NewsFactor Network

GTA IV May Be Driving Sales of Gaming Consoles

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:07:52 -0500

While Grand Theft Auto IV is racking up sales records, console makers are vying for bragging rights of their own, and Microsoft seems to be the victor.

GTA IV was released April 29 and global sales totaled more than $500 million in the first week alone. The first day the latest addition to the hit Rockstar Games series hit retail store shelves, sales were $310 million. More than six million copies have been sold.

The only question is, which console is the game being played on? GTA IV was developed by Rockstar North on two platforms -- the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360. Both manufacturers are reporting higher console sales as a result.

Is GTA IV a Console-Seller?

According to news reports that claim to have the inside scoop on Microsoft's sales data, Redmond is the big winner. Reportedly Xbox 360 console sales jumped 54 percent. Other reports estimate more than 60 percent of GTA IV games went to Xboxers, leaving less than 40 percent for PlayStation 3 gamers.

Microsoft and Sony could not immediately be reached for comment.

Brian O'Rourke, a video-game analyst with In-Stat, said GTA IV may have sold some consoles. But he senses that many GTA IV players are hard-core gamers who probably bought next-generation consoles long before game's release.

"The GTA IV release might help sell consoles on the margins. If people were on the edge about buying a next-generation console and they wanted GTA IV, this could have pushed them off the fence and convinced them to buy either an Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3," O'Rourke said. "But I don't think this game release is going to have a huge influence on console sales overall."

The Xbox Live Advantage

Microsoft may have an advantage, thanks to its Xbox Live Arcade and its exclusive relationship with GTA IV online....

MySpace Makes Data Portable to Other Web Sites

Fri, 09 May 2008 09:26:04 -0500

The move toward data portability for denizens of social-networking sites gained more momentum Thursday with MySpace's announcement of its Data Availability project.

MySpace described the initiative as empowering "the global MySpace community to share their public profile data to Web sites of their choice throughout the Internet." CEO and cofounder Chris DeWolfe said that "the walls around the garden are coming down" and his company and several partners are pioneering ways for sharing "social experiences Web-wide."

Launch Partners

The partners at the launch were Yahoo, eBay, Photobucket and Twitter. MySpace said its partners will complement its efforts in a variety of ways. For instance, if a MySpace user has Yahoo Instant Messenger, that user's MySpace default photo, interests and favorite music could be shown through the IM client. MySpace data can also be shown in Yahoo's universal profile or through Yahoo Mail's inbox.

On eBay, profiles can have MySpace data and media, and on Photobucket users can see their photos across various sites and can, if they choose, show their MySpace profile data in Photobucket albums. Twitter profiles can also be populated with MySpace data, blogs and photos.

Information that can be shared includes publicly available basic profile data, photos, videos and friend networks. Users can control what information is shared and with whom. A centralized location on MySpace will provide a kind of control panel, and the initiative will roll out within coming weeks. According to news reports, non-MySpace sites will not store or cache the data, and permission to use the data can be revoked by a MySpace user at any time.

The initiative will make it easier to distribute news like a new job to friends. A MySpace user could update a profile and dynamically share the new information to other sites where his or her data also resides.

Embracing Open Standards

The wave...

Facebook Strikes Deal To Beat Bad Guys, Keep Kids Safe

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:43:35 -0500

Facebook announced Thursday an agreement with 49 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia to implement new steps against sexual predators. Only the Texas attorney general refused to sign the agreement.

As huge communities of primarily young people and details about millions of kids, social-networking Web sites have also attracted pedophiles and bullies.

'Keeping Kids Safe Online'

Under the agreement, Facebook will improve the technology it uses to filter out what it considers inappropriate behavior and add procedures to make it harder for adults to befriend minors. The site also agreed to continue developing age-verification technology and to keep track of bullying or inappropriate content.

Chris Kelley, Facebook's chief privacy officer, told news media that his company is committed to "keeping kids safe online" and many of the procedures already in place will be enhanced. The site, which claims more than 70 million active members, offers membership to anyone over 13 with an e-mail address. More than half of the users are outside the U.S., and the new procedures will apply to international users as well.

In January, there was a similar agreement with MySpace, which says it has deleted nearly 30,000 convicted sex offenders from the site.

