Toontrack announces expansion pack for Superior Drummer 2

Toontrack Music on Friday unveiled the first expansion pack for its flagship product, Superior Drummer 2.

New York Studio Legacy Series Vol.2 were recorded from two famous New York studios, Hit Factory and Allaire Studios. Volume 1 of the New York series was also recorded at these studios, which are now closed.

The drums were recorded by engineer and producer Pat Thrall (Glenn Hughes, Black Crowes, Beyonc etc), producer Neil Dorfsman (Kiss, Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits and Sting) and drummer Nir Z (Genesis, Joss Stone and Chris Cornell).

In all, kits were recorded with seven kick drums, thirteen snares and a variety of cymbals.

The expansion pack will be available at the end of March and will cost $179, around 125.

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Microsoft CEO plays down iPhone, says Windows Mobile has momentum

Microsoft CEO plays down iPhone, says Windows Mobile has momentum

"The real market momentum with operators and the real market momentum with device manufacturers seems to primarily be with Windows Mobile and Android."

That's Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's alternate reality take on the smartphone market, expressed to analysts during a midyear update in New York.

While he acknowledged that the iPhone had "consumer market mojo," he suggested that it did not have the same market potential as the mobile platforms controlled by Microsoft and Google.

Ballmer has a history of iPhone putdowns (see "The iPhone Naysayers").

Judging by his latest appraisal of the smartphone market, he still has trouble accepting the success of Apple's phone.

Data from a Gartner report from the third quarter of 2008 showed RIM's BlackBerry models and Apple's iPhones in a distant second and third behind Nokia, whose 42 per cent market share of phones largely run the Symbian OS. Gartner's data indicated that Windows Mobile shipped four million units in the quarter, compared to 4.7 million iPhones.

But Microsoft isn't all talk. The company has announced plans to open Microsoft stores to counter Apple's retail success, and is also designing a new UI for Windows Mobile 6.5.

However, momentum will be slowed by the fact that the retail stores and new mobile OS are still being developed - Windows Mobile 6.5 won't be available until the second half of the year, and it's not certain when the first Microsoft stores will open.

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1Password updated for Safari 4 beta

Apple’s release of a public beta version of Safari 4, a new version of their Web browser, has spurred Agile Web Solutions to offer 1Password 2.9.9, an update to their password management software.

A free upgrade for all paid 1Password customers, 1Password 2.9.9 costs $40, around 27.

1Password helps Mac users keep track of passwords used to access Web sites. It can also generate online usernames and passwords so you don’t have to.

The software includes anti-phishing and keylogging protection, and enhances autofill capabilities for automatic form completion.

New to the 2.9.9 release is support for the Safari 4 beta and integration with iCab, the Web browser from Alexander Clauss.

Many other enhancements have also been made, including improve Agile Keychain load time, improved import from Safari and Firefox, enhancements to documentation and bundle size, new support of localization and more.

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Sonnet Express SATA card not affected by Apple firmware update

The Tempo SATA Pro Express 34 Card from Sonnet Technologies, billed as the world's leading Macintosh hardware upgrade company, has not been affected by a recent Apple firmware update which has caused problems for some MacBook Pro users.

A M Micro, a specialist distributor that works with resellers, mail order channels and major retailers asked Macworld to clarify known issues with the most recent Apple firmware update, assisted by Michael Bean of the Arizona Macintosh Users Group (AMUG).

"The Tempo SATA Pro Express 34 Card (part model SKU: SON-TSATAII-PRO-E34) uses the Marvell chip set and is fully compatible with the new MacBook Pro with the 1.6 Firmware update and Mac OS X 10.5.6," said A M Micro.

This latest 1.6 Firmware update broke any Express 34 SATA cards using the Silicon Image chip set, A M Micro explained.

"The MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.6 kills write performance on ExpressCard SATA adapters using the Silicon Image SiI3132 chip set, but it’s unclear what vendors can do about it," said A M Micro.

Cards affected include those from FirmTek, CalDigit, Sonnet - the non-Pro version – LaCie and more.

Michael Bean of AMUG tested several SiI3132-based cards from other vendors and found the slowdown to be uniform among them. In short it’s an Apple-induced headache for every vendor using that chipset.

SATA ExpressCard's provides eSATA connectivity for the mobile Mac or Windows user who needs access to fast external data storage.

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Metal Gear Solid Touch for iPhone, more details revealed

More details of Konami's long-awaited Metal Gear Solid Touch for Apple iPhone and iPod touch has been released.

Gaming enthusiast site Kotaku currently hosts a new official video highlighting the iPhone's unique game play.

The game is based on the international hit Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Kotaku says Metal Gear Solid Touch retells the story of Metal Gear Solid 4 from a different perspective, with an over-the-shoulder view of Solid Snake's mullet as you tap the screen to take out enemies.

Based on the preview Kotaku expects the game to "sell millions" when it arrives on the Apple iTunes App Store.

Gameplay will be split into stages, and at the end of each stage you'll get to spend your points at the game's take on Metal Gear Solid 4's Drebin Shop, except instead of guns and upgrades you'll be buying new iPhone wallpapers reports The Escapist online magazine.

A dedicated Metal Gear Solid Touch Web site was launched earlier this month, unveiling further details.

Konami plans to release Metal Gear Solid Touch in two installments, the first this spring.

Buying the first half of the game, with 12 stages, will give you access to a free update to the second half with a further eight stages.

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An evening with Nitin Sawhney at the Apple Store

Acclaimed musician, producer and composer Nitin Sawhney will present a special night at the flagship Apple Store, Regent Street on Saturday 28 February, between 7.30pm and 9pm.

"Join us for a very special performance, masterclass and Q&A session presented by City Showcase," says the Apple website.

Nitin Sawhney has scored numerous film soundtracks and worked with a wide range of musicians and artists including Sting, Natacha Atlas, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Jeff Beck and Sir Paul McCartney.

Nitin Sawhney's most recent release, on which Sir Paul McCartney sang, has received rave reviews as well as raising wider social issues according to his website.

"Nitin Sawhney's latest album, London Undersound, discusses how London has changed in the last few years - particularly since the London bombings of 7/7/2005 - and how Nitin and his collaborators have perceived that change."

Apple says customers are advised to arrive early, as space is limited. The event, like all Apple Store events, is free.

