Daily News Brief: Phenom Bug Discovered

Phenom Bug Foils Performance

Another hole's been uncovered in AMD's already leaky ship, this time in the form of a performance hampering bug. All quad-core revisions and clockspeeds are affected by the erratum bug, including the recently unveiled Phenom 9500 and 9600. The bug involves the L3 cache and can cause systems to hang, and though AMD's working on a fix, it could degrade performance by as much as 10%. Tech Report has the full scoop.

Da Vinci Gets Digital Treatment

After centuries of deteriorations and touchups, Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine lacked much of the luster it once held. But coming to the rescue is French inventor and engineer Pascal Cotte, who has uncovered nuances in hues and contours with a multi-spectral camera that burrows through layers. He claims the 240-megapixel scans are able to reveal what the painting likely looked like in its original form back over 500 years ago.

Vista SP1 to Shiver Pirates' Timbers!

Microsoft is gearing up to release Vista's first Service Pack, and along with the performance and security enhancements, Microsoft will also bundle in a few counter-piracy measures. No longer will users be able to extend the 30 day activation grace period up to a full year, nor will the OEM BIOS exploit continue to work.

France Frowns at EBay

Last week we reported Tiffany and Co. planned to sue eBay on the basis of contributory infringement over the amount of fake items being sold as genuine, and similar complaints are now coming from France. France's regulatory authority, Council of Sales, contends that eBay's French site should be held to the same standards as France's auction houses, which require a special permit. EBay counters that they're just an intermediary a not a traditional auction house, further citing the legal action as "totally unjust."

Apple Gives Away Free iPods to Wildfire Victims

Many lives were turned topsy-turvy in the recent wildfires that blazed through southern California, and while Apple can't bring their homes back, they can bring a smile to over 100 students in a California school district this holiday season. They're doing it by giving away free iPods to students who lost their home, and they're doing it quietly, refusing to comment on the story. Very classy Apple, very classy.

Daily News Brief: Phenom Bug Discovered

Phenom Bug Foils Performance

Another hole's been uncovered in AMD's already leaky ship, this time in the form of a performance hampering bug. All quad-core revisions and clockspeeds are affected by the erratum bug, including the recently unveiled Phenom 9500 and 9600. The bug involves the L3 cache and can cause systems to hang, and though AMD's working on a fix, it could degrade performance by as much as 10%. Tech Report has the full scoop.

Da Vinci Gets Digital Treatment

After centuries of deteriorations and touchups, Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine lacked much of the luster it once held. But coming to the rescue is French inventor and engineer Pascal Cotte, who has uncovered nuances in hues and contours with a multi-spectral camera that burrows through layers. He claims the 240-megapixel scans are able to reveal what the painting likely looked like in its original form back over 500 years ago.

Vista SP1 to Shiver Pirates' Timbers!

Microsoft is gearing up to release Vista's first Service Pack, and along with the performance and security enhancements, Microsoft will also bundle in a few counter-piracy measures. No longer will users be able to extend the 30 day activation grace period up to a full year, nor will the OEM BIOS exploit continue to work.

France Frowns at EBay

Last week we reported Tiffany and Co. planned to sue eBay on the basis of contributory infringement over the amount of fake items being sold as genuine, and similar complaints are now coming from France. France's regulatory authority, Council of Sales, contends that eBay's French site should be held to the same standards as France's auction houses, which require a special permit. EBay counters that they're just an intermediary a not a traditional auction house, further citing the legal action as "totally unjust."

Apple Gives Away Free iPods to Wildfire Victims

Many lives were turned topsy-turvy in the recent wildfires that blazed through southern California, and while Apple can't bring their homes back, they can bring a smile to over 100 students in a California school district this holiday season. They're doing it by giving away free iPods to students who lost their home, and they're doing it quietly, refusing to comment on the story. Very classy Apple, very classy.

iTunes Accounts for 28 Percent of U.S. Music Sales, Amazon Catches up to Walmart

According to new numbers from the NPD Group, Apple's iTunes extended its lead over Walmart and now dominates the online music scene with a 70 percent share of the digital music market, while sales accounted for 28 percent of all music purchased during the first quarter of 2010.

