Yahoo Inc. is seeking to conceal large portions of a shareholder lawsuit alleging the Internet company's board improperly thwarted Microsoft Corp.'s $47.5 billion takeover offer, raising shareholder questions over the motives for the secrecy.

In a letter sent Friday to the judge overseeing the case in Delaware, a lawyer for the shareholders argued Yahoo is trying "to whitewash embarrassing documents" because the company thinks the information will damage the board's efforts to repel a challenge by activist investor Carl Icahn.

Continued at source

With mapping technology evolving, eventually we knew problems were going to arise. Google's evolving "Street View" has been implemented in parts of the United States, and so far has received good press. By using this interactive form of Google Maps, it can help people navigate their way around an area before actually going there. Street View is comprised of actual photos pieced together that can provide virtual walkthroughs of streets, hotels, and more. However, the European Union's laws on privacy are hindering Google's plans of implementation.

Peter Hustinx, the European Union Data Protection Supervisor, commented that “making pictures everywhere is certainly going to create some problems.”

There are many of us who do not want pictures of our personal details available for the world to see, and Google is now in a predicament to develop automatic face detection and blurring as Google's Street View continues to grow. For Google's Street View to enter the European Union, more privacy safeguards have to come into place.

When technology becomes more "personal", there are always issues that arise. How do you feel about Google's growing use of Street View, and our privacy?

View: TechRadar

Via Technologies, a struggling designer of core-logic sets and x86 central processing units, will reportedly utilize new process technology and introduce processors with two cores by the end of next year. While this will boost competitive position of Via’s chips, the company will still be unable to offer alternative for processors by Advanced Micro Devices or Intel Corp. on the mainstream marker.

By the end of 2009 Via Technologies will adopt 45nm process technology and launch its first dual-core microprocessors, a news-story at DigiTimes web-site claims. The dual-core central processing units from Via will be based on Isaiah micro-architecture and are likely to be made by Fujitsu in Japan.

View: The full story @ Xbit-Labs

Asus is to fit its entire range of motherboards with the company's Express Gate version of Splashtop Linux. Splashtop boots from a Flash chip on the motherboard in a matter of seconds and is designed to run a small suite of applications including Firefox, Skype and instant messaging.

The Linux-based software will be extended immediately to the new P5Q Deluxe, P5Q-WS, P5Q3 Deluxe and P5Q-E series motherboards, and Asus has pledged to produce a further million Splashtop motherboards per month. Part of Splashtop's appeal is that it complements rather than replaces Windows, offering users the option to run a choice of operating systems.

View: The full story @ vnunet

Hewlett-Packard has told customers not to install Windows XP service pack three (SP3) on AMD-based desktops until Microsoft and HP cough fixes to the endless reboot snafu that has wreaked havoc on PCs. Microsoft confirmed yesterday that it was scurrying to patch the problem after hundreds of angry XP customers first grumbled about the sizeable ****-up last week.

"HP is working diligently with Microsoft on a software update and will be proactively distributing a patch this week through HP Update that will prevent this error from occurring," said the computer giant in a statement. "HP recommends consumers with AMD-based desktops wait until after HP's or Microsoft's updates have been deployed on their systems to install Service Pack 3."

View: The full story @ The Reg

A security researcher has published a demonstration exploit that takes advantage of the download mechanism in Apple's Safari browser to automatically download files onto a user's system. bNevertheless, Apple said it does not consider the issue a security vulnerability, according to Nitesh Dhanjani, a researcher who currently leads application security efforts at professional services company Ernst & Young.

Enterprises have begun paying closer attention to Safari in recent weeks because of a rise in the browser's market share on Windows. Safari is the built-in browser on Mac OS X. The problem arises "because the Safari browser cannot be configured to obtain the user's permission before it downloads a resource," Dhanjani said in a recent blog post.

View: The full story @ PCWorld

If you think that you always get what you pay for, the just-released beta of OpenOffice 3.0 should convince you otherwise. This free, open-source software suite provides most of what anyone could want in an office suite, including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program, database, drawing tools, and math equation editor. Although it doesn't include all of the high-end features and the slick user interface of Microsoft Office 2007 (for the PC) and Microsoft Office 2008 (for the Mac), it will handle just about any job you need done. If you're not working in an enterprise that has standardized on Microsoft Office, you should think twice before paying full freight for Office, and give serious consideration to this free alternative when the final version is released.

Keep in mind that OpenOffice 3.0 is in beta and should be used for evaluation purposes only. I tested the Windows version on a 1.83GHz Core Duo PC with 1 GB of memory, and found it to be somewhat buggy. For example, I was unable to create a document and save it without crashing -- I had to first create a document in another program, and then open it in OpenOffice; at that point it worked fine. These types of problems should come as no surprise; the final version isn't due until September, and this is a very early beta.

View: The full story @ InfoWorld

AMD and Nvidia are ready to cross blades again in June with their next generation GPU families – the ATI Radeon HD 4800 and GeForce GTX 200, according to sources at graphics card makers. AMD is planning to launch its ATI Radeon HD 4800 family in the middle of June.

The first model to launch will be the ATI Radeon HD 4850 with a price set around US$229. The company will follow with the 4870 in the late June, with the same specification as the 4850 but will add support for GDDR5 memory.

View: The full story @ DigiTimes

Microsoft has quietly removed a key backup feature from an upcoming update for Windows Home Server, much to the frustration of channel partners who've been touting this particular feature of the product to customers. In January at CES, Microsoft announced Home Server Power Pack 1 and said it would not only fix a number of minor issues in the software, but also give users the ability to perform full Home Server data backups on external storage devices, including the backup database. PP1 is due for release in the second half of the year.

