Microsoft-Yahoo: Antitrust Hurdles Loom

Don't expect the Microsoft-Yahoo search deal to sail through a regulatory review, says BusinessWeek. Sure, it's tempting to think Justice Dept. officials won't quibble much over a deal aimed at helping two struggling companies get a leg up against a market-leading competitor. That's essentially the line taken by executives at Microsoft and Yahoo! to explain why their 10-year pact shouldn't be held up by an antitrust review. But legal experts say the deal is no slam dunk-especially with a new team of regulators in Washington eager to flex their antitrust muscles. Some lawyers and former regulators say the deal may even be quashed, or at least be subjected to revisions, before getting a green light.

Businessweek Article

MSN Video to take on iPlayer and Hulu in UK

Microsoft is to launch a free full length video service in the UK to compete alongside the likes of the BBC iPlayer and Hulu - with MSN Video Player offering full series of the likes of The Young Ones and Peep Show. The company is keen to point out that this is a 'pilot' scheme which will be used to gauge the popularity of the service, but may look to extend the service onto other platforms - like the Xbox - if it proves a success, as well as into other countries.

Techradar Article

File sharers leak government secrets

Sensitive files including Secret Service safehouse locations, military rosters, and IRS tax returns can still be found on file-sharing networks, according to a report issued to a U.S. House of Representatives committee on Wednesday. In many cases, that's because federal government employees or contractors installed peer-to-peer software on their computers without paying attention to which documents would be shared.

ZDNet Article

DRM for news? Inside the AP's plan to "wrap" its content

The Associated Press last week rolled out its new plan to "apply protective format to news." The AP's news registry will "tag and track all AP content online to assure compliance with terms of use," and it will provide a "platform for protect, point, and pay." But how will this work?

Ars Technica Article

When the chips are down

For the past 40 years, the whole of modern electronics - not just computers, but games consoles, mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, personal video recorders and so on - has been driven by Moore's law: the observation in 1965 by Intel's co-founder Gordon Moore that manufacturers can put roughly twice as many transistors on a chip every two years. This has produced a stream of smaller, faster and cheaper chips, advancing at an exponential rate. But Moore's law could soon come to an end. And not because, as frequently predicted, we've run into insurmountable technical problems - but because chip factories cost too much to build.

Guardian Article

Trafalgar Square plinth becomes surprise web hit for Sky Arts

Sky Arts' live online coverage of Antony Gormley's One & Other project in London's Trafalgar Square has clocked up more than 400,000 unique visitors in the past three weeks - a huge number for an arts project. Since 6 July, when members of the public began spending an hour each on the square's fourth plinth, the One & Other website has attracted more than 658,000 visits. The site, which offers a round-the-clock live stream of proceedings, highlights of previous "plinthers" and information about those taking part, has racked up a total of 2.9m page views and 658,000 visits, with 407,000 unique visitors. One & Other has caught the public imagination, with 29,255 people applying for one of the 2,400 places on the plinth in the corner of the square. A mix of weird and wonderful individuals have taken part, including charity campaigners, town criers and even a stripper.

Guardian Article

Ofcom criticises broadband providers for advertising misleading 'up-to' speeds

Broadband customers are being sold super-fast connections that their providers are unable to achieve, according to research that shows internet users are struggling with speeds of less than half the rate they signed up to. The media and telecoms watchdog, Ofcom, examined the most popular broadband product advertised as offering speeds of "up to" 8 megabits per second and used by 57% of homes. The report, published today, says, on average, users are getting speeds of just 3.9Mb. That means a DVD-quality film would take more than two hours to download - longer than it takes to watch it - compared to just over an hour at the faster speed. Fewer than one in 10 households on an up to 8Mb service get over 6Mb and no one can ever receive the full speed because of the way the internet service providers (ISPs) run their networks, the report said.

Guardian Article

EU expands wireless spectrum

The European Commission on Monday ruled to open the 900mhz section of the spectrum for development as a possible mobile broadband network. The move could open up the development of next-generation wireless broadband services. The new spectrum access comes as part of a revamped law on mobile phone radio spectrum. Officials are seeking to update and modernize the GSM Directive of 1987, which set the parameters for use of the wireless spectrum by mobile phone carriers. By updating the law, EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said that the commission hopes to expand mobile broadband and spur new growth in the wireless sector.

V3.co.uk Article

ITV finds a buyer for Friends Reunited

ITV appears to have found a buyer for its dwindling social notworking site Friends Reunited, which has been up for sale since March. According to the Mail on Sunday, private equity firm Oakley Capital has offered £15 million for the website operation that ITV bought for £120 million in December 2005. Friends Reunited has some 19 million registered users but its growth has been flat for the last two years and the website has long since been eclipsed by the likes of Facebook, Myspace and Bebo.

Inquirer Article

Government advice urges tweeting

New government guidance has been published urging civil servants to use the micro-blogging site Twitter. Launched on the Cabinet Office website, the 20-page document is calling on departments to "tweet" on "issues of relevance or upcoming events". The website is already used by Downing Street, the Foreign Office and many individual MPs.

BBC Article

U.S. company hopes to make fuel from sunlight, CO2

U.S. start-up Joule Biotechnologies hopes to make commercial amounts of motor fuel by feeding engineered organisms high concentrations of carbon dioxide and sunlight, its top executive said. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, which launched on Monday, hopes to make up to 20,000 gallons per acre of fuel a year by late 2011 or early 2012 at prices competitive with $50 oil. It concentrates sunlight in a solar converter, directing it and carbon dioxide to engineered organisms to make fuel similar to ethanol.

Reuters Article

iPhone app offers achievements for life, booyah!

What is the point of doing anything if you don't get achievements? Really, if you don't get points for it and proof on a public database, does it even count as having done something? We spent like an hour mowing the lawn yesterday in three-digit temperatures, for example, and nobody even knew about it until we told you - just now. A developer called Booyah, started by three ex-Blizzard employees, is bringing the all-important "cheevos" to daily life activities, with a free iPhone app called Booyah Society. The "game," set to launch today, allows players to create a custom avatar and log activities in 108 different categories (like "Food & Dining," "Fitness," and more -- with achievements based on writing short notes about what you've done in each category), earning credits for each achievement logged. The achievements can be private or public, shared with a friends list, and streamed to Facebook or Twitter.

Joystiq Article