Will the Internet replace the boob tube?

The television of the future will provide entertainment on demand; whatever, whenever, and wherever you want. It will be far superior to TiVo, which only lets you record the programming that your cable or satellite company offers. It will outshine Apple’s new video iPod—who’s going to watch an hour-long drama on a 2.5-inch screen, anyway? And it will be far more grandiose than even that Qwest ad from the late 1990s, where a motel clerk tells a traveler that he can watch “every movie ever made, in every language, any time, day or night” from the comfort of his room.

You’ll not only be able to watch every film, but also every TV program, news show, documentary, music video, and video blog, and all of it will be playable wherever you go. Great, you think: Thousands of channels, millions of choices, and still nothing worth watching. Nevertheless, “nonlinear TV”—watching the tube on our schedule, not the broadcasters’—is our destiny. The revolution will not be televised, however, until the companies that funnel the content into our homes figure out how to control it. The best advice for now: Study the music industry and do the exact opposite.

When Hollywood and cable executives look at the record companies, they see an industry in decline. What they should see is a business that failed for too long to offer its customers what they want: portability, searchability, and the chance to buy the two songs you like without the 10 you don’t. Music companies, fearful of piracy, dragged their heels on offering digital downloads, so their customers made it happen themselves via Napster, Kazaa, and the like. Rather than create a legal and lucrative alternative, the record industry has launched a flurry of lawsuits against its own customers and continued to blame piracy for falling CD sales. Meanwhile, Apple’s iTunes Music Store has sold half a billion songs since April 2003. When users can download only the songs they want at 99 cents a pop, the industry’s traditional business model—charging a high price for a heavily promoted, shrink-wrapped product—gets obsolete pretty fast.
By Adam L. Penenberg
You can read more on this here.

During Napster’s reign, this early P2P network became a household name. Although not the first P2P or file-sharing network, it brought this once obscure Internet medium into the limelight. Over time however, the RIAA would pursue this network and force it into submission in the spring of 2001.

Yet the cultural impact of Napster was unmistakable. This network brought together communities of individuals that would otherwise use the Internet for little more than web surfing and email. It introduced a new world to the Internet masses that broadened the horizons of millions. There was little doubt the impact Napster had on the general public. With 26 million registered users and 1.5 million simultaneous users at its peak, Napster was a highly publicized network.

College students, adults, eenagers and seniors – just about everyone got in on the action. The name “Napster” became synonymous with the ability to download music off the Internet. Ask anyone during this time how to obtain music on the Internet, and the answer was nearly always “Napster.”
(more…)

Important information

Dear users
We are temporarily closing our bt2net music servers as we plan to develop this project on the legal basis. We are really sorry for this inconvenience.

The approximate launch of legal bt2net music service is December 1, 2005 for EU countries and January 1, 2006
for the USA.

We are sorry for the inconvenience but we aim on the solid legal service.
Please address support@bt2net.com if you have any questions or comments.

Via www.bt2net.com

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) fights the good fight against those hundreds of millions of villainous men, women and children who get out of bed, every morning, bent on robbing the hard-pressed labels of what’s rightfully theirs – their profits.

Acting for its owners, Organized Music (EMI Group, Vivendi Universal, Warner Music and Sony BMG), the RIAA is championed by Mitch ‘The Don’ Bainwol and Cary ‘Scary’ Sherman, the ceo and president of the RIAA, respectively.
(more…)

The WinMX Peer Network, one of the oldest and largest file-sharing communities, has recently suffered from a series of disastrous problems.
Frontcode Technologies was threatened with an RIAA lawsuit. To avoid a litigation, they shut down their Peer Cache Servers.

These servers act as a gateway to the WinMX network. The cache servers supply the WinMX client with IP adresses to primary connections (SuperNodes), which then allows the client to enter the network. When Frontcode closed their operations, they took their peer cache servers with it, making a network connection impossible.

The WinMX users that were connected to the network when this happened found themselves stranded. If they disconnected, they did so permanently.

WinMX was rapidly dieing and written off as dead by observers.

