Latest news

Google has added a new layer of protection to search results, alerting users if they may be about to click on a site that has been hacked or compromised.

If the search giant believes a site has been hacked, your search result will have the sentence "this site may be compromised" below it.

Google users will find the warning to be very similar to what the company already uses for sites that spread malware.

Says Google of the update (via eW):

"We've provided notices for malware for years, which also involve a separate warning page. Now we're expanding the search results notifications to help people avoid sites that may have been compromised and altered by a third party, typically for spam. When a user visits a site, we want her to be confident the information on that site comes from the original publisher."

If you click on the warning, more information is available about the site. If you still want to visit the site despite the alert, you can click-through.

Concludes the search giant:

"We use a variety of automated tools to detect common signs of a hacked site as quickly as possible. When we detect something suspicious, we'll add the notification to our search results. We'll also do our best to contact the site's webmaster via their Webmaster Tools account and any contact email addresses we can find on the webpage. We hope webmasters will also appreciate these notices, because it will help you more quickly discover when someone may be abusing your site so you can correct the problem."

The eBay user "moonlightflyer" has put an extremely rare Apple Lisa 1 computer up for sale via auction this week, giving Apple fans a chance to purchase a piece of history.

As of writing, the computer is selling for $25,100 with two days remaining.

Reads the description:

Unfortunately I do not have a mouse or the Lisa system software.

• It has authentic Lisa 1 and Twiggy ROMS.
* It has the Keyboard
* It has the original TWIGGY Floppy Disk Drives. I assume they work.
* Anti-glare silk screen for the CRT. No holes or tears
* The plastic has yellowed some but as you can see there’s no chips,
cracks, or dents anywhere on the case.
* The CRT is bright and sharp with no burn in.
* No problems with the power supply.

It has some very minor corrosion from the battery. I have removed the batteries.

I can not find a serial number anyplace. I believe this may have been a very early production Lisa my brother use internally at Apple.

Sony has noted today that their 'Reader' line of e-readers is selling out, worldwide, with supply dwindling for some models.

The company's two high-end models, the Touch and Daily, will most likely be sold out before Christmas.

Without giving a specific number, Sony would only say that they are selling "millions" of the gadgets.

Surprisingly, the company says the cheaper low-end Pocket was not selling well and supply was heavy.

Sony has strong competition in the market, with market leaders Amazon and Barnes & Noble continuously adding features and dropping prices.

Paramount has announced this week that it will begin releasing 10 feature films with Silverlight-enhanced features for Windows Phone 7 devices, starting with the launch of 'School of Rock.'

The other 9 movies will be available in the U.S, Canada and some international markets by the end of the year.

Each movie "app" will have the full film, a menu, bonus features and Web-connected content.

The next Paramount Silverlight Enhanced Movies for Windows Phone are 'Zoolander,' 'Waiting for Superman' and 'GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.'

"Through our relationship with Microsoft, we're able to provide consumers new, enhanced ways to enjoy movies from anywhere on Windows Phone 7," adde Geremie Camara, Vice President Product Development for Paramount Digital Entertainment, in the press release. "Using Silverlight technology and adding interactive and social networking features, our enhanced movie apps transform the movie viewing experience into a true entertainment experience."

Enhanced movie apps will have 'Scene It?' pop-up trivia, the ability to cut custom clips, and "Movie Info," giving consumers a chance to identify actors, music, places and objects in the movie.

Despite rumors that it may launch this month, Apple has confirmed the Mac App Store will launch next month, on January 6th.

First announced back in October, the Mac App Store will mimic the iOS App Store, giving Mac desktop and notebook owners a chance to download thousands of free or paid apps to their computers.

Says CEO Steve Jobs:

The App Store revolutionised mobile apps. We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can't wait to get started on January 6.

The downloads will come via "a new system overlay," says GI.

Apple says the Store will come with a free update to the Snow Leopard OSX.

The Store will be built-in the upcoming Lion OSX.

Just like in the iOS Store, Apple takes a full 30 percent cut of any sales made, however some more savvy game makers have begun releasing free versions of the games with in-app purchase offerings for full versions.

Legendary rapper Dr. Dre has announced this week that he will begin promoting his upcoming album via "Mafia Wars," the extremely popular Facebook game.

'Detox,' Dre's first album since 1999, is set for release early next year, after years of delays.

The partnership with game developer Zynga will begin with the company streaming the music video for "Kush," the first single off the album.

Zynga is the market leader in the growing "social gaming" market, thanks to their hits FarmVille, FrontierVille, Mafia Wars and others.

The promotion is dubbed "Hustlin' Wit Dre," and Mafia Wars gamers can purchase and collect Dr. Dre virtual goods, like Beats headphones, weapons and a car or purchase (in real-life) 'Kush.'

There is a chance to win a signed Detox album, as well as signed Beats headphones, via the promotion.

According to the "Game Purchase Drivers 2010 report" by the NPD Group, 29 percent of all U.S. video game purchases are now digital.

Over the past three months, physical game purchases accounted for the remaining 71 percent.

42 percent of the digital purchases were made from mobile phones, with users buying games via the iOS App Store, Android market and others.

With some math, we can see that mobile game sales now account for a full 12.18 percent of total game sales.

Another 30 percent of digital sales came via Xbox Live, PSN and the Wii, accounting for 8.7 percent of total game sales.

The largest slice of the digital pie came via PC download portals like Steam, at 47 percent, good for 13.63 of total sales.