Walmart sits it in a distant second place, a position it now shares with Amazon, which was able to gain 4 percentage points to tie Walmart with 12 percent of the market.

"Amazon's growth reflects a stronger position in both the CD and digital formats," Russ Crupnick, vice president of industry analysis for the NPD Group, said in a statement. "This dual-pronged approach of selling both digital music and CDs helps attract the most valuable and committed music buyer who prefers access to both formats."

Walmart held the top spot in physical CD sales with 17 percent of the market, though CD sales in general are declining. Digital music, meanwhile, made up 40 percent of the market in the first quarter of 2010, up significantly from 5 percent during the same quarter one year ago.

Google Closes AdMob Deal

It's taken over six months, but Google today announced they have completed their acquisition of mobile advertiser AdMob. The deal was in doubt because of a Federal Trade Commission investigation. Just last week, the FTC finally said the deal could go through citing Apple's recently announced iAd platform. It's clear Google is looking to put AdMob to work on all mobile platforms. "We believe that mobile advertising can play a significant role in every single marketing campaign. We’re passionate about the unlimited possibilities in this space,” said Google's Susan Wojcicki.

Apple was in discussions with AdMob when Google swooped in and paid $750 million for the mobile advertising powerhouse. It originally looked like Google might end up with egg on its face as the FTC started making noises about antitrust concerns. Now all is well in the Google-verse, and you can keep enjoying those annoying ads on your phone. Do you think the FTC gave the deal enough scrutiny?

New iPhone Vulnerability Exposes Data to Linux

A new report from security expert Bernard Marienfeldt illustrates a fairly big security hole in the way the iPhone secures user data. When plugged into a Windows or OSX box, and iPhone will only display the DCIM pictures folder. But on the newest Lucid Lynx build of Ubuntu Linux, users can get full read access to the phone. If you think setting a security PIN will help, you're wrong - it doesn't seem to do a thing.

This doesn't require the phone to be specially configured, or compromised in any way. Part of the problem is that in order to make syncing easier, the iPhone does not need any software switches to be flipped in order to exchange data with a computer. Another problem that allows this bug is the iPHone's lack of data encryption.

Marienfeldt says that full write access may be easy to gain as well with further investigation. If this is accomplished, an unauthorized party could access phone functions like calls and text messaging. The real lesson here is that maybe enterprise users should think twice about deploying iPhones. Does this change to calculation for anyone out there?

VIA Predicts Stiff Competition for iPad with $100 Android Tablets

If you're in the market for a low-cost tablet, hang tight, because several affordable models are on the way, says VIA's Richard Brown, vice president of marketing at VIA. In an interview with Bloomberg, Brown said he expects about five different models ranging in price from $100 to $150 to be available in the second half of 2010, all of which will sport a VIA processor inside.

All five models will be built around Google's open-source Android platform, which will play a big role in keeping the overall cost to a minimum.

"The tablet market has been legitimized by Apple," Brown said. "Android is bringing a lot of diversity to the market. There are different sizes and different looks and feels."

Taking down Apple will be no easy task, however, as the Cupertino company has already sold over a million iPads during their first month on sale and just recently launched to an international market. How the upcoming VIA-powered tablets compare remains to be seen, though Brown did say VIA is offering an ARM-based processor the for the new tablets.

Feds May Investigate Apple for iTunes Antitrust Violations

Apple's recent success is continuing to attract attention from federal antitrust authorities. Sources familiar with the matter are saying the justice Department is starting a preliminary inquiry into anti-competitive practices in Apple's iTunes music store. The investigation will reportedly focus on Apple's ability to influence marketing decisions in the recording industry.