But then, a group of programmers on the Italian forum P2PZone wrote a workaround that uses the /etc/hosts (or with Windows, C:WindowsSystem32driversetchosts file) to redirect all Peer Cache Server requests to alternative servers which they themselves set up. They essentially revived the network.
(more…)

Earlier in the month we published an item on a new BitTorrent client called uTorrent (µTorrent), the results of a collaboration between a Swede and a Canadian.

It was a quickie based on a few words from p2pnet’s Alex H over there in Oz and he summed things up in two words - “bloody brilliant”.
Here, Alex follows up with a Q&A with uTorrent’s Ludvig Strigeus

Bill Gates hit the road last week to urge college students to pursue degrees in computer science. The three-day, six-college tour was the second such pilgrimage made by Gates in two years to emphasize the potential of technology careers and to dispel concerns about outsourcing.

Gates told students that over the next 15 years, computer science graduates would be in ever-increasing demand in North America. “You’re going to have tons of opportunities. If there’s a field to get into, this is it,” he told a surprised class of introductory programming students at the University of Wisconsin at Madison on Wednesday.
(more…)

It’s been six months since the Supreme Court ruling, during which time Kazaa was kablammed Down Under and the music biz became more aggressive with cease and desist letters to major P2P developers. So where is P2P heading? … Nowhere new.

Let’s look at the leading candidates.

Anonymous networks?
Freenet still hasn’t launched. A few dark clients have launched with limited notice. There has been surprisingly little development in this segment.

Personal networks?
Limited P2P services that steer clear of the liability quicksand like Grouper with 100,000 groups and Mercora with 35,000 simultaneous users are finding a strong niche. But they are neither experiencing the breakout success of pure P2P clients, nor significantly displacing existing P2P users.

New distributed P2P networks?
Newer networks like Ares, SoulSeek, and MP2P have developed solid user bases, but none significant.
You can read more on this here.

Driving to work, you notice the traffic beginning to slow. And because you have your cell phone on, the government senses the delay, too. A congestion alert is issued, automatically updating electronic road signs and websites and dispatching text messages to mobile phones and auto dashboards.

In what would be the largest project of its kind, the Missouri Department of Transportation is finalizing a contract to monitor thousands of cell phones, using their movements to map real-time traffic conditions statewide on all 5,500 miles of major roads. It’s just one of a number of initiatives to more intelligently manage traffic flow through wireless data collection.

Officials say there’s no Big Brother agenda in the Missouri project — the data will remain anonymous, leaving no possibility to track specific people from their driveway to their destination.
Via ZeroPaid

Parked alongside his onion fields, Bob Hale can prop open a laptop and read his e-mail or, with just a keystroke, check the moisture of his crops.

As the jack rabbits run by, he can watch CNN online, play a video game or turn his irrigation sprinklers on and off, all from the air conditioned comfort of his truck. around the country are battling over plans to offer free or cheap internet access, this lonely terrain is served by what is billed as the world’s largest hotspot, a wireless cloud that stretches over 700 square miles of landscape so dry and desolate it could have been lifted from a cowboy tune.

Similar wireless projects have been stymied in major metropolitan areas by telephone and cable TV companies, which have poured money into legislative bills aimed at discouraging such competition. In Philadelphia, for instance, plans to blanket the entire city with Wi-Fi fueled a battle in the Pennsylvania legislature with Verizon Communications, leading to a law that limits the ability of every other municipality in the state to do the same.
Via ZeroPaid

Sean Egan, Google Inc.’s latest high-profile hire, up until a few weeks ago was lead developer of software to simultaneously use multiple IM accounts.

But now he’s got some much bigger fish to fry, namely helping Google chart the future of Google Talk, the search giant’s instant messaging feature that for now stands in the shadows of IM pioneers America Online Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s online unit, The Microsoft Network.

GAIM, the software he developed, is still a big focus of his first few weeks at work, he wrote during a recent e-mail interview. For now, he says he’s focusing on a protocol (a special set of rules that end points in a telecommunication connection use when they communicate) that makes it possible for GAIM and its competitors, such as Trillian or Psi, to more easily allow for Internet-based phone calls, which most instant messaging software makes possible.
Via ZeroPaid

Taiwan-based WLAN device maker Gemtek Technology has ventured into the Internet telephony market by launching a VoIP (voice over IP) software application, FreePP, which will compete with Skype for the global Internet telephony market, according to company sources.

