Tuesday, June 20

AOLTV is finally ready for prime time. The $250 set-top box combines your TV, AOL's access network and content, and a modified version of the Netscape web browser. The AOLTV box also has an email client, but its instant messaging ability may be its distinguishing feature. Microsoft's WebTV lacks instant message software, and AOL has 90% of the chat market with it AOL Instant Messenger and ICQ software. AOL users can use their existing accounts and screen names on AOLTV, another advantage over WebTV, but there is a high price for convenience: current users will have to pay an extra $14.95 per month on top of the $21.95 per month they already pay. The monthly fee for AOLTV service alone is $24.95.

PC Magazine has a First Look at Intel's AnyPoint wireless home network, a 600 Kilobit/sec. radio frequency system.

Elsewhere, PC Magazine reviews the state of the art in Internet telephony (AKA free long distance).

Sony plans to charge into the mobile phone market, taking advantage of its Memory Stick and Walkman technologies to combine communications and entertainment technologies. Sony's current share of the mobile phone market is only about 3 percent.

Computer security and privacy

The Stages worm is nearly as effective as the Love Bug in infecting Outlook users. Stages uses similar tactics: posing as legitimate email from a friend, executing code in an attachment, then forwarding itself to friends and associates in the Outlook address book. Microsoft has a patch for Outlook 98 and 2000 that will prevent infection and transmission.

AOL claims that few users were affected by Friday's security breach. Hackers emailed AOL staff members with a Trojan horse that allowed the hackers to view members' accounts.

Wired News investigation found that Exotrope's BAIR porn-blocking software is almost completely inaccurate. The software claims to be able to tell whether or not an image is pornographic, and has received outstanding ratings from other publications. What the other publications may not have realized is that BAIR doesn't really look at the image. It looks at the filename for explicit keywords, and also refers to a database of known pornographic sites and image files.

CNN looks at privacy laws in the US and Europe, and concludes that Europeans are assured more privacy than Americans.

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Friday, June 23

A federal appeals court has ruled that AT&T doesn't have to open its cable modem network to competing ISPs. At issue was the city of Seattle's attempt to enforce open cable access. The decision may have limited importance, because it only applies to the ninth circuit court, and because the courts only ruled that regulating the cable industry wasn't the domain of local government.

ZDNet's article on net access via cell phones is the best yet. If you don't know the difference between WML ad HDML, this is for you.

Microsoft unveiled its .Net integration strategy this week . The .Net platform (formerly called Next-Generation Windows Services) will be network-centric and can be used as a central storage and communications platform for PCs, PDAs, home appliances and electronics. Microsoft plans to re-tool its entire product line, from Windows and Office to MSN, to work with the .Net strategy.

APBNews, which laid off its 140-person staff last week, is back up and running with a minimal staff, at least until their cash runs out again.

Intel has entered the toaster market with the Intel Dot.Station, a simplified PC running a Linux-based operating system. Unlike WebTV and similar systems, the Dot.Station has a separate monitor capable of displaying full-sized web pages. Besides its Internet access features, it has an address book and note-taking software. Expected to sell for $500-700, Intel expects the system to be given to most users as part of an Internet access or online banking service.

The latest net appliance to to be hacked into a PC is the Tivo. Making closed appliances work with PC operating systems is a new challenge. Earlier hacked appliances include the $99 Netpliance and CompUSA's $49 WebSurfer.

Free ISPs: the good and the bad

Freelane is an Excite-branded free ISP that supports Macintosh as well as Windows. Good news: Freelane supports Macintosh, which most free ISPs do not. The bad news: the Mac software claims to work with Mac OS 8.0 and higher, but it apparently doesn't work with Mac OS 8.5 or 8.6.

AltaVista will no longer offer free access in the UK. The company says it research indicates that consumers would rather pay for high-quality service than be forced to view ads.

Ameritrade is offering free Internet access to its one million customers through a partnership with 1stUp.

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