 Microsoft to replace Live OneCare with free alternative
Microsoft announced yesterday that Live OneCare, its anti-virus/malware application, will be put to rest on June 30, 2009. A replacement offering is slated for release around the same time.
Currently codenamed Morro, the new program will be completely free. Microsoft's aim is to "[..]focus on getting the majority of consumers the essential protection they need by providing comprehensive, real-time anti-malware protection, covering such threats as viruses, spyware, rootkits, trojans, and other emerging threats, in a single, focused solution."
That's a fairly altruistic mission statement. Even though Microsoft has received plenty of praise for apps like SteadyState and Live Writer, the public still doesn't perceive Microsoft as a company that gives away good software for free.
And then there's last month's software report by NPD, which showed Live OneCare actually outselling McAffee Virusscan. It's done fairly well in terms of sales, so why change now?
The move makes sense in at least one way: protecting their own OS from malicious applications. Work never stops when it comes to finding exploitable weaknesses in Windows. If the new product is widely adopted and works at least as well as other free protection offerings (like Avast, AVG, Avira, Comodo), Windows might appear a bit more secure.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: November 19, 2008, 4:42 pm
News Source : Live OneCare team blog
 National Geographic enters video game market
National Geographic announced today, the creation of National Geographic Games, a new division dedicated to the development of video games for major consoles and computers, as well as mobile and hand held devices.
The division will be headed by Paul Levine, senior vice president of the extended platforms group at National Geographic Ventures, alongside former Take2 Interactive and Bethesda Software executive, Chris Mate, who has joined as the vice president and general manager of National Geographic Games.
According to Paul Levine, the new division aims to develop "fun games that allow gamers of all ages to experience and explore their world through play". Levine said, "our global audiences love to play games, and we plan on creating games in-house as well as working with leading global publishers to develop entertaining games that engage those audiences in a relevant way".
The first game, "Herod's Lost Tomb", has already been released for free, and will be available via the National Geographic website as a flash game, with a downloadable version available for the PC, Mac and iPhone, that will include more features and content.
The first games for the consoles are expected to come out this month, with "National Geographic: Africa" for the Playstation 3, and "National Geographic: Panda" for the Nintendo DS. According to Levine, "National Geographic: Panda" is somewhere between "Nintendogs"and "Zoo Tycoon".
Future games will include "Sudoku Traveller: China", which is due out this December, as well as three more games to be released in 2009.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: November 19, 2008, 4:40 pm
News Source : Neowin
LittleBigPlanet heading for PSP
Kotaku is reporting that the also-ran handheld Sony console, the PSP, may be receiving the innovative PS3 platformer sometime next year. That's according to the December issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, which says that the PSP version will expand upon the PS3 version, and will "further flesh out the experience".
Either way, it's something the PSP could definitely use as a boost in sales, with recent Japanese NPD sales showing the PSP is falling behind the recently released Nintendo DSi, along with the complaints of a poor screen on the PSP-3000. LittleBigPlanet certainly has mass market appeal, which is where the DS's strong point currently lies. With the potential for PSP-PS3 connectivity, we could also be seeing some interesting features such as cross-platform level sharing.
News Posted by : GoogleFreakl On
: November 19, 2008, 4:39 pm
News Source : Neowin
Codemasters acquire Swordfish Studios
If you've been following the gaming news recently, you'll know that there has recently been a series of developer takeovers, some small, some larger. Well, here's another one. Codemasters, known most for their popular racing games Colin McRae: DiRT, and more recently, Race Driver: GRID, have announced that they will be purchasing Birmingham based developer Swordfish Studios.
Swordfish Studios were the developers of Brian Lara International Cricket 2005, as well as 50 cent: Blood on the Sand, and lately, the PS3 port of World in Conflict. Codemasters cited "the studio will create original content using the company's proprietary EGO Engine, the technology behind racing hits Colin McRae: DiRT and Race Driver: GRID".
Perhaps it seems a little unusual to buy into a studio that's never developed, or even worked on, racing games, but Codemasters want them to do just that, in a move they hope will "add further strength in depth to our development side". The financial details were not disclosed, but questions will be raised no doubt, after all, what would a company that focuses on racing/driving games want so much from a company who has never had worked on such genres?
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see the result of Codemasters' latest purchase, in yet another developer buyout. Not many details have been given away, other than that the studio will be using the ‘EGO' engine, which means that they are most likely going to either assist Codemasters with current driving games, or working on a separate game to accompany their current range.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: November 19, 2008, 4:38 pm
News Source : Neowin
Today I have mostly been...