FreePP is a technology similar to Skype, which offers global P2P (peer-to-peer) VoIP capability, the sources noted. The FreePP software application was jointly developed by Gemtek and its associated companies, Gemtek Systems and FreePP Inc.

In addition, the sources indicated that the FreePP software application can perform similar SkypeOut functions without using a PC platform. Instead, FreePP will enable broadband users to make calls connected to any traditional fixed line by using a FreePP Box, a patented VoIP telephone adapter that can receive and place calls over broadband network, said company sources.

Gemtek Systems, a system integrator of which Gemtek Technology holds about a 10% stake, and FreePP, a 100%-own subsidiary of Gemtek Systems, will co-develop the related FreePP software applications and Gemtek Technology itself will handle the production of FreePP Boxes, with volume shipments to start in November, the sources said.

Gemtek Systems will also be responsible for the global sales of the FreePP services, the sources stated, adding that Gemtek Systems is targeting to secure one million subscribers worldwide within six months.
Via www.digitimes.com

The entertainment and software cartels have millions of dollars to spend and thousands of lawyers available to steamroll their self-interest agendas through congress, not to mention other law-making bodies throughout the world.

Fortunately, thanks to the Net and blogs and news web sites and citizen reporters, they’re losing control of the way the public at large gets its information
You can read more on this here.

For millions of years, the universe existed in relative stasis. Although several million years appears to be an eternity to Earth’s human inhabitants, it reflects a mere nanosecond in the universe’s apparently endless span of existence. During this eternity, significant events would alter the history of the cosmic plane; the big bang, the formation of complex proteins, and the great rupture of the time-space continuum.

The first two events had an ever-lasting effect on today’s world. The Big-Bang, one of the leading theories on the formation of the universe, contends that all of the current matter that exists was at one point confined to an area no larger than the head of a pin. How long this matter was contained in this space is unclear, however at some point – perhaps as much as 15 billion years ago – this matter was expelled and created the universe we know today.

Over the course of several more billion years, the ensuing chaos that developed would later become more organized. Galaxies, stars and planets would soon form, giving rise to another important event; the rise of life.

We can only speak of what we know, and so far life as we know it only exists on Earth. Space exploration so far has yielded some hope that we are not alone in the universe. Various missions to Mars and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn hold some promise we might find evidence of past – and perhaps present – life in the form of single celled organisms.
(more…)

MICROSOFT HAS engaged with the modding enemy but it doesn’t seem to know it’s done it. Unfortunately that is what seems to have happened. With the reports of any number from 10 to 14 Xbox 360s stolen in Germany pouring in, the facts have finally started to come out.

It appears that the German modchip making group SmartXX were offered up to seven 360 development kits by Microsoft and promptly accepted four.

So far Microsoft officially has denied all involvement, but in a post translated from German to be found here, the full story has been told from SmartXX’s point of view.

Apparently few within MS were well informed and SmartXX made the assumption that this was due to an informer within Microsoft itself, though why that would make a difference to them is a mystery to me. SmartXX did hand over their four development kits to the police so as not to “compromise the investigation team”.
(more…)

Xu Zhiqiang asks Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström about the recent eBay deal

The following is an email interview of Skype’s Niklas Zennström by citizen reporter Xu Zhiqiang. The Chinese version was first published in the 21st Century Business Herald, Sept. 19 — Ed.

Five years ago, you and Janus Friis founded KaZaa and then sold it to Sharman Networks. In 2003 you and Janus Friis founded Skype and then sold it to eBay. Being as an entrepreneur, is this your strategy and style to operate companies?

My strategy and style has always been to create successful businesses for the long term that delight the user. With eBay, we had the luxury to choose to work with top companies to accelerate the growth of Skype and make us the voice of the Internet.

