Mediaset, the media empire founded by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, is seeking at least €500 million (US$779 million) in damages against Google's YouTube service for allegedly misusing video produced by Mediaset, an Associated Press report said.
In a lawsuit filed with Rome civil court, Mediaset said it had identified on YouTube at least 4,643 video clips of Mediaset-owned material that was available on June 10 alone after being posted "without obtaining rights," the report added...more
Three tech giants -- Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Yahoo -- said on Tuesday they are teaming up on a research project to help turn Web services into reliable, everyday utilities.
The companies are joining forces with academic researchers in Asia, Europe and the United States to create an experimental network that lets researchers test "cloud-computing" projects -- Web-wide services that can reach billions of users at once.
Their goal is to promote open collaboration among industry, academic and government researchers by removing financial and logistical barriers to working on hugely computer-intensive, Internet-wide projects.
Founding members of the consortium said they aim to create a level playing field for individual researchers and organizations of all sizes to conduct research on software, network management and the hardware needed to deliver Web-wide services as billions of computer and phone users come online...more
The Treo 800w is Palm's first new Treo smartphone in over a year. Unlike its predecessors that were broadly aimed at the general prosumer category, the Treo 800w is squarely targeted at the business professional. As such, the Treo 800w packs in an array of features for the mobile road warrior combined with the IT friendly Windows Mobile operating system.
The CDMA powered device premiers on Sprint in the US. It is available now with a $250 debut price after the usual service agreements and rebates....more
Are you interested in playing with the new iPhone 3G? If the rumors are correct, the new iPhone should hit our shores on 22 Aug. But you don’t need to wait till late Aug to play with it. Our parent company, BAK2u, just bought 2 sets of iPhone 3G from Hong Kong. They are now testing the new BAK2u Anti-thief software on it. BLOG2u will be organizing a informal session for our bloggers to play with the new iPhone 3G.
Date: 25 July 2008 (Friday)
Time: 7PM
This event is strictly for invited BLOG2u members only. Details: BLOG2u.SG
We are hiring both freelancer and part time programmers for a project. (Singapore only)
Drop us a mail custsvcATBAK2u.com. We will follow up with more details.
GadgetTrak was featured on King 5 News with "Get Jesse" where several theft scenarios were run for the recovery of stolen devices with GadgetTrak software installed.
We managed to purchase several units of the iPhone 3G in 16GB.
The OS remains unchanged compared to 8GB but the plastic finishing is 'White' instead of 'Black' which distinctively give it a very 'Apple' look.
When Florida-based Psystar, a small startup, announced that it was going to make Mac clones for dirt cheap, many rolled their eyes — they’d heard that line before. During Gil Amelio’s tenure at Apple, clones were briefly allowed, but when Steve Jobs returned to the company he carried out a campaign to purge the market of every last clone. So when Psystar announced a $399 Mac with strong specs comparable to a $949 Mac Mini desktop, many figured the end was near for the company. These thoughts were put on hold about whether Psystar would deliver, as some found a handful of evidence to indicate the company might be a farce. However, Psystar proved itself to be real, shipping units to reviewers. It also unveiled a small server lineup to compete with Apple’s niche offerings in the server market.
This morning we took a flight from Singapore to Macau for a few days of business trip on BAK2u anti-theft software. Upon arrival, we went for a quick lunch and took the 4.15pm ferry from Macau to Hong Kong island.
The trip was about an hour and with another 15 minutes we arrived in Mongkok station. A quick trip up the mall to meet the partner we saw at least 15 stores retailing the iPhone 3G 8GB & 16GB from S$1700 - 2000 each. The phones are all unlocked, not tied to any carriers nor are they sim-locked. No jailbreak is required at all.
The default language is Chinese but can be easily changed to English or any other built-in languages. All units are sealed and stacked one after another in most stores with many onlookers.
Very quickly we took one of them and tried out our anti-theft service and it works! Also tried out a M1 sim card and made a few calls. The phone is light and the finishing is much better as compared to the display unit during Apple WWDC 2008 in San Francisco. More details will be posted soon.
Photos are taken by another iPhone 3G (charging).
Note: BAK2u is not a reseller nor a distributor for Apple iPhone.
Verey installs into System Preferences and lets you customize the message that appears when it turns your stolen MacBook’s screen gray.
If your MacBook is stolen and you’ve had GadgetTrak Verey ($39.95, gadgettrak.com) installed, anyone attempting to connect to a new network on your ’book is prompted to enter a password within a specified time frame. If the user fails, Verey assumes the computer is stolen, and goes into panic mode. The MacBook’s iSight camera then begins to record video, and after a few minutes, the screen turns gray and displays a message suggesting that the user contact the owner of the computer, showing contact info and any other details you have entered in System Preferences.
Verey logs key technical information, like the computer’s IP address, a possible ISP, the names of nearby wireless networks, the MAC address, the computer’s serial number, and where the computer may be located, then emails it all to you, along with the video it recorded on the iSight. The latest version of Verey can also notify you via Twitter.
