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Alleged HDCP 'master key' leaked, HDTV copy protection may be dead

Publié: septembre 14, 2010, 9:26pm CEST par Ed Oswald

By Ed Oswald, Betanews

The entertainment industry may have encountered another setback in its efforts to protect its content Monday as a hacker has reportedly cracked high definition content protection, more commonly referred to as HDCP. A supposed "master key" has begun to make its way around the Internet, although its validity has yet to be confirmed.
With the master key, the system no longer works, as hackers would now be able to create their own source and sink keys, both of which are needed to playback content on HDCP-protected devices. Thus a perfect connection could always be ensured between transmitting and receiving devices.
It would also open up HDCP-protected content to be copyable. While the system does have a method for revocation, with the master key the hacker would be able to create a new active key, and build devices that could decode and copy content at its full quality.
Revocation is a tricky proposition: if a manufacturer finds that a key has been compromised, he or she can blacklist it. There's a problem with this method though -- it very well could block users who aren't attempting to circumvent the copy protection as well -- a potentially disastrous situation.
HDCP has been in use by iTunes for nearly two years now, and it has caused some consternation for users. Certain movies will not play on external displays due to those monitors not supporting HDCP. Its implementation is cheap and easy, and thus has become a popular way to protect digital content.
How hackers got ahold of the master key is not known, although as early as 2001 researchers were warning that it could be broken through reverse engineering. The keys from about 50 or so devices would be needed to complete the hack, they said.
Will the entertainment industry take this sitting down? I4U News' Robert Evans doesn't think so. "A major advance like this won't be met with silence from the anti-piracy crew," Evans wrote Tuesday. "Get ready to see a real throw-down (or at least a flurry of PR fluff) in the coming days."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection - Copy protection - High-definition television - Digital rights management - Copyright
Windows comes to iPad with new Parallels mobile app

Publié: septembre 14, 2010, 9:24pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Last week, Mac virtualization software company Parallels announced the latest version of its flagship software, Parallels Desktop 6. But the company had a secret up its sleeve: iPad compatibility.
Today at the DEMO fall 2010 conference, Parallels announced the Parallels Mobile app integrates with Desktop 6 and MyParallels to bring Windows and its highly desirable functions like printing, Flash, and Outlook compatibility to iOS.
Both the mobile app and Parallels Desktop 6 are available immediately.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft Windows - Windows - Parallels Desktop for Mac - Macintosh - Operating system
Bing overtakes Yahoo, and that's not a good thing

Publié: septembre 14, 2010, 7:35pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

By Joe Wilcox, Betanews

Short-sighted armchair analysts, pundits and Microsoft managers will rejoice in Bing snatching the No. 2 spot from Yahoo in U.S. search share. Everyone should cool their jets. Yahoo's losses are Microsoft's losses. The only gain that matters: Search share taken from Google, which isn't giving up much of anything to either Microsoft or Yahoo.
The problem: With Microsoft now serving up Yahoo search, the two are really one from a share perspective. Bing is starting to cannibalize Yahoo search, which simply isn't good for Microsoft.
According to data that Nielsen released today, Microsoft search share was 13.9 percent in August, slightly ahead of Yahoo's 13.1 percent. Google stoutly remains above 65 percent. Bing search share is up an astounding 30 percent year over year, which I still largely credit to clever branding and marketing. By comparison, Yahoo search is down 18 percent year over year and 8 percent from July.
"If we combined Bing-powered search in August pro-forma, it would represent a 26 percent share of search," according to the Nielsen Wire blog. In the month before Microsoft and Yahoo announced their search deal, June 2009, combined share was 25.1 percent -- on a strictly added and not pro-forma basis. From that perspective, Microsoft-Yahoo have gained search share as a combined entity. However, a review of Nielsen's month-to-month data reveals little change in combined share throughout most of 2010, with Yahoo consistently losing share to Bing gains throughout the middle part of the year.
Microsoft started serving up Yahoo search in late August, so the first telling search share numbers will be September's. Trend to date: Since its launch, Bing has taken search share from most every other provider but Google. Granted, Google search share is down from 66.1 percent in June 2009 but from July 2010 up 1 percent year over year and month over month to 65.1 percent. Bing taking share from Yahoo is a more recent trend but consistent over the early spring and summer 2010 months, according to Nielsen data.
Fourteen months ago I blogged that "Microsoft-Yahoo search deal is Google's Christmas-in-July present." I asserted:
Cannibalization is inevitable, and there is likely to be heaps of it. Matters would have been worse had Microsoft bought Yahoo and consolidated all search under a single brand. My prediction: Combined Microsoft-Yahoo share will be less than 20 percent within 12 months of the deal's closing -- and that's my being somewhat generous so that I don't get totally flamed in comments.
Microsoft serving up Yahoo search most certainly closes the deal. The clock is ticking. Will Bing take away more share from Yahoo? I'll either be right or wrong in 12 months.
The larger question: What about everyone else? Microsoft can only take so much share from smaller providers, which is one reason for it now bleeding searches from Yahoo. But it's not that simple. Microsoft is aggressively marketing Bing as a brand, while Yahoo has all but pulled back its search branding push. Why not, with Microsoft running the shop? But there is still share Microsoft can take -- and is taking -- from other search providers. For example, AOL search is down 37 percent year over year. AOL's search share was 2 percent in August, down from 3 percent in June 2009 -- the month before Microsoft and Yahoo reached their search deal. Since Google powers AOL search, it could be reasonably argued that perhaps Microsoft is serpentiously taking share from the search giant.
Still, Microsoft gets bragging rights for claiming the No. 2 spot, if taking it from a coveted partner is what executives really want to boast about.
The significance isn't position but gains. Microsoft search share was 8.9 percent in June 2009, the first full month of Bing's operation. Fourteen months later, Bing search has consistently grown, reaching the aforementioned 13.9 percent share. Bing is on an unequivocal roll. It's no longer a question of whether or not Bing will continue to grow share but one of where will future growth come from. Microsoft loses by taking share from Yahoo. The gains that matter must come from Google.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft-Yahoo - Google - Yahoo - Bing - AOL
Verizon moves in on Google's turf again with V CAST Apps

