Mobile Content Bits: Whrrl Events; iPhone Goes To Canada; Madonna Live; Nokia Music

-- Pelago Adds Events to Whrrl: Pelago, which has a social networking site called Whrrl that provides restaurant information and reviews, said it is adding news about local events. Whrrl will now allow users to see what, when, and where events are happening, in addition to their friends' opinions, interests and attendance plans. Users can find local events by searching by name, date, venue, geography, or by looking at lists of events their friends are attending.

-- iPhone Goes North: Apple's (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone is expected to cross into Canda later this year, launching with Rogers Communications, Reuters reports. The move isn't a surprise given that Rogers is the country's largest carrier, and only GSM provider. There's no more details now on what the business model will be in Canada, and whether it will follow more closely with what we are seeing with AT&T (NYSE: T) in the U.S., or in Europe, where Apple is being forced to be more open.

-- Madonna Loves Mobile: Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) said today they will deliver the first ever live mobile simulcast, choosing Madonna's show at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City where she will debut four new songs from her CD called "Hard Candy." In the U.S. tomorrow the songs will be broadcast live to Verizon Wireless's V CAST customers and to Vodafone customers in several countries. The mobile broadcast is expected to begin at 10 p.m. EST via Verizon Wireless V CAST Performances and 3 a.m. GMT on May 1 on Vodafone Live. The arrangement is only the latest between Madonna and Verizon, and among several things she's doing in mobile.

-- Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Music In Singapore: Nokia said today the latest country it is launching its Nokia Music Store is in Singapore at www.music.nokia.com.sg. The Nokia Music Store is now available in the UK, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, France.

Form : http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Technorati : cell phone

CinemaNow Offers Movie Orders through Cell Phones

Digital entertainment provider CinemaNow announced Tuesday that it would allow

U.S.

consumers to order movies through their cell phones.

The service will allow users watch movie trailers on their cell phones and order full-length movies that will be delivered electronically to their PC or other devices. Orders can be made immediately, when users find out about a new release while they are with their friends.

"It definitely makes discovery a little more social when you can talk about the movie and do the purchase while you're there," said David Cook, CinemaNow's chief operating officer, according to Reuters.

The service is time-saving, as it starts downloading a movie to a user's web-connected computer after the order is made, so that the download finishes before the user gets home. For the download to be possible, the computer needs to have the CinemaNow Media Manager installed and running.

The new technology is powered by uVuMobile Inc, which is specialized in mobile video.

CinemaNow also plans to approach wireless service providers to discuss about future agreements. With more than 150 phone models supporting video streaming, the company hopes its newly launched service could be followed by another that allows video downloads directly to mobile phones by 2009.

The company charges about $15.00 for online movie purchases and $2.00 for rentals.

Form : http://www.efluxmedia.com

Technorati : CinemaNow, cell phones, movies

Newfound glitch delays Windows XP update

Microsoft on Tuesday said it is delaying the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3 because of a newly uncovered glitch.

The software maker said there is a "compatibility issue" between the XP service pack and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, a retail chain management program for small and midsize businesses.
Microsoft finalized the code for Windows XP SP3 last week and had planned to make it broadly available starting Tuesday.
"In order to make sure customers have the best possible experience, we have decided to delay releasing Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center," the company said in a statement.
The glitch also exists between Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Windows Vista Service Pack 1, though that product has already been broadly released. Microsoft started pushing out Vista SP1 last week via Automatic Updates.
"To help protect our customers, we plan to put filtering in place shortly to prevent Windows Update from offering both service packs to systems running Microsoft Dynamics RMS," Microsoft said. "Once filtering is in place, we expect to release Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update and Download Center."
Microsoft advised those running Microsoft Dynamics RMS to not install either service pack. The company said a "fix is currently in testing and will be available as soon as that process is complete."

Vista SP1 auto updates also halted

Microsoft confirmed Tuesday that it has stopped automatic updates of Vista to Service Pack 1 in the wake of a newly discovered glitch.
The problem, which has also halted the availability of Windows XP Service Pack 3, prevents Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System from working with either operating system update.
"We are temporarily holding any additional automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1," Microsoft said in response to an inquiry from CNET News.com. The company said it will continue to make Vista SP1 available for manual download. Microsoft had just started pushing out the Vista service pack last week via automatic updates.
"While we are recommending that customers running Microsoft Dynamics RMS should not install SP1, there are many other customers who can benefit from installing Windows Vista SP1 immediately, so we are maintaining availability via (Windows Update)," Microsoft said. "We are delaying the release of Windows XP SP3 and holding any additional automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1 as a precaution and to help ensure that our customers have a great experience with Windows."
The company has not yet described the problem, beyond saying it is a "compatibility issue." I have also asked for data on how the problem was discovered, why it took until XP SP3 to find it, and how many users run Dynamics RMS.

Form : http://asia.cnet.com/

Microsoft Messenger 7 brings Bonjour support, corporate AV features

Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (BU) has announced the release of Messenger for Mac 7, its instant messaging client. Version 7 is a free download, available from the Mac BU's website.