We recognized the need for additional resources and support to fully realize this vision. We think eBay is a perfect fit both philosophically and commercial for us, and together we can do great things.

From KaZaA to Joltid to Altnet and now to Skype, all of these technologies belong to the P2P (peer-to-peer) category. Could you summarize your evolving views and thoughts on the P2P tech along with their development?

In its purest form, innovation applies technology to solve real problems. Disruptive technologies such as P2P provide consumers with ways to enhance their lives, increase their productivity and enable operations to run more efficiently and cost-effectively. It creates true change by providing new definitions and value.

Disruption is about creating an entirely new technology that allows people to do or experience something for the first time. That ’something’ Skype provides is very valuable — allowing people to make contact, share information, be more social and more productive.
(more…)

The global P2P community continued its unusual population pattern this year, shedding just fewer than 334,000 simultaneous users in September. The US population, which also saw a small decline in August, lost approximately 124,000 more simultaneous users in September.

This population pattern is slightly out of the ordinary. Typically the P2P population shrinks during the mid-summer months and rebounds in September. This shrink has been associated with college students returning to slower bandwidth homes or the general population discovering the outside world. However this year proved different as all mid-summer months witnessed increases in the total P2P population, yet September declined.

The cause?

The college student phenomenon that was typically associated with population shifts may be having a less significant role. Dorming college students took tremendous advantage of P2P networking during its earlier days. During the late 90’s, colleges provided Internet speeds that were virtually unheard of in households.

The bandwidth landscape has changed tremendously since the turn of the century. Broadband penetration has jumped from less than 10% of the Internet population to almost half in 2005. This expansion of broadband into households has reduced the transient nature of the college student population.

While this may explain the unusual pattern, recent uncertainly in the P2P world could help explain the slight decline. More specifically, the loss of WinMX on September 21 had a tremendous impact on many in the P2P community. With a population of at least 500,000, the sudden departure of WinMX left many file-sharers without a network.

There are always random fluctuations with the P2P population; however one thing remains certain - the overall population growth since 2003 has been tremendous. The P2P population had grown by 43.9% since September 2004, and 133.3 percent over September 2003.
Via www.slyck.com

Since BitTorrent’s introduction to the file-sharing world, many developers have jumped at the opportunity to create their own BitTorrent clients. Their aim is to improve upon the simple Python-based application written by Bram Cohen.

We’ve seen clients ranging from Python-based mods such as BitTornado to fully-featured java-based clients like Azureus. C++ applications in the form of BitComet have also spun off from the original client.

While feature rich, Azureus’ major downfall is its java-based core which requires a significant amount of computer resources in order to run stable. Those who have lower-end PCs or those who simply don’t want to dedicate the majority of their resources to one application turn to lighter, more suitable clients for their needs. Until now, BitComet has been one of the most popular alternative clients to Azureus. It contains enough of Azureus’ features to satisfy those searching for a decent torrent manager while keeping a low CPU and memory footprint.

It’s this sacrifice of unneeded features over performance that can be a deciding factor when choosing a client. Now, BitTorrent users have one more choice in the growing fields of lightweight torrent clients - µTorrent. This new client brings additional competition as µTorrent appears to be the lightest application in the BitTorrent scene.
(more…)

Despite all the openness of the Internet, there are still places you cannot saunter into on the Web. You must be invited.

These are “darknets”: exclusive peer-to-peer networks in which membership is based on circles of trust, whose activities are veiled from the general public. And though people who are adept at configuring servers and comfortable with File Transfer Protocol have used such systems for years, a spate of new online services aimed at everyday users is sure to draw new attention to under-the-radar file sharing.

Darknets, like their peer-to-peer predecessors Kazaa, Napster and Gnutella, allow users to browse and download digital files such as movies and music from other people’s computers. But while Napster and its ilk have allowed unrestricted access to files on any of the millions of connected computers, darknets are more discriminating. In a darknet, users get access only through established relationships–and only when they have been invited to join. This selectivity promises greater privacy, regardless of whether the networks are used for sharing personal or pirated media.