In addition to not agreeing to the Facebook deal, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott also skipped the MySpace agreement in January. At the time, he told news media that social-networking sites "do not adequately protect young users" until "an age verification system is effectively developed and implemented." MySpace representatives have said more research and development is needed.

The New York Deal

Last October, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo agreed to a settlement with Facebook after undercover child-safety tests showed gaps in the site's security for younger users. State investigators posed as teenagers and, within a short time, were the recipients of unwanted sexual advances.

Investigators...

SMBs Remain Bullish Despite Weak Economy

Fri, 09 May 2008 07:21:39 -0500

Small businesses are confident that bleak economic conditions will pass without their being adversely affected by the economic downturn, according to a new study of 250 small-business owners. Or, at the very least, they're keeping a stiff upper lip about the downturn and the prospects for a speedy recovery.

A survey from Opinion Research Corporation, a market-research firm, found that there was a general feeling among small businesses that the economy is in rough shape, but there was near-unanimous agreement that future prospects were bright.

Wayne Russum, senior vice president at Opinion Research, said that nearly two-thirds of the small businesses interviewed felt that current economic conditions were having a negative effect on their businesses. "The current economic crisis is not just hitting big business," he said. "It is having a strong negative impact on the entrepreneurs whose unique contributions have a significant impact on our overall economic success."

This Too Shall Pass

Even though six in 10 businesses felt that the nation's current economic woes were negatively impacting their business, respondents were certain that bad times would pass quickly, with 88 percent saying they felt their businesses would do well in the future. And, as Russum pointed out, if almost 60 percent are seeing problems arising from the weak economy, more than a third of respondents are not.

Small professional-services companies that include IT-based businesses were "the most optimistic group" about the future of their businesses, Russum told us, noting that some 40 percent of this group saw the economic downturn "as having no impact on their specific business." Russum saw a "bright spot" among the small businesses surveyed, noting that restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores seemed to be doing remarkably well.

He added that other sectors were taking a more serious beating. "The findings emphasize that the current economic...

Bleeding a Stone: TorrentSpy Loses $110M Case

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:29:27 -0500

In what the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is calling a significant victory for the major Hollywood studios, a federal judge in Los Angeles has issued a $110 million judgment against file-sharing Web site TorrentSpy for infringing on the copyrights for thousands of popular movies and television shows.

The worldwide motion-picture industry, including foreign and domestic producers, distributors, theaters, video stores and pay-per-view operators, loses more than $18 billion annually as a result of movie theft. More than $7 billion in losses are attributed to illegal Internet distribution, while $11 billion is from illegal copying and bootlegging.

"This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites," said Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the MPAA. "The demise of TorrentSpy is a clear victory for the studios and demonstrates that such pirate sites will not be allowed to continue to operate without facing relentless litigation by copyright holders."

And Don't Do It Again!

The court rendered its judgment against Valence Media, the company operating TorrentSpy, for willful inducement of copyright infringement, contributory infringement and vicarious copyright infringement. Specifically, Valence was charged $30,000 per violation for nearly 3,700 illegal television program and movie downloads.

The court also issued a permanent injunction prohibiting TorrentSpy from further infringing any of the studios' copyrighted works. The permanent injunction prohibits Valence from engaging in any activity that encourages, promotes or solicits, or knowingly facilitates, enables or assists, copyright infringement.

The ruling marks the second decisive defeat for TorrentSpy in the case. Late last year the same federal court entered a default order and found the TorrentSpy operators liable for copyright infringement. The TorrentSpy Web site shut down on March 24, 2008. Valence has reportedly filed for bankruptcy protection in a United Kingdom court and has requested the judgment be stayed.

Cracking Down on Piracy Cartels

Led by the United States,...

JavaFX Set To Jazz Up Mobile Devices

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:20:50 -0500

Anyone who still doubts there is a bright future for technologies that create hybrid, online/offline applications need only consider Sun's JavaFX announcement at JavaOne this week. The Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq:JAVA) event demonstrates that JavaFX, which was announced last year, is closing in on, or at least gunning for Adobe's AIR and Microsoft's Silverlight, as a developer's tool for producing new applications.

But while AIR and Silverlight are oriented toward PCs, Sun hopes to leverage Java's broad adoption in mobile and embedded systems.