Many of the 3704 Americans surveyed purchased from multiple mediums, as is illustrated by the numbers.

Over the last three months, the average amount of purchased games (physical, digital) was 3.1.

Although unconfirmed, it appears that Google's under-the-radar film streaming service is about to get a large expansion, possibly as early as next month.

TC, citing reliable sources, says Google will add feature films to its rental/streaming catalog, meaning users will be able to rent and watch newer movies via YouTube.

Additionally, the search giant will put a massive ad campaign behind the service, putting some of its $33 billion in cash to work.

Google hired former Netflix exec Robert Kyncl during the summer and he is in charge of negotiating the studio deals.

The company is looking for "top tier films," and will create a deeper library over the course of the year.

Currently, YouTube has some "top tier" movies, but most are B-list, or much older films. For example, the 2010 hit "Kick-Ass" is available for rent for $.99, right now, but I would be surprised if anyone else had ever heard of the other 30 movies on the front page.

Bank of America has said this weekend that it too will decline process payments to WikiLeaks, which has angered countries around the world by releasing thousands of previously confidential U.S. diplomatic cables.

Says the bank:

"Bank of America joins in the actions previously announced by MasterCard, PayPal, Visa Europe and others and will not process transactions of any type that we have reason to believe are intended for WikiLeaks."

Early next year, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says they will release hard drives worth of documents relating to "unethical practices" at a major U.S. bank, which most believe will be Bank of America or Citigroup.

Assange is currently out on bail in the UK, and faces extradition on charges of sexual misconduct in Sweden.

The bank added (via Reuters): "This decision is based upon our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments."

After hearing of the news, WikiLeaks fought back, via Twitter, tweeting: "We ask that all people who love freedom close out their accounts at Bank of America."

For the quarter ended November 30th, RIM has said they have shipped 14.2 million BlackBerries, a record quarter for the company.

Year-over-year, revenue surged to $5.5 billion, a rise of 40 percent, but net income rose just 14.4 percent, to $911 million, as the company pushed more low-end devices.

Over the summer, Apple announced it had shipped 14.1 million iPhones, and the company is expected to sell 16 million for the quarter that ends on December 31st. RIM uses a different accounting period.

Despite the strong growth, RIM saw some less-than-stellar numbers in regards to usership. The company added just 600,000 new users for the period.

RIM says it expects to see only slightly higher revenue for the next quarter, of around $5.7 billion.

The company will release the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet during the period.

Cable giant Comcast has said today that if their proposed purchase of NBCU is accepted, the company will create minority channels aimed at the Asian and Black markets.

The channels follow agreements recently made with civil rights groups.

Comcast is still awaiting final decision on the purchase, a 51 percent stake for $30 billion USD, from the U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

A multitude of public interest groups have insisted that the Obama administration reject the purchase, fearing that Comcast will leverage its new power to charge other cable companies higher fees for NBCU content, leading to higher bills for consumers and less competition in the marketplace.

As part of the new deals, Comcast will add four new cable networks owned, or partly owned by black people, and at least one new English-language channel that will "cater to" Asian interests.

Apple's iTunes Music Store has increased its share of the digital music market to over 66 percent despite increasing competition from Amazon and others.

The NPD Group issued figures on the digital music market based on music sales this year. It puts Apple's iTunes music store clearly at the very top again. Its share of the market jumped from 63.2 percent to 66.2 percent. Rival Amazon witnessed a growth in its market share from 11 percent to 13.3 percent.

Amazon has attempted to lure customers away from iTunes by offering "daily deals" where albums are sold for as little as $3.99. In order to offer such a price cut, Amazon needs to take a loss on the sales, reportedly paying the wholesale price of the album despite the discount to customers.

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has said in an interview that Nintendo could consider cutting the price of a Wii console in half to boost demand.

Riccitiello believes that a recent slump in sales of Nintendo Wii consoles could be avoided again by cutting the console's price in half to just $99. Additionally, he suggested that Nintendo should do more to promote third-party titles than focusing so much on its in-house titles.

Recent launches of PlayStation Move for the PS3 and Kinect for Xbox 360 means that the Wii can no longer cling to motion control features to differentiate it from its competitors.

Blockbuster's Express movie-rental kiosks will have to wait 28 days before offering new releases from Warner Bros. for rental, putting it in the same boat as Netflix and Redbox.

The company agreed to the 28 day window in order to maintain a close relationship with Warner. It had tested same-day launches as recently as just weeks ago, including the title Knight and Day from Fox. The rental chain also cited lower distribution costs and a healthier supply for agreeing to the 28 day window.

It already had similar agreements with Fox and Universal in place. Blockbuster recently filed for bankruptcy in part as it shed popularity in the face of cheaper and more convenient alternatives.

Reports suggest that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. may get the go ahead to acquire full control over BSkyB without the need for concessions.

News Corp. is seeking to buy a 61 percent share of BSkyB that it doesn't already own, giving it complete control over the company. The deal is estimated to be worth about £7.8 billion (over $12 billion). Next week, the European Comission will back the deal, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

The European Commission will report that the deal does not have any significant anticompetitive impact. The communication's regulator in Britain is also reviewing the deal to determine if it would give News Corp. too much control over UK media, where it already owns The Sun, News of the World, the Times and the Sunday Times newspapers.

The European Commission set a December 22 deadline for its decision in the case.