Report: Sony Music Japan, Sony Ericsson hacked

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

The onslaught against Sony apparently continues: this time hackers have reportedly targeted Sony Music Entertainment Japan and stolen information from thousands of Sony Ericsson’s eShop accounts.

Meanwhile, a Sony spokeswoman confirmed today that e-mails, phone numbers, and passwords of more than 8,000 accounts at Sony Music Greece had been stolen over the weekend.

“Sony Music Entertainment Greece learned late Sunday about a data breach involving certain Sony Music Greece Web sites” (which was reported yesterday), the statement said. “These sites, which were artist Web sites allowing fans to sign up for newsletters, were taken down immediately. Approximately 8,500 records containing e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, user names, and passwords were obtained; however, the sites did not offer any commerce activity and therefore no credit card data was involved. The affected sites were hosted by a third party and were not part of the Sony Music Entertainment network. Sony Music Entertainment Greece plans to re-launch the sites as soon as possible after further security review.”

It’s unknown who is behind that attack, which is one of a series targeting Sony sites in the wake of breach last month at Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) and Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) that exposed user data from more than 100 million accounts.

In the latest news, a Lebanese hacker group known as “Idahca” used an SQL injection attack to steal data from a Sony Ericsson eShop Web site, according to The Hacker News, which said “E-mail, password, and names of thousands of users were exposed via text file on Pastebin.” The link to the Sony Ericsson eShop site, its official online store, was down with a message that said “D’oh! The page you are looking for has gone walkabout. Sorry.” Meanwhile, there was no data on the Pastebin link provided by the report.

A Sony Ericsson Mobile spokesperson did not respond to an e-mail from CNET seeking comment. But Sony Ericsson Mobile spokeswoman Ivette Lopez Sisniega told PCWorld that records for about 2,000 customers, including names and e-mail addresses and a hashed version of their passwords, were compromised a the Canadian version of the Sony Ericsson eShop site. “Sony Ericsson has disabled this e-commerce website,” she is quoted as saying. “We can confirm that this is a standalone website and it is not connected to Sony Ericsson servers.”

And in yet another attack, a hacker group called “LulzSec” said it used an SQL Injection attack to grab information behind two sites associated with Sony Music Entertainment Japan, according to a report on The Hacker News.

“This isn’t a 1337 h4x0r, (elite hack) we just want to embarrass Sony some more,” the group wrote on its Pastebin post. “Stupid Sony, so very stupid.”

LulzSec announced the hack in a Tweet, which was picked up by The Hacker News. Of the two Sony sites listed by LulzSec, one was inaccessible midday today and the other was up.

A Sony spokeswoman said the company was looking into the Sony Music Entertainment Japan situation.

In addition to a distributed denial-of-service attack the group Anonymous launched on Sony in early April and the unconfirmed Sony Music Japan and Sony Ericsson hacks, there have been attacks on PSN, SOE, Sony Music Greece, Sony Music Indonesia, Sony’s Japanese ISP subsidiary So-net Entertainment, and Sony Thailand’s site.

Sony also had to take PSN down last week after finally restoring the service following the breach because of a log-in exploit. And Sony took PSN offline again today for maintenance work that the company says is not related to a security issue.

Updated 3:53 p.m. PT with Sony Ericsson confirmation that customer records were accessed.

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Skin of Mine helps monitor moles, skin conditions

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

(Credit: Skin of Mine)

Directed at the tens of millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans, or for those who want immediate dermatology-related diagnoses, Skin of Mine is a platform for measuring and monitoring moles and other skin conditions.

The app–updated in mid-May and compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad–is now available for $2.99.

The setup is simple: create a free account at SkinofMine.com, upload symptom photos to receive automated analyses, and pay on average $50 to receive a certified diagnosis directly from a Skin of Mine medical professional (these include doctors, nurse practitioners, and physicians’ assistants) of the user’s choice.

These “virtual house calls” rely on both the uploaded photos and the user’s answers to a medical form, which include details about location, sensation, bleeding, texture, family history, and longevity of condition. (Conditions analyzed include not just moles but acne, spider veins, vitiligo, psoriasis, etc.) An online ruler enables the user to standardize photo sizes for accurate measuring, and additional photos can then be uploaded and superimposed to track any changes.

Whether these virtual analyses (PDF) can ever be as good as in-person ones remains to be seen, but for those who are traveling in remote areas, can’t afford office visits, or need feedback immediately, Skin of Mine has the potential to be a lifesaver.

