Microsoft says it's overwhelmed and humbled by the initial response to Internet Explorer 9 Beta. It has released some figures to quantify the “early customer enthusiasm.” According to the Redmond-based company, IE9 Beta had been downloaded over two million times by the end of the second day. Internet Explorer 8 Beta, which was launched in August, 2008, pales in comparison as it could only garner 1.3 million downloads in the first five days.

Microsoft's Roger Capriotti cited other encouraging statistics while writing on the Windows Team Blog: “We’ve seen 9 million visits and over 26 million page views to the Beauty of the Web site since its release last week, and our developer-focused IE Test Drive Site has had 4 million page views since last Wednesday.”

“All in all, we are encouraged about the very early response to the IE9 release this past week, namely because it signals that the emphasis on making websites shine through Windows is resonating.  We are looking forward to more and more partners building great experiences through Internet Explorer 9 to deliver a more beautiful web,” Capriotti wrote in a blog post.

Sony's latest PS3 firmware update is sure to please those PS3 owners who have already bought into the 3D hype. Firmware v. 3.50, which the company began rolling out today, brings 3D Blu-ray support to the console, turning it into a 3D Blu-ray player. Of course, you will still need to ensure that the PS3 is connected to a 3D TV. As some of you might recall, Sony enabled stereoscopic 3D gaming on the PS3 through a similar firmware update in April, before proceeding towards offering 3D game titles through the PlayStation Network for the first time in June. So now “the only console on the market that can support full stereoscopic 3D gaming” is also a full-fledged 3D Blu-ray player.

Image Credit: JoyStiq

Cutting-edge wrist watches: futuristic, yes, but can they also tell time?

You don’t need a million-dollar, multiple-complication chronometer to wear maximum tech on your arm. The watches reviewed here may not be paragons of mechanical engineering, but each makes a bold technology statement in its own right—and for a reasonable price.

 

Phosphor Digital Hour

Nothing says “unapologetically nerdy” like a digital watch with a honkin’-big numerical display. Problem is, these watches are everywhere, so how do you one-up your pals? Simple: Get a watch with an E ink display, the same screen tech found in e-readers like the Kindle. Of all the watches in our line-up, the Digital Hour strikes the best aesthetic balance between conventional-looking and “sci-fi movie prop,” and, at 2.4oz, it’s the most comfortable to wear. Build quality is sturdy and reassuring, and there’s no denying the cool factor of E ink, which uses reflected light to provide a flat, text-on-paper-ish effect.

Besides displaying the time and date in large, chunky numbers, you can set the screen to “graphic” mode, where hours are represented on a dial as shown here. Because the display is E ink, it suffers a flashing screen refresh when the hours and minutes advance. It’s also hard to read in low ambient lighting. These faults, however, are intrinsic to E ink technology, and aren’t design flaws on Phosphor’s part. Bottom line: The Digital Hour makes a strong geek statement without resorting to excessive bling. ($185)

 

ThinkGeek Bluetooth Watch with Caller ID

It’s not a phone in and of itself, but ThinkGeek’s Bluetooth 2.0 watch can be paired with a phone to display the number of whoever is calling. The watch also shows caller names (if your phone supports this function) and vibrates when someone’s calling. The system is perfect for locations where cell phones are frowned upon, like in business meetings, theaters, and court rooms. Just turn off your phone’s ringer, and let your watch alert you to incoming calls. And if your ringer has been left on, you can mute it directly from the watch.

We love the bright, blue OLED caller ID display, but find the analog watch face to be unremarkable, if not ugly. Other gripes: The watch feels bulkier than even its 3.1oz would suggest, and the included user manual is written in incomprehensible Engrish. Example: “On inefficacy status, Watch isn’t cue when Bluetooth disconnect.” But, hey, if you can intuit information from that, you may not need the comprehensible (but cursory) English manual that ThinkGeek provides online. The UI (shown here) is not intuitive, so an effective user manual is a necessity. ($69.99)

 

Storm MK 2 Circuit

We’ve been calling this model the “Geordi La Forge” for all its intergalactic, wraparound goodness. The MK 2 is a substantial hunk of stainless steel and mineral glass—very heavy on the wrist at 6.2oz, with an equally heavy presence when you make the scene in public. The version we reviewed came with a stunning blue glass crystal. The red LED time display is off by default, so passers-by may think you’re wearing a space-age accoutrement instead of a watch. Then again, because the LED lights don’t immediately scream “I’m a wrist watch!,” passers-by may never figure out what you’re wearing.

