Microsoft Corp. will unlock the digital-distribution capabilities of its next-generation console, Xbox 360, to Hollywood studios beginning November 22.

Xbox 360 gamers in the U.S., totaling at least 3 million, will be able to purchase TV shows and download them to their gaming hard drive as well as rent and watch movies on their consoles.

The first wave of content will include dozens of high-definition and standard-definition offerings from such partners as Warner Bros. (“Batman Forever,” “V for Vendetta,” “The Nine”), Paramount Pictures (“Nacho Libre,” “Jackass: The Movie”), MTV Networks (“South Park,” “SpongeBob SquarePants”), CBS (“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Survivor”) and Turner Broadcasting (“Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” “Robot Chicken”).

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News source: Washington Post

Following the lead of rivals Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp., top Internet search engine Google Inc. on Thursday is expected to release a downloadable version of its Gmail email feature for cell phones.

The free software, to be available only in the U.S., is compatible with more than 300 cell phones, and can be downloaded by pointing a phone’s Web browser to gmail.com/app or by text messaging the software to a phone from a personal computer.

Unlike its wired Web version, cell phone Gmail does not come accompanied by ads.
“We want to provide relevance and targeted ads, but with a cell phone’s small screen and all that, it’s tricky,” said Tony Hsieh, a product manager with Google’s mobile team.

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News source: MarketWatch.com

Electronic Arts Inc. is taking the wraps off of a major overhaul to its download service for computer games, signaling the largest video game publisher’s commitment to the growing trend of online distribution.

The Redwood City-based company said it plans to officially announce the new portal, EA Link, on Friday, though the retooled service was running Wednesday.

It replaces an earlier service called EA Downloader, the company’s admittedly clunky year-old effort at offering downloadable content for its PC games.

With EA Link users can download materials faster, search for products in a more organized fashion, launch purchased games directly, and have their payment information, including a new online payment option through PayPal, linked to their accounts.

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News source: NewsVine.com

Take a look at how the Windows Vista packaging will open up to reveal the media inside. Also, it is our first peak at what the Windows Vista discs will actually look like.

I like what they’ve done with the disc. The design on the disc is unique and fresh. Microsoft has adopted pretty much the same looking holographic CD/DVD’s since Windows 2000 and its nice to see it be given a fresh new look – which seems to be a reoccurring theme with the Windows Vista packaging in general.

View: Vista Packaging and Disc
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News source: MSTech Today

The Windows Vista journey is about to reach the end of the beginning, with the official launch date of November 30 announced for the simultaneous launch of Office 2007 and the business version of Windows Vista.

A Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed that the planned release dates for Vista and Office are indeed November 30 after all, fulfilling Microsoft’s promise of delivering Vista in 2006.

That said, the general consumer versions of Vista are still planned for a January (30th?) 2007 release. With the rumoured date of January 30 said to be on the verge of confirmation over the next few days.

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News source: iTWire

In celebration of Halloween and trick-or-treaters everywhere, I’ve put together a list of the top 13 online destinations, search engines and services I’ve found over the past week which specialize in the October holiday.

Top 13 Halloween Sites, Searches and Destinations:

1. Yahoo’s Halloween 2.0 : Yahoo was the first of the major search engines to switch over to a Halloween logo a day early, on the 30th (for mischief night?) and has set up a special Halloween section of Yahoo with scary Podcasts, top scary movies, Halloween photo uploads from Flickr, and Yahoo Games especially for the witching hour.

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News source: Search Engine Journal

Internet Explorer 7 is designed to make browsing safer. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the new security features, including Active X opt-in, the Phishing Filter, cross-domain security, enhanced privacy protection, and an international character alert.

Some sensationalistic reports of a security flaw immediately followed Internet Explorer 7’s final release, but the vulnerability turned out to be in Outlook Express rather than IE. In fact, Microsoft has put a great deal of effort into making IE 7 more secure. Here are some of the new IE 7 security features and what they can do for you.

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News source: TechRepublic

Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP offers great new ways to store and enjoy all your music, video, pictures, and recorded TV. Play it, view it, and sync it to a portable device for enjoying on the go or even share with devices around your home—all from one place.

Note: Windows Media Player 11 is designed to work with all versions of Windows XP Service Pack 2, including Windows XP Home Edition N and Windows XP Professional N.

Download: Windows Media Player 11 (x86)
View: Windows Media Homepage

The Lavasoft Support Forums have been deluged with daily cries of help from victims of the “Smitfraud” desktop hijackers that are using fake codec to infect their prey.

Watch out for the Zlob Trojan that poses as a codec needed to view a video, then installs a fake virus and urges its victims to download a rogue anti-spyware program to remove it. Lavasoft has also confirmed that this malware takes advantage of unpatched systems using exploits on web pages. Visit Microsoft Update to ensure that ALL of your critical Windows security pages are updated.

Other victims have been infected by a fake e-card greeting, or even a spoofed e-mail that claims to be Windows Update (Microsoft never sends updates via e-mail). Still more unassuming victims received an e-mail asking them to open a link to see the message (these can be fake e-mails, intended only to infect), or even a link from your ‘buddy’ in instant messages – but don’t trust it if you aren’t expecting it. Even your buddy could be infected without his/her knowledge and the virus on their computer is sending you the link with one purpose, and one purpose only – to infect you!

A few of the fake codecs out there include:
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News source: Lavasoft News

Want to use the extra features within Office? Be prepared to verify that your copy of the productivity suite is genuine. While the so-called Office Genuine Advantage has been around since April, Microsoft did not make it mandatory until Friday. Starting today, using Office Online templates would require the validation, and the ability to download updates would also require verification beginning in January.

The move signals a tougher stance from Microsoft, which recently has begun to crack down on casual piracy of its products by customers. Those who have acquired pirated software without their knowledge, but agree to assist Microsoft in identifying where they obtained it from, would qualify for a legitimate copy of the software. Those who do not agree to help would have to pay the full fee to obtain new software.

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News source: BetaNews.com