...working with the W3C or World Wide Web Consortium. For those who do not know, this site provides an abundance of information on how to make your site W3C compliant and thus more likely to appear exactly how you want it to on most browsers.
Using the validator tool here will help you identify the errors on your site, with tips on how to go about fixing them, and why they are not valid markup.
For anyone serious about web design I suggest you check it out.
News Posted by : Dodge On
: November 17, 2008, 7:00 pm
 ATI Catalyst 8.11 WHQL
AMD’s award-winning ATI Catalyst graphics and HD video configuration software delivers unprecedented control of performance and visual quality with ATI Radeon™ graphics processors. Certified by Microsoft® Windows® Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL), ATI Catalyst drivers for Windows Vista® and Windows® XP operating systems deliver stable performance and push the limits of innovation with advanced user-oriented features.
Precision controls for power users. Tweaks for gamers and video enthusiasts. Simple wizard-assisted setup, easy multi-monitor configuration, and ultra reliable operation for working professionals. New user or seasoned expert, ATI Catalyst puts you in charge of The Ultimate Visual Experience™.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: November 14, 2008, 4:30 pm
News Source : Ati
Download : ATi Catalyst 8.11
EA to axe over 500 jobs
Electronic Arts is set to axe between 500 and 600 jobs after announcing a $310 million loss in the financial quarter ending September 30th.
Shares in the company have dropped nearly 20% as a result of the announcement.
Recent reports have suggested that the gaming industry is stronger than ever, despite the current economic turmoil, with some analysts going so far as to suggest that the games industry is "recession proof."
Speaking to Kotaku, EA spokesperson Mariam Sughayer said that as well as eliminating around 6% of their workforce, EA would also reduce hiring and close some open positions that they had planned for this fiscal year.
According to the Associated Press, EA believes higher development and marketing costs are to blame, as well as delays to the latest Harry Potter game. They also said that the job cuts will span across "all functions and locations."
Chief Executive of EA games, John Riccitiello, remained confident for the future: "Considering the slowdown at retail we've seen in October, we are cautious in the short term. Longer term, we are very bullish on the game sector overall and on EA in particular."
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: November 14, 2008, 4:20 pm
News Source : Neowin
EA announce fitness game for the Wii
Electronic Arts' EA Sports division has today unveiled a new fitness game for the Nintendo Wii. Titled “EA Sports Active”, the game is expected to hit store shelves in March 2009 for $60.
In a fact sheet about the game, EA say that players will use leg straps to attach the nunchuck to their leg and will hold the Wii controller, allowing the game to track both upper and lower body movement.
The title looks to take advantage of the popularity of fitness games on the Nintendo Wii. Nintendo's first party title, Wii Fit, has proved to be extremely popular, selling over 8.76 million copies Worldwide as of September 2008.
However the game does not aim to compete with Nintendo's Wii Fit according to Peter Moore, president of EA Sports and a former physical education teacher, who said, “Wii Fit -- it's not really a western style philosophy of cardiovascular exercise. You've got more of a classic eastern style of balance and coordination”.
The game will feature a variety of activities that target the upper body and lower body, as well as cardiovascular fitness. EA Sports Active will include a “30 Day Challenge” mode, where the game will track the player's progress over 30 days of 20 minute workouts, with each day's workout being different from the last.
EA are planning to include two leg straps, a resistance band and a book on health. The game will also support the Wii Balance Board, offering additional exercises if connected.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: November 14, 2008, 4:18 pm
News Source : Neowin
90% of World of Goo installs are pirate copies
World of Goo's developers decided to release the game without any DRM, a welcome move for those of us irritated by punishments for legitimate users. How did that work out for them? Not so well. According to Joystiq, 90% of installations are pirated. World of Goo was developed by Ron Carmel and Kyle Gabler, and Carmel claims to have seen one torrent with 500 seeders and 300 leechers.