File sharers may be enthusiastic about the possibilities such services provide, but there are questions as to whether any new service facilitating file swapping can avoid the legal scrutiny that has hampered open-access file-sharing systems.
(more…)

What sets the BIN/CUE file format apart from an ISO file format is that it has a CUE file, which is a “table of contents” that tells the burning program how the data, or BIN, is laid out. The BIN file is the actual data. An ISO image file is a duplicate copy of a complete CD-ROM disk saved in the “ISO-9660 format.”

With this in mind I’ll list a few of the programs available out there that will allow you to burn those BIN, CUE, and ISO files that you’ve downloaded. For further info on how to use either the basic or advanced features of these programs, click on the corresponding link which will take you to that programs link in the guide section.

The first program is called Fireburner from IgD Software, It’s a fairly basic program, but not particularly geared to the novice as it entails loading and unloading of track cuesheets. It’s not that hard, but not as easy as the drag and drop ease of perfection offerred by the next program DVD Decrypter.

The second program, and personal favorite of mine, is DVD Decrypter. I like it because of all the other advanced features it offers like writing ISO’s and it’s easy drag and drop functionality. For the novice, all you have to do is take the “BIN” file, drop it into the program, select the drive and burn, burn, burn. It’s that easy.
Via ZeroPaid

Palm, the Sunnyvale maker of multi-function Treo phones, will have some star power from Microsoft Chairman
Bill Gates on hand Monday when it’s expected to launch its first Treo that uses a Windows-based Microsoft operating system, industry sources said.

The operating system will power Palm’s newest Treo multi-function phone, the 700w, making its debut at the invitation-only news conference Monday.

Gates, fresh from being named (again) as America’s richest person by Forbes magazine, will join chief executives from Palm and Verizon Wireless at Monday’s announcement. Verizon is expected to be the cellular carrier for the phone.

Pictures of the Treo 700w were already being shown Thursday on the Web site Engadget.com. The new partnership between Microsoft and Palm means the Sunnyvale-based handheld device-maker is moving beyond the operating system software it originally created. Palm’s software division split off to form PalmSource in 2003, and earlier this month was bought by Japanese Internet browser company Access for $324.3 million.
(more…)

Microsoft Corp. launched a trust-building initiative on Thursday designed to show its commitment and progress to date in making its frequently attacked Windows computer operating system more secure from hackers.

Microsoft, which is moving increasingly into the territory of specialist security software companies such as McAfee Inc. and Symantec Corp., said it planned a string of product launches designed to combat cybercrime.

The world’s biggest software company said it planned to release a preliminary, or beta, version by the end of this year of new software to protect corporate computers running Windows against viruses, worms and other attacks.

“It’s a unified product. You don’t have to pick whose anti-virus solution you think is the best,” Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told a news conference in Munich. “The threats we see do need more than secure software.”

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, which already offers security software for networked server computers and desktops, said the new software, called Client Protection, would be aimed at large companies.

It will offer tools for system administrators to keep users’ computers from being infected by viruses and other malicious software and would be integrated with Microsoft’s technology used to track user accounts and logons.

But Mike Nash, Microsoft’s vice president for security technology, said the new software would not eliminate the need for other security products.

“Does it mean that we’re going to solve all problems immediately? No,” he told Reuters in an interview. “There are customers that will choose to use competitors’ products.”

Microsoft currently offers server-based security software to protect corporate networks from hackers and is testing an anti-virus and security software service called Windows OneCare.

The company also said it had set up an alliance of 30 firms including Symantec and VeriSign to work on security products for the Microsoft platform, uniting and expanding on previous partnerships.
(more…)

“File sharing is NOT piracy. Piracy is big fat guys manufacturing fake CDs in Mexico and selling them at swap meets. File sharing is tens of millions of music fans swapping copies of things they wouldnt otherwise buy. An ASCAP or BMI-like pool of money allocated in an equitable way amongst copyright owners is the only solution that could be of benefit to creators, consumers and copyright owners. Compulsory blanket licensing for non-commercial file sharing is the equivalent of loosening a tourniquet tied around the entertainment industrys neck.”

So says music business lawyer Ken Hertz, “who supports the recording industry withdrawing its co-operation for the iTunes Music Service, describes the problem,” as quoted by The Register.

