Blue Coat Adds Skype Control

1. Blue Coat Adds Skype Control

Blue Coat Systems Inc. said that its ProxySG proxy appliances can now control Skype to protect against information leakage and unauthorized back channel communications.

For more on this:
- read full story from messagingpipeline.com, Feb 16 2006


2. State of the Blogosphere, February 2006 Part 2: Beyond Search

In Part 1 of the State of the Blogosphere report, I covered the overall growth of the blogosphere. Today I'm going to cover the growth of the blogosphere as media, and discuss some of the emerging trends that deal with handling information overload.

For more on this:
- read full article from sifry.com, Feb 2006


3. Skype Use May Make Eavesdropping Passe

Even as the U.S. government is embroiled in a debate over the legality of wiretapping, the fastest-growing technology for Internet calls appears to have the potential to make eavesdropping a thing of the past.

For more on this:
- read full story from Yahoo! News, Feb 16 2006


4. Virus Targeting Macs Spreads Via IM Program

A rare piece of malicious software targeting Apple's Mac OS X operating system -- instead of the more common victim, Microsoft Windows -- has been spotted online and appears to be spreading.

For more on this:
- read full story from washingtonposts.com, Feb 17 2006


5. BT tinkers with VoIP products

BT has tinkered with its VoIP products in a bid to make its broadband telephony service more attractive to punters. The firm has "aligned its VoIP pricing", it said today, so the cost of international calls are the same for its PC-to-PC BT Communicator Service as they are for its BT Broadband Talk service.

For more on this:
- read full story from theregistered.co.uk, Feb 16 2006


6. Ex-MP takes legal action against Bulldog

A former Conservative MP is taking legal action against Bulldog Communications "as a last resort", following a dispute with the company. Phillip Oppenheim, a former Minister in John Major's Government and now owner of the Cubana Cafe & Restaurant in London, agreed to switch to Bulldog's broadband service last July.

For more on this:
- read full story from theregister.co.uk, Feb 16 2006


7. Virus attacking Apple Macintosh PCs found: experts

A malicious computer worm has been found that targets Apple Computer Inc.'s (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Mac OS X operating system, believed to be the first such virus aimed specifically at the Mac platform.
The worm is called OSX/Leap-A, according to a posting on the Web site of antivirus software company Sophos, which said the worm is spread via instant messaging programs.

For more on this:
- read full story from reuters, Feb 16 2006


8. Oracle Acquires HotSip AB

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison wasn't kidding when he said earlier in February that the company is looking to fill holes in its middleware stack. On the heels of its SleepyCat embedded open-source database acquisition Feb. 14, Oracle announced the following day its purchase of HotSip AB.

For more on this:
- read full story from eweek.com, Feb 16 2006


9. Webmonkey Mailbox

This week, readers had a lot to say about our article, Webmonkey First Look: IE7 Beta2 Preview. The browser is the first public beta release of the next version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, so we were excited to take it for a test drive. Some readers also tested the browser on their own. This is what they had to say.

For more on this:
- read full story from hotwire.com, Feb 13 2006

1. Stellant Adds Management Of Wikis, Blogs, And RSS Feeds

1. Stellant Adds Management Of Wikis, Blogs, And RSS Feeds

Content management developer Stellent Inc. yesterday rolled out new capabilities for managing wikis, blogs, and really simple syndication (RSS)feeds within corporate environments.

For more on this:
- read full story from messagingpipeline.com, Feb 15 2006


2. Mobile Phone Providers Urged To Back Internet Protocol-based IM

Esperanto never caught on, but the GSM Association's CEO still likes the idea of a universal language. During a keynote session of the 3GSM World Congress here Tuesday (Feb. 14), GSMA chief Rob Conway called for the mobile-phone industry to push Internet Protocol-based instant messaging as a global unifier.

For more on this:
- read full story from messagingpipeline.com, Feb 14 2006


3. Microsoft Releases Public Beta of Windows Defender Anti-Spyware Utility

Microsoft announced today a public Beta 2 release of a significant upgrade to its free anti-spyware utility. Renamed Windows Defender, the anti-spyware software has an updated spyware-detection engine and a heavily revised interface.