The Apple Store is located at 235 Regent Street, London, W1B 2EL, 020 7153 9000. The nearest tube station is Oxford Circus.

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3Dconnexion 3D mice now supported by Google Earth 5.0

3Dconnexion’s award-winning line of 3D mice can now be used to explore the 3D world in Google Earth 5.0 beta.

You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places, and share with others.

Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean.

“3Dconnexion’s 3D mice complement the new features introduced in Google Earth 5.0, allowing explorers to learn and discover with greater ease,” said Dieter Neujahr, president of 3Dconnexion.

“Navigating 3D sea-floor terrain or discovering topography on Mars becomes a more immersive experience using 3Dconnexion’s 3D mice, allowing people to enjoy the wonders of the Earth and galaxy thanks to a more natural connection.”

3Dconnexion’s 3D mice are now also compatible with Google Earth 5.0’s new Touring feature, promising smoother recording of journeys.

“Google Earth enables people of varying skills to search, discover and share their experiences in the 3D world more easily, and to develop a greater appreciation for the world and its environment,” added Peter Birch, product manager, Google Earth.

“3Dconnexion’s 3D mice provide a natural way for people to navigate and interact with the new features introduced in the newest version of Google Earth, making it an even more enjoyable exploration and learning experience.”

Unlike mice confined to motion on one flat plane, 3Dconnexion’s 3D mice enable people exploring in Google Earth to move in all three dimensions simultaneously says the company.

By pulling, pushing and tilting the 3D mouse controller cap, people using Google Earth can soar around the earth, zoom on a specific location to view closer details, or rotate 3D scenes without stopping to select commands.

3Dconnexion 3D mice are now supported by Google Earth.

Google Earth 5.0 beta is compatible with the entire 3Dconnexion 3D mouse product line including SpaceNavigator Personal Edition (49.99 inc VAT), SpaceNavigator Standard Edition (79 ex VAT), SpaceNavigator for Notebooks (90 ex VAT), SpaceExplorer (229 ex VAT) and SpacePilot (299).

Google Earth 5.0 beta is available free to download for Mac, PC or Linux.

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Police e-crime unit prepares for war on online criminals

The Police Central e-crime Unit is ratcheting up the pressure on criminals who hack into business IT systems, as it makes its first investigations.

Detective Superintendent Charlie McMurdie, one of the heads of the new 7.4 million unit, called on businesses to report online crime to the PCeU, so that it can be tackled effectively, and patterns of criminality can be established in order to prevent future occurrences.

Businesses were willing to report on the cybercriminals, she told Computerworld UK in Westminster, even knowing that prosecutions could take place and the crime could become public knowledge.

"Industry is coming to us and reporting the issue," she said. "Is it much surprise it's happening? No. It shows they're taking on the issue. They're not saying it happens daily."

In May, a range of business security chiefs said business was willing to report cybercrime, and wanted to see it tackled. But others have suggested they feared the reputational damage of the knowledge becoming public.

Speaking at a forum of politicians, industry IT chiefs and the media, McMurdie said the police needed "actionable intelligence", which could only be acquired through businesses and the public sector consistently reporting the online crimes they are victims of.

"If you're a victim of crime, you must report it. If you don't, it doesn't exist, it doesn't get tackled, and we don't get the resources in the future to fight it," she said. "We're setting up industry groups in order to work closely with businesses."

The PCeU currently comprises 30 staff. Some 3.9 million funding comes from the Metropolitan Police, and 3.5 million from the government over three years. It tackles the theft of data and its subsequent fraudulent use, but does not fight crimes such as child abuse online, which is handled by a separate child protection unit.

Funding was eventually promised to the PCeU in September last year, after two years of campaigning by the police and industry following the National High Tech Crime Unit being absorbed into organised crime fighting agency Soca in 2006.

Nevertheless Alan Campbell MP, parliamentary under-secretary of state, sought to assure businesses that the government took the issue seriously. "We will continue to ensure our legislation tackles the changing threats," he said. "It is the responsibility of the government, industry and the public to make sure the internet is a safe place."

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Microsoft researchers' Gazelle aims to secure Web browsing

Microsoft researchers are developing a new Web browser that they say could offer a far greater degree of security than Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox or Microsoft's own Internet Explorer.

The browser, called Gazelle, relies on 5,000 lines of C# code called a "browser kernel" that helps enforce security rules to prevent malicious access to the PC's underlying operating system, according to a recently publishedpaper.

So far, Gazelle is just a prototype, with other parts of the browser based on Microsoft's IE. Due to the complex nature of the way it processes Web pages for better security, the browser's performance is more tortoise than gazelle, but the researchers think a few tweaks can make it faster.

Gazelle is different from some other browsers in that it considers each part of a Web site - such as iframes, subframes and plugins - as separate elements. Some of those elements can pull in malicious content from other Web sites. Google's Chrome runs a Web page and its elements in a single process.

The Microsoft researchers argues that their approach brings more reliability and better security since processes can't interact with the underlying system and are mediated by system calls supplied by the browser kernel.

In the paper, the Microsoft researchers are surprisingly critical of the company's forthcoming Web browser, IE8, which uses an approach similar to Chrome by using tabs to isolate processes.

"This granularity is insufficient since a user may browse multiple mutually distrusting sites in a single tab, and a web page may contain an iframe with content from an untrusted site (e.g., ads)," the paper reads.

Gazelle goes so far as to separate elements of a Web page that come from the same registrar-controlled domain. For example, content from ad.datacenter.com and user.datacenter.com would be considered separate, whereas Chrome "puts them into the same site instance," the paper said.

Blocking race condition attacks

Another interesting feature of Gazelle is aimed at blocking so-called race condition attacks. In that scenario, an attacker creates a Web page aimed at making a user click on an area of the page. But just before the predicted click happens, an overlay is drawn into the page, which could cause a user to be attacked.

Gazelle will ignore any clicks in newly exposed screen areas for about one second until a user can see the new screen areas.

Gazelle also aims to limit the dangers posed by programming flaws in browser plugins. Plugins are small bits of code that enable other programs to run within a browser, but they've also been known to contain vulnerabilities that can allow a PC to be hacked.

In Gazelle, the plugins are sandboxed, or isolated from the rest of the system, so that a bad plugin would only affect the particular Web page's plugin process and not the whole PC.