Hertz’s remarks date back to an ACLU awards dinner in 2002 when he also said, “Peer to peer file sharing is really just interactive radio - consumers get to listen to exactly what they want when they want it.”
Via p2pnet.net

The month of September did not fair well for many P2P companies. One of the file-sharing community’s favorite applications, WinMX, closed it doors amid reports it was served a cease & desist letter from the RIAA. In addition, the same cease & desist letter has forced LimeWire and eDonkey to radically change their business model.

MeteMachine (eDonkey) president Sam Yagan stated at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that he was “throwing in the towel” against the RIAA. Conversely, LimeWire has been quiet on the issue. Although quiet, developers have created two branches of code that will prevent unlicensed files from being shared in future versions.

Where does this leave the P2P community? It depends on the individual. Many have switched to eMule many years ago, while some will keep close tabs on the development of FrostWire (a LimeWire fork.) The closure of these companies will most likely mean very little to a large segment of the file-sharing community, but there will always be a core group of individuals who will remain hopelessly lost. The fruitlessness of their efforts is apparent in Slyck’s “guide recommendation” section, where scores of the disenchanted take their frustrations out on a realm intended for the improvement of file-sharing guides.

Take this individual for example. The closure of WinMX has fragmented this community, as least for those who have not researched on the latest reconnection efforts.

“PLEASE GET A WEB SITE JUST FOR CHAT ROOMS LIKE WE HAD ON WINMX..WITH NO DOWNLOADS…I MISS MY FRIENDS I MET IN THERE….PLEASE THINK ABOUT THIS…I SPENT HOURS ON HOURS CHATTING IN THERE..SO HAVE MANY OTHERS. THANKS.”

We’re not sure if this recommendation is intended for Slyck.com. Not only does this poor lad not realize that WinMX is up and running, but Slyck already has a chat room.

The closure of WinMX and the anticipated demise of other P2P companies have also led to an influx of users being duped by scam sites. Such sites distribute, for a hefty price, P2P clients that are normally free. Inexperienced members of the file-sharing community mistook these sites as the successors to their once free programs.

This one is from a Canadian government employee. We can only hope the individual does not hold a position of importance:

“WinMX,
I have paid $34.95 to you and registered yesterday. When am I going to hear from you and the fact that I have LimeWire ONLY UNTIL YOU RETURN???
My money sent via my U.S. Visa is for you-
WinMX for your very, very near new system promised.
You can reach me at the following by noon tomorrow, Monday, Sept 26, 2005, at the following:
########
I hope to hear from you tomorrow morning.
Thanks.
U.S. Government in Canada”

More scam victims:

“Dear Sir i have paid for ares and i have’nt been given a membership number my e mail address is john_####@hotmail.com i purchased the lifetime membership package im also finding it hard to activate please advise regards john.”

“When do I get my newly paid for service from you? Thanks.”

Of course there are individuals that completely skip over Slyck’s headlines. Either they ignore the front page, or perhaps hang out on the guides and no where else. Take these individuals, who apparently refused to read “Resurrecting WinMX ”:

“I cant find a way to contact WINMX. I have not been able to get conected to WINMX in a few days. Is it possible you could help me with this?”

“How do I get my WINMX program to begin running again?”

“I would like to continue to use WinMx but there is something wrong with it and it will not connect so I would be able to search for songs no more please help me with this problem”

We’re really not sure what this inquiry is about…

“I had WinMX down loaded on my computer. Due to some tec. problems I last it when I rebouted my machine. I would like to know how to do this. my e-mail is ######@comcast.net my ID is ######, I’ve had your software for about 5yrs.”

All we can say is at least this person knows that adware exists:

“I checked the ‘desktop shortcut’ box (but not the other 2) while downloading ares. Does that mean I have adware? If I do, is there some way I can remove it?”