And therein lies the gotcha: The MK II’s time-telling interface isn’t intuitive. The column on the left shows 12 hour markers; the column on the right displays five 10-minute increments at the top, and nine 1-minute increments on the bottom. Confused? Check our photograph. It’s showing 11:47pm. To see the LEDs, you must push a button for half a second (it feels like an eternity), and once turned on, the LEDs turn off after about four seconds. This may not be enough time to actually read the time! The MK II has great build quality and killer wow factor, but it’s not very practical. ($220)

 

Storm Cosmo

If the MK II is a time-reading challenge, then the Cosmo is like a Gordian knot of chronographic indecipherability. In fact, its interface is so impractical, and so defiant in its flouting of convention, it makes a full circle back into something you’d actually want on your wrist. The design may be foppishly flamboyant—ghetto fabulous or even Bratz dollish—but there’s no denying that only a real geek would ever (or could ever) use the Cosmo to tell time.

The face shows the hours and months on the left, and minutes and days on the right. Each color corresponds to a unit of time. Blue blocks are 10 units; green block are 5 units; red blocks are 1 units. A single orange block indicates AM time. A single white block indicates date mode. Now take what we’ve just explained, and correctly divine what’s being displayed in our photo. Did you say June 29? Congrats. You’re geekier than a box of robot parts. Unfortunately, the Cosmo suffers from the same display delay/duration problems of the MK 2 Circuit, and is heavy at 5.8oz. But does it really matter? Just kick back and enjoy the pretty lights. ($250)

3D or not 3D—that is the question for this entertainment center essential

If you don’t need a device that will guarantee support for the Blu-ray 3D spec, now is a fabulous time to pick up a high-end A/V receiver. Yamaha’s RX-V3900 is a prime example. This 7.1-channel monster boasts a to-die-for feature set, delivers great gobs of power, and is selling online for hundreds less than its $1,900 MSRP. It’s also the audio box we used for our “Build the Ultimate TV & Movie PC” project showcased on this issue’s disc.

The RX-V3900 delivers 140 watts of power to seven channels, so you can add one or two rear speakers to your surround-sound setup. And if you need to send audio to multiple rooms, this one will send audio and composite video to a second zone, and audio to a third. It comes with a second remote control, too.

Place Yamaha's RX-V3900 in a sturdy, well-ventilated entertainment center; this 41-pound beast throws off a lot of heat.

A/V receiver manufacturers have been shedding analog inputs to reduce costs. Many of us, however, still have legacy gear that depends on those inputs, and the RX-V3900 doesn’t leave us in the lurch. This receiver’s rear panel includes two sets of component video inputs, six sets of S-Video inputs, multi-channel analog audio inputs (critical for connecting an older home-theater PC or a Super Audio CD player), a phono input, and more.

There are digital connections aplenty, of course, starting with four HDMI 1.3a inputs and two HDMI 1.3a outputs (having two HDMI outs is a must if you own both an HDTV and a video projector). All analog video inputs are upscaled to 1080p and output via HDMI.

While Yamaha doesn’t claim that the RX-V3900 is 3D-capable, we had no problem playing Blu-ray 3D movies using a home-theater PC and high-speed HDMI 1.3a cables. And in case you were wondering, the HDMI 1.4 spec adds several features, including HDMI audio return and 100Mb/s Ethernet, but neither of these is required for Blu-ray 3D support.

That square multi-pin connector in the lower left accommodates Yamha's iPod dock.

The RX-V3900 is equipped with a 100Mb/s Ethernet port and is compatible with DLNA and Windows Media Connect V2 servers, enabling you to stream music from just about any device on your network. You can also access the receiver over your network and control it using a Web interface. The receiver can decode WAV files as well as compressed MP3, WMA, and MPEG-4 AAC tracks (unfortunately, Yamaha shows no love for FLAC). You can also plug a USB drive into the front panel and play tunes directly from that source.

