Episode #0006: "Listen While Running"

Microsoft to Launch Xbox 360 in India

• Aims to hit market before Indian festival Diwali
• Festival on October 21
• Hopes to offer console, controller, game for 19,990 rupees ($439)
• Hopes to set up retail outlets in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad
• Declined to give sales forecasts for India
• No plans to set up gaming development center in India
• Would work with third-party game developers

Apple and Nike Produce “iShoes”

• Collaborating on products that bridge gaps between sports, electronics, and entertainment
• Nike+iPod Sport kit involves electronic sensor inserted under inner sole of shoe dubbed the Moire
• Sensor talks to small wireless receiver attached to Apple's iPod Nano
• Components work to give voice prompts that tell runners distance and pace
• iPod will keep track of duration, distance, and other information
• Data could be uploaded to Mac or PC and to Web site called Nikeplus.com
• Users can track progress, set goals, and share results
• Shoes will sell for about $100
• Sensor and attachment will go for about $29
• Expected to be available in next two months
• Nike dreamed up idea for product and contacted Apple to develop technology
• Companies will develop more products as part of ongoing partnership

Yahoo IM Worm Hijacks Browsers

• Dubbed "Yhoo32.explr" by FaceTime Communications and "Browaf" by Symantec
• Installed when users click on malicious link within an instant message
• Downloads and installs "Safety Browser"
• When used, user is taken to sites where PCs are infected with adware and spyware
• Also changes home page of IE to Safety Browser's site
• Safety Browser doesn't post Uninstall option in Add or Remove Programs
• Makes PC blare screeching music with bad guitar licks and drum solos
• Noise plays every time computer boots or Safety Browser launches
• Anti-virus vendors working on signatures to detect new worm
• FaceTime already updated customers' software

MIT $100 Laptop Makes Public Appearance

• First real-life images surfaced on Flickr
• Appears to have lost distinctive hand crank used to provide additional run time
• Basket handle remains
• Included are swiveling “ears” which protect USB, headphone and microphone ports
• Screen and keyboard appear a bit on the small side

Vista Consumer Launch Could Slip Further

• May slip further based on feedback from beta release program and product road maps of hardware vendors
• Discussing with NEC and other partners when they would like it
• Depends on next rollover that would be best time to ship
• Delayed to January to avoid putting product out during year-end sales season when change in PC lineups and OS’s could cause problems for vendors
• News comes days after Steve Ballmer said he didn’t think Symantec lawsuit regarding storage technology would bump operating system’s release

Dell to Open 2 Stores in Malls as Experiment

• Hybrid of Dell's direct model and conventional electronics store
• Products will be on display
• Customers will order a PC, television, or printer online from the store
• Products will be delivered to customer as if ordered from PC at home
• Sign that company is willing to experiment to reinvigorate slowing PC sales
• First in NorthPark Center in Dallas and other in Palisades Center in West Nyack, N.Y.
• Plans to display about 36 products in about 3,000 square feet of floor space
• Stores will have ordering stations, but will carry no inventory
• Company wouldn’t say how many people will be employed at store

Sony BMG Settles CD Case

• Granted final approval to settlement of several class-action lawsuits over use of copy-protection software on compact discs
• Settlement covers consumers who purchased CD's with software known as XCP or MediaMax
• Consumers able to exchange CD's with software for replacement or other compensation depending on type of software
• Will also provide consumers with patch to remove software from computers

Microsoft Launches First Shared Source Contest

• Several Xbox 360's and an HDTV on the line
• Hackers download 120-day trial versions of Windows CE and associated tools, and create 'cool, real-world' apps using designated shared source components
• Criteria includes originality, practicality, feature-extension of Shared Source components, project documentation, and short video of successful operation
• Prize consists of Xbox 360 console, 34-inch HDTV, games, and accessories
• Three other winners will be awarded Xbox 360 game consoles