It's not all bad news though. Carmel has received some positive e-mails from those that pirated the game before going on to buy it, and sales are high for the WiiWare and Steam versions. The issue still remains though that by giving the consumers what they want (DRM removed), a small up-and-coming pair of game developers are being punished. With such a fantastically original idea behind the game, it would be a shame to see them fade into obscurity because their fans didn't want to buy the game.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: November 14, 2008, 4:16 pm
News Source : Neowin
 Instant-on software maker Phoenix to bundle Opera web browser
There's been a lot of talk about instant on* software lately. Earlier this year, Asus announced plans to outfit every one of its motherboards with the Splashtop software interface that lets you load a Linux based OS in a matter of seconds without waiting for Windows or another full operating system to launch. This allows you to surf the web, make VoIP calls, or do other basic tasks shortly after hitting the power button.
Most of the instant on* platforms we've seen come bundled with the Firefox web browser. That makes sense, since it's fairly popular and open source, making it easy to work with. But Phoenix Technologies, maker of the HyperSpace instant on* platform has announced that it will begin to use the Opera web browser.
Opera has a reputation for being pretty fast as web browsers go, both when it comes to launching the application and when it comes to rendering web pages. Under the deal, Opera will further optimize its web browser to work within the Phoenix HyperSpace environment.
Unlike Splashtop, HyperSpace can be run while you're booting a full operating system in the background. Or you can even launch HyperSpace from within Windows.
* While Splashtop and HyperSpace certainly launch faster than Windows XP or a full Linux desktop operating system like Ubuntu, it still takes 5-15 seconds to boot the OS, and a bit longer to connect to a wireless network if you want to use a web browser or other applicationgs that require internet access.
News Posted by : Google Freak On
: November 6, 2008, 4:21 pm
News Source : Download Squad
 WPA is going the way of WEP, cracked in 15 minutes flat
According to PC World the days of securing your WIFI network using Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) may be over, as researcher Erik Tews will show how he was able to crack WPA encryption in around 15 minutes at a the Tokyo PacSec Conference in two weeks time.
WPA was designed to overcome the insecurities in hacked Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) which can be hacked in a few minutes using a modern laptop.
Erik Tews will be demonstrating how he cracked the WPA encryption to read the data being sent from a router to a laptop.
To read the data being sent Tews found a way to crack the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) key without resorting to using a dictionary attack which, security experts have agreed that the protocol might be vulnerable too.
Although this is a big step Tews was still unable to crack the keys used to encrypt the data being sent back to the router from the laptop.
If the demonstration lives up to its headline then the days of WPA look to be numbered. This would come as a big blow to both consumers and corporations alike.
WPA is the most common standard of encryption in uses but, there is also a newer more secure standard WPA2, (which uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and is unaffected), although support is still patchy. Consumer may find they are forced to still rely on the now unsecure WPA encryption to connect their devices to the network.
For Business this is even bigger headache. The TJ Maxx chain had hundreds of millions of customer details stolen due in part to the fact that they were still using the cracked WEP standard. It’s easy to see a situation where hackers may try to do the same using WPA forcing corporate users to VPN or WPA2 dumping devices that can’t support these protocols.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: November 6, 2008, 4:18 pm
News Source : PC World
Need For Speed leaves virtual reality
EA, the publishers behind the Need For Speed series of games, have announced that fans of the popular series will be able to act out their car fantasies in real life in June 2009.
Over the weekend of June 26th - 28th gamers and car enthusiasts will together be able to visit Brands Hatch Circuit near London, England, where EA's first ever Need For Speed Live event will be held. The event will be a showcase of entertainment, videogames, music, car shows and displays.
According to their new website, the event will appeal to fans of racing games, proud owners of hot vehicles, fans of exotic cars and motorsports enthusiasts.
Can we expect to see anyone from Neowin there enjoying the real life NFS experience?
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: November 6, 2008, 4:17 pm
News Source : Neowin
Live Search integrated into Facebook
In July, Microsoft and Facebook had made a search and advertisement deal, which meant that Live Search would be integrated into Facebook, along with advertisements. Well, the search has finally started to appear in Facebook now.
When you start typing in the search bar at the top right of your homepage, you’ll notice a ‘Search the Web’ option. This is a very clever placement for Live Search, and I expect this to work in favor for Microsoft’s search efforts. The search results are displayed in native Facebook style search results. Related text ads for the search results are shown at the right, showing how the new layout has been thought out well for monetary benefits by Facebook. The search results are provided by Live Search but directly open the search results upon clicking. Notice there is also a link for advanced search.
The search is also accessible from the All Results page, through the Web link.