The event that may have precipitated this preliminary action occurred in March, when Billboard Magazine claimed Apple was pressuring music labels to stop taking part in Amazon's promotional deals. Apple was allegedly threatening to withdraw marketing support from labels that worked with Amazon. Another contributing factor is that Apple actually hold more of the music sales market than most people realize. Of all sales (digital and physical), Apple controls 28% of them. In just digital downloads, Apple has a 70% market share.

With this, and the recent investigation of Apple's new iPhone developer agreement, it's clear federal authorities are watching the Cupertino company more closely than ever. Do you think Apple's behavior is ant-competitive?

Apple Faces Patent Suit Over iTunes Store

Apple is known in the tech industry for being a bit of a patent bully, but it turns out what goes around really does come around. This week a number of infringement cases were filed in a Texas federal court which allege that iTunes, Safari, and even OSX infringe on a number of patents held by a company named Sharing Sound. The most interesting of the suits filed was against the iTunes store, which as far as we can tell, insinuates that Apple should not be allowed to sell music through the iTunes interface. The patent being contested would prevent Apple from using any type of online store environment which allows them to provide song previews, a shopping cart, or even an application to play any purchased content. The absence of these features would make iTunes decidedly less useful than it already is, so I imagine Apple is taking this one rather seriously.

Most people wouldn't recognize Sharing Sound on its own, but codefendants include Rhapsody, Napster, Brilliant Digital Entertainment, and Microsoft. Apple is the big player named in the suit, but similar actions were filed against Amazon, Netflix, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, and even GameStop. It is somewhat unclear why Sharing Sound would wait so long to test out the validity of its patent holding, but were pretty sure a lawyer was carefully consulted at each step. A verdict in their favor could radically alter the online music distribution landscape, but is also the key reason why it is likely to die off. The better question here is not if Sharing Sound will be able to lock out the big players in the online music industry, but rather why the patent office would grant such a broad and ridiculous patent at all.

IDC Predicts 46 Million Tablet Shipments by 2014

Tablet shipments will reach 7 million units by the end of the year and exceed 46 million in 2014, representing a sixfold increase, market research firm IDC reported on Thursday.

Apple's iPad will be the driving force in pushing tablets to the masses, but so too will tablets becoming differentiated from PCs and smartphones, said Suasan Kevorkian, program director at IDC. According to Kevorkian, apps, content, and services designed for tablets will increase the divide between these devices.

IDC's numbers might even be a bit conservative. Apple has already sold over a million iPads, and that was just in the first 28 days, and also before the international launch. In addition, several other players are taking aim at the tablet market, including Hewlett-Packard, Asus, Lenovo, and others, all with different screen sizes and OSes (Android, webOS, and Windows).

Apple Officially Axes "Get a Mac" Campaign

Looking through some of the past reader comments, we're well aware that many of you would rather stick bamboo under your fingernails than read about anything related to Apple, but before you put yourself through all that, give this one a chance. You know those 'Get a Mac' commercials that get your blood boiling? Well, you'll never have to watch a new one again.

As Justin Long said was going to happen, Apple has officially canned the long-running ads featuring him and John Hodgman (as the PC guy) squaring off against one another in what seemed like a new skit every week at one point. Not only that, but it appears Apple even pulled the gallery of QuickTime ads from its website.

In its place (and here's where you'll want to stop reading) is a page explaining "Why You'll Love a Mac." If you're curious but just can't get yourself to click the link, Apple's reasons include "Better Hardware," "Better Software," "Better OS," "Better Support," and "It's Compatible."

Now, where we'd put that bamboo?

Rumblings at Amazon About Tablet-esque Features for the Kindle

PIQOO | www.piqoo.blogspot.com

The initial reaction to the iPad has been mixed. But the mixed reaction hasn't necessarily soothed any nerves among its potential competitors. The fractured response means that they will have to wait a bit longer to take stock of the challenge. From the looks of it, Amazon is not awaiting the public's final word on the iPad to post its reply. After all, the iPad is supposed to be Kindle's sternest test till date.