For more on this:
- read full story from messaingpipeline.com, Feb 14 2006


4. Cellular Service to Offer MySpace Phones

The social networking site MySpace, hugely successful among teenagers and twenty-somethings, is about to become more ubiquitous with the launch of a cellular service that will let users read and post to the site for free.

For more on this:
- read full story from Yahoo! News, Feb 16 2006


5. Helio announces launch devices, MySpace partnership

Helio LLC, a youth-oriented mobile phone service created by SK Telecom and EarthLink Inc., said on Wednesday it will launch in the spring with two branded handsets and a mobile partnership with networking Web site MySpace.

For more on this:
- read full story from reuters, Feb 16 2006


6. Sprint Nextel Music Downloads Hit 1M Mark

Sprint Nextel Corp. said Wednesday that customers of its Sprint Music Store have downloaded 1 million songs since it opened Oct. 24. The Music Store was the wireless industry's first service allowing customers to buy songs and download them into their mobile phones over the air. Customers can choose from a library of 320,000 songs, paying $2.50 for two copies of each tune — one for the phone and one to be played on a home computer.

For more on this:
- read full story from Yahoo! News, Feb 15 2006


7. Skype goes 3G

3GSM Skype has clinched a deal with Hutchinson that paves the way for cheaper VoIP calls to be offered on the Hutchison 3G networks. Limited trials, which have begun in Sweden, are expected to precede a wider launch in Austria, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden, the UK and Italy by the end of the year.

For more on this:
- read full story from theregister.co.uk, Feb 15 2006


8. Skype and Vonage: thank you, and goodnight

3GSM It's small, it's boring and won't turn any heads - but it probably spells the end of the road for Skype, Vonage and any other hopeful independent VoIP companies. It's Nokia's 6136 phone, which allows you to make calls over your home or office Wi-Fi network, as well as on a regular cellular network. UMA, or unlicensed mobile access, is the mobile operators' answer to the threat of VoIP - and now it's reality.

For more on this:
- read full story from theregister.co.uk, Feb 14 2006

Google tests hosting Gmail for other domains

1. Google tests hosting Gmail for other domains

Google is testing a service in which it will host Gmail accounts with different domain addresses. The first beta of this test will be for students at San Jose City College. The e-mail accounts will be offered to all of the college's 10,000 students. The service also offers a control panel to allow officials to manage user accounts, aliases, and mailing lists.

For more on this:
- read full story from geek.com, Feb 13 2006


2. AOL tests Chinese US site, quiet on China market

America Online on Monday said it has launched a public test of a Chinese-language version of its U.S. Web site to court Chinese Americans, offering features that in some ways are more ambitious than its main U.S. site.

For more on this:
- read full story from Yahoo! News, Feb 13 2006


3. Telecoms, Web firms jostle over location services

When U.S. regulators, responding to the September 11 attacks, required that mobile handsets carry an electronic beacon giving the user's whereabouts, they handed telecoms and technology companies a hot new business opportunity.

For more on this:
- read full story from Yahoo! News, Feb 13 2006


4. VeriSign's VIP Protects Sign-On Ids

For most online consumers, a username and a password are the only two items used to identify and authenticate themselves with online services. But they're not necessarily always enough to secure an identity properly and are often the target of fraud and identity theft.

For more on this:
- read full story from internetnews.com, Feb 13 2006

5. Google's ad sales tested in court

Another lawsuit is poised to challenge Google's lucrative advertising-based business model by arguing it encourages unlawful use of trademarks as keywords. The parent company of a payday loan provider called Check 'n Go has sued Google in federal court in Ohio, saying that the search engine permits other payday lenders to purchase ads that appear when the trademarked phrase "check n go" is typed in.