We set up the receiver in our media room using Yamaha’s YPAO auto setup routine, which uses a microphone and a series of test tones to equalize the receiver to the room’s dimensions, the size of your speakers, and the distance between the speakers in as many as eight listening positions in the room. By the time we finished, we found that we could sit almost anywhere and enjoy near-perfect audio/visual experiences with stereo audio CDs, HD audio sources (we used the Blue Man Group disc The Complex, which is encoded in DTS Surround with a 96kHz sampling rate and 24-bit resolution), and movies with Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks.

The RX-V3900 delivered a remarkable sonic and visual performance with everything we threw at it. Aside from the absence of FLAC support, the only other fault we can find is the absence of a front-panel HDMI. And while newer receivers with HDMI 1.4 inputs and outputs will be here soon, you can expect to pay a lot more for one with as many features as this.

Yamaha RX-V3900 A/V Receiver Cash Deposit

Incredible street-price/performance ratio; dual HDMI outputs; Ethernet support.

Calcium Deposit

Pre-dates HDMI 1.4; no front-panel HDMI; doesn't support FLAC.

If you're the type to fret over data security and government censorship, Google has your back with their new Transparency Report. The report is likely a response to the search giant's recent run-ins with the likes of China over blocking services and requesting user information. The Transparency Report is broken down into two sections, Government Requests, and Traffic.

The Government Requests section offers an interactive Google Map with flags in each country that data is available for. By zooming in, we can see the number of requests for each country, as well as various court orders for removal of content. The data on the map is currently only from the last year, but more could be added as time goes on.

The Traffic section consists of a graph showing the amount of data passed through Google over time. Users can choose the country and Google service to view in the drop downs. The idea is that by looking for large drop-offs in traffic, users will be able to tell when the free flow of information has been interrupted. Do you think this kind of transparency will make governments think twice about limiting freedom online?

 

Exposed: The Great Apple-Loving Media Conspiracy

If you’re a fan of conspiracies about the Illuminati, the Stonecutters, and how George Lucas died in 1981 while shooting Revenge of the Jedi, then you’ll appreciate me blowing the lid off an even bigger cover-up that cuts closer to our technology-obsessed hearts: The media’s secret pro-Apple bias.

Don’t believe me? I’ve got proof.

In 2008, Apple held a press conference to announce its new unibody MacBook Pro. Now, in my 18 years as a journalist, I’ve been to plenty of press conferences. Technology press conferences (especially product launches) are generally snoozefests, and the only way to get reporters to even show up is to offer free food and booze. Apple’s press conference, however, had to be held in an auditorium that could accommodate 200 or so journalists from around the globe—journalists who had willingly, voluntarily gathered to see the new MacBook Pro.

Let’s repeat that: 200 reporters gathered to see a laptop. No, not a matter transporter or food replicator. This was a notebook computer built in the same Chinese factories that crank out everybody else’s notebooks. And whether those notebooks come from Apple or a PC maker, they all use the same CPUs, RAM, and hard drives.

The highlight of the press conference was the applause. It wasn’t polite applause of “Hey, maybe if I clap louder, the briefing will be over and I can get to the hors d’oeuvres and open bar.” It was legitimate sycophantic clapping.

Jobs the Magnificent has performed his mass hypnosis act twice yearly at the Yerba Buena theater in San Francisco.

Want more proof? Google the term “MacBook inventory running low.” In between all the Apple fanboy blogs celebrating the news of MacBook inventories running low (a sign that Apple could be emptying its supply line in anticipation of a new model), you’ll find mainstream media outlets writing about the possibility a new MacBook is coming out because, well, inventories are running low!

Now Google “HP Pavilion inventory running low,” or “Dell Inspiron inventory running low.” Be prepared to listen to crickets because you won’t ever see a news story about HP, Dell, Lenovo, or Acer running low on inventory. Even less likely would be a breathless report tying low PC notebook inventories to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, there’s a new notebook coming out. While I suspect that PC manufacturers are probably pretty good at managing inventory, even if they did cut inventory ahead of a new product launch, the media wouldn’t give two damns.

Why is that? Because of the media’s bias in favor of Apple.