But one huge problem with Gazelle's approach is that existing plugin code would have to be rewritten or ported to interact with Gazelle's browser kernel system calls. That's difficult since plugins are written by a wide variety of software vendors whose development schedules don't necessarily work in perfect sync with those of browser developers.

Other parts of Gazelle borrow from IE code not related to security. For example, the researchers said they didn't want to write a new HTML parser, so they used IE7's Trident renderer and JavaScript engine.

In compatibility tests, Gazelle correctly rendered 19 of the top 20 sites ranked by Web survey firm Alexa.

The paper warns that the new security of Gazelle does introduce "performance overhead" - especially for sites such as the New York Times Web site - but further work should be able to make it faster.

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Neo Scene for Mac allows editing of AVCHD video

CineForm recently released Neo Scene for Mac, a compression workflow designed to allow users to edit AVCHD and HDV video.

With the release of Neo Scene, CineForm said it is taking its professional technology and making it available in a consumer app for all Mac users.

Targeted to consumers, prosumers and video enthusiasts, Neo Scene converts compressed video sources into easy-to-edit and higher quality CineForm QuickTime files, the company said.

The CineForm MOV files are compatible with most QuickTime applications, including Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Motion, Premiere Pro and After Effects.

Neo Scene can also convert the source material into 24p (NTSC) or 25p (PAL) CineForm Mac Codec files for projects, allowing users to edit in 24p.

Neo Scene offers support for the Canon 5D Mark II and exporting to either Prores or CineForm file formats. Converted Neo Scene files use 10-bit images, offering higher quality images to edit, the company said.

Neo Scene is available now for $129, around 88.

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WaveMachine Labs offers new drum samples for Mac OS X

Drum replacement software company WaveMachine Labs released two new sample libraries for its audio plug-in, Drumagog.

Modern Drummer Snare Drum Selects Volume One is a collection of samples taken from a dozen snares chosen by the editors of Modern Drummer magazine.

There are a total of 88 samples from the 12 snares with four articulations per snare.

The second set, MoReVoX DriveDrums, was developed by generating distortion through different devices like Vacuum tubes, analog tape, and preamps.

Modern Drummer Snare Drum Selects Volume One costs $89.95, around 34.

MoReVoX DriveDrums is available for $49 until March 31, 2009 with the purchase of Drumagog Pro or Platinum.

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95.1 per cent of UK surfers connect via broadband

New research by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests more than 19 out of 20 UK connections to the Internet are via broadband.

In December 2008, broadband connections accounted for 95.1 per cent of all Internet connections, up from 94.1 per cent in September 2008.

This is according to the latest update from the survey of Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Despite continuing increases in broadband connections, a 17.5 per cent decrease in dial-up resulted in a 0.3 per cent fall in the index of all connections between September and December 2008.

The market share of broadband connections has been increasing since the index began in 2001, reflecting its continuing popularity, widespread availability and increasingly competitive connection packages.

Broadband connections rose to 95.1 per cent of all connections in December 2008, up from 94.1 per cent in September 2008. There was a year on year increase in the index of broadband connections of 4.4 per cent, with a quarterly increase of 0.8 per cent.

Dial-up connections continued to decrease, with a year on year fall in the index of 51.7 per cent to December 2008. The quarterly decrease, from September 2008 to December 2008, was 17.5 per cent.

The proportion of higher speed connections continues to increase. In December 2008, 59.6 per cent of broadband connections had a speed greater than 2Mbps, which is an increase from 57.7 per cent in September 2008.

Over the same period, the percentage of connections with a speed of less than or equal to 2Mbps decreased to 40.4 per cent in December 2008, down from 42.3 per cent in September 2008.

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Skype calls' immunity to police phone tapping threatened

Suspicious telephone conversations on Skype could be targeted for tapping as part of a pan-European crackdown on what law authorities believe is a massive technical loophole in current wiretapping laws, allowing criminals to communicate without fear of being overheard by the police.

The European investigation could also help US law enforcement authorities gain access to Internet calls. The National Security Agency (NSA) is understood to believe that suspected terrorists use Skype to circumvent detection.

While the police can get a court order to tap a suspect's land line and mobile phone, it is currently impossible to get a similar order for Internet calls on both sides of the Atlantic.

Eurojust, a European Union agency responsible for coordinating judicial investigations across different jurisdictions announced Friday the opening of an investigation involving all 27 countries of the European Union.

"We will bring investigators from all 27 member states together to find a common approach to this problem," said Joannes Thuy, a spokesman for Eurojust based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

The purpose of Eurojust's coordination role is to overcome "the technical and judicial obstacles to the interception of Internet telephony systems", Eurojust said.

The main judicial obstacles are the differing approaches to data protection in the various EU member states, Thuy said.

The investigation is being headed by Eurojust's Italian representative, Carmen Manfredda.

Italian gangsters

Criminals in Italy are increasingly making phone calls over the Internet in order to avoid getting caught through mobile phone intercepts, according to Direzione Nazionale Antimafia, the anti-Mafia office in Rome.

Police officers in Milan say organized crime, arms and drugs traffickers, and prostitution rings are turning to Skype and other systems of VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) telephony in order to frustrate investigators.

While telecommunications companies are obliged to comply with court orders to monitor calls on land lines and mobile phones, "Skype' refuses to cooperate with the authorities," Thuy said.

In addition to the issue of cooperation, there are technical obstacles to tapping Skype calls. The way calls are set up and carried between computers is proprietary, and the encryption system used is strong.

It could be possible to monitor the call on the originating or receiving computer using a specially written program, or perhaps to divert the traffic through a proxy server, but these are all far more difficult than tapping a normal phone.

Calls between a PC and a regular telephone via the SkypeIn or SkypeOut service, however, could fall under existing wiretapping regulations and capabilities at the point where they meet the public telephone network.

The pan-European response to the problem may open the door for the US to take similar action, Thuy said.

"We have very good cooperation with the US," he said, pointing out that a US prosecutor, Marylee Warren, is based in The Hague in order to liaise between U.S. and European judicial authorities.

NSA Skype concerns

The NSA (National Security Agency) is so concerned by Skype that it is offering hackers large sums of money to break its encryption, according to unsourced reports in the US.

Italian investigators have become increasingly reliant on wiretaps, Eurojust said, giving a recent example of customs and tax police in Milan, who overheard a suspected cocaine trafficker telling an accomplice to switch to Skype in order to get details of a 2kg drug consignment.

