For this month’s “Patch Tuesday” (September 9th) Microsoft is planning to release 4 critical updates. Being rated “critical” means that the flaws allow remote code execution and is the highest rating Microsoft gives.

The first 2 patch fixes vulnerabilities in Windows Media Player and Encoder.

The third patch covers windows, Internet Explorer, Net. Framework, Office, SQL Server and Visual Studio

The fourth and final patch covers vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office.

September is a quieter month for Microsoft. In contrast August saw 11 patches being issued.

Intel Corp. has decided to postpone the release of its central processing units (CPUs) with built-in graphics core to 2010 because of the "customer feedback", according to a slide from a roadmap of the chipmaker published by a web-site. “Intel remains committed to delivering stable, high quality, industry leading platforms on a predictable cadence. Based on 2008 client platform learnings and customer feedback, we have realigned our features and schedules for 2009 mainstream Nehalem chips,” a statement published on a slide that resembles a slide from Intel’s roadmap, reads. The slide was revealed by HKEPC web-site.

Originally planned to be released in 2009, code-named Auburndale processor for mobile computers and Havendale chip for desktop PCs (both based on Nehalem micro-architecture) are now scheduled to be launched in early 2010, based on the information from the slide. The delay is hardly critical for Intel in terms of revenue, but since those chips greatly simplify the company’s production process, it is strange that Intel decided to delay such products.

View: The full story @ Xbit-Labs

The flash memory market is abuzz as Korean news sources, along with Reuters and Bloomberg, are reporting that Samsung Electronics is thinking about buying SanDisk. A Samsung spokespersn, James Chung, said: "We are considering various opportunities regarding SanDisk but nothing has been decided.''

Korea-based Samsung is the world's largest NAND Flash memory maker and it pays KRW400bn ($351m) each year in royalties to SanDisk. The Asus Eee PC and the Apple iPhone, for example, use Samsung flash chips. SanDisk owns Flash memory patents and makes Flash-based MP3 players, memory cards and solid-state drives (SSDs). It posted poor results at the end of July, with an unexpected Q2 loss of $68m compared to a $28m profit in the year-ago quarter.

View: The full story @ The Reg

Computer-maker Dell is attempting to off-load its computer manufacturing plants around the world, The Wall Street Journal reported in its Friday edition. The company has approached contract manufacturers over the last few months offering to sell the plants, the newspaper reported quoting "people familiar with the matter."

Contract manufacturers are companies that specialize in making electronics products to-order and are a vital part of the world's electronics industry. A large percentage of the computer, networking and consumer electronics goods on sale from famous brand-names are made by such companies, many of which are based in Taiwan or China.

View: The full story @ PCWorld

Vista, thy name is bloat! The latest Windows packs a lot of code -- more than any version of Windows ever -- and some of it is just plain unnecessary. All of that excess code has a way of slowing down an operating system. You can regain some PC performance by removing unneeded features.

InfoWorld have identified a dozen Vista features that you can turn off right now. Some are shiny baubles that slow down graphics performance, while others are optional utilities that hog memory when they shouldn't. A few can actually be quite useful, though they play a major role in bogging down your PC.

View: The full story @ InfoWorld

Controversial Silicon Valley advertising startup NebuAd drops its plan to sell deep packet inspection technology to ISPs after Congress and public interest groups slam the privacy implications of deep packet inspection. NebuAd suffered through a summer of losing customers and congressional hearing before bailing on the plan that promised ISPs additional revenue sources through DPI.

The year began promisingly enough for NebuAd, a Silicon Valley advertising startup promising a new source of revenue for ISPs through the use of deep packet inspection. DPI allows ISPs to track the behavior of Internet users without their consent in order to more accurately target advertising. Charter Communications, the nation's fourth-largest broadband provider, signed up for the service, as did several other ISPs.

View: The full story @ eWeek

AMD is planning to launch two low-power desktop CPUs – Athlon 2650e and Athlon X2 3250e – under its UVC (Ultra-Value Client) product line targeting OEMs in November, according to sources at motherboard makers.

The Athlon 2650e will have a core frequency of 1.6GHz and TDP f 15W, while the Athlon X2 3250e will have a core frequency of 1.5GHz and TDP of 22W. The two CPUs will be fabbed on a 65nm process and will only be provided to OEM customers (initially), mainly for use in 2-3 liter desktop PCs.

View: The full story @ DigiTimes

Comcast filed a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission Thursday after the federal agency determined to impose penalties on the cable giant for unlawfully blocking user Web traffic. "We filed this appeal in order to protect our legal rights and to challenge the basis on which the Commission found that Comcast violated federal policy in the absence of pre-existing legally enforceable standards or rules," said David Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast, in a statement. "We are compelled to appeal because we strongly believe that, in this particular case, the Commission's action was legally inappropriate and its findings were not justified by the record."

Comcast's lawsuit followed in response to an FCC 3-2 vote last month to sanction Comcast for what it deemed were arbitrary restrictions against Web users who share video, music and other media, which violated regulations regarding its open Internet policies. The FCC's "net neutrality" laws, which were established by the federal agency in August 2005, require that all Internet traffic be treated equally and establish consumer rights to freely access the Web.