Still don’t believe me? How about the regular quarterly rumors—unfailingly reported by the media—of an iPhone on Verizon’s network? You would think that after the first three or four rumors fell flat on their asses and no CDMA-equipped iPhones came out, the media would stop running with this hearsay. But no. Like hamsters pushing on that little Pavlov bar to get a treat, they keep running the damned rumors, truthful or not.

Not all Apple coverage is unwarranted. The iPad launch was newsworthy. But was it newsworthy enough to blot out reports of plane crashes, riots, financial collapse, and war? I’m not so sure, but hey, it’s an Apple product, so it deserves being blasted on the front page of newspapers and websites all around the world.

The single event that showed any media backbone was iPhone 4 Antenna-gate. In this case, journalists had no choice but to cover current events fairly. They had hyped the iPhone 4 as the second coming of the iPad, but it turned out that the phones could hang up on you if you held them with your left hand. The media had to go ballistic on that one or risk losing what little credibility it had left.

I could give you other examples, but you know I’m right. People say Apple’s brilliance is making consumers believe that a commodity product is the most unique thing in the world. I say that’s true. But Apple couldn’t do it without a complicit media happily stenographing everything Apple says.

Gordon Mah Ung is the senior editor and chief hardware guru of Maximum PC.

They said they were going to do it, and MetroPCS has beaten the big boys to the punch and launched the first 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network in the US. Customers will be able to get the Samsung Craft, the first LTE handset for $300 after rebate. MetroPCS is a prepaid carrier, so no subsidies are available, but the monthly cost is only $55 per month for unlimited calls, texts, and data.

The LTE service is currently only available in Las Vegas, but MetroPCS expects to expand into 18 markets in 2011. Users outside LTE areas will step down to 2G, as MetroPCS doesn't have a 3G network. While they may be first, MetroPCS will probably be eclipsed by Verizon when the larger carrier's LTE network goes live late this year. 

This is a nice bonus for current users of MetroPCS, but it isn't likely to attract new users in droves. Even if the service we more widely available, the Samsung Craft is just a glorified feature phone with a keyboard and touchscreen. It may be nice PR for the carrier, but we'll wait for a better option.

 

Verizon's popular Droid X will finally be getting its update to Android 2.2 (Froyo) starting Wedsesday, according to multiple reports. Users will begin getting system update notifications around noon EST tomorrow. This update will bring the Droid X up to par with the Droid 2, which launched a few weeks ago with Android 2.2 out of the box.

There is one unique benefit of this update. Users will be able to manually update legitimately. By going to Settings > About > System Updates, the phone will actually download the update after it has gone live tomorrow. On other Android phones, this just checks to see if a handset has been provisioned for the push update.

Users can expect a number of improvements to the phone's software including support for Adobe Flash 10.1, a faster JavaScript engine in the browser, and better Android Market updates. Although, some new Verizon branded crapware , like VZ Navigator, might be making an appearance as well. Any Droid X users out there? Is this an exciting update, or are you over it?

 

Intel, Logitech, Sony, and Google merge TV and the Internet like never before

If you think Hulu was a TV innovation, then prepare yourself for Google TV. Created by Google in partnership with hardware makers, Google TV aims to meld the hundreds of channels available on pay television with the virtually unlimited content—video and otherwise—available on the Internet. But what exactly is Google TV? How will it work? How much will it cost? Will it run on the hardware you already own?

Google TV isn’t expected to hit the market until sometime in October, but we’ve squeezed our sources at Google, Intel, and Logitech for answers to seven pressing questions.

In concrete terms, what the heck is Google TV?

According to Google, Google TV is an open platform designed to bring the power of the Internet to the TV-viewing experience. Think of an electronic program guide on steroids. It’s a menu interface that exposes not only what’s being broadcast on TV, but also what’s available on YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, or even on your DVR or the media server on your personal network.

Google TV will run on Google’s Android operating system and utilize Google’s Chrome web browser. It will use picture-in-picture technology to display your search results on top of live TV, so you never need to switch between experiences.

Google TV will also deliver content that’s relevant to whatever you happen to be watching—stats if you’re watching a sporting event, IMDb if you’re watching a movie, and so on. And it’s all in a picture-in-picture environment, so you don’t have to switch from one experience to the other. Potentially, it’s the perfect alternative to watching TV with a notebook or tablet balanced on your lap.