For this person, sorry but Slyck is not a dating service:

“I CAN’T HOOK UP”

This is almost poetic in a way:

“my donkey is dead donkey”

Although humorous, in the end there remains thousands – if not millions – of individuals that are simply unaware of the information surrounding them. This inability to retrieve information is dangerous as it allows misinformation to spread across mainstream media and into the minds of the populace. Just recently, virtually every major media outlet ran with the “eDonkey Network Closes” story simply because MetaMachine’s New York offices had closed. As information become more readily available through blogs and community interaction, hopefully the growth of this staggering problem will be arrested.
Via www.slyck.com

The technology for delivering fast Web access over large areas could help upstart communications outfits nab share from established players Wi-Fi has changed the way people navigate the Internet, and in record time.

The technology, which is used to create wireless networks in small areas such as homes, offices, and parks, allows millions to move about freely while they surf the Web with laptops and PDAs. Demand is soaring, thanks to faster, cheaper, and more reliable technology, and to open standards that let tech giants like Intel (INTC ) bundle Wi-Fi radios into mass-market computers. The number of Wi-Fi users is expected to soar 57% this year, to 118 million worldwide, according to Pyramid Research. Not bad for a technology that’s only a few years old.

Encouraged by Wi-Fi’s success, tech companies are poised to launch a new wireless technology called WiMax, which will allow even faster Internet access across larger areas. WiMax creates “hotspots” that stretch dozens of miles and allow users to surf the Web wirelessly at speeds that are much faster than connections via a digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modem. A single WiMax radio is 20 or 30 times faster than a household broadband connection.
Via ZeroPaid

In May the BBC made its p2p interactive Media Player (iMP) TV player available on a limited basis.

With it, 5,000 people drawn randomly from around the UK could search for programs, filter them by channel, select subtitles and, in for some series, “collect and watch episodes that they may otherwise have missed,” as it said at the time.

Now it’s available for everyone. In the UK, that is. And it is, of course, kitted up with DRM (Digital Restriction Management)
Be that as it may, head over to the Beeb site here if you’re interested.

But be warned: “Seven days after the programme transmission date the programme file expires (using Digital Rights Management - DRM - software) and users will no longer be able to watch it,” says trhe BBC. “DRM also prevents users emailing the files to other computer users or sharing it via disc.”

Via p2pnet.net

Looks like Moto’s officially on their way to getting iRadio to really take off—not only did they pen a deal with the Universal Music Group for content, but apparently they’ve also got planned a phone for US release which should store “70 hours of music”

—that’s something roughly to the tune of 4GB, which probably means they’ve got a hard drive-enabled bun in the oven. Will it be iTunes enabled? We’d guess not, but Moto never did say their future musicphones would only run iTunes, now did they?
(more…)

Google Inc. took a step toward challenging Microsoft Corp.’s dominance of computer software with the announcement Tuesday of a collaboration agreement with Sun Microsystems Inc.

The move could lead to Google offering next-generation word processing, spreadsheet and collaboration tools that would take on Microsoft’s industry-leading Office suite of software.

But for now its significance may be mostly as a symbolic shot across Microsoft’s bow, signaling Google’s intention of attacking the world’s biggest software company head on.

Aside from a plan to offer Google’s toolbar program with downloads of Java software, details of the agreement were scant. Though it could lead to a new pipeline for Sun software to millions of computers, there was no firm commitment.

Some downplayed the announcement as a publicity stunt that probably would not have occurred had Google CEO Eric Schmidt not spent 14 years of his career working at Sun under CEO Scott McNealy.

The alliance would be a boon for Sun if Google had promised to buy some of the company’s sophisticated computers, but no ironclad commitments were announced.

“There really isn’t much depth to this partnership,” said industry analyst Rob Enderle.

“I think Eric is doing this as personal favor for Scott,” he said. “It provides a certain amount of press and visibility to Sun when there hasn’t been very many positive things going on at the company.”

Sun’s shares edged up a penny Tuesday to close at $4.20 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where Google’s shares fell $7.68 to finish at $311. Microsoft’s shares lost 52 cents, or 2.04 percent, to close at $24.98.

As part of the agreement, Sun will offer Google’s search toolbar with downloads of its free Java software, which is required to run a variety of Web-based applications and works with multiple operating systems.
(more…)