Microsoft today announced the availability of Silverlight 2.

Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform, and cross-device plug-in to rival Adobe's Flash. It allows for developers to build interactive applications for the Web.

Microsoft also announced further support of open source communities by funding advanced Silverlight development capabilities with the Eclipse Foundation’s integrated development environment (IDE) and by providing new controls to developers with the Silverlight Control Pack (SCP) under the Microsoft Permissive License.

“We launched Silverlight just over a year ago, and already one in four consumers worldwide has access to a computer with Silverlight already installed,” said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division at Microsoft.

Silverlight 2 features include:

• Support for Mac, Windows and Linux in Firefox, Safari and Windows Internet Explorer
• Improved server scalability and expanded advertiser support
• Advanced content protection
• Deep zoom, for zooming and navigation of ultrahigh resolution imagery
• Advanced skinning and templating support

Silverlight 2 will be available to download tomorrow at http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight

View: Microsoft Silverlight

The Court of Appeal has refused to accept the UK Intellectual Property Office's rejection of a patent for a piece of software in a move which experts say will open the door for more software patents in the UK. Symbian has won the right to patent a piece of software which makes other software run more quickly. The Court of Appeal rejected the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO)'s objections to the application.

The software in question was granted a patent by the European Patent Office (EPO), but the UK-IPO rejected an application to make that patent active in the UK. The High Court had previously backed Symbian's case, and the Court of Appeal has reaffirmed that decision. UK law has said that an invention that consists solely of software is not eligible for a patent, but what exactly this means has long been a contentious issue. Software patents are more commonly awarded by the EPO and are very common in the US.

View: The full story @ out-law.com

Those rumors that went on about last week of Wal Mart keeping their DRM servers appear to be true. In an email sent out to Wal Mart Music store customers, Wal Mart stated that they will be keeping the DRM servers online for the time being, Customer Support will also be available to help customers with DRM tracks.

"Based on feedback from our customers, we have decided to maintain our digital rights management (DRM) servers for the present time." Wal Mart said. "What this means to you is that our existing service continues and there is no action required on your part."

View: The full story @ The Portal Network

By this time next week, Mozilla will have unveiled the alpha release of its mobile Firefox browser, codenamed Fennec. But not too many people will be able to make use of it initially: the code will only be available for Nokia's N810 Internet Tablet. The alpha code is aimed at Mozilla community members, specifically to give the innovative touch user interface and the feature set a grueling workout, says Jay Sullivan, Mozilla vice president of mobile.

A release for Windows mobile is in the works, to be released "in the next few months," according to Sullivan. One possible interim option is a version to run on Windows PCs, in effect acting as an emulator.

View: The full story @ PCWorld

Apple iPhone, move over. At least, that's the hope of Google and Research in Motion as they ready the first serious competitors to the iPhone, in the "mobile 2.0" market that Apple invented.

Later this month, the first Google Android OS-based phone, HTC's G1, will come on the market through the carrier T-Mobile. And in November, RIM's first BlackBerry that supports real Web pages is scheduled to debut. While there have been many pathetic iPhone imitations to date, these two devices look to be the real deal, with hardware, software, and OS capabilities able to compete with Apple's carefully constructed, elegant platform.

View: The full story @ InfoWorld

In addition to the Eee PC and Eee Box, and previously announced all-in-one PC, Eee Top (previously known as Eee Monitor) and Eee TV, Asustek is also planning to add a motherboard line under the Eee family during first-quarter 2009, according to industry sources. The Eee Top will come in two versions, 16-inch and 19-inch, with pricing staring from US$450, noted the sources.

View: The full story @ DigiTimes

Google's Gmail service suffers from security flaws that make it trivial for attackers to create authentic-looking spoof pages that steal users' login credentials, a security expert has demonstrated. Google Calendar and other sensitive Google services are susceptible to similar tampering.

A proof-of-concept (PoC) attack, published by Adrian Pastor of the GNUCitizen ethical hacking collective, exploits a weakness in the google.com domain that allows him to inject third-party content into Google pages. The result is this page, which allowed him (at time of writing, anyway) to display a fraudulent Gmail login page that displayed mail.google.com in the browser's address bar.

Link: The Register

Opera Software, which is battling hard for market share with Google's Chrome, is promising users a faster surfing experience, an improved email client, and better browser-synchronisation capabilities, with the latest version of its browser launched this week. bThe Norwegian developer says that Opera 9.6 contains an expanded Opera Link. This means that users can more easily use their personal browsing identities on any computer. Essentially, it synchronizes a user's browser history, bookmarks and personal bar.

Opera has also tweaked its built-in email client, Opera Mail, with a feature designed for users stuck with a slow broadband connection. The email client's "low-bandwidth mode" allows users to retrieve mails faster when bandwidth is limited. Opera Mail also contains a new feature that will help users swamped with email overload, as the email client now has two new ways to prioritize emails, so that users can easily (with a single click apparently), track important threads, and ignore less important ones.