"Investigators are convinced that the interception of telephone calls have become an essential tool of the police, who spend millions of euros each year tracking down crime through wiretaps of land lines and mobile phones," Eurojust said.

The first meeting of Eurojust's 27 national representatives is planned in the coming weeks but precise details of its timing and the location of the meeting remain secret, Thuy said.

"They will exchange information and then we will give advice on how to proceed," he said. Bringing Internet telephony into line with calls on land lines and mobile phones "could be the price we have to pay for our security," he said.

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Linux firm to supply 357,000 Brazilian schools desktops

Userful has won a deal to supply its Linux-based PC-sharing software to 357,000 Linux desktops in schools throughout Brazil.

Userful's Multiplier software runs on top of any version of the open-source Linux OS and enables a single desktop PC to be shared by as many as 10 users, all connected by individual monitors, keyboards and mice.

The massive deal, won in partnership with ThinNetworks and a number of local Brazilian PC manufacturers, is Userful's largest deployment by far.

Including this deal, the Calgary, Alberta firm will now have contracts to supply more than 400,000 seats.

Userful, which announced the Brazilian deal earlier this week, has just 40 employees.

Founded in 1999, it was self-funded until receiving $1 million in venture capital money last summer, according to marketing manager Sean Rousseau.

Userful and its partners beat out the apparent market leader in the PC-sharing space, NComputing, which offers a similar solution for Windows that had sold a million seats as of last fall.

Userful won, in part, because of its low cost. The Multiplier software starts at $69 per seat, though that figure can go as low as $50 per seat for deployments as large as the one in Brazil, according to Rousseau.

There are no costs associated with licensing the operating system, another difference with NComputing's Windows-based solution.

Userful networks, especially those running the optional Userful Desktop graphical administration software, are simple enough for teachers and other non-technical employees to manage, said Rousseau.

Other support is typically provided by the PC reseller, he said. Besides lower hardware and support costs, customers can save on energy costs by running 90 per cent fewer computers.

Userful also benefited from the Brazilian government's strong support for open-source software, Rousseau said. Similar to Cuba, the government has developed and promotes the use of its own Linux distribution, Educational 2.0.

Rousseau also claimed several technical advantages for Userful over its competitors. One is in the area of graphics performance, he said, due to the way Userful's software leverages the Linux X-Server GUI and a PC's plug-in video card.

Hiccup-free streaming video

Those video cards can be any low-end card, provided they have Linux drivers. According to Rousseau, $20 cards running the 7-year-old ATI Radeon 7000 GPU are popular with its customers.

That enables hiccup-free streaming video as well as good performance for Web games running Adobe Flash.

Second, Userful supports USB devices and two-way audio, so students can use webcams and microphones to chat. Finally, it leverages Linux rather than Windows, which is more secure and requires less support, said Rousseau.

He acknowledged that potential customers worry about the lack of compatibility with Windows apps. But many are happy running free, open-source equivalents to popular Windows apps, such as OpenOffice, Firefox, GIMP for photo editing, and Thunderbird for email - or they can try running the WINE Windows emulator for Linux.

Besides schools, most of Userful's customers are governmental institutions such as libraries. The company doesn't target the private sector, though it has a few such clients.

They include telecoms in the U.S. and Germany, who rely on Userful to create workstations in their call centers where workers can take a break and check their email or surf the Web, he said.

Userful is continuing to improve its software's multimedia performance, even while enabling its Multiplier software to allow PCs be shared among even more users simultaneously, said Rousseau.

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Telenor brings Apple iPhone to Scandinavia

Telenor Group, the Norway based communications, IT and media company, has signed a deal to bring the Apple iPhone Scandinavia.

The deal, announced today, will see the iPhone available in Sweden, Denmark and Norway in the coming months.

Telenor Group provides voice, data, content and other communication services in 13 countries across Europe and Asia.

The company claims 164 million subscribers, currently ranked as the seventh largest carrier in the world.

More details, Telenor said, would be announced shortly.

Telia, a leading mobile telephone operator in Sweden already offers the iPhone in some parts of Scandinavia.

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Prince of Persia, Shaun White Snowboarding coming to Mac

Ubisoft and TransGaming announced an expansion of their partnership to bring more games to the Mac platform.

The companies said that the next two titles to be released will be Prince of Persia and Shaun White Snowboarding, both expected for a March release.

TransGaming is the developer of Cider, a translation layer technology that’s been used by EA and other companies to bring hit titles to the Mac platform since Apple’s adoption of Intel chips.

TransGaming and Ubisoft began collaborating in 2008 and have so far released six Mac titles, including CSI: Hard Evidence, Petz Catz 2, Petz Dogz 2, Petz Sports, Prince of Persia The Two Thrones and Rayman Raving Rabbids.

Prince of Persia is a reinvention of the original game.

As with past Ubisoft/TransGaming releases, these two new games will be available for online purchase only, through GameTree Online, TransGaming’s e-commerce site, and through Ubisoft’s own online store.

Prince of Persia is an all-new game based on Jordan Mechner’s popular action title.

Developed by the same studio responsible for the hit console game Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia puts you in control of a deadly warrior who performs acrobatic tricks, scales buildings, and kills his enemies in order to reach his goal — defeating Ahriman’s forces to heal the land.

The game features a new combat system, open world structure and more. It's priced at $50, around 35.

System requirements call for Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later, Intel Core Duo processor, 1024MB RAM, ATI X1600, Nvidia GeForce 8600 or better 3D graphics, 8.01GB hard disk space.

Realistic physics and scenery mark this snowboarding game as unique.

Shaun White Snowboarding is a free-riding snowboard title that features open-world mountains, the ability to do other things like go hiking to secret spots, filming friends doing tricks, throwing snowballs and more.

There’s a single player mode and an online multiplayer world, and realistic physics and scenery. It's priced at $30, around 20.

System requirements for Shaun White Snowboarding include Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later, Intel Core Duo processor, 1024MB RAM, ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300GT or better 3D graphics, and 7.24GB hard disk space.

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Pixelmator 1.4 adds new painting engine

Image editing application Pixelmator was updated on Thursday, adding among other things, a new painting engine and support for Adobe Photoshop brushes.

According to the developers, Pixelmator 1.4 adds a new painting engine delivers performance improvements, smoothness, as well as adding new brush settings for the painting tools.

