Microsoft unveils keyboard for Media Center PCs

Microsoft will offer a wireless keyboard designed for computers running the home entertainment version of the Windows operating system, the world's largest software maker has said.

Reuters reports in The New York Times reports (12 July) that the Microsoft Remote Keyboard, which features a mouse and remote control functions for operating Windows Media Center PCs, is part of a larger effort by Microsoft to expand its flagship operating system into living rooms as entertainment hubs.

Microsoft is aiming to ship more than 20 million Media Center PCs, which can record video and play digital music and images, by 2008, up from 1.4 million units in 2004.

The Reuters/NYT report says that the US$99 integrated keyboard, which features backlit keys and button for operating TVs and the computer, is the first designed specifically for a Media Center PC.

Microsoft also unveiled a keyboard designed for editing and organising digital photographs on a PC bundled with digital image editing software, also for US$99.

Australian study: hands-free mobiles not safe on road

A study of Australian drivers found that those using cellphones were four times as likely to be involved in a serious crash regardless of whether they used hands-free devices like earpieces or speaker phones that have been perceived as making talking while driving safer.

The New York Times reports (12 July) that the study, which is to appear in The British Medical Journal today, is the first of its kind to use actual crash data and cellphone records to show a link between talking on the phone and being seriously injured in an accident.

It is also the first to conclude definitively outside of a laboratory setting that holding a phone to the ear or talking through a hands-free device pose the same risks.

The NYT says that, because cellphone records are not considered public information, a similar study has not been conducted in the United States. The most up-to-date research by the federal government has relied either on volunteers who were videotaped while driving or on experiments in which a driver was monitored by researchers in a laboratory.

The new study examined the cellphone records of 744 drivers who had accidents in Perth where drivers are required to use hands-free devices. Researchers estimated the time of the crash and looked at whether the driver used a cellphone in the minutes leading up to the accident. They then examined similar time intervals in the days before the crash to calculate the increased risk of using the cellphone.

The newspaper says that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit research group in Virginia, sent researchers to three hospitals in Perth during a two-year period from 2002 to 2004 to interview crash victims.

The researchers asked several questions, including whether the driver had a hands-free device in the car and how often the device was used. To avoid having drivers incriminate themselves, the researchers did not ask if a hands-free apparatus was in use at the time of the crash. Rather, they asked drivers how often they used such a device and factored that into determining the devices' effectiveness.

The NYT says that with several US states restricting the use of cellphones in cars, the findings raise questions about how useful those laws are. Currently, New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia require drivers to use a hands-free device. Beginning 1 Oct, Connecticut will also make holding a phone and driving illegal. But as the Australian research and other recent studies show, it is the act of talking, not holding a phone, that is the most distracting.

According to the newspaper, the Australian study notes not only that cellphone laws are hard to enforce but that more restrictive measures there appear unlikely. "While a possible solution in the future is to change mobile phones so they cannot be used when vehicles are in motion," the Australian study said, "the likelihood the industry would embrace such a change seems remote."

Nokia not interested in RIM

Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, is not interested in buying the wireless e-mail device maker Research In Motion, a top Nokia executive told daily Helsingin Sanomat.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (12 July) that when asked whether Nokia could buy RIM to get better access to the potentially lucrative mobile e-mail market, Mary McDowell, head of Nokia's Enterprise Solutions unit, said: "No. Most of their income comes from devices for which we can well develop similar products ourselves."

The Reuters report says that the Finnish mobile phone giant has been reluctant to use its cash or stock to fund large deals, preferring to invest heavily in research and development of new products while making occasional small technology acquisitions.

Coalition issue definitions for 'Spyware'

Anti-spyware vendors and consumer groups took a stab at issuing uniform definitions for "spyware" and "adware" on Tuesday in hopes of giving computer users more control over their machines.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (12 July) that the definitions seek clarity that could help improve anti-spyware products, educate consumers and fend off lawsuits from developers of software that sneaks onto computers.

It's not clear what, if anything, the taxonomy itself might accomplish in ending the deception involved in placing intrusive and damaging programs on people's computers, says AP.

AP reports that the 13-page document is silent, for instance, on what developers must do to obtain consent from consumers. Nor does the document, still formally a draft, clearly state how specific programs might fall under a certain category.

The report says that 43 percent of adult US Internet users say they've been hit with spyware, adware or both, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. More than 90 percent of internet users have changed their online behavior, meanwhile, to try to avoid becoming victimised.

