InfoWorld - Security technologies delivered via the SaaS (software-as-a-service) business model may still be in their nascent stage, but some early adopters are already piecing together multiple offerings to outsource a significant portion of their IT systems defense infrastructure.
AP - Foxy Brown was hauled off to jail Wednesday after a judge revoked her probation. The 27-year-old rapper was accused of violating the terms of her release after she was arrested earlier this month on charges she smacked her neighbor with her cell phone. Authorities said Brown also skipped her anger management classes and traveled out of the city without permission.
AFP - Internet giant Google unveiled a new feature to its popular Google Earth application on Wednesday, allowing users to view the night sky above and zoom in on far-away constellations and planets.
AP - Playboy is heading back to school to boost the bottom line. Riding a wave of renewed popularity among consumers around the globe, Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire is set to launch a sexy social networking site dedicated solely to college students, its latest online venture as it tries to reinvigorate its stagnant finances.
AP - A music industry group said small Internet radio broadcasters could pay discounted royalty rates for streaming music online through 2010, a move that could keep the struggling businesses alive.
AP - Musical games have long had their niche in the video-game industry. Fans of “Dance Dance Revolution” or “Pump It Up” like to show off their footwork; “SingStar” and “Karaoke Revolution” attract “American Idol” wannabes. Such games can be fun at parties and they’ve always had a devoted audience, but they never really attracted the masses.
TechWeb - Bill Gates and Jeff Raikes will help introduce Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Office Communicator 2007, and Microsoft Live Meeting.
Reuters - Britain's BT Group Plc and
Japan's Sony Corp (6758.T) have unveiled new software that will
allow millions of gamers using portable PlayStations to make
video and voice calls and send instant messaging.
InfoWorld - The Plone Foundation launched a new version of its open-source content management software on Tuesday, emphasizing improvements in ease of use and the addition of automatic versioning throughout the Plone 3.0 product.
NewsFactor - Apple has chosen its carriers for the iPhone launch in Europe, according to a report published Tuesday in the Financial Times. The report, citing unnamed sources, said the chosen partners are T-Mobile Deutschland for Germany, O2 in the UK, and Orange SA for France.
Reuters - Sony Corp. (6758.T) plans to
sell a satellite navigation accessory from February 2008 that
turns its handheld PSP games console into a navigation device,
the company announced at the Leipzig Games Convention on
Wednesday.
NewsFactor - ComScore has introduced a new set of Web metrics that expands on the research firm's traditional view of the online search universe by tracking "all forms of search" that are being monetized currently or could be monetized in the future.
AP - Blog service providers in China are “encouraged” to register users with their real names and contact information, according to a new government document that tones down an earlier proposal banning anonymous online blogging.
AP - Nearly five years after rolling onto the market, the Roomba vacuum cleaner has undergone a ground-up redesign that has endowed the otherwise-brainy robot with the smarts to overcome rug tassels and electrical cords.
AP - Responding to customer complaints, Google Inc. has decided to offer full refunds to users who had bought video through a service it is shutting down.