Recovering the computer afterward is up to you, but the data the app records should come in handy when filing a police report and helping authorities track down the thief. One caveat: If you frequent coffee shops with Wi-Fi, Verey could become more of a nuisance than a protection, especially if you make a habit of turning on your laptop, hopping on the wireless network, and walking away to grab a latte. As soon as the Wi-Fi connection kicks in, Verey will prompt you for your password, and if you’re not there to enter it in time, that could trigger the software’s panic mode...more
The new iPhone OS 2.0 software has been unlocked and jailbroken. It was released just hours ago and it has already been cracked by the iPhone Dev Team. The first one took a couple of months, but this one was actually unlocked before Apple released it to the public. And you have had the proof in front of you all morning.
If you were wondering how I was doing push email tests on iPhone OS 2.0 and Vodafone UK, this is the reason why. The code wizard commandos at the iPhone Dev Team have been working on this non-stop since the early days of beta testing. In fact, I had iPhone OS 2.0 running on my iPhone since last week. That was version 5A345, two below 5A347, but identical in functionality.
Now that the official iPhone OS 2.0 is out, the iPhone Dev Team will release their Pwnage tool for everyone to unlock and jailbreak their iPhones soon, although the specific date/time is not firm yet. It may not be as interesting as before—since most countries now have the iPhone and it will be impossible to buy without doing a contract first—but people looking to install unsigned applications and buy pay-as-you-go cards while traveling—instead of roaming—will find it very useful.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5023971/iphone-os-20-unlocked-yes
Apple Inc.’s iPhone has been the world’s most influential smart phone since its debut a year ago, widely hailed for its beauty and functionality. It was a true hand-held computer that raised the bar for all its competitors. But that first iPhone had two big drawbacks: It was expensive, and it couldn’t access the fastest cellular-phone networks.
On Friday, Apple is launching a second-generation iPhone, called the iPhone 3G, which addresses both of those problems, while retaining the look and feel of the first model’s hardware and software.
The base version of the new iPhone costs $199 — half the $399 price of its predecessor; the higher-capacity version is now $299, down from $499. Yet, this new iPhone is much, much faster at fetching data over cellphone networks because it uses a speedy cellular technology called 3G. And it now sports a GPS chip for better location sensing...more
Well, this sucks for Second Life. Google is launching a new service today called Lively, a browser based virtual world add-on that lets users create and customize avatars and worlds, interact with other users, and generally have a richer social interaction than is offered by GTalk today.
Worlds can be embedded int web pages, although only Windows users on IE or Firefox can view them, after an add-on download and installation. Mac and Linux users will have to wait for now.
Google has created a number of sample rooms that can be copied and altered, or users can start from scratch and build their own world. Furniture and other items can be added and moved around. Avatars can talk to each other, do things like dance and shake hands, and manipulate objects (in a demo, my avatar was able to blow up drums of toxic waste by double clicking on them. Users can also, of course, chat with each other - GTalk is the underlying chat engine..more
Plenty of people took advantage of the opportunity—so many in fact, that O2 is now saying that the “due to the huge demand for the iPhone 3G, it’s currently out of stock online.” We presume they haven’t run through their entire inventory—a note on the page instructs those interested to come back on July 10th for more information.
But what’s most interesting about this, from our stateside perspective, is the fact that the phones get delivered. That would seem to suggest that unlike those in the U.S., U.K. customers won’t need to hang around in stores to have their phones activated. AT&T has told us that online ordering will not even be available to those of us in the U.S—we’ll have to queue up at 8AM if we truly want to get our mitts on an iPhone 3G.
According to the fine print, taking delivery of the iPhone in the U.K. requires at least an 18-month contract, a credit check, and direct debit. However, the price of the phone is still subsidized in the U.K.—in fact, if you sign up for £45 or £75 plans, they’ll give you the iPhone 3G for free (with the cheaper £35 and £30 plans, it’ll cost £99). That suggests perhaps the phones being shipped must be pre-activated, though we won’t know for sure until Friday.
For those of you not quick enough on the click to snag yourself a delivered unit, it seems likely you’ll have to stake out an O2 store/Apple Store on Friday morning. Anybody manage to grab one while they were still available? Let us know.
Source: http://www.macworld.com
This year's national day theme is, "Celebrating the Singapore Spirit." Join the Qoo Roo Show and tell the world what Singapore means to you in a fun and creative way! Happy Birthday Singapore!!!
Share this Comiq with your friends by posting it to your Myspace, Facebook, Friendster and Blogs. Website
Comiqs is a service that lets our users create and share their comic-style stories with the community. We aim to provide our users with easy to use tools that transforms their most cherished and most memorable photographs into something fun. We also aim to build to build a fun and light-hearted community where people can hang out to have a laugh or two.