Last week, Todd Headrick, marketing director for Windows Home Server, said the ability to back up the backup database has been dropped from Power Pack 1. "The feature had to be cut due to the interplay with the connector install and the fact that consumers may hork their backup database by doing an incomplete backup or interrupting the restore process. The team will look to add this functionality in a future release after Power Pack 1," Headrick wrote in a post on Microsoft's Windows Home Server forums.

View: The full story @ CRN

Ladies, take your battle for the environment a little closer to your heart with a solar-powered bra that can generate enough electric energy to charge a mobile phone or an iPod. Lingerie maker Triumph International Japan Ltd unveiled its environmentally friendly, and green colored, "Solar Power Bra" on Wednesday in Tokyo which features a solar panel worn around the stomach.

The panel requires light to generate electricity and the concept bra will not be in stores anytime soon, said Triumph spokeswoman Yoshiko Masuda, as "people usually can not go outside without wearing clothes over it." But it does send the message of how lingerie could possibly save the planet, Masuda said, adding that the bra should not be washed or sunned on a rainy day to avoid damaging it.

Being eco-friendly is now fashionable in Japan, and the "Solar Energy Bra" follows the company's other green-themed undergarments that include a bra that turns into a reusable shopping bag and one that featured metal chopsticks to promote the use of reusable chopsticks.

"It is very comfortable and I can really feel involved in eco-friendly efforts as well," model Yuko Ishida said.

News Source: Reuters

After much negotiations, and countless rumors, it is now official: OLPC's XO Laptop, will now be offered with Windows XP.

Sales of the laptop will be offered to some countries in June, and a larger scale release shortly after. Running Windows on the OLPC however, will not have the same "ease" of use. On Linux, the XO has an interface named "Sugar", which is a custom GUI to give children a friendly computer environment. Plans have been made to port the interface over to Windows, however due to complications, it could take some time.

An important question to ask ourselves is: For a laptop aimed for children in developing countries, is XP the better choice?

"When I talk to people and tell them we can run Windows, they are very impressed. You pass a sort of virility test."
said OLPC's founder, Nicholas Negroponte.

Negroponte said the ability to run Windows is a must-have in some countries. For example, he said, Uruguay made it a requirement in its recent solicitation. Even in other countries where Windows is not required, Negroponte said compatibility with the Microsoft operating system still helps give the laptop credibility.

This subject can spark some interesting conversation. I'd like to hear your comments Neowin!

View: news.com

Cox Communications appears to be interfering with file-sharing by its Internet subscribers in the same manner that has landed Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) in hot water with regulators, according to research obtained by The Associated Press. A study based on the participation of 8,175 Internet users around the world found conclusive signs of blocked file-sharing connections only at three Internet service providers: Comcast and Cox in the U.S. and StarHub in Singapore.

Of the 788 Comcast subscribers who participated in the study, 491, or 62 percent, had their connections blocked. At Cox, 82 out of 151 subscribers, or 54 percent, were blocked, according to Krishna Gummadi at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems in Saarbruecken, Germany.

Philadelphia-based Comcast is the country's second-largest ISP, with 14.1 million subscribers. Atlanta-based Cox Communications is the fourth-largest, with 3.8 million. It is part of privately held Cox Enterprises Inc. Comcast's practice of interfering with traffic was brought to light by user reports last year and confirmed by an AP investigation in October.

View: 9news.com

Known simply as the Asus C90S, this is the first product to be released on a new series of laptop barebones that the manufacturer is aiming at the mobile performance crowd.

Unlike conventional laptop computers, the C90S is an upgradeable laptop, meaning that the user is free to replace many of its core components including the processor and the graphics card. Possibly even more interesting than this is Asus' choice of platform, not quite the standard for a mobile system.

The Asus C90S is powered by Core 2 desktop processors rather than the 'Merom' mobile variety. That includes support for the 800MHz FSB Allendale models, as well as the 1066MHz FSB Conroe processors. It is possible, then, to configure the C90S with a Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor operating at 2.93GHz if you'd choose to do so, which certainly makes the C90S a very unique laptop, or should we say mobile desktop replacement.

View: Asus C90S Laptop Barebones review @ TechSpot

Television network CBS has entered into an agreement to acquire CNET Networks according to Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS. Under the terms of the agreement, CBS will make a cash tender offer for all issued and outstanding shares of CNET for $11.50 per share, representing an equity value of approximately $1.8 billion. The acquisition will make CBS one of the 10 most visited Internet companies in the United States, with a combined 54 million unique users per month. "There are very few opportunities to acquire a profitable, growing, well-managed Internet company like CNET Networks," said Moonves. "CNET Networks will add a tremendous platform to extend our complementary entertainment, news, sports, music and information content to a whole new global audience."

Upon closing, CNET Networks' sites will be combined with CBS websites including CBS.com, CBSSports.com, CBSCollegeSports.com, MaxPreps.com, CBSNews.com, last.fm, Wallstrip, MobLogic, CBS Radio and CBS Television Stations digital media platforms. The Board of Directors of CNET Networks has unanimously approved the merger agreement and unanimously recommends that CNET Networks stockholders accept the tender offer and tender their shares. The transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year.

The history of the use of batteries can be traced back to the 1800's. However, Sharp has revealed a mobile fuel cell prototype in which you can power your future tech-toy with a powered solution of Methanol. The fuel cell can produce energy using only methanol, air, and water. Still in it's prototype stages, this innovation shows a promising look at a "greener" side of technology, which many manufacturers are starting to focus on. By implementing such technology into laptops, and mobile phones, charging times can be made instant, which would be a must-have for those on the go.

Are we, as consumers, ready to replace technology that has served us well for decades? Let's hear your thoughts.

View: TechRadar