New settings include scatter, flow, follow direction, size jitter, stroke jitter, angle jitter, opacity jitter, and color jitter.

The update also allows users to import Adobe Photoshop brushes for use with Pixelmator.

New document presets have been added, allowing users to save images for display, web, photo, or print projects. Users can also create and save their own presets, the company said.

A new clouds filter was also added to the application, giving users the ability to generate realistic looking clouds. Other minor enhancements like improved tablet support, new brush presets, minor user interface tweaks, and compatibility and performance improvements, were also made in the new version.

Pixelmator 1.4 is a free upgrade for registered users.

For new users the application costs $59, around 41.

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PlusNet introduces “value” £5.99 per month broadband deal
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PlusNet introduces "value" £5.99 per month broadband deal

PlusNet has introduced a new "value" broadband package at just 5.99 a month that is also available for existing customers. It offers up to 8Mb speeds, 10GB usage allowance, a free wireless router, free connection, and 24/7 support. A minimum contract length of 18 months applies.

PlusNet claims that its Value broadband deal means that there's bandwidth enough "for multiple users on one connection, downloading music tracks in a matter of seconds and playing games online".

The 5.99 deal is only available to people who live in one of PlusNet's "low cost areas". The ISP states that if you live outside of one of these areas you'll pay 5.99 a month for the first three months and 11.99 a month thereafter.

The PlusNet 5.99 broadband package is aimed at light to medium users.

PC Advisor can confirm that existing PlusNet users can switch to the new value deal, which offers a greater usage allowance than many existing deals.

However, users should be prepared to sign up for 18 months, where previously many deals were on a more flexible monthly basis.

Existing PlusNet customers should call 0845 140 0200.

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MWC: Garmin-Asus unveil their first new GPS smartphones

The new Garmin-Asus venture announced its first two smartphone offerings at the GSM Mobile World Congress and true to earlier promises, they each use a different operating systems, one Linux and the other Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

Garmin-Asus is a new tie-up between GPS (global positioning system) device maker Garmin and Asustek Computer (Asus) to build smartphones.

When they launched the brand earlier this month, the heads of both companies said they planned to create smartphones around all OSs, including Google's Android.

Out of the two new handsets launched at the Mobile World Congress, the Nuvifone G60 is an older design intended to become Garmin's first smartphone, while the Nuvifone M20 is a new debut.

Both smartphones have been designed with special consideration to location-based services via GPS and use navigation software from Garmin, one of the most popular GPS device makers in the US.

Location-based services on both handsets include Garmin maps and software that displays a variety of information including points of interest, friends' houses and the best route to take to avoid traffic.

They are also designed to deliver locally relevant information to people, including movie times, nearby restaurants and more.

One feature on the new handsets is geotagging for photos. Pictures taken using the onboard digital cameras of the two Nuvifones will automatically be tagged with date, time and location data.

The Nuvifone M20 has a 2.8-inch touchscreen with 480x640 resolution and runs Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.

The device comes with either 4GB or 8GB of flash storage for songs, pictures and other data. It includes a suite of Microsoft Office Mobile products such as Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint and Word.

It has a 3.0-megapixel camera that can also take video.

Wireless technologies on the M20 include tri-band GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) as well as 3G (third-generation) communications and data services using 7.2Mbps (megabits per second) HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) or Wi-Fi 802.11b/g.

The Nuvifone G60, which was announced last year, has a large 3.55-inch touchscreen with 272x480 viewing resolution and uses a Linux OS. The device has 4GB of flash memory for data storage and a 3.0-megapixel digital camera.

The Nuvifone G60 is already being made available to mobile service providers, while the company did not say when the M20 might be on the market.

Pricing information was not immediately available.

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Mozilla backs move to decriminalize Apple iPhone jailbreaking

Mozilla is backing a move that would nullify copyright infringement charges against people who "jailbreak" their iPhones , a practice that Apple considers against the law.

In comments submitted to the US Copyright Office , the maker of Firefox said it supports the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in its request for an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The EFF wants the Copyright Office to let users jailbreak their phones without fear of copyright infringement penalties.

Apple opposes the exemption , and in its own filing with the Copyright Office, has said that jailbreaking is a violation of copyright laws that protect its software.

"This is not us criticizing Apple," John Lilly, Mozilla's CEO, said in an interview Monday. "But it's the principle of the thing. Choice is good for users, and choice shouldn't be criminalized. The Internet is too important for all of us for that."

"Jailbreak" is the term used to describe circumventing the digital rights management (DRM) technology on a cell phone so that the user can install third-party applications not authorized by the phone's maker or the mobile carrier. The term was popularized by iPhone owners after several groups of programmers figured out how to hack the first-generation iPhone's operating system.

Although it never mentioned the iPhone by name in its comments, Mozilla made no bones about the danger it sees if a company like Apple is the sole gatekeeper of a smartphone.

"By controlling the software that can be installed on these cellular phones, these companies can limit and control the type of programs and functionality that is available to users of their devices," Mozilla's general counsel, Harvey Anderson, wrote in the comments submitted to the Copyright Office (download PDF).

Anderson said that the DRM technology used to prevent people from installing software has a "chilling effect on users and innovation" because they are afraid that jailbreaking their phones is illegal.

He went on to argue that smartphones are akin to a computer, and because they can be used to access the Internet, should not be limited to the software authorized by the handset maker and/or the mobile service provider.

"These devices contain Internet Web browser, and are therefore effectively users' doorway to the Internet - a public commons," Anderson said. "Consumers should be entitled to use any software program they choose to access the Internet."

Apple third-party apps

Apple includes a version of its own Safari browser on the iPhone, and decides which third-party applications can be downloaded from its App Store online mart, the only authorized distribution channel.

In the past, Apple has rejected programs it says duplicate its own iPhone software, a notion that is reportedly spelled out in the iPhone's software development kit (SDK) licensing agreement.

So far, no major rival to Safari has been offered to users through the App Store.

As things stand now, Mozilla would be unlikely to craft a version of Firefox for the iPhone, said Lilly. "The SDK is very clear, that Flash and Firefox and other runtimes are not welcome on the iPhone," he said.

"Given the choice, would we work on a platform where the sole company controlling it makes us unwelcome, or would we work on a platform, like Linux, where we are welcome? The answer is going to be easy for us."