A few days after Amazon was reported to have acquired touch screen company Touchco, the New York Times has unearthed at least 50 job listings on Amazon’s Lab126 career board that all seem to be pointing towards a Kindle equipped with a color screen, multitouch and Wi-Fi. The “Hardware Display Manager,” according to one of the job postings, must have "significant exposure to high volume manufacturing environments; you will know the LCD business and key players in the market."

iPhone and Android Market Share on the Rise

PIQOO | www.piqoo.blogspot.com

New statistics from comScore show that Apple and Google are both gaining ground in the battle for smartphone market share in the United States. Perhaps, as Google indicated when introducing the Nexus One, the iPhone and Android platforms are really next-generation "superphones" and the comparison with "normal" smartphones is unfair.

RIM, maker of all things BlackBerry, still has a solid grip on first place, carrying just under 42 percent of the market for the fourth quarter of 2009. However, RIM did decline from Q3, as did Microsoft, and Palm.

Apple gobbled up 1.2 percent of the other platforms' losses, inching above 25 percent market share for smartphones in the United States and solidly in second place for the foreseeable future. If the rate of RIM's losses and Apple's gains continue at the pace seen this past quarter, the iPhone would pass the BlackBerry as the dominant smartphone by this time in 2012.

Google's smartphone market share more than doubled during the fourth quarter of 2009. Of course, it started at only 2.5 percent of the overall market and doubled to just over 5 percent, still in last place just under a percent below Palm.

Like its Web browser sibling Chrome, the Android statistics are a little less impressive when viewed through that lens. However, again assuming gains and losses consistent with this past quarter, at the rate Android grew it would actually pass BlackBerry and jump into second place by mid-2012, and be in a position to challenge Apple for first place by 2013. Not too shabby for the new kid on the block.

One interesting aspect of the comScore report, though, is the gap between smartphones, and mobile phones in general. While smartphones like the iPhone and the Droid get all of the attention, and media headlines make it seem as if smartphones are the only devices being developed, Apple doesn't even make the list for overall mobile phone market share, and first place smartphone platform RIM drags in at last place for mobile phones in general at only seven percent.

Apple has certainly made strides to make the iPhone a more business-friendly platform, but it could be as popular in the board room as it is in the living room if Apple would do more to provide some sort of iPhone equivalent to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server to provide IT administrators with more control over the devices.

Some sort of alliance with Microsoft--providing native Microsoft apps for core business applications like Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook, would also radically change the smartphone landscape and help Apple leapfrog RIM in a fraction of the time it will take at the current pace.

Rumor: Core i7 Coming Soon to MacBook Pro?

PIQOO | www.piqoo.blogspot.com

Chris Brandrick

Rumors are hinting that an upgrade to Apple's MacBook Pro notebook line could be coming in the near future. The rumor comes courtesy of French site Nowhere Else, which claims that Apple will reveal updated Macbook Pro's featuring Intel's newest Core i7 chips. '

The timing of the rumor coincides with the opening of Macworld Expo, though Apple will be a no-show at this year's show.

Nowhere Else claims that an insider at Apple has confirmed the existence of the new laptops.

Meanwhile, a recent benchmark test spotted on the Geekbench Web site is fueling more speculation. The benchmark in question lists a system that identifies itself as a MacBookPro 6,1, a currently unused model identifier.

The Geekbench listing for the mysterious '6,1' system details that the it has a 2.66GHz Core i7 processor, and runs an unreleased build of Mas OS X (10.6.2 Build 10C3067; the current release is 10.6.2 build 10C540). Current MacBook Pros carry 5,x identifiers, and are built around the Core 2 Duo processor.

In past years, Apple has used Macworld Expo to launch a number of high-profile products, including iTunes, Safari, the Macbook Air, and the iPhone. But with no keynote planned and a media event having taken place only two weeks ago, any product announcement would likely be a quiet one.

The anonymous insider tip-off seems unlikely, and Nowhere else has a spotty track record when it comes to rumor accuracy, but other recent rumors, the mystery benchmark report, and the fact that it's been several months since the last MacBook Pro update, do swing things in the report's favor. In either case, watch this space.

[via T3]

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