You Tube is Down

Yes, YouTube is down! I did not see anything like this for google before. I dont know the reason yet but this must be first downtime of the giant company google.

Slingbox TV-over-Internet device lands in Europe

An electronic gadget that promises to unshackle consumers from their TV sets became available in Europe for the first time on Tuesday, opening up new ways for users to watch television wherever they go.

The Slingbox plugs into a terrestrial, cable or satellite TV set-top box and then transmits the video over the Internet. Users can then tune in via a PC or a laptop. It is part of a new product category known as "placeshifting," similar to the "time-shifting" made popular by digital video recorders like Sky+ and
TiVo.

The Slingbox is available in Britain this week, ahead of a broader European launch later this year.

The device, which sells for 180 pounds ($338) could complicate the nascent efforts of broadcasters and mobile phone companies to sell TV downloads and other video services. Slingbox users in the United States can also use mobile phones to watch video, though that service is not yet available in Britain.

However, at least one mobile phone company sees the Slingbox not as a threat but as a possible opportunity to sell new services to subscribers.

An executive for U.S. mobile carrier Sprint Nextel told Reuters last week that his company is talking to Slingbox manufacturer Sling Media Inc and other companies about bulking up its multimedia capabilities.

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Gamespot: Apple Entering Gaming Market?

According to Gamespot, there have been hints at a possibility that Apple may enter the games market through its popular iTunes Online Store. Gamespot speculates that the company may be readying games that will be playable on your iPod and available through iTunes. Here's the full post:

Of all the products on the market, few engender as much fanatical loyalty as the iPod. Sony was clearly hoping for something similar when it introduced the sleek PlayStation Portable in March of last year, touting that it played games and video, while the iPod didn't.

Last October, Apple removed one of those advantages when it launched the fifth-generation video iPods. Since then, speculation has swirled that the Silicon Valley company is readying an iPod that could play things other than Brick and Parachute, two of the rudimentary games that come with the ubiquitous handhelds.

This week, GameSpot learned that there may be more to the Apple-game rumors than mere Mac-mad daydreams. A tech-sector recruiter contacted the GS NewsDesk with an interesting story of a prospective hire that got away. Recently, when the recruiter made an offer to a software engineer, the engineer turned the offer down--saying he was being "heavily recruited by Apple."

According to the engineer, an Apple hiring manager named Mike Lampell is heading up a group inside Apple's storied iTunes division. The group is specifically hiring for "C/C++ coders with a 'gaming background.'" The engineer says the project in question was described to him as "super secret," and Apple would not even tell him the exact nature of it until he had been hired and signed a non-disclosure agreement.

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Nike shoes talk to Apple's iPod in new system

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nike Inc. said on Tuesday that it is making running shoes that will be able to send data about the wearer's performance to an Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod using a new wireless system called Nike+iPod.

Shares of Nike rose over 2 percent as it capitalized on the popularity of the iPod line, which dominates portable digital music players. But one analyst said a relatively narrow section of Nike consumers would be interested in the running products.

Using a Nike+iPod Sports Kit, expected to retail for about $29, consumers will be able to access time, distance, pace and calories burned through the earphones of a nano version of the iPod via a sensor in the insole of special shoes that communicate with the digital music player.

Nike also launched a line of performance clothing, including jackets and shorts, that holds iPods and keeps wires untangled and out of sight.

"We share the same types of consumers," said Trevor Edwards, Nike's vice president of global brand management, who said more than half of nano users already use the device while running. "We know that these two brands work really well together."

A 2002 deal between Nike and the Netherlands' Philips Electronics NV that resulted in an mp3 player that tracked time and distance fizzled, Edwards said, because of differences in the two companies' target consumers.

SELLING MORE FOOTWEAR?

Analyst John Shanley of Susquehanna Financial Group said the Nike+iPod launch was innovative but would not appeal to the company's core base of teenage boys.


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New Trojan Targets Microsoft Word

Now Microsoft Word users need to be extra careful while downloading files, as hackers have already targeted Microsoft Word 2003 exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities with a new Trojan horse named "Trojan.Mdropper.H".

Symantec, the leading desktop security vendor, has issued an alert on its home page regarding the vulnerability, asking users to be extra careful while opening any Word document received either by email or any other means. According to Symantec, opening an email attachment which appears to be a Word document actually opens the latest Trojan horse virus program, giving hackers access to users' PCs. When the document is opened by users, it triggers the vulnerability.

According to Symantec the attack originated in Asia, and now it appears that the attacks are targeted at large organizations but there could be a change in strategy.

Johannes Ullrish, chief technical officer, SANS Internet Storm Center, said that the attackers behind the latest Trojan horse might be operating out of China or Taiwan. The researchers have found Chinese characters in the malicious Word document, and the servers associated with the attack have been traced back to these countries.
The seriousness of the attack has been compounded by Microsoft's declaration that the company might require over three weeks to fix the vulnerability.

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Sony Ericsson builds a better Walkman phone

Sony Ericsson has released two new cellphones with improved music functions: the W850, its first GSM/UMTS slider phone and the W710.
The W850 is claimed to feature a "unique combination" of a full horizontal mode camera and the latest Walkman player 2.0 which will position it against the expected Apple iPhone -a cellphone combined with the iPod music player.

According to Sony Ericsson, the Walkman player 2.0 simplifies navigation through music genres, play lists, individual songs or music albums and includes a TrackID feature powered by Gracenote Mobile MusicID.

This new service enables users to record a few seconds of a song and with one click send that clip to the Gracenote worldwide music database which will identify the track and relay the information back to the phone.

Jan Wäreby, corporate executive vice president, head of sales and marketing, Sony Ericsson, said: "The W850 allows users to identify and buy music in a new and spontaneous way – hearing tracks they like, identifying them with TrackID and downloading them to the phone."

Sony Ericsson also claims to have made the user interface more intuitive making it easy to search and play tracks as well as download them. "New graphics capabilities make the experience more visual and provide music metadata and album art. And the download service is integrated, so there's no need to come out of the music player and into the web browser to visit online music stores."

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