Mozilla is currently working on a mobile browser based on the same code that drives Firefox. Codenamed "Fennec," the browser is in the preliminary stages of development. The first build for Windows Mobile-powered phones, for instance, was released only last week.

Although he declined to get into product development specifics, Lilly said he doubts Mozilla would venture into the iPhone even if the Copyright Office grants the DMCA exemption over jailbreaking.

Opera Software ASA, a Norwegian company noted for its mobile browser, has come to the same decision.

According to CEO Jon von Tetzchner, Opera considered, then abandoned development for the iPhone when it realized that Apple's SDK license barred other browsers.

Mozilla wasn't the only technology company or developer who weighed in on the side of the EFF. Skype Communications, the eBay subsidiary known for its voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) software, for example, also backed the exemption request.

"Copyright law should not interfere with a user using his or her phone to run Skype and enjoy the benefits of low- or no-cost long-distance and international calling," Skype said. So did Jay Freeman, the developer of Cydia, the open-source application installer that acts as an App Store substitute for jailbroken iPhones.

Claiming that his program is installed on 1.6 million iPhones worldwide, a quarter of them in the US, Freeman wasted no time blasting Apple's software restrictions.

"They have denied competing mail applications, competing camera applications and competing mapping systems," Freeman said in comments he submitted supporting the EFF request (download PDF).

"They also have exerted control over what they [feel] to be acceptable content, sometimes vacillating (first denying any application using the word 'fart,' then allowing one in, which rapidly becomes the #1 most popular application in the store."

The danger of a gatekeeper like Apple on the iPhone is that innovation is stifled, Lilly argued. "These vertical silos don't enable innovation," he said. "And technology diffusion takes much longer, if it ever happens."

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Nokia, Qualcomm to work on smartphones together

The world's largest mobile phone vendor and the biggest cellular chip developer said Tuesday they plan to make 3G (third-generation) mobile devices together for the North American market.

Nokia and Qualcomm, which ended a long running patent battle in the middle of last year, will co-develop advanced devices based on UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), which is designed to succeed the most common mobile phone airwave standard in the world, GSM (Global System for Mobile communications).

The partners will design mobile devices based on S60 software, which uses the Symbian OS. The devices will also use advanced chipsets from Qualcomm.

The first devices from the two companies are expected to launch in the middle of next year. They will be compatible with the upcoming Symbian Foundation platform, the companies said in a statement.

Last July, Nokia agreed to pay Qualcomm a multi-billion dollar amount in back payments and future royalties after a long court battle over wireless patents. At the same time, the companies said they would work together in the future.

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Aspire life-goal planning Mac OS X software released

Unifiq has announced the release of Aspire 1.0, its life planning software for Mac OS X.

Aspire provides a workspace that lets you brainstorm, prioritize goals, review and refine them, track and help improve your plans.

Unifiq has developed Aspire to help people “look at the big picture and keep all their priorities in balance.” It’s not designed as a daily task manager as much as a goals manager.

This marks Aspire’s general release; the software first made its debut as a public preview in November, 2008.

System requirements call for Mac OS X 10.5 or later and 3.4MB hard disk space.

It costs $25, around 17, for a single-user license, a demo version is available for download.

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MWC: Pharos, Inventec unveil new line of GPS smartphones

Pharos and Taiwanese hardware maker Inventec have announced three new smartphones armed with Pharos GPS navigation software and travel information running on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 OS.

The Pharos, Inventec tie-up is similar to a deal recently announced by Garmin and Asustek to develop smartphones that emphasize GPS navigation technology under the Garmin-Asus name.

The three Pharos, Inventec GPS smartphones also make use of Microsoft Live Search, which provides information such as traffic conditions, gas prices, movie times and weather.

They all use Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1, giving users access to Outlook email, and the ability to use other mobile versions of Microsoft Office, including Excel Mobile, PowerPoint Mobile and Word Mobile.

The most advanced of the three new handsets, the Pharos Traveler 137, boasts a 3.5-inch screen and will be available globally in the first half of this year for $599.95, the companies said in a news release.

The screen on the device provides high quality 480 x 800 resolution.

Other features include an on-board 3.0-megapixel camera that can also take video, and a second 0.3-megapixel camera for video calls.

The handset can work with a variety of wireless technologies, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, in addition to cellular technologies such as quad-band GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) 850/900/1800/1900, EDGE (Enhanced Data Rate for GSM Evolution), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), as well as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) at 384-kilobits per second or HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) at 7.2-megabits per second and HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) at 2-megabits per second.

Talk time on the device is up to 4 hours, with 200 hours of standby. The handset also includes a USB 2.0 slot and a Micro SD card slot. It weighs 4.9 ounces.

The other two handsets, the Pharos Traveler 117 and Traveler 127, have slightly lower-end components than the 137 and cost less, at US$529.95 each. The handsets share mostly the same wireless technologies for talk and data.

The 117 sports a 2.8-inch screen that covers its entire face, but with lower resolution than the 137 at 480 x 640. The handset weighs 4.8 ounces and has talk time of 7.5 hours on GSM, 5 hours on WCDMA and 200 hours of standby.

The handset also carries two cameras, a 2.0-megapixel camera with video function as well as a secondary 0.3-megapixel camera for video calls.

The 127 carries a smaller screen at 2.5-inches but adds a QWERTY keypad for easy data use. The screen resolution is 320 x 240. The smartphone shares mostly the same specifications as the 117, but weighs a tad more at 5.11 ounces.

More information on the devices can be found on Pharos' Web site.

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Dejal Simon 2.5 Mac OS X server monitoring tool updated

Dejal Systems has updated Simon its server monitoring tool for Mac OS X.

Simon 2.5 checks web pages, FTP and DNS servers, local or remote ports or volumes, and other services for changes or failures, and notifies you via email, sound, speech, Twitter, SMS, HTML reports, and other means.

Services include Web (HTTP) to check web pages (including secure ones, and supporting POST and cookies), FTP files and directory listings, DNS, Ping servers, see Twitter updates, watch a local Application, capture screenshots, watch for System Log Errors, and more.

Additionally, you can add your own services via custom port connections, AppleScripts, shell scripts, or Perl, PHP, Python and more.

Simon 2.5 checks web pages, FTP and DNS servers and more.

New features in version 2.5 include SMS notifier plug-in, to send text messages via Clickatell or email, Web notifier plug-in (like the Web service) to post to a web-based script, added S.M.A.R.T. Status, Drive Status, and Pulse services, and a Post to Simon Wall notifier.