View: The full story @ CRN

Sony is recalling 440,000 Vaio laptop computers worldwide because of wiring faults that could cause overheating.

The recall concerns 19 Vaio models in the TZ series manufactured between May 2007 and July 2008 - but does not include models sold in the UK.

Sony said wires have been put in the wrong position near the hinge, while a flaw in the circuit board that controls the screen also may cause overheating.

The company said that a number of people had been burnt by the fault.

According to the company 373,000 of the Vaio laptops were sold worldwide in some 48 countries, with 67,000 sold in Japan.

Sony said that anyone who believed their machine was part of the recall should contact the firm to organise an inspection and rework of the wiring where needed.

View: BBC News

As we mentioned earlier, Google's Chrome browser, though much hailed for its speed, does have its fair share of rust stains, including a EULA which originally gave Google complete control over all content submitted through the browser. In this case, slightly worrying would be an understatement.

Fortunately, the search engine has been quick to rectify this issue, attributing the whole issue to accidental copy and paste. Under Section 11 of Google's Universal Terms of Service, Google retains a license to transmit or display content through its services, as per US copyright law. However, the section in Chrome was not updated. Mike Yang, Senior Product Counsel at Google, writes: "[Our] license is limited to providing the service. In Gmail, for example, the terms specifically disclaim our ownership right to Gmail content. So for Google Chrome, only the first sentence of Section 11 should have applied. We're sorry we overlooked this, but we've fixed it now..."

The updated EULA now reads: "You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services." And, yes, these terms are retroactive.

Thanks for the tip, CaptainSlow!

Lawyers for a Briton accused of hacking into secret military and Nasa computers are asking the home secretary to ensure he is not jailed in the US. Glasgow-born Gary McKinnon, 42, who last month lost his appeal against extradition, could face life in jail if convicted of accessing 97 computers. His lawyer Karen Todner said his human rights would be breached if he did not return to the UK after a trial.

The Home Office said his case was "receiving consideration". A spokesman said: "Further representations have been received today from solicitors against Mr. McKinnon's surrender to the USA which are receiving consideration." Mr. McKinnon, from Wood Green, north London, was said to be "distraught" after losing his extradition appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. He has admitted breaking into the computers, but says he sought information on UFOs and only got in because of lax security.

View: Full Story at the BBC

Panasonic Corporation of North America has shown off two new Blu-ray players, the DMP-BD35 and DMP-BD55, at this year's CEDIA Convention. While both devices offer improvements in video and audio with enhancements such as "True-to-Life Colors" and HD Audio Decoders (Dolby® TrueHD, Dolby® Digital Plus and DTSTM-HD Master Audio Essential), one of the most anticipated features, for the general consumer, has to be the included BD-Live support.

With a BD-Live capable player and a Blu-ray movie which also supports the feature, viewers can use their Blu-ray player to connect to the internet to download additional subtitles, images related to the movie, and other digital content. In addition to such bonus features, users will also be able to take part in interactive games, including multiplayer games, which are linked to bonus content related to the movie.

Samsung Electronics America has announced that, beginning October 1, 2008, consumers wishing to recycle their electronics will be able to drop off their Samsung-branded devices at collection sites across the country, including permanent facilities located in all 50 states. There will be no charge applied to any Samsung-branded devices that are brought in. If a consumer wishes to recycle a non-Samsung product at these centers, however, a small fee will be charged, though it will go directly to the recycling process and will not be for the purpose of profit.

To add to this new environmentally friendly approach, Samsung eliminated the middle man and contracted out recycling partners directly. Not only does this help eliminate costs, it also allows Samsung to use partners that follow a set of requirements, including the requirement that none of these partners incinerate, landfill, or export toxic waste to developing countries. Samsung's contracts also allows them to monitor all collected devices to assure that they are being recycled properly.

HP has been given an award for its efforts to make its notebook systems more environmentally friendly. The company has been named as the winner of Wal-Mart's Home Entertainment Design Challenge for its work in producing greener notebooks. HP won the award for its Pavilion DV6929 model, a consumer notebook geared towards multimedia and entertainment applications.

The company is currently offering the model in 1,700 Wal-Mart and 598 Sam's Club stores in the US. The cornerstone of HP's project was packaging. In addition to standard energy saving features, the packaging required for the notebook was almost completely eliminated. Instead, HP shipped the notebook inside an HP Protect bag which is constructed entirely from recyclable materials. As a result, the company was able to cut packaging by 97 per$ cent.

View: The full story @ vnunet

Is AMD about to announce that it's going to reinvent itself as a fabless semiconductor company? That's certainly what one analyst thinks John Lau, an analyst with investment hous Jefferies & Co. this week told his clients that moles have told him AMD has such a strategy in mind and might announce the plan as early as mid-September, the Austin American Statesman writes.

Lau's forecast is that AMD will say it's seeking a buyer or buyers for its Fab 36 and Fab 38 facilities in Dresden, Germany. In the meantime, the fabs will be spun off as a separate company. The spin-off will be free to produce chips for the other companies, not just AMD, and to seek investment on the open market.

View: The full story @ The Reg