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Windows Phone 7 Marketplace app count bests BlackBerry?

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace (Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Microsoft announced today during a news event tied to a forthcoming Windows Phone 7 update that its Windows Phone Marketplace holds 18,000 apps.

While that’s peanuts compared to Android Market’s 200,000 apps and the iPhone App Store’s estimated 500,000 titles, it appears that Windows Phone 7 may actually have a similar or larger haul than BlackBerry App World, depending on how you count.

RIM’s online market hosts about 25,000 items, which is 7,000 more than the Marketplace. If we split hairs, 7,500 of those titles are visual themes and another 9,000 of them are e-books. Compare this to about 500 e-books (and no themes) for the Windows Phone (e-book number provided by Microsoft) and you’ve got arguably more traditional applications on the 7-month-old Marketplace.

There are a lot of caveats, however, like whether themes should and do truly count as apps, where e-books fit in, and if it really matters. In total, BlackBerry’s App World certainly has the greater number of items at this time, but that matters less when BlackBerry and Microsoft are both fighting it out to stay alive in an Android- and iPhone-dominated world.

While the quality of apps should count as much as the quantity–how many farting and lighter apps does one platform really need?–the fact of the matter is that consumers factor apps into their decisions when purchasing a smartphone. Microsoft’s Greg Sullivan, senior product manager of Windows Phone, said as much to CNET during a demo last week, and that confirmation helped fuel Microsoft’s future update to integrate apps into Hubs.

Windows Phone Marketplace does take the cake by one measure. It is the fastest-growing app store, according to Netherlands-based analysts Distimo (reported here). Still, the question remains if Microsoft can transform its growth spurt into volume, if it will be able to attract enough corporate and independent developers to make enough of a dent in consumers’ attention to start selling its phones en masse.

How important is an app store’s show of force to you? Share with us in the comments.

 

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B&N launches ‘simple’ touch-screen Nook (live blog)

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

Barnes and Noble CEO William Lynch unveils the new touch-screen Nook today at a New York event.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Editor’s note: We used Cover It Live for this event, so if you missed the live blog, you can still replay it in the embedded component below. Replaying the event will give you all the live updates along with commentary from our readers and CNET reporters. For those of you who just want the updates, we’ve included them in regular text here. To get the key points from today’s announcement, you can check out a summary of what got announced, in our story here.

For those of you interested in all the latest e-reader news, Barnes & Noble will be trotting out a new Nook this morning that may make the Kindle look so last year.

While we don’t know for certain just what kind of e-reader it will be, as we’ve written in the past, there are strong indications that it will be a touch-screen E Ink model that may be similar to the Kobo Wi-Fi Touch Edition e-reader announced on Monday.

We’re live-blogging the event from New York, so follow the press conference as it unfolds starting at 7 a.m. PT this morning.

Transcript of live blog starts here:

7:01-7:02 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): VIP seats in front are now filled. They’ve told us to silence phones. Two minutes, announcer says.

7:03 a.m. PT (John Falcone): As a reminder, here’s the Nook Color news from last month: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20056488-1.html

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

7:04-7:08 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Lights going down. Ad for Nook Color coming on. I’ve seen this ad. CEO William Lynch coming on stage. Important day in company’s history, he says. B&N has 25 percent market share of e-book market, he says. Talking up Nook Color…best-selling tablet in U.S. On to Nook ecosystem…Reading apps…8 million libraries created with Nook reading apps…2 million books in database. Self-publishing growing rapidly (Pub-It)…Nook apps…well over 1 million apps downloaded…exceeded expectations. Cloud services…manage Nook books in the cloud.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

7:09-7:12 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Talking up customer support for Nook, B&N’s transition to more of a tech company. B&N a pioneer in e-reading, Lynch says. Firsts…digital lending…social media (Nook Friends), Nook Kids, Nook Newsstand…1.5 million subscriptions to digital magazines in six months. Reference articles in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Nook Color is a home run, but some people want simpler e-reading experience… Here comes “Simple.”

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET) (Credit: Sarah Tew)

7:13 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Holds up new Nook. People clapping, It’s black, small. Looks like Kindle without the keyboard. Video on screen now.