Also new is a Convert Domain/IP command to change a domain name into the corresponding IP address, or vice versa.

A full list of updated features can be found on the Dejal home page.

Simon 2.5 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later and is a Universal Binary.

Simon 2.5 costs $29.95, around 20, a full-featured demo is also available.

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Psystar files amended complaint against Apple

Mac clone-maker Psystar on Thursday filed an amended complaint against Apple, arguing that Apple is misusing copyright by tying its OS X operating system to Mac computers.

Judge William Alsup gave Psystar the the green light last week to file an amended complaint in its long-running legal battle with Apple over running OS X on non-Apple hardware, removing the antitrust complaint and moving ahead with the copyright misuse case.

To prove its copyright misuse claim, Psystar refers to Apple's End User License Agreement, which states that users agree to install the Mac OS only on an Apple computer. The lawsuit claims this overextends the boundaries of the Mac OS copyright.

In the amended complaint, Psystar also quoted Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, Phil Schiller's, statements in 2005 that Apple wouldn't do anything to stop people from running Windows on a Mac, but it wouldn't allow the Mac OS to run on non-Apple hardware.

To prevent someone from running OS X on another system, Psystar alleges that Apple embeds code in the operating system to cause a kernel panic if non-Apple hardware is recognized.

Psystar originally sought to charge Apple under antitrust laws because it said Apple "possesses monopoly power in the Mac OS market." However, the antitrust argument didn't pass muster with Judge Alsup.

In dismissing the antitrust charges, the judge said "Psystar's allegations are internally contradictory."

Apple filed a copyright infringement suit against Psystar in July 2008, starting the back-and-forth legal battle that has lasted for almost eight months.

The trial is set to begin on November 9, 2009.

Apple has 20 days to respond to the amended complaint.

The Psystar Open Computer, as seen in the Macworld Lab

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Woman sues Microsoft over XP downgrade charge

A woman has filed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft over a US$59.25 charge for downgrading her Windows Vista PC to XP.

In a suit filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, Los Angeles resident Emma Alvarado is asking that Microsoft return the fee she paid for downgrading a Lenovo PC with the Windows Vista Business OS preinstalled to Windows XP Professional.

Alvarado purchased the PC on June 20, 2008, according to the suit.

Alvarado also is inviting others who have paid fees to downgrade to XP to join the suit (PDF) and is requesting refunds for them as well.

Many customers who purchased PCs with Vista installed opted to downgrade to XP because they weren't happy with Vista's "numerous problems," according to Alvarado's suit.

"As a result, many consumers would prefer to purchase a new computer preinstalled with the Windows XP operating system or at least not preinstalled with the Vista operating system," according to the filing.

The suit goes on to accuse Microsoft of using its "market power to take advantage of consumer demand for the Windows XP operating system" by requiring people to buy Vista PCs and then charging them to downgrade to the OS they really want.

This action violates Washington state's Unfair Business Practices Act and the Consumer Protection Act, according to the suit.

Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster said the company has not been served with the lawsuit, so it would be premature to comment about it.

When Microsoft released Vista to consumers on 20 January, 2007, it gave people the option to downgrade to XP if they weren't satisfied with the new OS.

As a result of overall dissatisfaction with Vista, Microsoft had to extend the amount of time it allowed original equipment manufacturers and custom system builders to sell PCs with XP preinstalled.

The company also is facing a class-action suit in the same court over the "Windows Vista Capable" sticker program that let customers know a PC could run Windows Vista. Customers said they found the program misleading.

While the damages that could be awarded in the suit would likely not be a large sum for a multibillion-dollar company, the suit brings up a larger question of whether Microsoft will allow Windows 7 users to downgrade to XP.

Microsoft so far has not said publicly whether it will, and no one from the company was available for immediate comment on Friday.

Vista, being the OS released before Windows 7, would be the logical choice for a downgrade from Windows 7. However, given customers' dissatisfaction with Vista, Microsoft could offer an XP downgrade as well.

Al Gillen, an analyst with research firm IDC, said it would be a "very risky thing" for Microsoft to do to eliminate downgrade rights with Windows 7.

He said it would alienate Microsoft's customer base to not continue giving customers an option if they're not happy with a new version of the Windows client.

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Tonight's iTunes Live from London: Snow Patrol 'sold out'

Apple has informed us that tonight's s appearance of indie superstars Snow Patrol at the Apple Store on Regent Street has sold out.

Although the Live from London gigs are free a number of tickets have been available to competition winners limiting the chances of fans turning up on the night and getting in.

Snow Patrol are about to start an extensive European tour and for the lucky few tonight's Apple showcase will be a chance to see the band up close and personal.

The intimate show will be performed and recorded at Apple's state-of-the-art theatre at the Apple Store on Regent Street, and the set will also be available for download on iTunes.

Since its inception in April 2005, iTunes Live from London has featured performances from artists including R.E.M., Stereophonics, James Blunt, Duffy, The Fratellis, Sugababes, Kaiser Chiefs, Richard Ashcroft, David Gray, Keane, Elbow, The Kooks and Bloc Party.

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Google criticises Italian Internet legislation

A Google spokesman Friday warned that a proposed new law that would force Italian Internet providers to block access to Web sites that incite or justify criminal behavior could threaten freedom of expression and prove unworkable in practice.

The new rule was proposed by Senator Gianpiero D'Alia, of the centrist UDC party, after newspapers reported that the social-networking site Facebook was hosting fan groups for imprisoned Mafia bosses Salvatore Riina and Bernardo Provenzano.

The bill, which gives the interior ministry the power to order Internet providers to block criminal content within 24 hours or face fines of between €50,000 ($64,000) and €250,000 ($321,000), was given initial assent in the Senate last week.

"The order is not directed at the content creator or the person running the platform but at the company that provides Internet connectivity," Marco Pancini, the head of institutional relations for Google Italy, said in a telephone interview.

"Those companies are not in a position to remove a single item, so they would have to black out the entire platform."

The measure, originally aimed at Facebook, could also have dire consequences for YouTube, the video-sharing site owned by Google.

"The law concerns all the Internet hosting platforms that host user-generated content. Our worry is about its possible effect on the entire Internet ecosystem," Pancini said.