View: The full story @ PCWorld

WiFi is no longer secure enough to protect wireless data.

Global Secure Systems has said that a Russian's firm's use of the latest NVidia graphics cards to accelerate WiFi ‘password recovery' times by up to an astonishing 10,000 per cent proves that WiFi's WPA and WPA2 encryption systems are no longer enough to protect wireless data.

David Hobson, managing director of GSS, claimed that companies can no longer view standards-based WiFi transmission as sufficiently secure against eavesdropping to be used with impunity. He also said that the use of VPNs is arguably now mandatory for companies wanting to comply with the Data Protection Act.

He said: “This breakthrough in brute force decryption of WiFi signals by Elcomsoft confirms our observations that firms can no longer rely on standards-based security to protect their data. As a result, we now advise clients using WiFi in their offices to move on up to a VPN encryption system as well.

Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox browser, has released technology that helps websites detect the physical location of computers.

The system will allow users, for instance, to find local restaurants when they travel to a new town.

The Geode project is an experimental add-on ahead of a full blown launch of geolocation technology in version 3.1 of Firefox.

Users will have control over how much location information they give.

It uses technology from a firm called Skyhook which works out a computer's location from nearby wireless networks.

Its so-called Loki system can determine location within seconds with an accuracy of about 10 to 20 metres.

Perfect secrecy has come a step closer with the launch of the world's first computer network protected by unbreakable quantum encryption at a scientific conference in Vienna.

The network connects six locations across Vienna and in the nearby town of St Poelten, using 200 km of standard commercial fibre optic cables.

Quantum cryptography is completely different from the kinds of security schemes used on computer networks today.

These are typically based on complex mathematical procedures which are extremely hard for outsiders to crack, but not impossible given sufficient computing resources or time.

But quantum systems use the laws of quantum theory, which have been shown to be inherently unbreakable.

View: BBC News

Acer recently introduced the Aspire X1200 small form factor system, one of their latest desktop additions to the ever expanding Aspire line. Acer describes the X1200 as a stylish, space saving and low-cost option for an average business computer or home theater PC.

Currently shipping in three different packages - the first which we'll be taking a look at today - consists of an AMD Athlon X2 4850e processor operating at 2.5GHz, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, Nvidia GeForce 8200 graphics, a DVD burner and Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit for about $470.

Measuring only 10.6 x 4.0 x 14.4 inches, Acer has managed to pack a lot of computer into a very small package, which includes a 14-in-1 card reader, eSATA and HDMI ports and full 5.1-channel audio support.

View: Acer Aspire X1200 SFF system review @ TechSpot

Nvidia Corp. recently released an improved version of its high-end graphics processing unit (GPU) in an attempt to offer a product that would be indisputably better compared to an offer from the arch-rival ATI, graphics product group of Advanced Micro Devices. While the new core does have advantages over the previous one, many leading-edge manufacturers of graphics cards have decided to stick with the old one for a while.

The world’s most influential supplier of discrete graphics chips recently released an improved version of its GeForce GTX 260 graphics card that features 216 stream processing units, a substantial increase compared to the GeForce GTX 260 with 192 stream processors available earlier. The attempt was made in order to stop invasion of ATI Radeon 4870 graphics cards into the higher-end market. Nvidia has even maintained the price of the model 260 at the same level as less powerful model 260: $299 a card. But the attempt was not successful, it seems: many of the largest suppliers of Nvidia GeForce-based graphics cards, including, but not limited to, Asustek Computer, Gainward, MicroStar International as well as Leadtek Research, still do not sell graphics cards powered by the so-called GeForce GTX 260-216.

View: The full story @ Xbit Labs

A US judge has ruled that a lawsuit against Apple and AT&T can go ahead, despite Apple's request to have the suit dismissed. The $1.2m suit alleges that Apple and AT&T knowingly sabotaged unlocked iPhone handsets with the release of the iPhone 1.1.1 software update. The suit claims that the companies violated US trade and copyright laws which had allowed users to alter their phones. The plaintiffs are suing both companies for violating federal antitrust laws.

View: The full story @ vnunet

Microsoft sure doesn't seem too worried about clickjacking. Should it be? Should you be? With all the recent buzz about clickjacking, a blog post is long overdue. So this afternoon I contacted Microsoft's PR agency with the simplest softball question—and some opportunity to promote Internet Explorer 8 security. My, but did I get an unexpected response.

My question: "Is there anything new in IE 8 that helps thwart or even prevents clickjacking? If so, can you put me on the phone with somebody to discuss the topic?" Instead, I got a general statement attributed to Bill Sisk, Microsoft's security response communications manager: "Microsoft is investigating new public claims of a possible vulnerability in Internet browsers and is in dialogue with the researcher. We're currently unaware of any attacks trying to use the claimed vulnerability or of customer impact."

View: The full story @ MS-Watch