April 07, 2006, 1:38 PM PDT
Ableton releases Live 5.2
Posted by: Jasmine France

Today, Ableton announced the availability of Live 5.2. The update brings immediate native support to Intel-based Macs and is among the first professional audio applications on the market with the Universal Binary designation, which basically means it runs on Intel-based Macs. If you already own Live 5, you can update to the latest version for $49. Of course, version 6 is also due out this year (Q3), so you may want to wait for that. If you're purchasing Live for the first time, U.S. pricing is $499 for the boxed version or $469 for the download.

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April 07, 2006, 12:44 PM PDT
2006 New York Auto Show
Posted by: Wayne Cunningham

Coming on the heels of larger shows in Detroit and Geneva, it may seem like car makers won't have much to show in New York, but this year's list of debuts looks impressive. Scion has a new sport coupe concept dubbed Fuse, which will be interesting to see for Scion's sometimes radical styling and where it fits in relation to the tC. Scion will also be showing a special edition, Version 2.0 tC. Lexus will be showing off the 2008 LS 600h, a big luxury hybrid sedan. Acura's bringing a concept version of the MDX, which should be the basis for this car's much-needed update. Mitsubishi will introduce its Outlander SUV to the U.S. market at the show, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it will be fitted out. Mazda's introducing a CX-9, a presumably larger version of the CX-7 it showed at Detroit earlier this year. Suzuki brings its SX-4, which I covered in Geneva, to the States. This small SUV looked pretty impressive, and it will be good to see it here. Audi will be showing off a face-lifted 2007 A4 and S4, two cars that stay near the leading edge on technology. And there's a possibility of an Audi A8 and a Saab hybrid. We will be reporting from the show April 12 through the 14th during the press preview. The New York Auto Show is open to the public from April 14th through the 23rd.

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April 07, 2006, 12:01 PM PDT
Cross-platform Linux-Win32 virus reported
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

Antivirus vendor Kaspersky reports that it has seen a new cross-platform virus, dubbed Virus.Linux.Bi.a/Virus.Win32.Bi.a. According to the Russian antivirus vendor, this virus is "capable of infecting the different file formats used by Linux and Windows--ELF and PE format files, respectively." But fear not: Kaspersky emphasizes that Virus.Linux.Bi.a/Virus.Win32.Bi.a is a classic proof-of-concept virus, submitted directly to Kaspersky's labs and not found in the wild. Still, with all the fuss being made about Windows XP (and possibly Linux) running on Intel-based Macs, could a Mac-Win32 proof-of-concept virus be far behind?

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April 07, 2006, 11:51 AM PDT
Address bar security hole within IE
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

Security vendor Secunia announced a new security hole within Internet Explorer, one that could help phishers find their marks. The flaw exists because of the way the browser loads Web pages and Macromedia Flash animation. Microsoft is studying the report and suggests disabling Active Script within Internet Explorer as a workaround. A new round of Microsoft Security Patches will be issued on Tuesday, April 11, 2006, with at least one security patch addressing cumulative fixes for Internet Explorer. To find out if your browser is vulnerable, Secunia has a test URL available. For more on this flaw, see Joris Evers' coverage on News.com.

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April 07, 2006, 11:18 AM PDT
Rumor alert: Laptops on steroids
Posted by: Michelle Thatcher

Forget Major League Baseball; the rumor mill is pointing to signs that the laptop world has been doping. The allegations? First, Engadget has reported that Dell will be selling the XPS Mobile Concept PC that it showed off at CES earlier this year. The prototype we saw in January was somewhere between an all-in-one PC and a laptop; it had a 20.1-inch wide-screen display and a detachable keyboard, but it folded up neatly and could be carried like a briefcase by its built-in handle. Engadget claims the production model has bulked up to a hefty 18 pounds--suspiciously large for a portable computer.

Second, there are reports of abnormally large laptops from across the pond: our colleagues in the U.K. have reviewed the Samsung M70, a desktop-replacement laptop with a 19-inch display, and reported on the Acer 9800, which has a monster 20-inch display. The American market has yet to see such gargantuan goodies, and while we don't condone laptop doping, we do hope that both the Samsung and the Acer make the leap to our shores soon.

What do you think? Should the government intervene to stop the unnatural growth of these laptops, or would you welcome the prodigious portables with open arms?

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April 07, 2006, 11:08 AM PDT
Mitsubishi announces new HDTV models for '06
Posted by: John P. Falcone

Mitsubishi outlined its HDTV lineup for the upcoming model year at the company's line show in Huntington Beach, California, today. In addition to highlighting the new laser-based DLP TV prototype that made headlines earlier in the week, the company announced several new DLP and LCD rear-projection models ranging in size from 52 to 73 inches, as well as four new LCD flat-panels (37-inch and 46-inch models). Nearly all of the 2006 models boast 1080p resolution--of the highlighted TVs, only the 52-inch WD-52531 and 62-inch WD-62531 LCD rear-pros were 720p. And unlike the bulk of last year's Mitsubishis (rear-projection models), these 1080p HDTVs should be capable of accepting a 1080p input via HDMI. With 1080p-capable Blu-ray players and the PlayStation 3 just months away, that once-lofty spec is looking even more like a baseline for videophiles.

Unfortunately, Mitsubishi elected to withhold pricing and availability information until later in the year. Once that information is available, we'll pass it on to you.

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April 07, 2006, 10:54 AM PDT
Google Toolbar 2 beta for Firefox
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

Today Google released a new Google Toolbar 2 beta for Firefox users. With search built into Firefox, you might wonder why it's necessary to have a toolbar, but often I want to search Google News or Google Images and not the default Google search engine; the new toolbar allows me to direct my search queries to those companion sites directly. The Google Toolbar 2 beta for Firefox includes AutoLink, AutoFill, WordTranslator, SpellCheck, PageRank Display, Highlight Search Terms, and Word Find Buttons, and it adds RSS subscriptions, plus a preview of a new Safe Browsing (antiphishing) feature. Another new feature automatically opens your Gmail accounts whenever you click mailto links within a given page. See this support page for details on the individual features.

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