Who's Involved?

Google is providing the underlying operating system (Android) and web browser (Chrome). Logitech will offer a set-top box called the Revue—more on this later. Sony is working on incorporating Google TV into its new HDTVs and Blu-ray players. Intel is providing the silicon (the Atom CE4100 system-on-chip) for the Logitech and Sony products.

How Does Google TV Relate to Intel's Smart TV?

Intel had been thinking of ways to blend TV and the web for several years, all before Google approached them looking for hardware to run Google TV.

“Smart TV isn’t a product,” says Intel Consumer Experience Architect Brian David Johnson. “It’s more of a type of TV experience. When we started working on the concept four or five years ago, we figured the number-one thing people would want in the future is movies on demand. But our focus groups revealed that what people really wanted on their TVs was Internet access. It was more about personalization. Your Internet is very different from my Internet, but it can give you as a consumer whatever you’re looking for. People saw the Internet as a way they could get whatever they wanted on demand.”

Johnson’s new book, Screen Future, explores how computers, TVs, phones, and even cars are being connected and reshaped into personalized entertainment platforms. One chapter discusses an interactive TV concept called “poker night” that Intel conceived three years ago. “The TV becomes the poker table,” says Johnson, “and the consumers’ handheld devices become their private screen [so they can see the hands they’ve been dealt]. And each TV has a webcam attached to it, so the players can see each other. This is a very natural experience and people got the concept instantly.”

Illustration by Brian David Johnson
"Poker night" is just one portion of Intel's 3-year-old "Smart TV" concept. The TV serves as a card table and webcams let the players see and interact with each other.

But no idea happens in isolation, says Johnson. “Google had an understanding early on that they wanted a way to tie TV into Internet search. They’re Google, and search is what they do. We had the platform and we would have discussions about the user interface. Google TV is very much a Google product, but Intel saw early on that there were a lot of synergies.”

What are the Hardware Requirements?

Dish Network subscribers will be able to run Google TV on that company’s existing set-top boxes. Everyone else will need a Google TV device or a TV with integrated Google TV. Google TV will not run on a Mac or PC—not even with one of those fancy new CableCARD tuners. Besides the fact that Google TV runs on the Android OS, the software requires hardware with an HDMI input so that it can overlay its graphical user interface on top of the TV signal.

“All Google TV devices include an HDMI input that allows us to blend traditional television content with that of the Internet,” says Google TV Product Manager Larry Yang. “Dish Network customers will have the full integration experience and will be able to access all of their DVR and video-on-demand content directly from the Google TV interface. Users without Dish will still have a seamless experience bringing the web and TV together in one easy-to-use, searchable experience.” According to Yang, this will also apply to consumers using over-the-air HDTV tuners.

So Google TV will really work with over-the-air broadcasts?

Google says it will, but Kevin Simon, director of product marketing for Logitech’s Digital Home Group, told us Logitech’s Revue device will not work with OTA tuners because they lack an electronic program guide. “You can use the browser and the applications,” says Simon, “but without an EPG, you won’t know what’s being broadcast.” What’s more, the vast majority of TVs don’t have HDMI outputs, so there’s no way to route a live TV signal through a Google TV set-top box.

How much will Google TV cost?

You’ll need to buy the hardware, of course, but it won’t cost anything extra to use Google TV. It’s easy to see the other players’ business models, but what does Google get out of Google TV?

“Google TV will be a free, open-source platform,” says Yang. “This is an opportunity for Google and many third-party developers to distribute existing content and services through a new category of devices. For example, users will now be able to easily access Google search, Google Maps, and YouTube.”

Yang says Google TV won’t be a platform for selling additional advertising—at least for now. “At this time, there are no advertising products directly integrated into Google TV,” says Yang. “Traditional advertising over broadcast TV, as well as online display ads, can be viewed as normal through Google TV, and will continue to function as before.”

Logitech and Sony have been exceedingly tight-lipped when it comes to discussing pricing for their Google TV products. Sony wouldn’t discuss the subject at all, but Logitech’s Simon did say there are no subscription fees tied to the Revue.

What can we expect from the Logitech Revue hardware?