7:14 a.m. PT (John Falcone): [on the presentation screen, not the Nook screen]

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

7:14-7:17 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Simply called the new Nook. The Simple Touch Reader is the tagline, as expected. Touch screen…7.5 ounces. Not quite as light as the new Kobo Touch Edition. Battery life up to two months. Wow. Beats Nook by a month. Pearl display, as expected. Same E Ink screen as in Kindle. Eighty percent less flashing, which means faster processor. Lynch says it’s the best value in the e-reading market. Comparing new Nook to Kindle now. There are 37 more buttons on Kindle, he says.

7:18 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Showing how new Nook is easier to use than Kindle. More button clicks to navigate device. 6-inch E Ink display in case you were wondering about screen size.

7:19 a.m. PT (John Falcone): Recap: New Nook, 6-inch Pearl E Ink touch screen, 7.5 ounces, battery life up to 2 months, $139.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

7:19-7:22 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Soft-touch paint on device. Curved corners. Ergonomically correct. Talking about ghosting effect of E Ink now. Again, says new Nook will have 80 percent less “flashing.” New Nook looks to be about an inch shorter than Kindle. Jamie Iannone, president of digital division, is on stage now for a “deep dive.” [The new Nook] is 35 percent lighter and 15 percent thinner than original Nook. Fifty percent better contrast than original Nook.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET) (Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

7:23-7:25 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Touch screen, as expected, uses Neonode infrared technology. Same technology is in Sony Readers and new Kobo. No word yet on how much memory is onboard. New feature: FastPage allows you to zoom forward in a book. [It has] six different fonts and seven different sizes. Dictionary look-up is much easier now with touch screen. Shopping experience has been upgraded on device. Built-in Wi-Fi, no 3G.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

7:26-7:28 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Talking up social aspects, Nook Friends. Sharing book recs with friends, lend books to friends, etc…Next month launching MyNook, site for sharing with friends. “Simplest e-reader ever created.” People clapping. Marketing part is hopefully over–or close to it.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

7:28-7:29 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): OK, William Lynch, CEO, back on stage, summing things up. New Nook starts shipping June 10. Available for preorder now.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

7:29 a.m. PT (John Falcone): Recap: New Nook, 6-inch Pearl E Ink touch screen, 7.5 ounces, battery life up to 2 months, built-in Wi-Fi (no 3G), $139, available June 10.

7:30 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): OK, presentation is over. Clapping. Device spins on screen. Q&A for media is starting.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

7:31-7:32 a.m. PT (John Falcone): Main questions include: Why no 3G? Is battery user-replaceable? What’s the onboard/expandable storage? And: What will the price be on the old/outgoing E Ink Nooks?

7:31 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Just told Lynch they’re playing an Apple ad song in the background.

7:32 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): First question coming. Question about the device being Wi-Fi only.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

7:35 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Chip is 800MHz TI OMAP 3, Lynch says. Talking about battery life now. Battery is not user-replaceable.

7:39-7:41 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): No Nook apps for this device. Memory is 2GB internal with microSD expansion slot. Original Nook pricing is now $119 and $169 (for 3G version) until supplies last. Device runs on Android 2.1.

7:42 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Lynch says B&N is looking into international opportunities (“lots of interest from folks abroad for their devices”) but nothing to announce today. PDF should be doable. Will ask later about Word.

7:42-7:45 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Last question was from Mashable. Something about what are the three biggest software innovations in the device. Talking about the touch screen, Neonode infrared technology.

7:48 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): I just asked about whether B&N would do a Nook with Special Offers. Lynch said, “No ads on Nooks.”

7:50 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): Everyone should be aware that Amazon will [likely] do this same device within the next few months. Just an FYI. There will be a smaller Kindle this fall IMHO (with a touch screen).

7:51 a.m. PT (David Carnoy): OK, that’s it folks. Going to try to shoot a video now. Thanks for participating.

7:52 a.m. PT (John Falcone): David’s hands-on impressions (and video!) of the new Nook will be live on CNET soon… stay tuned.

7:55 a.m. PT (John Falcone): A final recap, in the meantime: The new Nook is an E Ink reading device with a 6-inch Pearl touch screen. It’s 7.5 ounces, has battery life up to two months, 2GB storage plus MicroSD expansion, and built-in Wi-Fi (but no 3G). It will be available June 10 for $139. We’ll have more coverage including hands-on impressions and video throughout the day. Thanks for joining us!

The initial, bare-bones version of this story was posted yesterday at 1:06 p.m. PT.

