Filter looks at the day's top technology news through snapshots and analysis of what the world's media outlets are covering. Washingtonpost.com's new Mon.-Fri. feature is penned by technology reporter Cynthia L. Webb. If a technology story breaks, a company falters or triumphs, or there's a new trend in technology, Filter wants you to know about it.
PC giant Dell is now taking on pesky computer viruses. The company yesterday "announced plans for an anti-virus and anti-spyware education program for its customers. That's a bit surprising, as Dell doesn't make security software or the programs that most viruses attack. But Dell says malicious software hurts its business. Most affected users don't know their computer is running a rogue program -- they just know it's not working, says Dell Vice President Mike George. So they call Dell tech support," USA Today reported. "The calls were manageable a year ago, but now make up more than 20% of support calls, George says. Calls often jump 200% to 300% when a big virus strikes. 'The switchboard gets overloaded,' he says. 'It's unfair to the rest of our customers.'" Is this educational program another way to post information online instead of taking customer calls? We'll see. Dell has a link to spyware help on its home page from April, and a note from June 1 on viruses.
• USA Today: PC Makers Jump Into Fight Against Viruses, Spy ware
Meanwhile, Dell is ramping up its efforts to sell its consumer electronics gadgets and other products with plans for kiosks in California shopping malls. "The 10-foot-square kiosks will be set up in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and other cities starting next month to augment Dell's model of direct selling over the Internet and by telephone. The company also said it would expand its lineup of flat-panel television sets to include plasma TVs in time for the crucial holiday shopping season. The new offerings will capitalize on the growing popularity -- and falling prices -- of big-screen TVs, said Michael Farello, vice president for marketing in Dell's consumer business. Dell currently operates 65 kiosks in shopping malls in 10 states and one at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Expanding into California is an important move, analysts say, because it will allow consumers to see and touch Dell's computers, TVs, digital music players and other gadgets instead of asking them to buy sight unseen," The Los Angeles Times said.
• The Los Angeles Times: Dell To Expand Reach In California (Registration required)
• The Wall Street Journal: Dell To Expand Retail Kiosks And Offer First Plasma TV (Subscription required)
Yahoo Answers the Gmail Challenge
It's fair to say that Yahoo! feels threatened by search-engine rival Google. Answering Google's 1 gigabyte Gmail e-mail service, Yahoo is giving away more storage to its e-mail users to keep and attract customers. "Starting today, Yahoo will offer users of its free e-mail service 100 megabytes of storage. That is one-tenth of what Google offers but is still far more than the four megabytes Yahoo previously offered. It will also introduce a premium e-mail service, called Yahoo Mail Plus, with two gigabytes of storage for $19.99 a year. 'We are taking storage off the table as an issue,' said Brad Garlinghouse, Yahoo's vice president for communications products," The New York Times reported. The San Francisco Chronicle and News.com were among the other news outlets to pick up on Yahoo's e-mail plans.
• The New York Times: Yahoo Expands E-mail Storage, In Nod To Google (Registration required)
• The San Francisco Chronicle: Yahoo Expanding E-mail Storage • News.com: Yahoo To Launch 100MB Free E-mail
A Bona-Fide VC
U2 front man Bono is going into the venture capital business, The Wall Street Journal reported today. "The 44-year-old rock star is joining Elevation Partners, a new Silicon Valley fund set up earlier this year by veteran technology investor Roger McNamee and John Riccitiello, who in April left his post as president of videogame maker Electronic Arts Inc. for Elevation. Fred Anderson, 60, who retired earlier this month as Apple Computer Inc.'s finance chief, also will join Elevation. Mr. Anderson, who is a board member at Apple and online auctioneer eBay Inc., is credited with helping co-founder Steve Jobs steer Apple back from near death in the late 1990s. The appointments bring to six the number of managing directors at the fledgling private-equity firm. The participation of Bono should sharply raise the profile of Elevation, which people familiar with the fund say initially will raise $1 billion for buyouts and investments in media and entertainment companies, seeking to profit from turmoil in those sectors."
• The Wall Street Journal: Bono Brings Star Power To Silicon Valley Fund (Subscription required)
Apple's iTunes Crosses the Pond
Apple's popular iTunes service is launching today in Europe, with a kick-off event in London. The Associated Press noted that Microsoft, Napster and Apple -- which all have European digital music ventures planned -- "are jockeying for position in a battle that began in earnest a year ago with Apple's successful iTunes download service in the United States. So far, iTunes holds the commanding lead in the United States with more than 70 million songs sold."
• The Associated Press via The San Jose Mercury News: Apple Expands iTunes Music Service To Europe (Registration required)
But Apple is not getting a honeymoon in England with its launch. The London Guardian newspaper reported that "Apple's bid to cash in on music downloading in Europe has been dealt a blow after independent labels representing artists including Franz Ferdinand and The White Stripes refused to license their music because of 'paltry' fees."
• The Guardian: Apple iTunes: Sorry No Indies
Digital Piracy Update
The digital piracy arms race continues to escalate, today's USA Today reports. Computer users intent on violating copyright laws "have begun bypassing popular peer-to-peer (P2P) networks like Kazaa and eDonkey, where their activities can be tracked, to share unauthorized copies of hit films. That is making it harder for the film industry to find them. Internet detective agency BayTSP says the availability of hit films on P2P services is down as much as two-thirds from a year ago," the article said. So shat gives: "Students are sharing among themselves with private networks," Phil Leigh, an analyst with research firm Inside Digital Media, told the paper. "They connect their PCs in small or large groupings. ... Now, many users disable the 'share' function in programs like Kazaa while nabbing a film or song, thus protecting their identity."
• USA Today: Online Pirates Use Submarine
And in a sign that movie studios are taking digital piracy more seriously by the day, Sony Pictures Entertainment in Culver City, Calif., is looking for a director/principal engineer of antipiracy efforts, according to a Yahoo! HotJobs posting (thanks to reader Roger Yee for the link!). "The function of the Principal Engineer is to act as the subject matter expert on antipiracy technologies, systems and vendors. The Principal Engineer will evaluate and implement technologies to determine the sources of piracy, identify infringing activity and automate response to such infringing activity," the posting says. Curiously, it is listed as an entry-level position with a bachelor of science degree for education.
Filter is designed for hard-core techies, news junkies and technology professionals alike. Have suggestions, cool links or interesting tales to share? Send your tips and feedback to cindyDOTwebbATwashingtonpost.com.