Logitech demoed the Revue when Google TV was announced, but has been reticent to show the product to the press since then. Logitech’s Kevin Simon did, however, reveal a few key details during our conversation.

The box is based on Intel’s Atom CE4100 SoC, of course, but it will also incorporate Logitech’s Harmony Link engine and Unify receiver technology. Harmony Link will enable the Revue’s universal remote to control all the other devices in your entertainment center, and Unify enables the pairing of the remote and other controllers without the need to plug them into a USB port. The remote itself will have a touchpad and a full QWERTY keyboard.

Logitech’s Revue is based on Intel’s Atom CE4100 system-on-chip. It features an HDMI input and overlays Google TV’s user interface over live TV.

“Harmony Link enables the integration between the web and broadcast,” says Simon. “Imagine you’re searching for a TV show, such as Friday Night Lights. You’ll see a number of results pop up—some from the web and some from TV. If you select something that’s on TV right now, the channel on your set-top box will change to that channel.” Simon told us Logitech also plans to offer Android and iPhone apps that enable you to use those phones to control the Revue and the rest of the hardware in your entertainment center using your Wi-Fi network and infrared emitters (the Revue will have both a hard-wired Ethernet NIC and an integrated IEEE 802.11n adapter).

Logitech is also putting its Vid video chat software inside the Revue. Plug in a webcam and you’ll be able to make video calls to another Revue box or to any PC with a webcam. Throw in a smartphone or tablet with the right app, and Intel’s “poker night” concept becomes real.

Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President of Nokia, recently announced plans to leave the company within six months, but don't expect him to do it quietly. Speaking to the Financial Times, Vanjoki revealed why Nokia won't switch from Symbian to Android.

Doing so, he said, is no different than the Finnish boys who "pee in their pants" to stay warm during the cold winter months. That bears repeating. Smartphone makers who use Android are doing the equivalent of pissing their pants to stay warm.

We'll have to dig through the archives, but Anssi Vanjoki may have just topped Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, who once promised to open a can of whoop ass on the competition, as the most outspoken, uncensored executive in the tech industry.

We could offer some more commentary, but quite frankly, trying to follow a quote like that is like pissing in the wind.

Users looking for a no-contract 3G data plan with low limits and high prices (we didn't get that backwards, folks) have reason to jump for joy, and reach for their wallets. AT&T's revamped Dataconnect Pass service offers a variety of data and payment options, and we'll let you be judge if any of them sound appealing. Here's how it breaks down:

• Day Pass, 100MB, $15
• Week Pass, 300MB, $30
• Month Pass, 1GB, $50

"Demand for high-functioning, lightweight, mobile computing devices remains strong among consumers and small business customers who want access to the Internet while on the go," said David Haight, VP of product development, AT&T emerging devices, in a statement. "By offering the DataConnect Pass Plans, customers receive added value, choice, and flexibility to decide when to consume data within the parameters of their personal budget, for a more consumer-centric and convenient experience."

We're with Haight on the "choice" and "flexibilty" part, but we have a hard time identifying any of these plans as "valued" oriented. To use the DataConnect Pass service, subscribers will need a laptop or netbook with an aircard/connect card for AT&T's wirless network.

Are we being too hard on AT&T, or do you think the new data plans are a little weak?

It's getting easier to carry your digital luggage from point A to point B thanks to ever increasing capacities in portable storage. Take for example Seagate's new 1.5TB FreeAgent GoFlex ultra-portable drive. According to Seagage, this ranks as the planet's first 1.5TB portable external drive.

"Today’s announcement is a 'triple-crown' of consumer technology—packaging record breaking capacity, blazingly fast USB 3.0 connectivity and the bonus of movie entertainment—making the 1.5TB GoFlex ultra-portable drive an unprecedented and innovative solution," said Darcy Clarkson, vice president of Global Retail Sales and Marketing for Seagate. "Bringing this solution to market on the heels of our 3TB GoFlex Desk drive and the Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive is proof of Seagate’s continuing technology leadership and tradition of setting storage industry milestones."

In addition to USB 3.0 connectivity, the FreeAgent GoFlex also features 192-bit triple DES encryption, automatic continuous backup, and Seagate's Dashboard management tool for managing backup schedules, viewing drive stats, and more.

