Windows OneCare Debuts

Windows OneCare is an all-in-one subscription service that includes antivirus, anti-spyware, PC tuning, backup tools, and support, for the relatively low price of $49.95 per year. I say low because if all those items were bought piecemeal from different vendors, the price could be a lot higher. The goal of the OneCare program is to simplify the process of keeping your PC safe and backing up your data. For your average computer user, safe and responsible computing is too complicated and too time-consuming a task, so it just doesn’t get done. The competitive pricing of OneCare leaves competitors like Norton and McAfee scrambling to compete. McAfee is preparing a similar service code-named "Falcon," while Symantec has been working on a singular solution dubbed "Genesis," according to BetaNews. However, it seems, for once, Microsoft has beaten its competition to the punch. OneCare is the perfect recommendation for that not-so-savvy user, as well as anyone who would rather use their computer than spend all their time worrying about protecting it.

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How are we supposed to believe that the MPAA are the "good guys" when they break the laws, too? Recently, it has been revealed that the MPAA hired a hacker to steal email correspondence and trade secrets from TorrentSpy.com, a search engine that directs users to links for downloading BitTorrent content. The hacker was paid $15,000 to collect "non-public information" about TorrentSpy and their related websites. "We don’t care how you get it," said one MPAA executive. After turning in copies of "private emails between Torrentspy employees, detailed information on the company’s servers, and billing information," to the MPAA, the informant had a change of heart and contacted TorrentSpy, who is now suing the MPAA.

TorrentSpy doesn’t host illegal content — it points to it. It’s a SEARCH engine, not a host. Still, it does make it that much easier for people to find illegal content, so no wonder the MPAA wants to take them out. However, the MPAA has clearly broken the law, so why should we listen to their pleas asking people to stop all the illegal downloading? If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, it’s a digital age — people want their content when they want, in whatever format they want, & on any device they want to use. The MPAA & the RIAA should have embraced technology, hired programmers and developers to build websites to house their extensive collections, and offered legal, protected downloads to the masses. Instead, they fought and fought and kicked and screamed, and iTunes had to come to the rescue.

Luckily for us, TV stations seem to be learning from the mistakes of those that went before, and are beginning to offer all kinds of ways to watch TV, according to TechCruch. Bring it on!

One of the new features of Windows Vista will be the Windows Sidebar. In preparation for the release, a gadget gallery has already been created. Though sparse right now, the call is out to any developers interested in submitting a gadget for the sidebar. Of course, the gadget gallery website looks awful in Firefox! However, I have to admit, the Windows Sidebar looks pretty hot.

Dell and Google have announced a partnership where Dell PCs will now come with some pre-installed Google software, specifically a Google toolbar and a co-branded internet home page. The Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, says "there’s probably more to come," calling this partnership, "the first of several agreements." Well, at least that’s some pre-installed gunk that I don’t have to remove.

Pando is a new software app that lets you bypass email file attachment size limits by letting you send large files for free. If you already use a service like YouSendIt for this task, take note, Pando is different. With YouSendIt, you can send files up to 100 MB for free (with a paid account, you can send up to 2 GB for $30/month), but Pando will let you send files of ANY SIZE for free. However, while the service is in beta, you can only send up to 1 GB. Another Pando feature is that you can attach and send whole folders. The files are sent directly to the recepient’s computer (hmm, anyone want to share movies?). The only drawback is that, of course, Pando is software you must download, and anyone who wants to receive files from you must download it as well. Still, the software only takes up 1.6 MB of disk space, and can’t any grandma install a program these days? The files are sent over an encrypted connection using BitTorrent technology. And you said there were no legitimate uses for BitTorrent, Mr. MPAA/RIAA man…uh, just kidding about the movies….

Update: I’ve been using this for a few days now, and it’s awesome! It’s so easy to use, has a nice UI, and even the "non-techie" on the other end had no problems with it. Love it.

In Windows Vista, the included browser will not be IE7, but IE7+. This version of IE will include Windows Vista-only features like Protected Mode, Parental Controls, and improved Network Diagnostics. The features take advantage of the big changes in Microsoft’s next OS, and couldn’t really be brought to downlevel versions. Strangely enough, the commenters on the blog entry regarding IE7+ are arguing about the name instead of discussing the features. What’s wrong with "IE7+"? I don’t get it…

Well, maybe not just for dummies, but for grandmas and grandpas and luddites and more, there comes a new service called Scandoo. The service acts as a front-end to Ask, Google, MSN Search, and Yahoo by scanning your search results in order to protect you from visiting websites that spread viruses or spyware, as well as to protect you from viewing offensive
content. To use Scandoo, you just visit the Scandoo homepage and enter your search query. You can select which engine you want your results pulled from by clicking the bullet next to that engine’s logo (Google is the default, but of course). Safe results have a green checkmark next to them, dangerous ones a red "X". Wanna see?

Navio Systems is a startup based in Cupertino, Calif., the hometown of Apple, and this company is going to make waves. They have designed a system that stores the rights associated with a piece of content (ie. music, a game, a movie, etc.) within the file itself. Your rights to access this content is stored in a "digital locker" that tracks what you’ve purchased. The big deal about doing DRM this way is that Navio doesn’t care where that content came from — which means anyone can sell music, games, videos, etc. Anyone who? Well, there are already some big names going ga-ga over this technology: Fox, Sony, Disney/Pixar, Verizon, and Cingular are early Navio customers. Instead of duking it out with companies like iTunes about the prices, the rights-owners can just sell the content themselves, knowing it’s protected. By the end of next month, Navio will offer software to its customers (those big names) that will allow their users (like you and me) to play copy-protected videos on the iPod — ones that weren’t purchased from the iTunes music store! Stay tuned…

With Amazon’s flashy (or should I say AJAX-y) new e-reader you can read your purchased books online, print pages, add notes, bookmark pages, search for words or phrases in the book, view single pages or continuous pages by scrolling, and zoom in and out. The greatest thing about it, besides its sleek look and ease of use, is that you can upgrade your physical books to a digital version. If you buy a book that is in the Amazon Upgrade program, you are given the option to upgrade to online access at the end of the purchase process. Nice! Too bad it’s not a free upgrade…still, the one book I had available to upgrade was only $1.28. Not horrible. You can see the new e-reader in action here.

Under works at Google is a new voice patent that will provide search results from a voice-activated query. Unlike current voice recognition systems, whose limited vocabulary requires users to speak slowly and clearly, and often leads to frustration, the Google voice system will allow for natural-language queries. "Junk" words like a, an, the, of, etc. will be filtered out and only the relevant keywords will be queried (just like Google.com). Although the demo page is still up at Google Labs, the demo is no longer active. Still, the Google phone number (650-623-6706) for search queries is published there and I may just go ahead and proactively program that into my phone. The real-world application of this patent would allow you to call the Google Search number from your cell, speak your search phrase, and then the search results would be sent to your cell where you could click on them.