Microsoft looking into Hotmail problems

April 13, 2007

Microsoft looking into Hotmail problemsCNET News.com, CA – Apr 12, 2007

Microsoft engineers were looking into problems with Windows Live Hotmail and Live Messenger on Thursday after users reported problems getting onto the services. The company was unsure of the cause or the scope of the problems, which began around 9 a.m. PDT. There was no impact on customer data, the company said.


VoIP adopted by one in five US firmsComputerworldUK, UK – Apr 12, 2007

Voice-over-IP technology has rolled out to one-fifth of all U.S. business, and adoption will continue to grow at a robust rate, according to research firm In-Stat.

In-Stat measured VoIP adoption by talking to both equipment vendors and carriers, and by analyzing reports of shipments of products and installations of VoIP services by carriers and other providers, said David Lemelin, an analyst at In-Stat in Scottsdale, Ariz., said today.


You've Got WebmailPC Magazine - Apr 9, 2007

Three years ago, the world of Webmail was at a standstill. The category's three giants—AOL, Microsoft, and Yahoo!—were content with their respective market shares to avoid significant innovation. Then, on April Fool's Day, 2003, Google threw down the gauntlet, introducing a Webmail service that went lengths to reinvent the space, both in terms of its innovative interface, and perhaps even more significantly, in terms of storage, offering a then unheard of 1GB storage. For free. On Gmail's first birthday, Google outdid itself again, doubling the amount of storage offered.


CBS shows soon on MSN and Joost?ZDNet – Apr 12, 2007

CBS is close to announcing deals to distribute TV shows to various Web sites, including Microsoft's MSN and Time Warner's AOL, according to a Thursday report on The Wall Street Journal's Web site.

The Journal said CBS could announce the agreements on Thursday. The deals will make previously aired episodes of CBS shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the Evening News with Katie Couric and some sports programming available to the sites, the paper said.
Major Search Engines Improve Sitemaps ProtocolPC World - Apr 11, 2007

The rare collaboration between search rivals Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. over site maps has yielded its first result.

On Wednesday, the vendors announced they have enhanced Sitemap, a protocol designed to simplify how webmasters and online publishers submit their sites' content for indexing in search engines


Survey: Google draws 64 percent of search queriesZDNet - Apr 11, 2007

Web search leader Google's market share inched up to 64 percent of all queries among U.S. Internet searchers in March, gaining further ground against Yahoo and Microsoft, a survey released on Wednesday by Hitwise found.


Is Vonage Toast?VoIP News, CA – Apr 12, 2007

What with Verizon’s recent court victory against it, Vonage has been getting pounded—on the stock market and in the blogosphere. But the jury’s still out on whether the biggest name in VoIP is toast

FON Updates User Policy, Gives Away Free Routers

April 12, 2007


FON Updates User Policy, Gives Away Free Routers
DailyTech, IL – Apr 11, 2007

FON hopes to keep users by upgrading routers after enacting a new user policyA service that aims to give users more access to wireless Internet is offering free routers while changing user policies. FON claims to be the largest WiFi community in the world, with members sharing WiFi at home or the office so they can enjoy WiFi from other Foneros members.


AOL shamed by loss of thousands of emails
iT News, Australia - Apr 10, 2007

The move comes after several AOL customers complained to consumer watchdog Which that their saved emails had disappeared.

One customer, Jacqueline Fleming, said that almost 2,000 emails were wiped from her account over Christmas. "There were business emails, sentimental ones and even details of my holiday booking," she said. A few weeks later, her January emails disappeared.


AOL shamed by loss of thousands of emails
IT Week, UK - Apr 10, 2007

AOL has assigned technical staff to help UK customers whose email archives were wiped of thousands of messages.

The move comes after several AOL customers complained to consumer watchdog Which that their saved emails had disappeared.


Yahoo China Launches Blog and Networking Service
PC Magazine - Apr 10, 2007

SHANGHAI (Reuters)—Yahoo China on Tuesday launched a new blogging and networking service, in a move aimed at diversifying its revenue streams as it steps up expansion in the world's second-largest Web market by subscriber numbers.



Security Firm Says China Fixing Spam Problem; US Isn't
PC World – Apr 11, 2007

THE amount of spam originating from China dropped dramatically in the first three months of the year, an IT security firm says.In the period from January to March, China accounted for 7.5 per cent of all worldwide spam, Sophos said in a statement. This compared with 21.9 per cent in the year-earlier period.


US Remains Biggest Spam Culprit, Says Report
TMCnet – Apr 11, 2007

Though arguably one of the most advanced in terms of e-mail and Internet usage, the U.S. also has the dubious honor of relaying almost a fifth of the world’s spam, according to a report by IT security and control company Sophos.

VOIP Too Complicated for Prime Time?

April 11, 2007

VOIP Too Complicated for Prime Time?
PC World – Apr 10, 2007
PC-based VoIP services like Skype and Google Talk are just too complicated to really make it with the non-geek crowd. That's the gist of a new research report from Forrester Research, anyway.
Forrester analyst Zayera Khan says most European VoIPers use IM-based services (also called VoIM) to make VoIP calls. So the Forrester report takes a look at the top five VoIM services in Europe--Google Talk, ICQ, Microsoft MSN Messenger, Skype, and Yahoo! Messenger.