All you travelers coming home tomorrow from your wild and crazy Independence Day weekend vacations, don't be one of 12,000 people who lose their laptops at airports every week. That's right, that ain't no typo—12,000 dudes and dudettes somehow manage to misplace their portable computers every seven days. That's 600,000 machines a year, many containing sensitive information that companies need to account for.
According to a study by the Ponemon Institute and Dell, only 30 percent or so lost laptops are ever recovered. Los Angeles' LAX airport reported having the most lost laptops out of any other airport, with 1,200 going missing every week. The most likely place for you to lose your computer is at security checkpoints and departure gates—so no matter how many beers you downed this weekend, try to be a little more alert while going through those areas, yeah? [Newlaunches]
picture credit: Mike Reger
Source: http://gizmodo.com
Promotion: Anti-theft software for Windows
Dear all,
our partner Anti-theft-softwares.co.uk is running a
promotion of up to 50% discount for GadgetTrak for Windows!
Drop by and enjoy this limited period of offer.
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iSquint is an iPod video conversion app for Mac OS X.
It's many times faster than QuickTime Pro, works with almost all popular video formats, and it's infinitely free-er.
It's also really easy.
How-to?
Just drag in your file, and click Start.
You can also choose "TV" or "iPod" size, set your quality, or even go all-out by playing in the Advanced drawer.
On a 1GHz G4, iSquint can convert most video files to iPod-screen-sized videos in realtime.
Features:
- Fast MPEG-4 and H.264 conversion from almost every popular video format, from 3GP to XviD.
- QuickTime Pro and DivX codec not required.
- DivX/XviD AVIs, all forms of MPEG video, and many other formats QuickTime chokes on are supported.
- Batch Processing of multiple files. Save in-place, or to a different folder.
- Automatic aspect ratio detection. Anamorphic MPEG-2 and HDV detected too.
- Quality slider. Leave it as is to trust me, mess with it if you know better, or completely ignore it and play with the...
- Advanced settings drawer. Change every aspect of the conversion process.
- Just a few of the supported formats: .mov .mp4 .avi .dv .mpg .vob .3gp .asf .wmv .flv .m4v
Download
"While the regular price of an iPhone is $199 if you take a 2-year contract with AT&T, if you're willing to pay a lot more you can get one without a contract. An article in InfoWorld mentions that 'Freedom will come with a price — $599 for an 8GB device and $699 for a 16GB — but this will mark the first time consumers in the United States are able to buy an iPhone without being tied down to a two-year contract. The phone probably would still be locked for use only on AT&T's network, said Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg. But buyers could choose a pay-as-you-go plan for voice service.' The question still remains, does it make any sense to pay that much for a phone that is still locked to AT&T's network even if you aren't bound to a contract?"
Source: Slashdot
| iPhone Tariff Plan At Least 500MB of Data Included on all Plans |  |
More The price reduction appears to be the result of a $100 drop in the price of the 1.8-GHz Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Core 2 Duo processor and a $400 reduction in the price of the 64-GB solid-state drive. The deluxe model is now priced at $2,598. The price of the base model with a 1.6-GHz processor remains unchanged at $1,799. As early as last week, the faster notebook was priced at $3,098, according to a blurb found on Google (NSDQ: GOOG)'s search cache. The item was uncovered by the Apple-enthusiast site MacRumors.com. The processor upgrade was cut to $200 from $300 and the solid-state drive to $599 from $999. 
Apple has quietly dropped the price of its fastest MacBook Air, the company's thinnest and lightest notebook, by $500.
It's not unusual for computer makers to drop prices as component prices fall over time. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the Air in January at the Macworld conference in San Francisco.
The size and weight of the Air, which has a 13.3-inch display and full-size keyboard, placed the machine in a class of its own. The notebook weights 3 pounds and is three-quarters of an inch thick at the hinge, tapering to 0.16 of an inch at the opposite side..more
The ongoing Google/YouTube-Viacom litigation has now officially spilled over to users with a court order requiring Google to turn over massive amounts of user data to Viacom. If the data is actually released, the consequences could be far more serious than the 2006 AOL Search debacle.
Louis L. Stanton, the senior judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, issued the opinion and order, which is here (PDF).
That data includes every YouTube username, the associated IP address and the videos that user has watched on YouTube. Google will also be required to hand over copies of every video removed from Youtube for any reason (DMCA notices or user-initiated deletions). Stanton dismissed Google's argument that the order will violate user privacy, saying such privacy concerns are merely "speculative."...more
Optus is making the iPhone 3G affordable for everyone. We’re introducing a great new range of iPhone specific plans that are loaded with BONUS mobile data value for Mobile Internet Browsing to allow you to take advantage of the iPhone 3G.
To celebrate the launch of the iPhone, customers who connect their iPhone to an eligible Optus iPhone rate plan up until the end of August will get their first month of Mobile Internet Browsing for free*.
Source: http://www.optusiphone.com.au
We are looking for a freelancer for a local mini project for staff and students (international school) log in system. About 3 man days job.
Drop us a mail if you are interested.
salesATBAK2u.com