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Estimates peg App Store at 500,000 apps

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

App Store logo (Credit: Apple)

Apple’s App Store has crossed an important benchmark, jumping past 500,000 apps in the App Store when combining apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. That’s according to Chomp, 148apps and Chillingo, which have put together an infographic of some of the milestones and trends on the way to that number.

The infographic pulls out some interesting data points about the progression of the App Store, particularly the price and makeup of the store’s volume. Paid apps, for instance, account for 63 percent of the App Store’s overall library, and average out at $3.64 an app. Altogether that would cost you $891,982.24 if you wanted to buy the entire library of paid apps.

Individual applications are also broken out for both news significance, and chart-topping prowess. That includes Rovio’s Angry Birds, which has claimed the top spot in the paid apps category for a cumulative 275 days, followed distantly by The Moron Test, which held the spot for 38 days. Then there are titles like Texas Hold ‘em, the first and only iOS game from Apple, which the infographic notes has not been updated in nearly two and a half years.

Apple first launched the App Store in 2008 alongside the release of the iPhone 3G, the company’s second-generation handset. When the iPhone was first introduced, there was no software development kit for it, with Apple pushing developers to use the Web instead. Since launching, the App Store’s gone on to bring developers more than a $2 billion in revenue, with Apple taking a 30 percent cut of each app sold.

The road to 500,000 has been brisk. In January, Apple announced it was up to 350,000 applications, meaning it’s taken a little more than four months to tack on another 150,000. To put that in perspective, the jump from 10,000 to 100,000 early on in the store’s lifetime took about a year. Competitor Microsoft this morning announced it had just reached 17,000 apps in its Windows Phone Marketplace, which opened up near the end of 2010.

Apple’s lead in the battle over who has the biggest app volume could be nearing an end though. A report released by analytics firm Distimo near the end of April estimated that Google’s Android Market would surpass Apple’s in volume sometime in July. That estimate was made based on several months of growth tracking on multiple platforms. Android’s split approach, allowing multiple application stores as well as the side-loading of applications, was singled out for opening up the possibility for those numbers to grow even faster than those of Apple, which must approve each application.

Apple has not yet made any official mention of hitting 500,000 apps, and AppShopper–another third-party app tracking service–says Apple is about 5,000 shy of that number. Apple is expected to provide more precise information about overall volume, and any changes at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which kicks off in a few weeks.

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Bite this! Handheld device sniffs out bedbugs

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

Bed Bug Detective The Bed Bug Detective sniffs out the insects’ pheromones.

(Credit: Video screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET)

Look out bedbugs. Technology is out to get you–again. Decades ago, using chemical pesticides, humanity seemed to have conquered the scourge of little bugs that were nibbling away at us while we slept, sometimes even while we were having nightmares about them. Then, about 10 years ago, after we discovered that pesticides were doing more than just wiping out bedbugs, they started to come back with a vengeance, like a bygone sci-fi franchise re-emerging to produce some lackluster prequels.

But while the nasty pests were busily frolicking from hotel rooms in Denver to movie theaters in New York, inventor Chris Goggin was having none of it. He designed a handheld bedbug detector that essentially works likes a dog’s nose to literally sniff out the notoriously tiny and hard-to-find insects and their eggs.

Bedbugs don’t carry any scary diseases, but the very concept of little bugs in your bed is just plain creepy and the bites can be itchy and irritating and prone to infection if not properly cleaned or treated, just like any other bug bite. All the more onerous is the fact that the creeps can normally be tricky to track down because they tend to hide in cracks and crevices, but Goggin’s gadget leaves them nowhere to hide, instantly detecting their scent so you can toss your sheets in the drier to fry the little critters–or move to another county.

The device is programmed to identify bedbug pheromones in the air just like the trained dogs used by some exterminators. But trained dogs can be a costly proposition running into the tens of thousands of dollars a year to keep healthy and in good practice. Goggin, a mechanical engineer and former product developer, plans to put his handheld device on sale soon for about $200.

Goggin’s service to humanity was noted with a 2011 Invention Award from Popular Science, and I’ll wager he’s also completely forgotten how that old rhyme about “sleeping tight” ends. Here’s Goggin demonstrating with his prototype:

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Square vies with NFC for mobile payments

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

Start-up Square is looking to offer consumers and retailers its own unique mobile payments system through revamped versions of its iPhone/iPad app and its Android app.