The coalition flags as potential threats -- an umbrella definition that includes spyware, adware and other categories such as ''hijackers'' and ''cookies'' -- programs that:

--impair users' control over their systems, including privacy and security;

--impair the use of system resources, including what programs are installed on their computers; or

--collect, use and distribute personal or otherwise sensitive information.

The AP/NYT report says that by classifying ''adware'' as falling under the umbrella term, ''Spyware and Other Potentially Unwanted Technologies,'' the coalition avoided a key dispute that has led to lawsuits: Is adware a form of spyware or are the two separate?

The definitions themselves could undergo revision after a one-month period for public comment.

The report says that release of the definitions comes as Microsoft acknowledges that it has revised its treatment of adware made by Claria, formerly known as Gator Corp.

Adware vendors said they welcome clearer rules on what's acceptable, though they consider definitions a good start.

Watching us through the sorting door

A former CIA intelligence analyst and researchers from SAP plan to study how RFID tags might be used to profile and track individuals and consumer goods.

The Register reports (12 July) that Sorting Door will be a test-bed for studying the massive databases that will be created by RFID tags and readers, once they become ubiquitous. The project will help legislators, regulators and businesses make policies that balance the interests of industry, national security and civil liberties, said the former CIA analyst.

The report says that in Sorting Door, RFID readers (whether in doorways, walls or floors, or the hands of workers) will collect data from RFID tags and feed them into databases.

Sorting Door participants will then investigate how the RFID tag's unique serial numbers, called EPCs, can be merged with other data to identify dangerous people and gather intelligence in a particular location.

The Register reports that, for example, a computer could alert customs officials when sensors show that a container's contents do not match the descriptions provided by its EPCs. Or a doorway RFID reader might detect suspicious individuals, such as someone wearing a heavy coat into a bank on a 90 degree day.

RFID/EPC tags on consumer goods "may give clues to their owners' interests, habits, and activities," according to the Sorting Door proposal. This data could be acted upon by security sentinels, or devices that greet recognised customers.

The Register report says that Sorting Door gets its name from the Sorting Hat in the "Harry Potter" books, which magically determines which school house its wearer will join.

The data mining software in Sorting Door would be provided by SAP, an enterprise software company, which has worked on RFID tests with Wal-Mart, Procter and Gamble and the Metro Group.

RFID, an acronym for radio frequency identification, is widely used in highway toll-pay transponders, contactless payment devices and proximity (or "prox") cards used in offices.

Microsoft renames Open License Value program Open Value

Microsoft's mission to simplify pricing has seen the company update its volume licensing programs for small and medium business (SMB) customers.

The Register reports (12 July) that Microsoft's Open License Value program, for those running less than 250 PCs, will now be called the Open Value program and eliminate regional differences in Open License Value.

Sunny Charlebois, product manager for worldwide licensing and pricing, told The Register Microsoft is taking the "best" from each regional program and making it available to everyone.

The Register reports that other changes include a streamlining of the license ordering process from Microsoft partners for customers, while the software contracts themselves have been reduced from 22 pages to just nine pages in length by cutting out legal jargon.

The report says that the goal is to help companies who run Windows in different geographies and are forced to negotiate different terms, conditions and offers from the same company – a fact that can cause an administrative headache for customers and partners.

The Register says that Microsoft is using the changes to introduce two new software bundles under Open Value - the Professional Platform and the Small Business Platform. The Professional Platform includes Office Professional Edition and a Microsoft Core Client Access License (CAL) for Windows Server, Exchange, SharePoint Portal Server and Systems Management Server (SMS) along with a Windows Professional Desktop Upgrade.

Longhorn following Unix on security?

Microsoft's delayed Longhorn operating system appears to be taking a page from the Unix management book by curbing user's administration rights, reports The Register (11 July).

Microsoft's security business and technology unit has said Longhorn would accord end-users certain rights and privileges apparently ending the concept that everyone using their PC is also the PC's administrator.

At Microsoft's Worldwide partner conference on Sunday, the company indicated the architectural change is part of a move to improve security of desktop systems by limiting the ability for end-users to install applications or for malware to take control of a machine, turning it into a zombie, says The Register.

According to The Register, the move mirrors techniques used in versions of Unix and Linux to create more limited variations of "the God user" or root account. This account provides a single user with total control of, and access to, an entire system's resources.