"We're focused on connecting business systems with people," Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz said. "If you're a bank, you want to reach customers on set-top boxes, car navigation systems, mobile phones. You want to reach them with your business systems to update them with their savings (account details) or credit-card bill. What's happening on the Internet today is, all these systems are being connected to one another."

Java runs on 2.2 billion mobile devices and the majority of PCs.

Return of the Applet

But in a presentation at JavaOne, Rich Green, Sun's executive vice president for software, stuck to a desktop demo. He showed a JavaFX application sporting Twitter and Flickr feeds running in Facebook. He then dragged the application out of the Web browser and onto the desktop. The same app also runs Java-enabled phones, thanks to a mobile version called JavaFX Mobile.

One of the JavaFX sessions was called the "return of the Applet," attendee Michael Levin noted on his blog. "Detachable applets can live outside the browser. This is a cool technology. Basically, you can drag an applet from your browser onto your desktop and leave it there, even after the browser is closed. This reminds me of widgets and gadgets. It's yet another move in a Web-centric direction."

A key part of making JavaFX ready for prime time is JavaFX Script,...

Intel Has a Lot Riding on Clearwire WiMAX Gamble

Thu, 08 May 2008 13:29:02 -0500

The joint WiMAX effort of Clearwire and Sprint Nextel that floundered last year has risen like a phoenix from the ashes, thanks to a $3.2 billion cash infusion from Comcast, Intel Capital, Time Warner Cable, Google and Bright House Networks.

Intel Vice President Sriram Viswanathan, who runs the wireless investment program at Intel Capital, said the joint investment is a "pretty dramatic" development because it had been the subject of intense speculation within the industry for months. "This removes a lot of the uncertainty that has been talked about for some time in the media concerning the future of WiMAX in the U.S.," Viswanathan observed.

Timing Is Important

Counting previous investments Intel made in Clearwater in 2004 and 2006, the chipmaker's cash commitment to a revitalized Clearwire represents the biggest gamble among the outside supporters. "We already had a $600 million investment through a prior investment and $20 million before that," Viswanathan explained. "So we have a very substantial position in the company alongside the other partners."

The timing of the deal is important because WiMAX only has a few years to become established as the high-speed mobile broadband technology of choice before the launch of a competing technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE) championed by Qualcomm, Ericsson and other mobile-technology vendors. "We don't expect LTE to be a significant mobile issue in the U.S. until 2011 at the earliest," said Forrester Research Vice President Lisa Pierce.

However, Pierce has a different perspective on WiMAX's potential, placing more emphasis on opportunities beyond the conventional mobile-network arena.

"I have been more interested in WiMAX as a way to help smaller business locations to be able to cut the cord on their T1 access," Pierce explained. "I think that sort of potential has very long legs, but it would take a significant effort...

Internet Archive Challenges FBI Data Demand and Wins

Thu, 08 May 2008 13:28:19 -0500

In November 2007, Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle received an unwelcome letter with a return address for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

It was a national security letter (NSL) -- a secret government demand for documents permitted by the Patriot Act -- and it demanded that the archive turn over personal information on one user. The FBI asked for the person's name, address and all electronic transactional records.

Kahle, a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, discussed the matter with EFF lawyers and decided to fight. Instead of providing the requested information, the archive submitted only publicly available documents -- and filed a lawsuit challenging the letter.

Wednesday, the FBI and the archive settled the case. The FBI has withdrawn the NSL and lifted a gag order that prevented Kahle or his lawyers at EFF and the American Civil Liberties Union from speaking about the matter.

Standing Up for Rights

"The free flow of information is at the heart of every library's work. That's why Congress passed a law limiting the FBI's power to issue NSLs to America's libraries," Kahle said. "While it's never easy standing up to the government -- particularly when I was barred from discussing it with anyone -- I knew I had to challenge something that was clearly wrong. I'm grateful that I am able now to talk about what happened to me, so that other libraries can learn how they can fight back from these overreaching demands."

Since the passage of the Patriot Act, which sharply reduced limitations on the FBI's use of NSLs, the use of the letters has skyrocketed. The FBI issued close to 200,000 letters between 2003 and 2006, the EFF said. The cyberlaw organization said it has uncovered "multiple" misuses of NSL, including one to North Carolina State University.