The new drive is available now for $250.

Good news, Twitter junkies, it's now safe to return to your normal 140-character microblogging about whatever's on your mind without fear of falling prey to a nasty XSS attack that was running rampant yesterday.

"The exploit is fully patched," Twitter announced in a status update early this morning.

Prior to the patch, a flaw existed that allowed messages to pop-up and third-party websites to open just by moving your cursor over a link. The mischievous mouseover bug was widely being exploited, redirecting visitors of hacked accounts to hardcore porn sites. It was also being used to "auto-tweet" more mouseover links, affecting thousands of Twitter users before Twitter plugged the gaping security hole.

Image Credit: Sophos

AMD this week announced a couple of new processors, fleshing out both its Phenom II X6 and Phenom II X2 lines for the desktop.

First up is the Phenom II X6 1075T. Built on a 45nm manufacturing process, this one slips right in under AMD's flagship 1090T and above the entry-level 1055T. It comes clocked at 3GHz with a Turbo Core speed of 3.5GHz, otherwise it shares the same traits as other X6 parts, including HyperTransport 3.0, 3MB L2 cache, 6MB shared L3 cache, and a 125W TDP. Look for the 1075T to sell for less than $250.

AMD also outed its dual-core Phenom II X2 560 Black Edition chip. It comes with an unlocked multiplier and runs at 3.3GHz. Other features include 1MB total L2 cache, 6MB shared L3 cache, HyperTransport 3.0 support, and a maximum TDP of 80W. This one is set to ship for just over $100.

Microsoft this week updated one of its Security Advisory (2416728) detailing a vulnerability in ASP.NET that could allow hackers to sniff through your data.

"Microsoft is investigating a new public report of a vulnerability in ASP.NET. An attacker who exploited this vulnerability could view data, such as the View State, which was encrypted by the target server, or read data from files on the target server, such as web.config," the Security Advisory reads. "This would allow the attacker to tamper with the contents of the data. By sending back the altered contents to an affected server, the attacker could observe the error codes returned by the server. Microsoft is aware of limited, active attacks at this time."

The security hole affects all versions of the .NET Framework and several versions of Windows, including Windows 7, Vista, XP, Server 2003, Server 2008, and Server 2008 R2.

As of right now, there really isn't anything you can do, at least until Microsoft completes its investigation. When it does, the Redmond outfit said it may provide an out-of-cycle security update.

Habey is not really a household name and the only time it invites some attention is whenever it announces a new HTPC or mini PC. This time Habey has defied obscurity to announce the launch of  a palm-sized mini PC that is based on Intel's new Atom E6xx Tunnel Creek CPU (-/0.6GHz/1GHz/1.3GHz). The BIS-6622 is the latest in a series of embedded fanless PCs, and one of the earliest products utilizing the Atom E600 SoC (system on a chip) that was announced last week at IDF 2010.

This lilliputian product features 2GB of RAM, 1x 1.8” internal HDD/SSD bay with SATA II support, and an integrated graphics engine clocked at 400MHz. The graphics engine supports DirectX 9 graphics and OpenGL ES2.0. It is capable of accelerating video in various formats up to 1080i resolution at 30fps. The display interfaces supported by the BIS-622 include HDMI, VGA, HDMI via SDVO, and VGA via LVDS. It also wears a couple of USB slot on the front, one on the back, and a mini PCI Express slot. The full spec sheet is available here. There is still no word on pricing and availability.

Image Credit: Habey

We're just going to throw something out there. Kudo Tsunoda, creator of Microsoft's motion controlled Kinect, is whacked out his mind. That's really the only conclusion we can come up with when someone makes outrageous claims, like essentially declaring that the first person shooter genre on the PC is dead.

Yet that's exactly what he did in a recent interview with Game Informer. Here's Tsunoda's take on the evolution of first person shooters.

"If you think about the way that first shooters evolved, they started on the PC," Tsunoda explains. "People for the longest time tried to port shooters from the PC onto the console. And people said the same things that they are saying now about Kinect -- 'It's never going to responsive enough to do this,' or 'You're never going to get a fun first person shooter on the console, it's only made for a keyboard and mouse and that is the way it is supposed to be played.' And as long as everyone was just porting the existing shooters over to the console, they weren't as fun as the PC ones. Of course, they were built for the PC.

