[August 24, 2005] TECHBITS: E-records, Vacation bot, Phishing tool, Mobile podcasts, Better antennas, BTK case Tweet By The Associated Press The Associated Press Warner Music Group is preparing to launch a record label that would develop and market new artists and distribute their music only over the Internet. The venture, tentatively referred to as an "e-label," is scheduled to be in operation by the end of this year. Warner, home to artists like Madonna and Linkin Park, is hoping the label will enable the New York-based company to give emerging artists more time to develop without the traditional pressures of having to churn out a slate of hits. "At this new label, an artist can develop in a supportive, lower-risk environment," Warner chief executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. said at an Aspen, Colo., gathering of the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank. "An artist is not required to have enough material for an album, only just enough to excite our ears." The e-label would also spare Warner the expense of distributing music in physical formats like CDs. Instead of releasing a full album every couple of years, the e-label would release "clusters" of three or more songs by an artist every few months, Bronfman said. Universal Music Group launched an all-digital record label last November. To date, UME Digital has about a dozen artists and has been selling their music over online retailers such as iTunes and Rhapsody. _Alex Veiga, AP Business Writer. ___ House-sitter robot hits stores in Japan TOKYO (AP) -- Worried about leaving your house empty while you go on vacation? Perhaps you need Roborior, a house-sitter robot armed with a digital camera, infrared sensors and a videophone. Stores across Japan are now taking orders. The Roborior, a watermelon-sized eyeball on wheels that glows purple, blue and orange, can function as both interior decor and a virtual guard dog. It can sense break-ins using infrared sensors, notify homeowners by calling their cellular phones and send videos from its digital camera to the owner's cell phone. "We've had robots before that were just toys, but the Roborior can actually be put to practical use in the home," said Takako Sakata, a spokeswoman for the department store chain Takashimaya. Such technology doesn't come cheaply. Takashimaya will sell the machines, developed by Japanese robot maker Tmsuk Co. Ltd. and electronics company Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd., for $2,600 each. "We received a lot of inquiries after the demonstrations," Sakata said. "Our initial plan is to sell 2,000 robots." Tmsuk has already produced a four-legged security robot called Banryu, which is about the size of a large dog and sells for $18,000. _Hiroko Tabuchi, AP Writer. ___ Microsoft expands anti-phishing tool NEW YORK (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. will soon make available to the general public a tool for warning users about "phishing" scams that could lead to identity theft. Currently, such a tool comes only with the Internet Explorer 7 browser, which is available in tests only to a select group of developers. But within a few weeks, Microsoft will incorporate it into a toolbar for older versions of IE. While still officially a test, the anti-phishing tool will be available to anyone running the Windows XP operating system with the Service Pack 2 security upgrade from last summer. The company will eventually make it available to older Windows systems, too. The tool was built to address scammers who try to trick people into revealing passwords by posing as legitimate banking or e-commerce site. When an unfamiliar site is encountered, users have the option of passing that address to Microsoft to check against a database of known phishing sites. A "red" warning page appears when there's a match. Even when there isn't a match, the tool will display a pop-up "yellow" warning when it sees telltale signs of phishing, such as the lack of SSL encryption when submitting passwords. _Anick Jesdanun, AP Internet Writer. ___ New software makes podcasts mobile LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A California company is hoping to tap into the growing podcasting craze with software that enables mobile phone users to stream audio files directly from their home computer. Podcasts are recorded audio files downloaded over the Internet. They can be stored on computers or transferred to digital music players like Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod. The software from Los Angeles-based Pod2Mob promises to enable mobile phone users to hear podcasts on their handsets, too. Currently available for free as a "beta" test download, the software runs on Windows and Mac OX computers. The software relays the audio to a mobile phone. An applet, or small computer program, that must be loaded on the handset allows users to control which podcasts they want to hear. The company says streaming data requires less memory than downloading the full audio file. "If you have a phone, you dont have to wait to sync," said Brad Zutaut, co-founder of Pod2Mob. "You can get the latest podcasts on the fly." But quality can vary depending on the computer's Internet connection, said spokesman Phil McGovern. The company said the software should work on most Internet-enabled handsets, though it has been tested only on handsets running on the Sprint and Cingular wireless networks. _Alex Veiga, AP Business Writer ___ Nanosys, CIA firm expand collaboration SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- A small company that focuses on the technology of minuscule materials will develop specialized antennas for the U.S. government under an expanded deal with the CIA's venture group, In-Q-Tel Inc. Details on the deal and the antenna were not revealed. But Nanosys said its work under the agreement will help it commercialize its thin-film technology, which is expected to enable high-performance electronics that can be painted onto a large area, such as a laptop computer case or airplane surfaces. Today, thin-film electronics -- such as those found in flat panel computer monitors -- are much slower than chips that are etched out of silicon wafers. By using extremely small materials, Nanosys says it can boost performance and enable new applications. In-Q-Tel, which will provide development funding and an equity investment in the Palo Alto-based company, first invested in Nanosys in 2003. _Matthew Fordahl, AP Technology Writer. ___ Database helped BTK detectives WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Technology that helped crack the BTK case could be put into wider use after impressing authorities involved in the intense manhunt for the serial killer. U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt is seeking $3 million to fund a pilot project to work on cold cases using a similar computer system. The technology had helped detectives here whittle the list of possible BTK suspects down from millions to hundreds -- and eventually to Dennis Rader, who is now serving a life sentence for 10 murders. A McLean, Va.-based company, EagleForce Associates, developed a database that pools all the evidence from the 31-year history of the BTK murders. That system cross-correllates data to find links that might not easily appear to detectives. It rates information by the probability it is true -- a known fact like an address is given a high value, while something from one of BTK's communiques is given a low one. Evidence in the case showed the killer was a white male, around the age of 60, with a connection to Wichita State University and a likelihood of military experience. That profile combined with other evidence brought the suspect pool down to thousands. Later, the suspect was caught on video surveillance as he dropped off one of his messages at a Home Depot. EagleForce analyzed that footage and determined the suspect was likely driving a black Jeep Cherokee, narrowing the field to hundreds. Detectives were only eight days into their search through those suspects when another big break came in the case -- a disk from BTK with electronic imprints pointing directly to a computer Rader used at his church. That led to Rader's arrest and guilty plea. _Matt Sedensky, AP Writer. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]