Libe Goad

On Tuesday, Macromedia quietly published a test version of its new Flash 8 player,code-named “Maelstrom” on its Web site. The download site says that the player is currently in public beta and is being made available so consumers and professional users can test their content in the new player and make sure there are no […]

News about Thursdays terrorist attack in London spread across the Web like wildfire with up-to-the-minute details on news and blog sites. A new form of online news outlet seems to have emerged as well—photo sharing sites such as Flickr, which encourage users to share photos and comments in a communal setting. After four bombs rocked […]

Just as Microsoft is allegedly starting to dabble in voice over IP, a third-party plug-in for Skype allows the VOIP company to dabble in Microsoft, so to speak, by integrating the service with Internet Explorer and Outlook e-mail. Beta versions of the two plug-ins appeared Tuesday on Share Skype, a site that attracts developers and […]

Following the recent revelation that a security breach potentially exposed 40 million credit cards to data theft, a class-action suit was filed Monday against CardSystems Solutions, MasterCard and Visa on the behalf of California credit card holders and businesses accepting credit card payments. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges that CardSystems Solutions, […]

Google on Monday introduced two new elements to its Video Search beta: a plug-in application that lets users watch videos in the browser and access to user-uploaded videos, which the company has been collecting since April. For the average Web user, the Google Video Viewer is designed to make video accessible in a way never […]

The Supreme Court Monday handed the entertainment industry a major win in its ongoing battle to curb Internet piracy. In the MGM vs. Grokster case, judges voted unanimously that software companies will be held liable when consumers use the service to illegally download music and movies, overturning an earlier ruling that sheltered peer-to-peer services from […]

BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen on Monday called Microsoft Researchs attempt to create its own version of the person-to-person application “vaporware” and “complete garbage.” In Cohens blog, he said Microsoft Corp.s boast that the new P2P protocol, codenamed Avalanche, would fix transfer rate problems and disconnections was unfounded. Cohen added that since the Microsoft experiments were […]

Yahoo on Tuesday bought Dialpad Communications, potentially turning the longstanding Internet portal into a communications vehicle that some say will rival Skype. A Yahoo representative said the company will expand the recently announced voice options in its instant messaging service, allowing users to make both PC-to-PC calls and outbound and inbound calls to the PSTN […]

Nokia announced Monday that it will be working with Apple to create a new browser for its Series 60 smart phones. The open-source browser will use the same components used in the Safari Web browser. “Apple is pleased to assist Nokia in creating their new Series 60 browser based on the same KHTML open source […]

Vonage and router-manufacturer Linksys have partnered to create what they hope will be an offer customers cant refuse. Starting on June 12, and for six weeks after, consumers will be able to trade in any router for one of Linksys Wireless-G routers with two phone ports for VOIP for free after-rebates, when signing up for […]