ATRACLife | Gracenote® Security Update for Sony

ATRACLife | Gracenote® Security Update for Sony: "Gracenote® Security Update for Sony
Recently, a security vulnerability has been identified within the Gracenote® CDDB (CD Database) lookup service application utilized by certain versions of Sony music management software. The Gracenote CDDB lookup service provides music-related information such as artist, title and tracklist through the software. As of the date of this update, neither Sony nor Gracenote has received reports of any customers being adversely impacted by this issue. However, we take all security issues very seriously. If you use any of the Sony music management software listed below (e.g., in connection with a VAIO computer or with a Walkman® portable music player), we recommend that you download the Gracenote Update and install it on your PC.
What is the issue?
A security vulnerability (in this case known as a “buffer overflow”) has been identified in an ActiveX® control for the Gracenote CDDB lookup service. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to load malicious code onto a user’s system and then execute the code, potentially resulting in loss or misappropriation of data on your PC.
Affected Software Applications
Sony CONNECT Player
Sony SonicStage Ver.3.3/3.4
Sony SonicStage Mastering Studio Ver.2.1/2.2
Sony Do VAIO Ver.1.6
NOTE: If you do not have any of the specified versions of the Sony software applications listed above, this notice does not apply to you. Similarly, if you have SonicStage CP 4.0, you do not need to execute the update.
DOWNLOAD PROCEDURE
The installer is named GracenoteUpdateForSony.exe and is 2.9MB in size. If your browser offers a RUN or OPEN option you may select it when you click the download link, otherwise please take note o"

Kotaku Confirms Rumor: UMDs Pulled From Target Stores - Gizmodo

Kotaku Confirms Rumor: UMDs Pulled From Target Stores - Gizmodo: "Kotaku Confirms Rumor: UMDs Pulled From Target Stores
Following up a post from yesterday, we heard a Target employee noticed prerecorded movies distributed on Sony UMDs (an acronym meaning UnMitigated Disaster, um, rather, Universal Media Disc) were suddenly absent from the store where he worked, and from other Target locations, too.
Now our beloved brothers at Kotaku have found confirmation from another reader, saying the chain has decided to devote shelf space to other products, but noted that Target will keep trying to move those slow-selling PlayStation portable UMD disks on its web site.
Kotaku sleuths further confirmed by calling a couple of local Target stores, which admitted that the doomed UMD products were indeed no longer on sale at Target retail outlets. Can every other store in the world be far behind? Die, UMD, die! And every other proprietary format! And the horse you rode in on! – Charlie White
Rumor Confirmed: Target Pulls UMDs From Stores [Kotaku]"

Apple left fearing the iPod backlash

Apple left fearing the iPod backlash
Mark Prigg, Evening Standard
11 July 2006

THEY are the must-have gadgets for thousands of music-loving Londoners. But there is increasing evidence that the iPod could go the way of the Betamax video and the MiniDisc.

Some owners of the Apple MP3 players are reporting a series of serious technical faults with their machines and are turning their attentions to other brands.

They claim:

• The batteries in older iPod models - which cost up to £300 - refuse to recharge after only a year of use, rendering the gadgets useless.

• The newly launched iPod Nano has a faulty screen that is easy to scratch. Appl e admits there is a problem and has had to issue protective carriers.

• On Apple's internet chatroom, owners of the iPod Shuffle are complaining that their players have simply crashed altogether. A website devoted to this particular problem has had 40,000 visits.

Ethical issues are also emerging. Apple is investigating claims of sweatshop conditions in the Chinese factories where they are made. Meanwhile rival models,which cheaper and look slicker, are entering the market. Sony has had success with its Walkman phones and Microsoft is said to be preparing a rival for Christmas.

Adam Vaughan of gadget magazine Stuff said: 'People are looking for the next big thing and the iPod is suffering. They seem to be facing a backlash and their competitors are all doing well.'

