The Japanese unit of U.S. computer maker Dell Inc. said Thursday it will supply some 56,000 personal computers to Japan’s Defense Agency.

Terms were not disclosed but Kyodo News agency said the deal was worth some 4 billion yen ($34 million).

Source: AP

A company called Orb Networks announced today a new software product called DVR Everywhere, which enables users to play and program their television recordings for free anywhere in the world from a wide range of networked devices — including work PCs, WiFi-enabled laptops, and mobile phones on any carrier network.

The software works only with TiVo Series 2 DVRs.

Source: InformationWeek

Slashdot added a new bookmark function that logged in users can use to maintain public lists of URLs for tagging and sharing with the world.

By releasing the bookmarks options Slashdot intent is that this system eventually be used to help find content for the mainpage. So of course the functionality has overlap with other sites (del.icio.us). But the intentions is to use user bookmarks & tags as another input channel for editors picking stories for the audience.

Firefox 1.5.0.2 provides native support for Macintosh with Intel Core processors, and stability and security enhancements that are part of our ongoing program to provide a safer Internet experience for our users.

Download Firefox 1.5.0.2

Pirates running counterfeit copies of Windows Vista won’t see its new visual interface, known as “Aero,” which includes translucent windows, animated flipping between open programs, and icons that show thumbnails of opened files, the company confirmed Thursday.

According to the Vista Product Guide, a 313-page document that was briefly posted, then pulled by Microsoft, “Windows Aero is only available to Genuine Advantage customers.”

Thursday, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the restriction.

Source: InformationWeek

Sprint Nextel Corp. , the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, on Thursday introduced a wireless service to help parents find their children, as it makes a bid to expand its presence in the family market.

The service lets parents look at maps on their cellphones or computers to locate their children who also carry mobile phones. Parents can also program the service to automatically send them text messages at specific times each day to confirm that their children have arrived at home or in school.

Source: Reuters

About 102,000 Disney branded portable DVD players are being recalled because the battery packs sold with the players can overheat and possibly burst when recharging, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday.

The commission said there have been 17 reports of batteries overheating with three reports of minor skin irritations and three reports of minor property damage.

The DVD players were sold at Walt Disney Co. theme parks, through the Disney catalog, and at discount and electronics stores nationwide from April 2005 through March 2006 for between $70 and $130.

Source: Reuters

AT&T Inc. and an Internet advocacy group are waging in federal court a privacy battle that could expose the reach of the Bush administration’s secretive domestic wiretapping program.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation said it obtained documents from a former AT&T technician showing that the National Security Agency is capable of monitoring all communications on AT&T’s network.

Source: AP

Dell is exploring ways to branch out into on-site IT support and repair services.

The Round Rock, Texas-based computer maker is in talks with Reliable IT, Springfield, Va.; OnForce, New York; and ServicePower, Louisville, Ky., according to executives of the services companies. Reliable IT, in conjunction with OnForce, offers direct, nationwide IT services. ServicePower is a field-logistics automation company that optimizes the scheduling and deployment of field-service calls.

Dell declined to comment. However, a source familiar with Dell’s plans said the company is “very serious” about finding a way to add new revenue through services and isn’t ruling out any options.

A Las Vegas hotelier is to test two one-third scale versions of an inflatable space motel, New Scientist reports.

The project is based on a scrapped NASA design dubbed “TransHab”. The full-fat version offers 330 cubic metres of flying hotel, protected from space debris attack by a “30-centimetre-thick multilayered polymer and Kevlar hull”.

The two structures will, all being well, orbit for several years to allow full testing and evaluation.

Source: The Register

The debut of shock jock Howard Stern on Sirius Satellite Radio in January caused traffic to soar on the company’s Web site to where it surpassed that of competitor XM Satellite Radio for the first time, a Web metrics firm said Wednesday.

Sirius’s traffic soared to 2.3 million unique visitors in January, compared to XM’s 1.6 million, Nielsen/NetRatings said. Sirius managed to outpace XM for the next two months. In March, the company had 1.9 million visitors, a 188 percent increase over the 666,000 visitors reported the same month a year ago.

Source: InfoemarionWeek

The Beatles are preparing to sell their songs online after years of refusing to take part in the Internet music boom, according to testimony given by the head of their record company.

Neil Aspinall, a former Beatles road manager and managing director of Apple Corps, was a witness in the company’s trademark lawsuit against Apple Computer.

He said that the company was digitally remastering the entire Beatles catalog, which would pave the way for selling the songs online.

Source: Reuters