Tech Brief
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• All eyes in the tech press are on the Apple event, at 1700 GMT. Rumours abound that it will be used to announce a new range of iPods, a streaming music service or an upgrade to Apple TV, a gadget that plugs into televisions and allows people to rent movies. But it seems some companies are pre-empting the announcement and trying to steal Apple's thunder. [registration required] that Sony will launch a new music and video subscription service just two hours ahead of Apple's event.
"Sources in the media industry told the Financial Times that Sony would use its PlayStation games consoles as the starting point for a new service that users will be able to use across a range of other internet-connected devices. That could include Walkman music players, Vaio computers, Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players and Sony Ericsson mobile phones.
• Meanwhile the that online retailer Amazon is also working on a movie subscription service "that would deliver TV shows and movies over the internet". The report says that the move is part of a "battle among web companies to control entertainment in the living room".
"Amazon's subscription push is a challenge to rivals such as Netflix Inc and Google Inc as they race to dominate digital delivery of TV shows and films, encroaching on turf traditionally controlled by cable- and satellite-television providers. Apple Inc. is also pushing more deeply into TV, and plans to announce 99-cent rentals of television shows through its iTunes store from News Corp.'s Fox and Walt Disney Co.'s ABC as early as Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter."
• security holes in two leading price-comparison websites. Davey Winder found that using an e-mail address, surname and date of birth, details he said could be easily harvested from social-networking sites such as Facebook, was enough to access many more personal details:
"This was enough to unlock a veritable treasure chest of further valuable data including telephone numbers, car registration and make details, occupation, personal details of spouse as well as property details where house insurance quotes were available."
• Earlier this year we reported on that allowed people to run another operating system on the machine, effectively turning it into a desktop computer. The decision sparked outrage amongst a small set of gamers who used the function. Australian Michael Trebilcock felt so strongly, he took the firm to court. Now, he has lost his case for compensation, .
"[He] had sought $800 in compensation (i.e. the cost of his console) from Sony, claiming that the Japanese company's decision meant that he could no longer use his PS3 in the manner he had purchased it for. A magistrate from Holden Hill Magistrates Court in South Australia has, however, ruled against Mr. Trebilcock after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission decided that Sony was within its rights to rescind the Other OS feature.
• Some people - Tech Brief not included - will have had time for a summer holiday. It's a time to catch up on some reading on the beach and top up the tan. But for the Japanese men, who play the game Love Plus, there was only one destination this summer: Atami in Tokyo. , the seaside town has begun to offer holidays for players who want to take their virtual "girlfriends" from the game on a romantic getaway.
"Players can find 2D barcodes to scan and call up images of the young women in the game. The girls wear different clothing from their typical in-game looks. One hotel has gone as far as putting a barcode in its rooms, allowing players to see their 'girlfriends' in a more private setting wearing summer kimonos."
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