Articles by Jennifer LeClaire

Digital consumer electronics company Sling Media on Tuesday announced that its Slingbox is now available for purchase across the United Kingdom A Slingbox is a device that allows consumers to access a living room television experience at any time, from any location, using a laptop or desktop PC, PDA or smartphone. Specifically, the Slingbox redirec...

In a hack attack that reflects a worrisome trend in the education arena, Fairfield, Conn.-based Sacred Heart University in early May discovered that the security system on one of its computers containing students' personal data was breached. The university has not confirmed that sensitive files were actually accessed, but said the intruder did have the expertise to access them...

Microsoft this week unveiled a new photo format to compete with an old industry standard. The software giant claims its Windows Media Photo (WMP) will provide better quality at half the size of a JPEG image "One of the biggest drivers for upgrading computers is digital photography, so anything we do to make digital photography better is good for Wi...

Google and Dell are teaming up on a desktop initiative that could cause Microsoft to see red. The companies sealed a deal this week to preload Google Desktop and Toolbar on Dell PCs and add Google Search to the Internet Explorer 6 side pane Dell and Google will offer a co-branded homepage to which new users will default upon their first visit to th...

While speculation still abounds over the actual delivery date of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, the software giant is publicly vowing an on-time delivery of the next version of its Office productivity suite of applications Microsoft said it is on target to debut Office 2007 at the end of the year as planned. The product suite, which in...

Score one for the skeptics Vonage (NYSE: VG) made its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Wednesday in the face of analyst concerns about an ultra-competitive landscape and an unprofitable business plan for the firm. The Internet phone pioneer wound up selling stock below its issue price. Shares were initially priced at US$17 and quickly dropped. Vona...

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Tuesday unveiled beta 2 versions of Windows Vista, Windows Server "Longhorn" and the 2007 Microsoft Office system at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in Seattle It is the first time that Microsoft has simultaneously released test versions of all three of the company's flagship products. Microsoft...

Vonage may not be in the black, but the Internet phone company is nonetheless going public. TheSkype competitor plans to price its shares for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) late Tuesday despite analysts' concerns about the long-term risks of the Voice over Internet Protocol market Some 31.25 million shares are expected to be priced at US$16 to $1...

Virtualization technology is becoming a hot topic in the software arena, and nowMicrosoft is upping the ante with its promise to use VT to reduce the cost and complexity of IT management Microsoft on Monday announced it has committed significant resources to making virtualization more broadly accessible and affordable for customers. Robert Muglia, ...

A video game based on the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., the deadliest episode of school violence in the U.S., is stirring up controversy this week The online game, "Super Columbine Massacre RPG," has been available on the underground Internet for the past year, but some popular gaming Web sites began blogging about it...

Symantec on Friday began warning customers of a zero day vulnerability in Microsoft Word that is being exploited by hackers The attack, which was reportedly discovered by VeriSign's iDefense, is successful against Microsoft Word 2003, according to Symantec. iDefense reports its testing shows the attack is successful against Word 2002 as well. It al...

Microsoft added to the hullabaloo surrounding the pending arrival of the Windows Vista operating system with its release this week of Vista hardware requirements for consumers who are getting ready to make the switch The company launched a campaign called "Get Ready" to help customers make hardware upgrade decisions to accommodate Vista. It also an...

Bolstering what some are calling clear evidence that the gaming industry is moving online,Microsoft claimed that its Xbox Live service has passed the 24 million download mark. The milestone comes just months after theXbox 360 launch last November Xbox Live is Microsoft's platform for high-definition, on-demand content. It offers players game demos ...

Linksys on Wednesday started shipping its WIP300 and WIP330 Wireless-G IP Phones. The phones are intended for use with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software over 802.11g wireless networks. The WIP300 and WIP330 mark the Cisco subsidiary's first attempt to peddle Wireless IP telephony products Both the WIP330 and WIP300 require a broadband In...

Sony on Tuesday took the wraps off the world's first Blu-ray Disc-enabled notebook computer -- the Vaio AR. It will be available this summer Toshiba plans to release a notebook supporting the rival HD DVD standard this month. These moves indicate a new twist in the battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD as notebook competition assumes a role in shaping ...

In his opening keynote speech at the 11th annual JavaOne developer conference, Sun Microsystems President and CEO Jonathan Schwartz outlined new Java solutions and open source plans in front of thousands of international attendees "It's not a question of whether, but a question of how," Schwartz told the audience. Sun Executive Vice President of So...

The semiconductor market is thriving again -- and the future looks bright. Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled US$235 billion in 2005, a 6.9 percent increase from 2004, according to Gartner Group data. It was the first time the semiconductor industry surpassed its record-setting year in 2000 when revenue reached $223 billion Of course, there ar...

During the last 12 months, nearly 20 percent of organizations have had employees launch a hacking tool or a keylogger within their network, according to new research released by Websense this week. That figure increased from 2005, when only 12 percent were impacted A keylogger is one of the most dangerous types of spyware in existence. It has the a...

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies this week plans to roll out its first hard drives based on perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology. The company is readying its 2.5-inch 160-gigabyte Travelstar hard drive 5K160 designed for notebook and mobile computing this summer at a price tag of US$269 for the 160 GB product Perpendicular recording...

In a move to take a slice of iTunes' e-commerce pie, News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox Entertainment Group and Burger King Holdings have joined forces to bring hit television programming to MySpace.com members. The move marks MySpace's entry into the e-commerce arena as the social networking site seeks to monetize older episodes of "24" for US$1.99 a piece...