Messenger 7 lets users communicate with buddies on the Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger services, but not those with .Mac accounts or those on the popular AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service. Messenger 7 adds a number of new features for personal users, including searching through contacts by name or e-mail address, the ability to assign nicknames to your friends, and support for OS X's Bonjour.

However, most of Messenger 7's improvements come in the realm of corporate communications. For those users in an organization running Exchange server and Microsoft Communicator, the biggest addition to the program is support for video and audio chats, including multi-party conference calls. Such functionality is not yet available for personal users, but the Mac BU is continuing to work with the Windows Live team to implement it.

In addition, corporate users can now find contacts via their organization's Global Address List (GAL) and display a personal status message, including a "Do Not Disturb" status. The program also features improved online status integration with Office Communicator 2007.

Messenger 7 requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later and a Windows Live ID for personal accounts, or a Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 account for corporate accounts.

Form : http://www.macworld.com/

New Microsoft law enforcement tool bypasses PC security

Microsoft revealed its development of a digital forensic analysis toolkit at a security conference yesterday as part of a wider discussion of how technology can be used to fight crime. The Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor, or COFEE for short, is a USB thumb drive that contains software capable of executing approximately 150 separate commands. Once plugged in, COFEE can be ordered to decrypt system passwords, display a history of internet activity, and search the system for evidence.

Details on precisely what the device can do have been kept vague, probably on purpose, but the Seattle Times reports that Microsoft has been distributing the devices to law enforcement agencies around the world since last June. Currently, about 2,000 people in 15 countries world-wide have access to the devices, which allow police to gather dig for data immediately onsite, thus avoiding the wait involved in offsite analysis COFEE also allows law enforcement to snapshot any data that might be lost when a system is shut down for seizure and transport.

The larger idea behind the development of COFEE is to make it harder for criminal elements to hide behind the anonymity of the Internet. The rapid growth of websites like MySpace, Twitter, and other social networking sites is not without consequences. Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith used the rapid urban population growth in the 19th century to illustrate how COFEE is supposed to work. As more packed cities led to an increase in urban crime, digital population growth today creates the same nooks and crannies for the seedier elements of a society. Microsoft's goal in partnering with various law enforcement agencies is to give police officers more effective tools for peering into such dark spaces; hopefully preventing predatorial attacks before they begin.

On a practical level, COFEE may also take some of the strain off over-burdened digital analysis labs. Many police departments in the US lack the equipment and training to do their own analyses onsite, which leaves them no choice but to ship equipment to the relative handful of groups capable of performing the task. COFEE doesn't take the place of a thorough system search, but it does give officers a chance to gather preliminary information on what is or isn't on the system and prioritize accordingly. For now, Microsoft is making COFEE available for free, but the company has not stated whether or not it intends to commercialize the product at some point in the future.

Form : http://arstechnica.com/

Microsoft Again Delays Windows XP SP3 Release

Tuesday was supposed to be the coming out party for Windows XP Service Pack 3, but alas, it was not to be. Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) delayed the Web release of the software after finding a compatibility issue.

In the last few days, Microsoft found a compatibility problem between Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, an electronic checkout system for small- and mid-sized retailers, and both Windows XP SP3 and Vista SP1.

Though that issue would affect a relatively small number of customers, and though many point-of-sale systems use Windows XP Embedded rather than the full version, the company has delayed releasing Windows XP SP3 at all via Windows Update or Microsoft Download Center until a filter is in place to prevent customers who have the Retail Management System from downloading the service pack. It's unclear how long it will take for Microsoft to institute a fix.

Though this delay will likely be short, it's the latest in a series of postponements to Windows XP SP3, which was delayed in early 2006 until 2007 and then again until this year.

According to a post on Microsoft's Windows XP SP3 forum by Chris Keroack, release manager for Windows serviceability, the delay is in place to "make sure customers have the best possible experience."

Though Windows XP SP3 isn't available for automatic download via Windows Update, the files remain available on the Windows Update servers for download for those willing to look. The update has already been released to manufacturers.

Windows XP SP3 is a roll-up of all of the updates to Windows XP since SP2 was released four years ago and includes a number of other new features. For example, network access protection -- which is included as part of Windows Vista -- can make sure systems are patched before they can access a network. Several of the other new features are also security-oriented.

Form : http://www.informationweek.com/

XP update delayed over glitch

Microsoft on Tuesday said it is delaying the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3 because of a newly uncovered glitch.

The software maker said there is a "compatibility issue" between the XP service pack and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, a retail chain management program for small and midsize businesses.

Microsoft finalized the code for Windows XP SP3 last week and had planned to make it broadly available starting Tuesday.

"In order to make sure customers have the best possible experience, we have decided to delay releasing Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center," the company said in a statement.

The glitch also exists between Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Windows Vista Service Pack 1, though that product has already been broadly released. Microsoft started pushing out Vista SP1 last week via Automatic Updates.

"To help protect our customers, we plan to put filtering in place shortly to prevent Windows Update from offering both service packs to systems running Microsoft Dynamics RMS," Microsoft said. "Once filtering is in place, we expect to release Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update and Download Center."

Microsoft advised those running Microsoft Dynamics RMS to not install either service pack. The company said a "fix is currently in testing and will be available as soon as that process is complete."

Form : http://www.news.com/