"Halo did an awesome job of building a first-person shooter exclusively for the console, and now hardly anyone plays first person shooters on the PC anymore. It's all about the console."

We bolded the quirky comment not only for emphasis, but to make sure we really read what we thought we just read. We get it, Halo enjoys a rabid following, and despite being gimped with a controller, first person shooters are a viable genre on the console. But to declare that hardly anyone on the PC is playing them anymore is just dumb.

AMD, apparently eager to get its Bulldozer core out the door, might be shipping its next generation architecture sooner than we thought. Mike Magee over at TechEye.net says he recently met up with John Fruehe, who said that AMD plans to start sampling Bulldozer cores in the fourth quarter of this year.

Fruehe went on to say that Bulldozer, which has been built from the ground up, will continue to use the same sockets and the same power envelopes to alleviate potential headaches and ease the process of migrating to the newer platforms.

AMD's Bulldozer architecture marks the first major redesign of the company's processor line since the launch of the original Athlon 64 chips way back in 2003. Every CPU since then has basically been a tweaked version rather than a brand new architecture. Bulldozer is different.

"There will be enhancements to our memory controllers, things we cannot talk about just yet, that we expect to help reduce the time to access memory, both locally and remotely," Fruehe said in a blog post.

If you run a 64-bit version of Linux, take note, your system may be vulnerable to attack. Red Hat recently announced an exploit that would allow a local, unprivileged user to escalate their privileges, and while there are published workarounds, they may not completely plug up the security hole.

"The published workarounds that we've seen, including the workaround recommended by Red Hat, can themselves be worked around by an attack to still exploit the system," Jeff Arnold, CEO of Ksplice, said in a blog post. "For now, to be responsible and avoid helping attackers, we don't want to provide those technical details publicly; we've contacted Red Hat and other vendors with the details and we'll cover them in a future blog post, in a few weeks."

In the mean time, Ksplice -- which isn't a free service, but does offer a free trial -- can be used to receive advance notice of upcoming patches.

"Although it might seem self-serving, I do know of one sure way to fix this vulnerability right away on running production systems, and it doesn’t even require you to reboot: you can (for free) download Ksplice Uptrack and fully update any of the distributions that we support (We support RHEL, CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, OpenVZ, and CloudLinux," Arnold explains. "For high profile updates like this one, Ksplice optionally makes available an update for your distribution before your distribution officially releases a new kernel). We provide a free 30-day trial of Ksplice Uptrack on our website, and you can use this free trial to protect your systems, even if you cannot arrange to reboot anytime soon. It’s the best that we can do to help in this situation, and I hope that it’s useful to you."

Keep in mind that if an attacker has already comprised one of your Linux rigs, updating the system won't do a lick of good by itself since the exploit installs a backdoor. You can use this test tool to find out for sure.

Image Credit: penondelaguila.com.ar

Screw the coffee and other caffeinated beverages, give us our Wi-Fi! That's the general theme behind a new study conducted by the Wi-Fi Alliance, which pinged 1,000 young adults (or millennials) ages 17 to 29 in the U.S., and another 400 in China just for good measure.

Three-fourths of the respondents living in the U.S. said that going a week without Wi-Fi would put them in a worse mood than going a week without coffee or tea. That number jumps to 87 percent in China. And over half of respondents (58 percent in the U.S., 56 percent in China) pegged Wi-Fi as being a necessity versus just helpful.

Some other interesting poll results:

• Two-thirds of respondents in the U.S. reported they spend more time on Wi-Fi than watching television
• 64 percent of U.S. respondents claimed it would be impossible to maintain relationships with many friends without Wi-Fi, while 44 percent said the same about family
• 84 percent of respondents in the U.S. said they are more likely to carry a handheld digital device than a watch

"These polling results are a strong reflection of both the social and technological orientation of young adults around the world today," commented Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. "Interactive digital devices are fundamental to how millennials spend their time and connect with family and friends, and have become more important than older, more passive forms of entertainment like television.

How important is Wi-Fi in your daily routine? Do you rank Wi-Fi access as a higher want or need than coffee or TV?