Apple denies it has a problem with quality. Greg Joswiak, vice-president of iPod marketing, said it had a first-year failure rate of five per cent: 'A lot of products don't enjoy such a low failure rate. Mobile phones can be up to 30%.'

The glitches

iPod Nano, - £169, introduced in 2005 - scratches easily forcing Apple to include a free case in the box.

iPod Shuffle - from £69, introduced in 2005 - some users report machine freezing up.

iPod - £299, first introduced in 2002 - battery problems common.

Microsoft's 'secret' handheld named

TECH NEWS
Microsoft's 'secret' handheld named
Staff reporter
Tue, 11 Jul 2006
It seems that the more Microsoft tries to keep the lid on the handheld media-player reportedly being developed by the software giant, the more information is leaking, including a name for the project.

According to the daily newspaper the Seattle Times, Microsoft's corporate vice president, J Allard, is heading up a secret project titled "Argo", which is a reference to the warship used by Jason in Greek mythology.

Apparently what Microsoft is working on will be more than merely a single "iPod-killer" device, but rather a series of devices: "What's being developed is actually a complete line of Xbox-branded digital-media products, including a device that plays media, a software media player and an online media service," the Seattle Times reports, citing an insider "close to the project" as a source.

The devices will also feature wireless Wi-Fi capability according to the daily, which will give Microsoft an edge over rival Apple's iPod, which relies on traditional wires.

Given Microsoft's history with using rumour to build hype, there is probably a lot of truth behind the rumours. The Seattle Times hints at an announcement from Microsoft on July 27th at the company's annual financial meeting.

One can only hope.

Microsoft is developing its own handheld music and video player to take on the iPod

You didn't think Microsoft would sit on the sidelines forever as its longtime rival Apple Computer grew into the 800-pound gorilla of portable music, did you? After years of allowing other manufacturers to make MP3 players that used its software, Microsoft is developing its own handheld music and video player to take on the iPod, according to a report in The New York Times.

And it will have at least one thing the iPod doesn't: WiFi capabilities that would let users download music without connecting to a computer.

The unnamed device is expected to be in stores by the holidays, and would also have a more advanced video screen than the iPod, according to unnamed executives who spoke to the Times. In another bid to rival Apple, Microsoft is in the midst of negotiations with major record companies and some TV networks to reach an agreement that would allow it to sell music and video content online through an iTunes-like download store.

Bloomberg News reported that Microsoft has hired music industry executive Chris Stephenson to meet with music and movie companies to seek licenses for their content. So far he's talked to the EMI Group (Beatles, Coldplay, Gorillaz) and Universal Music Group (Ashlee Simpson, Fall Out Boy, Jimi Hendrix), as well as NBC, Fox and CBS, according to the report.

Though Microsoft has licensed its software to companies including Samsung, Sony and Creative Technology for use in portable MP3 devices, the new player would be its most serious challenge yet to the iPod, which has more than 75 percent of the digital player market, to go along with the 72 percent of the digital download market held by iTunes.

Experts said the decision to develop its own device is a sign that after six years Microsoft is no longer content to let other companies try to cut into Apple's seemingly insurmountable lead. "If this is true, then this is them trying to take more control over the situation," Mike McGuire, vice president for research on mobile devices at Gartner, which tracks the electronics market, told the Times. "In effect, they're basically saying, 'We think we can do something better' " than existing hardware manufacturers.

A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment to the Times on the report, but a senior executive at a major TV network said that even though Microsoft had not yet received commitments from the networks to supply programming to the online store, they were open to working with a rival to Apple's iTunes, which has been criticized by the music industry for refusing to offer multi-tiered pricing in favor of 99-cent per-song prices across the board.

Bloomberg reported that Microsoft's device is being developed under the eye of Robbie Bach, head of the unit that produced the Xbox game console, the software company's most significant — and successful — venture into building its own hardware.

For complete digital music coverage, check out the Digital Music Reports.

— Gil Kaufman