"This is a great victory for...

Hackers' Posts on Epilepsy Forum Cause Migraines, Seizures

Fri, 09 May 2008 07:12:40 -0500

Computer attacks typically don't inflict physical pain on their victims.

But in a rare example of an attack apparently motivated by malice rather than money, hackers recently bombarded the Epilepsy Foundation's Web site with hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images.

The breach triggered severe migraines and near-seizure reactions in some site visitors who viewed the images. People with photosensitive epilepsy can get seizures when they're exposed to flickering images, a response also caused by some video games and cartoons.

The attack happened when hackers exploited a security hole in the foundation's publishing software that allowed them to quickly make numerous posts and overwhelm the site's support forums.

Within the hackers' posts were small flashing pictures and links -- masquerading as helpful -- to pages that exploded with kaleidoscopic images pulsating with different colors.

"They were out to create seizures," said Ken Lowenberg, senior director of Web and print publishing for the foundation.

He said legitimate users are no longer able to post animated images to the support forum or create direct links to other sites, and it is now moderated around the clock. He said the FBI is investigating the breach.

Security experts said the attack highlights the dangers of Web sites giving visitors great freedom to post content to different parts of the site.

In another recent attack, hackers exploited a simple coding vulnerability in Sen. Barack Obama's Web site to redirect users visiting the community blogs section to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's official campaign site.

The hackers who infiltrated the Epilepsy Foundation's site didn't appear to care about profit. The harmful pages didn't appear to try to push down code that would allow the hacker to gain control of the victims' computers, for instance.

"I count this in the same category of teenagers who think it's funny to put a cat in...

Apple Inks Latin American Partnership Deal for iPhone

Fri, 09 May 2008 07:14:17 -0500

In another step in the worldwide march of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, the top mobile phone operator in Latin America said Wednesday that it has inked a deal to bring the multimedia gadget to more than a dozen countries starting later this year.

America Movil SAB, controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, said it plans to bring the iPhone to all of its Latin American operations but didn't offer more details about the arrangement, including whether it would be the exclusive iPhone provider in the targeted countries.

Apple has so far struck exclusive deals for the iPhone with AT&T Inc. in the United States, O2 in Britain, T-Mobile in Germany and France Telecom's Orange wireless arm in France.

The company plans further expansion later this year through the partnership with Mexico City-based America Movil, which boasts 159.2 million subscribers in 16 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

A spokeswoman for America Movil said the company had no further comment beyond the short press release announcing the partnership.

In the past couple of weeks, Apple has also signed deals with Rogers Communications Inc. to sell the device in Canada; Milan-based Telecom Italia SpA to sell the iPhone in Italy; and Vodafone Group PLC, the world's biggest mobile company by sales, to sell it in a total of 10 countries, including Australia, India, Italy and Turkey.

The announcements are all important steps for Cupertino-based Apple as it looks to expand sales of the iPhone, the combination iPod-cell phone-Internet device that went on sale last June in the U.S.

But many consumers in countries where Apple has not struck iPhone deals with mobile operators are using them already. They're using "unlocked" iPhones that have been modified to work over any cellular network, a sign of the growing worldwide demand for the phones that has also irked Apple, which has...

Google Looking Golden Again After Challenging Stretch

Fri, 09 May 2008 07:15:46 -0500

It's hard to believe Google Inc. actually looked vulnerable just two months ago. The Internet search leader's stock had plummeted 45 percent from its peak. And its two biggest rivals, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., appeared poised to combine forces and launch a double-barreled attack.

But as Google holds its annual shareholders meeting Thursday, the company looks stronger than ever. Its stock is hot again and Microsoft has scrapped its plans to buy Yahoo, with Google playing the spoiler's role.

"Google is winning again. What a surprise," said Canaccord Adams analyst Colin Gillis. "If you want to invest in the Internet space, where else do you want to be but Google?"

More investors have been coming to that conclusion since last month, when Google's stellar first-quarter results cast aside concerns that the drooping U.S. economy would depress the online advertising spending that generates most of the company's profit.

Google shares have surged 29 percent since the first-quarter report, regaining a little more than half of the $100 billion in shareholder wealth that evaporated as the stock plunged from an all-time high of $747 last November to a 52-week low of $412 in mid-March.