The Google spokesman said the new rule was being rushed into law in response to the furor over the Mafia-praising Facebook sites without consultation with Internet operators and users.

Pancini added he was worried that the law didn't specify who would conduct the monitoring of potentially illegal content or how it should be done.

"I have no idea what will happen if this bill is approved. There are already Europe-wide regulations governing online trade, which were introduced after consultation with the interested parties. This bill won't solve the problem and its consequences are difficult to predict," Pancini said.

D'Alia's bill calls on the interior ministry to consult with the ministries of economic development and public administration to define the technical requirements for filtering controversial content.

"It's rather worrying that the filtering systems are not clearly defined in the law. Self-policing by the community, using the wisdom of the masses, is a better solution," Pancini said.

Facebook has also expressed anxiety about the new legislation. It was "akin to shutting down the country's entire railroad network because of some objectionable graffiti in one train station," Facebook spokeswoman Debbie Frost told the Bloomberg news agency Friday.

Pancini said he was confident the government would listen to the objections being raised by the industry. "I'm optimistic that our observations will be taken into consideration and that we will be able to open a dialogue with the government," he said.

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Qualcomm, HP among new Symbian partners

Hewlett-Packard, News Corp.'s MySpace.com division, Bank of America and even Nokia rival Qualcomm have joined the foundation that was formed last year to shepherd the new open-source version of the Symbian mobile operating system.

The companies are among 14 Symbian Foundation members newly announced on Wednesday, bringing the group's membership to 78.

The Symbian Foundation played up industry support for its emerging operating system in advance of the Mobile World Congress taking place in Barcelona next week.

Nokia, which uses Symbian-based software on most of its devices, last year bought out the joint venture that develops the OS and said it would form a foundation to eventually make the software open-source.

The open-source platform is expected to come out by June 2010. Nokia's bold move came after the mobile software world was jolted by the success of Apple's iPhone and other developments. Google's open-source Android OS is emerging as a competitor to Symbian, joining Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Palm's recently announced Linux-based webOS.

Qualcomm may be a key player for the foundation to bring on board. Although some Qualcomm chipsets have gone into Symbian devices, the San Diego-based mobile technology company engaged in a years-long feud with Nokia over 3G (third-generation) patent licenses.

Also on Thursday, Qualcomm announced the Mobile Station Modem (MSM) 7227 chipset, which the company said will be able to run all leading mobile OSes, including Symbian.

The chipset is designed for mass-market smartphones priced below $150 and is expected to be available later this year.

Other new Symbian Foundation members include GPS (Global Positioning System) vendor SiRF Technology, memory card giant SanDisk, mobile Wi-Fi vendor Nanoradio, and mobile embedded software developer Omron Software.

However, membership in the Symbian Foundation doesn't mean companies have spurned other operating systems. Among the new members, Qualcomm, SiRF and Omron each also belong to the Open Handset Alliance, the industry group formed to support the Android platform.

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Pirate Bay copyright infringement trial to start on Monday

The trial against four people involved in running The Pirate Bay, one of the most widely used BitTorrent trackers for music, movies and software, will start on Monday in Stockholm.

The four, who could end up in jail, are charged with facilitating and aiding copyright infringement.

According to the charges, revenue made from advertising on the Web site totals at least 1.2 million Swedish kronor ($140,000).

Swedish prosecutor Hkan Roswall is calling for The Pirate Bay four to forfeit that sum to Swedish authorities.

The entertainment industry also wants damages for copyright infringement. Hollywood, for example, wants 93 million Swedish kronor, according to a claim filed by industry organization the Motion Picture Association in May last year.

The recording industry is seeking €1.6 million (US$2.06 million) in damages, according to a claim filed in March last year by industry organization IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).

The trial has been a long time coming. Swedish police raided the company that hosted The Pirate Bay servers in May 2006, and charges where filed in January 2008.

The trial is expected to last for 13 days. But no one expects the case to be settled in the district court.

A final verdict should not be expected until five years from now, Marianne Levin, a lawyer and expert in intellectual-property law, said in an interview with PC fr Alla, an IDG publication in Sweden.

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Ultrasone brings German premium headphone range to UK

German company Ultrasone, has lunched a premium range of headphones in the UK.

The "scientifically designed" S-Logic HFI uses "natural surround sound technology" to improve sound quality, which Ultrasone claims pushes sound around your ear using decentralised driver positioning which makes it appear as though you are listening to speaker’s metres away.

Ultrasone’s HFI range is designed with Ultra-Low-Emission (ULE), which produces a low-frequency magnetic field, compared, says Ultrasone, to traditional earphones, which can produce four times the maximum recommended levels of ULE.

The headphones also feature MU Metal, which is metal shielding designed to reduce magnetic radiation by up to 98 per cent compared to current headphones, says Ultrasone.

Potentially, the risk of causing hearing damage can be reduced as the S-Logic design projects the sound pressure at reduced levels by up to 40 per cent (3-4 db).

The entry level HFI–15G costs 79.99, the HFI-450 99.99, HFI–580 144.99, HFI-680 184.99, HFI-780 194.99 and the premium end HFI-2200 229.99.

In the UK, Ultrasone headphones are now available online from stores such as Amazon.

German company Ultrasone, has lunched its premium range of headphones in the UK.

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Garmin-Asus to release low-cost Eee Phone this year

The Eee Phone, a smartphone that takes its name from popular computer products by Asustek Computer (Asus) including the Eee PC netbook line, will be among the early handsets released by the new Garmin-Asus mobile phone business the two companies announced last week.

GPS (global positioning system) device maker Garmin and Asus said the first Garmin-Asus handset will be revealed in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress next week.

But it will not be the Eee Phone.

The Eee Phone will be a low-cost smartphone and will be announced later this year, an Asustek representative said on Thursday.

Several news reports have speculated that the Eee Phone will be the first Asustek offering to use Google's Android software, but Asus has not confirmed anything yet.

When the new Garmin-Asus name was announced last week, the heads of the two companies said their handsets will use a variety of operating systems, including Microsoft Windows Mobile, Linux and Android.

The first handset they plan to deliver under the Garmin-Asus name is the Garmin-Asus Nuvifone G60, which will be a refresh of the original Nuvifone G60 that Garmin commissioned Asustek to build last year.

Another Garmin-Asus mobile handset will be announced at the Mobile World Congress as well, but will likely launch in 2010, Asustek executives have said.

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