Square's app and system would let buyers make mobile payments as an alternative to NFC. Square’s app and system would let buyers make mobile payments as an alternative to NFC.

(Credit: Square)

Set up as a potential alternative to the much-touted but still emerging near-field communication (NFC) technology, Square’s system would still let you pay for goods and services using your mobile phone without the need for cash or a credit card. But instead of having you tap your phone against an NFC-enabled register or terminal, Square’s system would let “check into” a store through your phone, pick up your items, and pay for them through your Square account.

The Square system is clearly just getting off the ground. Scattered throughout such large cities as New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, only 50 merchants have so far signed up for the service. There are also some limitations. For the system to work, both the buyer and the retailer have to sign up for Square accounts. And like NFC, Square’s system brings up the usual concerns about security in the world of mobile payments.

But Square’s CEO Jack Dorsey, who also helped launch Twitter, touts his system as superior to the NFC-based competition.

“A lot of people working in this space are concerned with the parts of transactions — coupons, receipts, waving your phone around in front of a terminal and wait until you hear a beep,” Dorsey told the New York Times. “We think it should be one system.”

Consumers would access the Square service through a mobile app called Card Case. Using this app, you can locate nearby stores, restaurants, and other retail outlets that support Square’s system. You can even scan the menus of restaurants before you go in.

If you decide to grab lunch at a local restaurant or a cup of coffee at the coffee shop, payment is taken from your Square account, which has already been linked to your credit card. In return, the receipt is then sent to your mobile phone.

Retailers would use the system through a mobile app called Square Register, an update to the company’s current Square app.

After setting up their own Square accounts, merchants could accept payment using the new credit card-less system or opt to use the traditional credit card reader. The app would also let them keep track of inventory. With retailers running the new system on a device such as the iPad, Square sees it as something that could potentially replace cash registers.

Right now, Square has revamped and updated its apps for the iPhone and iPad but promises that an Android version of Card Case will be available soon, according to InformationWeek.

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Apple forces Samsung to hand over Galaxy prototypes

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

Apple’s legal battle with Samsung has taken a new twist. The California outfit is suing the Korean corporation over alleged copying of Apple products in Samsung’s Android range, and a federal court is forcing Samsung to hand over samples of new phones for Apple to pore over.

The phones and tablets in question are the Samsung Galaxy S 2, Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G, and Droid Charge. Fortunately for Samsung, only Apple’s legal team for this case will see the products, so no-one from Apple or even Apple’s in-house lawyers will see the rival devices.

While the Samsung Galaxy S 2 has just gone on sale in the UK and the Infuse 4G in the US, the other three devices aren’t yet on the market.

Read more of “Apple forces Samsung to hand over Galaxy prototypes in legal spat” at Crave UK.

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Japan eyes solar panels on all new buildings

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin

A landmark along the Tokyo-Osaka railway, Sanyo’s Solar Ark is 344 yards wide with an annual output of 530,000 kWh.

(Credit: Sanyo)

Struggling with a continuing nuclear crisis and strains on its power supplies, Japan is thinking of requiring that all new buildings, including homes, come equipped with rooftop solar panels by 2030, according to a recent Nikkei newspaper report.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan may announce the plan this week at a G8 summit in France, the business daily reported. Kan has pledged to review Japan’s energy policy and increase renewable sources following the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunamis.

Kan hopes a solar-energy requirement for new buildings, along with technological innovation, would help reduce the cost of solar-power generation.

The government’s current energy policy includes plans to increase nuclear energy to more than half of the total supply by 2030 as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Japan now gets about 30 percent of its electricity from nuclear sources.

Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said today that three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant probably suffered meltdowns early into the emergency, and their inner pressure vessels may have been breached. While Units 2 and 3 experienced partial meltdowns, Unit 1 was most severely affected.

An International Atomic Energy Agency team has also begun to look into how Japan has handled the worst nuclear accident in decades, which has left parts of the Tohoku region uninhabitable.

Tepco is trying to get the reactors under control by January. Its April electricity output was down 15 percent from a year earlier and shortages are expected to continue into the summer. Since western Japan runs on a different frequency, Tepco can’t easily import large power supplies from other cities.

Japanese have been cooperating with emergency power conservation campaigns since the quake. As a result, they’ll likely be less keen to use air conditioning, so this summer may be particularly hot and sticky in Tokyo.

 

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