An anti-spyware consortium has collapsed weeks after its decision to admit 180solutions, the controversial adware firm to its ranks. The final demise of the Consortium of Anti-Spyware Technology vendors (Coast) this week follows the exit of founding members CA, Alluria and Webroot in February. Each cited a lack of faith in Coast’s ability to develop effective anti-spyware standards.

Source: The Register

RealNetworks(R), Inc., the leading creator of digital media services and software, announced today that its shares in MusicNet have been sold to Baker Capital. With its critically-acclaimed Rhapsody(R) internet jukebox and premium radio services, RealNetworks is the market leader in online music subscription services with more than 700,000 paying subscribers at the end of 2004.

“While we’re certainly proud of our history with MusicNet, we are quite pleased with the sale of our legacy investment in the company,” said Rob Glaser, CEO of RealNetworks. “When we founded MusicNet in 1999, it provided a catalyst for opening up the digital rights vaults and access to legal online music for all consumers. However, once we acquired Listen.com in 2003 and started offering services directly to consumers, MusicNet was no longer of the same strategic importance to us.”

Building on the popularity of the Tungsten(TM) E handheld, which has sold nearly 2 million units worldwide, palmOne, Inc. today announced the Tungsten E2 handheld. With the additions of a brighter color screen, flash memory, Bluetooth(R) wireless technology and a more powerful battery, the Tungsten E2 provides upscale, premium features at a budget-conscious price $249.

The Tungsten E2 becomes a portable MP3 player. Users simply plug in an expansion card loaded with their favorite MP3s and use the built-in speaker or stereo headphones. Photos or video clips of friends and family can be carried across town or around the globe by inserting an SD Card from a digital camera to show off photos on the Tungsten E2

Microsoft is investigating the report of a flaw that could open systems using its Access or Office software up to attack.

The vulnerability, which was not one of eight patched by Microsoft on Tuesday, is in the Jet database engine component, according to an advisory posted the same day by security company Secunia. It could enable an intruder to remotely execute malicious code on a vulnerable PC, Secunia said.

Microsoft has not confirmed the existence of the security hole, which potentially affects software including Microsoft Office and the Microsoft Access database program.

Secunia rated the problem “highly critical,” noting that exploit code for the flaw had been shared on a public mailing list.

Source: News.com