Photosmart Pro B8850. HP’s entry is a lower-priced version of the Photosmart Pro B9180 (), offering that model’s very good print quality and strong features (with a few intelligent omissions) at a lower price.

Marware on Thursday introduces a new case for the MacBook Air called the CEO Envi. It costs $89.99.

InformationWeek - Questions about a one-per-customer policy may suggest Apple is reducing inventories to make way for a new version of a 3G iPhone.

TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd plans to launch a touch-screen version of the wireless e-mail device in the third quarter as an answer to Apple Inc's iPhone, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The One Laptop Per Child Project and Microsoft plan to make both Windows and Linux available on a version of the project's XO...

Verizon Wireless' decision to join Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile as members of a Linux-based mobile initiative appears to have dealt a setback to Google's ambitions for its Android mobile platform. A Verizon spokesperson told the Chicago Tribune that the company joined the rival LiMo Foundation because "of LiMo's approach to providing a truly open OS that isn't simply an extension of a for-profit company's business model."

San Francisco - The first public release of Moonlight, which provides a Linux client implementation of Microsoft's Silverlight rich Internet application (RIA) technology, was made available this week.

A major problem has been revealed in Debian Linux and derivative packages, such as Ubuntu. Debian revealed the other day that a fix they made back in September 2006 had the unintended consequence of crippling the strength of their OpenSSL distribution.

InformationWeek - The conversion to Linux followed the acquisition of the Euronext exchange in 2007, and the open source operating system is now powering the NYSE's mission-critical trading systems.

LOS ANGELES - A Missouri woman was indicted Thursday for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbor who committed suicide.

Rex Jameson bikes and swims regularly, and plays tennis and skis when time allows. But the 5-foot-11, 180-pound software engineer is lucky if he presses 200 pounds — that is, until he steps into an "exoskeleton" of aluminum and electronics that multiplies his strength and endurance as many as 20 times.

WASHINGTON - The 2008 Smart fortwo micro car, the smallest car for sale in the U.S. market, has earned top scores in crash tests conducted by the insurance industry.

LUFKIN, Texas - Nintendo of America Inc. was ordered to pay a small East Texas gaming company $21 million Wednesday for infringing on a patent while designing controllers for its popular Wii and GameCube systems.

NEW YORK - CBS Corp. is acquiring a big online reach with its acquisition of CNet Networks Inc. but also a company that's faced heavy criticism from investors. Those concerns as well as the hefty $1.8 billion price tag helped send CBS's shares down after the deal was announced Thursday.