Sun Microsystems, in particular, has touted very sophisticated user access controls - borrowed from Trusted Solaris - with its new Solaris 10 operating system. These controls let government agencies, for example, store information of different classifications on the same computer, as the OS governs who is authorized to see the data, reports The Register.

The Register says that Microsoft also trotted out figures from the Microsoft-sponsored Security Innovation study published in June that claimed Windows Server 2003 running SQL Server 2000 SP 3 is more secure than Red Hat's Enterprise Linux 3.0 running MySQL and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 running the Oracle 10g database.

The study, part of Microsoft's "Get the facts" campaign, claims SQL Server had zero vulnerabilities over the course of the year compared to seven for MySQL and 30 for Oracle 10g, The Register adds.

Animator warns on profit

Shares of DreamWorks Animation have tumbled 13.2 percent after the company lowered its earnings estimates because of disappointing DVD sales and also pulled back on a planned US$500 million stock offering.

The New York Tiomes reports (12 July) that,in addition, the company said the Securities and Exchange Commission had started an informal investigation into the trading of its securities after a report on 10 May that news of disappointing first-quarter earnings had been released before the company announcement.

The announcement was the second time in two months that the company, led by its chief executive, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and the co-founders Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, with a blue-chip roster of investors that includes the Microsoft billionaire Paul G. Allen, had revised earnings forecasts downward. It closed yesterday at US$23.27 a share.

According to the report, the company said that it was lowering its earnings estimates for the year to 80 cents a share, from 90 cents. That compares with an earlier forecast of US$1 to US$1.25 a share. The company now expects to show a loss in the second quarter of 7 to 9 cents a share.

The NYT says the major reason for lower expectations is slow sales of DVD's for "Shrek 2" and to some degree for "Shark Tale."

Sprint's deal for US Unwired clears way for Nextel acquisition

In the US, Sprint has said that it had agreed to pay US$1.3 billion to acquire US Unwired, a mobile phone carrier in the South, in a deal that eliminates a potential obstacle to Sprint's proposed acquisition of Nextel Communications.

The New York Times reports (12 July) that US Unwired, which operates in 48 markets in nine states, sued in June to block Sprint's merger with Nextel, saying that the deal would violate the terms of an affiliate agreement that precludes Sprint from operating in US Unwired territories. Nextel and its partners operate in some of those territories.

But US Unwired will withdraw its objections under acquisition terms reached late last week by the two companies' boards. Sprint agreed to pay US$6.25 a share for the outstanding shares of US Unwired, a deal that includes the assumption of US$266 million in net debt.

A Sprint spokesman said that the company decided to acquire US Unwired not just to eliminate the objection to the merger, but also to add 505,000 new subscribers. Mr. Sweers said Sprint was also able to end three-year-old litigation in which US Unwired had sued Sprint over anticompetitive practices.

The newspaper reports that the deal comes amid a wave of consolidation in the US telecommunications industry, in both the landline and mobile markets. Just this year, SBC Communications agreed to buy the AT&T Corporation, and MCI has accepted a bid to be acquired by Verizon Communications. In the mobile market, Cingular Wireless agreed last year to acquire AT&T Wireless.

Sprint has nine other such affiliates nationwide in the US, accounting for about 2.9 million of its 26 million subscribers.

US regulators want info on Adobe acquisition

Government antitrust regulators are seeking more information about the pending US$3.4 billion acquisition of Macromedia by Adobe Systems before allowing the deal to go through, the companies said Monday.

Reuters reports in The New York Times (11 July) that the US Department of Justice has requested information about design tools offered by the companies, which are two of the top providers of graphic design software, according to Adobe spokeswoman Holly Campbell.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment other than to say that a request for information -- in this case on Adobe's Illustrator and Macromedia's FreeHand software -- is not a rare occurrence when the government is reviewing an acquisition.

According to the Reuters/NYT report, after providing the information, the companies must wait the required 30 days before the Justice Department will approve the sale. The companies said in a statement they still expect the sale to close later this year.

In April, Adobe, which also makes the Photoshop image software and a host of other programs, announced it was purchasing Macromedia in an all-stock sale.

Reuters reports that analysts say Adobe wants to purchase San Francisco-based Macromedia to help it fend off a foray that Microsoft is planning to make into document-sharing and Web imaging software next year.