VoIP too complicated for mass markets
iT News, Australia - Apr 10, 2007
In a survey of VoIP users, a Forrester Research analyst has found the low-cost calling technology to be too complicated to appeal to mass-market users.
Forrester's Zayera Khan found voice-over-IP navigation systems generally to be a problem with users who are bewildered by a plethora of icons, buttons, rollovers, and navigation features. Khan cited the lack of clear keyword search capability as another problem.

AOL Expands Search Ads
PC World - Apr 9, 2007

Businesses interested in advertising on AOL LLC's Web search engine will now be able to do it, thanks to an agreement between the Time Warner Inc. subsidiary and Google Inc.
AOL's Web search engine has for years displayed ads from Google's AdWords network. But until now, AOL couldn't directly offer its advertisers ad space on its search engine site.

AOL to offer ads on its search
InfoWorld, CA - Apr 9, 2007

Businesses interested in advertising on AOL's Web search engine will now be able to do it, thanks to an agreement between the Time Warner subsidiary and Google.
Businesses interested in advertising on AOL's Web search engine will now be able to do it, thanks to an agreement between the Time Warner subsidiary and Google.

Online users turning to social networking sites for help with buying decisions
Computerworld, MA – Apr 10, 2007

Social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube have become target Internet destinations for a growing number of adults looking for help in making for purchasing decisions, according to a report released today.

The iProspect Social Networking User Behavior Study, which was funded by search engine marketing firm iProspect and carried out by JupiterResearch, found that one in four adult Internet users regularly visited the most popular social networking sites in the past year. The survey defined a social networking site as one that contains user-generated feedback.


Viacom Enters Web Search Deal with Yahoo
eWeek, MA – Apr 10, 2007

Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. said on Tuesday that it had chosen Yahoo Inc. to provide search advertising for 33 of its Internet sites in a major boost to Yahoo's new Web ad system

Yahoo to serve ads to Viacom sites
ITworld.com, MA – Apr 10, 2007

Yahoo Inc.'s new search marketing system continues to gain momentum with an announcement that Viacom Inc. plans to use the system on all of its 33 Web sites.
Yahoo will be the exclusive provider of sponsored search and contextual ads for the sites which include MTV.com, VH1.com, Nickelodeon.com, Comedycentral.com, BET.com and others. The multiyear deal could be expanded to over 140 additional Viacom Web sites around the world, the companies said.

Mozilla unveils Thunderbird 2.0 RC1 e-mail client

10 April 2007

Mozilla unveils Thunderbird 2.0 RC1 e-mail clientPC World Magazine, Australia - Apr 10, 2007

Mozilla on Friday posted release candidate code for the newest version of its e-mail client, Thunderbird 2.0, which emphasizes message organization and support for Windows Vista.

Unless the 50,000 testers in Mozilla's beta community find flaws with the Thunderbird 2.0 Release Candidate 1 code, the final version will be rolled out by the end of this month, said Scott MacGregor, lead engineer for Thunderbird.


Thunderbird 2.0 Almost HatchedWired News - Apr 9, 2007

Earlier today Mozilla made the first release candidate for Thunderbird 2.0 available for download. While this still isn’t a final release, the new version is thus far bug free, stable and considerably faster than the previous betas.

If you’ve been using earlier betas you should download the new RC1 and rest assured that the issues we’ve mentioned in previous reviews of Thunderbird betas have been solved.


Spam makes users turn away from emailiT News, Australia - Apr 9, 2007

The increasing volume of spam email messages is driving users to look for alternative media such as instant messaging and low cost VoIP calls, analyst firm IDC predicts in a new study.

"Spam volumes are growing faster than expected due to the success of image-based spam in bypassing antispam filters and of email sender identity spoofing in getting higher response rates," said Mark Levitt, program vice president for IDC's Collaborative Computing and Enterprise Workplace research.


Does email have a future?ZDNet - Apr 9, 2007

The days of email as a mission-critical application appear to be limited, according to an IDC report.
IDC said it is projecting that 97 billion emails will be sent worldwide in 2007 and more than 40 billion of those will be spam. That 40 billion spam mark means that junk email will surpass person-to-person email. Overall, email volume in 2007 will approach 5 exabytes, doubling the amount over the past two years.


Google tests directory assistance for phonesComputerworld, MA - Apr 9, 2007

Computer Web search leader Google Inc. on Friday stepped up an experiment to use speech recognition on telephones so consumers can ask for local information, in a challenge to directory assistance providers.

The company is inviting U.S. callers to dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone to test a voice-activated service free of charge that it calls Google Voice Local Search, which is available on its experimental Google Labs site.


Google Connects Calls to Businesses Free with Beta 411 ServicePC World – Apr 9, 2007

Does Google know any bounds when it comes to offering diverse new services? On Friday it began testing a free telephone directory listing service that will look up business listings and connect the call for free. You can also have a text message of the phone number sent to your mobile phone.


Is Skype secure enough for businesses?ZDNet Asia, Asia – Apr 10, 2007

Though Skype touts security features, is it safe enough to be a serious option for businesses? Stewart Baines from ZDNet Asia sister site silicon.com hears from the skeptics and explains how to secure the popular VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) software for enterprises that decided to use it.