For more on this:
- read full story from CNET news.com, Feb 13 2006


6. MySpace Rises As New Online Star

The Internet has a rising star whose name isn't Google. Just over 2 years old, MySpace now has 2 1/2 times the traffic of Google Inc., and it quickly eclipsed Friendster as the top social-networking site where users build larger and larger circles of friends.

For more on this:
- read full story from washingtonpost.com, Feb 12 2006


7. Microsoft Office Live Beta To Go Live This Week

After weeks of speculation, Microsoft's latest subscription service for small-business users is set to enter wides-cale testing on February 15. On February 15, Microsoft will release to testers first beta releases of three Office Live small-business subscription services. Office Live is a family of add-on services designed to complement Microsoft Office, the same way that the growing stable of Windows Live services will extend Microsoft Windows.

For more on this:
- read full story from Microsoft watch, Feb 13 2006


8. BearingPoint to Help Sell Google Technology

BearingPoint Inc., a McLean consulting firm that has been mired in accounting problems for the past year, has struck a deal with Google Inc. to sell and integrate technology the search-industry giant created for corporations. BearingPoint executives said they do not know how much revenue will result from the deal, which is expected to be announced today, but the firm is creating a 100-person unit dedicated to the venture.

For more on this:
- read full story from washingtonpost.com, Feb 14 2006

Yahoo Adds Features To Firefox Toolbar

1. Yahoo Adds Features To Firefox Toolbar

Yahoo Inc. on Thursday said it has added features to its toolbar for the latest version of the Firefox Web browser.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., portal said on its search blog that by using the right mouse button, toolbar users will be able to access Yahoo Search, Web mail, instant messaging or Yahoo's social networking site 360 degrees.

For more on this:
- read full story from messagingpipeline.com, Feb 9 2006


2. O2 exits stock market next month

Mobile phone firm O2 is set to exit the UK stock market next month following its £17.7bn ($31.6bn) takeover by Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica.
Telefonica is close to completing the deal after investors holding 88% of shares backed the takeover.

For more on this:
- read full story form BBC News, Feb 10 2006


3. UK cable co. NTL signs BitTorrent file-sharing deal

UK cable firm NTL is teaming up with BitTorrent Inc., the company behind the popular file-sharing software, to test a new service that will let users purchase movies and music video downloads.

For more on this:
- read full story from Yahoo! News, Feb 10 2006


4. NTL trials 100Mb broadband

NTL is to begin field trials of ultra fast broadband next month in a bid to hit speeds of up to 100Mb. The UK cableco, which has received the thumbs up to acquire Telewest and is still holding talks to buy Virgin Mobile, is hooking up with US outfit ARRIS to run the trials. The firms have already completed testing in the lab, but want to see how well the technology works in the real world.

For more on this:
- read full story from theregister.co.uk, Feb 10 2006


5. Manassas Testing Messaging System

Imagine driving to Manassas on Interstate 66 when a tractor-trailer overturns near Exit 55. Within moments, your cell phone chirps and a text message appears telling you traffic is stalled ahead. You have time to reroute. Imagine that your child has vanished and, within minutes, his description is zapped to all cell phones within a few miles.

For more on this:
- read full story from washingtonpost.com, Feb 12 2006


6. Video Competition Boosting Broadband Penetration

Americans are consuming record amounts of media services and that bodes well for broadband according to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) latest report on U.S. video competition.

For more on this:
- read full story from internetnews.com, Feb 10 2006


7. Microsoft pushes ahead with mobile e-mail effort

Although Microsoft is offering push e-mail abilities later than some mobile specialists, such as Research In Motion and Good Technology, the company says the numbers are still on its side. Although there are a billion mobile phones and 400 million Outlook e-mail users worldwide, only about 10 million people are getting their corporate e-mail delivered to their phones.

For more on this:
- read full story from CNET news.com, Feb 12 2006


8. Yahoo Grapples With Online Rights

In advance of what could be harsh Congressional questioning this week, Yahoo plans to issue a statement today outlining its belief in openness and freedom of speech — even when it is forced to violate those beliefs by laws in China.

For more on this:
- read full story from the new york times, Feb 13 2006