Meanwhile, Microsoft and Yahoo are again trying to figure out how to lessen Google's dominance of Internet search and advertising.

Microsoft hoped to throw Google for a loop by buying Yahoo for $47.5 billion. Unnerved by the threat, Google worked behind the scenes with Yahoo to thwart Microsoft's unsolicited takeover attempt.

The counterattack now has Yahoo considering a deal that would allow Google to sell some of the ads displayed alongside the search results on Yahoo's Web site. The alliance, which has already been tested in a two-week trial, will likely hinge on whether the two companies can persuade antitrust regulators the partnership wouldn't undermine competition in the ad market.

Even if a Google-Yahoo pact...

Dell Launches New Optimized Virtualization Servers

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:57:06 -0500

Dell on Wednesday launched two dedicated virtualization servers, the PowerEdge R805 and R905. The PowerEdge R805 offers twice the memory and input/output capacity of Dell's previous generation of two-socket servers. The Dell PowerEdge R900 and R905 can deliver four-socket virtualization.

Dell is offering a choice of VMware ESXi 3.5 or Citrix XenServer Dell Express Edition integrated hypervisors. With either option, Dell said the PowerEdge R805 and R905 are optimal for virtualized environments.

"Virtualization is quickly moving beyond hypervisors and hardware consolidation," said Rick Becker, Dell vice president of software and solutions. "Enterprises are looking for a broad array of servers, storage and services designed specifically for virtualized environments."

Rapid Redeployment

Dell says its virtualization performance is higher and the cost is lower than the HP ProLiant DL580 G5, the IBM System x3850, and the Sun Fire X44501. Dell's competitors could not immediately be reached for comment.

On the storage front, Dell EqualLogic storage arrays offer new SAN-aware integration with VMware Site Recovery Manager for data protection and disaster recovery for virtualized environments. Meanwhile, Dell and Egenera are making virtualization and data-center automation a reality beyond the blade chassis.

The Dell PAN system aims to deliver rapid provisioning and redeployment in minutes, not weeks, Dell said. The PAN system is built on PowerEdge 1950 and 2950 servers and Dell/EMC storage, with Citrix XenServer. The system is factory integrated to consolidate and virtualize server resources into an entire Processor Area Network to be managed like hard drives in a SAN.

Dell has also expanded its virtualization services to include a simplification workshop, virtualization operational assessment of virtualized environments, a virtualization health check, and ProSupport Remote Advisory Services, among others, through its Dell Global Infrastructure Consulting Services group.

Meeting Challenges

Dell's new solutions and services demonstrate how one company is approaching virtualization challenges, according to Charles King, a...

In Wi-Fi Arena, a Middle Ground Emerges on Free and Paid

Fri, 09 May 2008 07:17:31 -0500

The battle between free and paid wireless Internet access is starting to look like a draw. Or more accurately, a third variation is winning: a combination of the two.

Travelers want to log on everywhere at no charge, while hotels, airports and coffee shops are looking for a way to pay for their Wi-Fi networks as visitors increasingly use greater amounts of bandwidth.

The compromise that is emerging is to offer both free and paid options, with the free services increasingly requiring something in return, like viewing an advertisement or signing up for a loyalty program.

"Our position is, give the user a choice," said David Blumenfeld, a senior vice president with JiWire, which publishes an online directory of free hot spots but also sells ads displayed on public Wi-Fi networks. "It's not an argument about free versus paid," he said. "It's free and paid."

Starbucks is probably the biggest example of that model. In February, the company announced plans to switch to AT&T from T-Mobile as the Internet provider in its U.S. stores.

When AT&T takes over, customers who use their Starbucks card once a month will get two hours of free Wi-Fi access each day. Otherwise, that same time period will cost $3.99, or $19.99 for a monthly unlimited access plan.

Sanja Gould, a spokeswoman for Starbucks, said its Wi-Fi users typically spent an hour logged on. So, she said, the company views two hours of free access as a "meaningful benefit" for customers who buy a Starbucks card.

In other words, loyalty has its benefits, and these days, free Internet access is one of them.

Omni Hotels, which used to offer free Wi-Fi, switched to a dual pricing model about 18 months ago. Now, guests at the U.S. chain can get free in-room wireless access by signing up for Omni's Select Guest program, an option...