News Posted by : Dodge On
: October 8, 2008, 9:40 pm
News Source : Neowin
Traditional anti-virus tools now obsolete
Traditional anti-virus tools have become an outdated way of responding to today's threats, according to security giant McAfee. McAfee built its security empire on signature-based anti-virus products. However, Chris Kenworthy, senior vice president for enterprise at the firm, told delegates at the ISSE security conference in Madrid that the evolving nature of current threats should force firms to look at alternative ways to secure their systems.
He advised security professionals to invest in multiple integrated technologies to cope with different types of malware, including zero-day exploits, rootkits and Trojans. But more important than the technology is an enterprise security policy, according to Kenworthy. "We vendors want to sell you lots of products, but really it's the policy that will drive good security practice in an organisation. If you don't have the policies the technology will be ill-deployed," he said
News Posted by : Dodge On
: October 8, 2008, 9:39 pm
News Source : Full Story
Google launches Mail Goggles
Remember that time when you sent an email to an ex when you were drunk? Perhaps an email to that cute girl in the office that you've always wanted to speak to or perhaps a rant at your boss under the influence of beer?
Google to the rescue! Google has announced "mail goggles". When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?
Google's idea is to prevent those embarrassing mishaps on a Friday evening after a few alcoholic beverages. Perhaps phone manufacturers could implement this too as I regularly need electronic restraint on a Friday evening from txting the wrong person at the wrong time.
News Posted by : Dodge On
: October 8, 2008, 9:38 pm
eBay announces job cuts
eBay has said it is laying off 10% of its workforce, as part of a move to streamline the business.
The amount is approximately 1,000 staff and hundreds of temporary workers. It is also expected a number of "open" positions will now be closed.
The firm hopes to cut costs and strengthen the organisation and its competitiveness. EBay - which already owns online payment firm Paypal - has signed an agreement to buy Bill Me Later for $820m in cash and $125m in options.
"PayPal and Bill Me Later belong together," said eBay president and chief executive John Donahoe in a statement.
News Posted by : Dodge On
: October 8, 2008, 9:37 pm
News Source : Neowin
A Rant
Before I start this is completely off topic, and not in keeping with the original reason for keeping this site running. But it has been bottling up for some time. Planet is dying, people keep using your spot lights, your 100 watt bulbs, put the fire on when there is a chill in the air, when you could put on a jumper. Leave your TV's on all night. What does it matter?
News Posted by : Dodge On
: October 8, 2008, 9:26 pm
Manhunt 2 Wins Battle for UK Release
The ban on controversial video game Manhunt 2 in the UK has been lifted and the game will now go on sale. The Video Appeals Committee upheld an earlier decision that the game could be sold, following a nine-month battle between makers Rockstar and UK censors.
The British Board of Film Classification had taken the fight to ban the game to the High Court, saying the game "went too far".
An edited version of the title will be released with an 18 certificate.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 20, 2008, 12:38 pm
News Source : BBC
Google are denied Gmail trademark in Europe
Google has once again been thwarted in its bid to trademark "Gmail" in the European Union because of a similar trademark in Germany. The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) has just published a ruling made last month, dismissing Google's appeal of the original decision against the company. Instead, the trademark for "G-mail" remains securely in the hands of Daniel Giersch, who has run an e-mail service with the name since 2000.
The case started back in 2004 when Google first launched Gmail and applied for trademarks worldwide. In 2005, Giersch filed an opposition to Google's application on the grounds that the trademarks were nearly identical, as were the services they represented. Giersch won his case last year, due to the visual, verbal, and aural similarity, not to mention that Giersch's mark had already been protected in Germany.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 20, 2008, 12:38 pm
News Source : Ars Technica
 Nvidia Reportedly Seeks to Take Over Via Technologies
Nvidia Corp., the world?s largest developer of graphics processing units (GPUs), may be interested in acquisition of Via Technologies, a minor developer of x86 central processing units and core-logic sets, Taiwan-based press has reported. Given that Nvidia already has chipset business unit, the only product family in which Nvidia may be interested in is x86 chips by Via.
A news-story at DigiTimes web-site claims that Nvidia and Via had discussed three possible scenarios, including a strategic alliance, acquisition of Via?s processor division, or the acquisition of the entire company. The parties have not reached any agreement so far, but the negotiations may be re-opened up soon as financial situation for Via is not showing any signs of improvement, whereas Nvidia may truly need its own x86 platform to broaden market segments it could address.
News Posted by : GoogleFreak On
: March 20, 2008, 12:37 pm
News Source : X-Bit Labs
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