JBoss, a unit of Red Hat, unveiled an upgrade of its Java application server on Monday that includes enhancements to its clustering and messaging platform services, and better support for Web services.

The company previewed the JBoss Application Server 5.0 Monday at the JBoss World user conference in Berlin. JBoss designed the improvements to the open-source platform to provide better support for rich-client applications, and components found within service-oriented architectures.

Core technologies include support for Web services that comply with the Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition. JBoss Web services are compatible with the Microsoft .Net platform.

Source: InformationWeek

Web sites that publish inflammatory information written by other parties cannot be sued for libel, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The ruling in favor of free online expression was a victory for a San Diego woman who was sued by two doctors for posting an allegedly libelous e-mail on two Web sites.

Some of the Internet’s biggest names, including Amazon.com, America Online Inc., eBay Inc., Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., took the defendant’s side out of concern that a ruling against her would expose them to liability.

In reversing an appellate court’s decision, the state Supreme Court ruled that the Communications Decency Act of 1996 provides broad immunity from defamation lawsuits for people who publish information on the Internet that was gathered from another source.

Source: AP

Reports that Office 2007 will sport an anti-piracy “kill switch” that can disable the upcoming application suite after it’s activated are incorrect, a Microsoft executive said Monday.

As with previous versions of the productivity bundle, Office 2007 does include an activation scheme that requires users to authenticate the product key either online or by telephone, said Ashim Jaidka, the director of Office Genuine Advantage. OGA is the umbrella program for Office product activation and validation.

“Activation technology is not new to Microsoft Office,” said Jaidka in an e-mail. “It is important to note the distinction between activation and validation.”

Under Office 2007’s activation rules, users can launch a suite application up to 25 times without entering the product key. Once that launch allowance is exhausted, however, the applications slip into what Microsoft dubs “reduced functionality mode,” under which the user cannot create, edit, or save documents. Viewing and printing of documents, however, are allowed. Office 2003, released three years ago, gives users a grace of 50 launches, twice as many as Office 2007 will allow.

“In reduced-functionality mode, 2007 Office programs function more like viewers,” stated a support document posted last week.

Source: InformationWeek

Businesses could soon have more hosted applications to choose from following a new program from Microsoft being launched initially in Europe this week.

The software maker is partnering with managed hosting companies to set up “incubation centers” that will offer services to software vendors to help them adapt their applications and business models to the software-as-a-service (SAAS) model of online applications.

The first incubation centers are opening in Europe this week, by NTT Europe Online in the U.K. and France, and by 7global in the U.K. Other incubation centers will follow in Asia and North America in the coming months, Microsoft representatives say.

Source: Yahoo

Newly christened CodeGear, Borland Software’s subsidiary offering developer tools, will make its first major product announcement on Monday.

Set to be unveiled is the company’s JBuilder 2007 IDE for Java, open source and the Web, formerly code-named “Peloton.” The highlight of this version is it delivers on Borland’s pledge to base the environment on the open source Eclipse platform. It is built on the Eclipse 3.2 core.

JBuilder 2007 integrates with Borland application lifecycle management products including the Together modeling tool and StarTeam, for change management.

JBuilder will be generally available later this quarter; JBuilder 2006 customers will be able to migrate existing applications to the new IDE.

The Enterprise version of JBuilder is $1,999 for a new user and $999 for upgrading existing users. The Professional version costs $799 for new users and $479 for upgrades while the Developer version costs $399 for new users and $199 to upgrade.

Source: Yahoo

Internet media company Yahoo Inc. said on Monday at least seven U.S. newspaper groups will use its technology to sell advertising and offer search functions on the Internet sites of more than 150 dailies.

Yahoo aims to expand its reach into local markets, viewed as a key growth channel for the newspaper industry as it faces circulation declines and a migration of readers to the Internet and other media.

In a key element of the deal, advertisers who list jobs in any of the partner newspapers will also be able to post them on Yahoo’s HotJobs Web site, potentially widening the appeal of print help-wanted ads. Terms were not disclosed.

Source: Reuters

Samsung and other manufacturers are working to reduce one of the chronic irritations with LCD TVs: blurry images.

A new technology refreshes TV images at 120 to 100 hertz, or 120 to 100 times a second, versus the 60 hertz rate of typical LCDs (liquid crystal displays). This effectively doubles the number of images per second, which leads to a smoother visual presentation to human eyes. Known as motion-compensated frame interpolation, or MCFI, the technology is just starting to appear in high-end TVs.

The additional images, moreover, aren’t static repeats of the image that came before them. Instead, the new images are composites of two successive images. The TV’s internal microprocessors try to compensate for what the additional frame might have looked like had it been inserted into the film.

Source: News.com

Webroot Software Inc., known for its anti-spyware program Spy Sweeper, is bringing back a product to help parents limit where and how long their children go online.

Child Safe joins Web filtering programs like Net Nanny, CYBERsitter and ContentProtect in the parental-control arena. The program is listed for $39.95 for a one-year subscription for use on up to three computers.

One of Webroot’s early products was a similar program, but it was discontinued because demand at the time wasn’t heavy. Amid concerns of online predators finding teens through social networking sites or chat rooms, the time is right to bring it out again, CEO David Moll said.

Source: AP