Publié: septembre 14, 2010, 7:33pm CEST par Ed Oswald

By Ed Oswald, Betanews

Verizon appears to be moving further away from Android's Google and open source core premise this week as it has begun to ask for submissions to its own app store, expected to debut as early as next week. The carrier appears to be following a similar structure to that of Apple, where apps must go through an approval process and revenues are split between Verizon and the developer.
It is not clear from reports that originally appeared on Android enthusiast site Android and Me Monday whether or not Verizon plans to replace the Android market with V CAST Apps. However it would not be the first time the company would have altered Android.
Microsoft's Bing has gotten top billing on Samsung's Fascinate, Verizon's latest Android smart phone. It's not clear whether Samsung or the carrier is behind the change in search -- however its very difficult to switch it back to Google, those who have reviewed the phone say. The change is pretty much universal, including the mapping functionality.
To get their apps listed, developers will have to submit their apps to Verizon for approval, which is available at no cost. The applications would need to be Android 2.2 compatible -- only those devices would be able to run V CAST Apps initially -- and revenues would be split with Verizon taking 30 percent.
While the emergence of Verizon as an app purveyor may not be the best news for Google, it certainly could answer some complaints of developers. With the Mountain View, Calif. company making it easier for just about anyone to develop applications, and no approval process in the Android Market, legitimate apps are finding themselves lost in a sea of imitative and poorly developed apps.
Approval process like Apple's and the planned one for V CAST Apps typically will ensure better quality -- although not always.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - Apple - Microsoft - Verizon - Smartphone
New Ericsson modules give wireless broadband to Intel-powered tablets, top-speed HSPA+ to notebooks

Publié: septembre 14, 2010, 6:00pm CEST par Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

At the Intel Developer Forum Tuesday, Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson unveiled its two newest mobile broadband modules: one is the first embedded 21Mbps HSPA+ module, and the other is the first module optimized for use in tablets running on Intel's upcoming "Oak Trail" processors.
Intel's Oak Trail mobile processor platform will be the cornerstone of the forthcoming crop of Windows tablets, with products from Dell, Asus, MSI, Sony, Fujitsu, and Toshiba all expected in early 2011. The platform is ideal for tablets and netbooks, Intel claims, because it runs on 50% less power than its other Atom-based platforms.
Because tablets need to have a longer battery life, Ericsson has also reduced power consumption of its 7.2Mbps HSPA wireless module by 50%.
"We've worked very closely with Intel," Mats Norin, Ericsson's vice president of mobile broadband modules told Betanews. "That means we're combining the strengths of two industries; a giant of telecom and a giant of processing, and combining these efforts means we've done a lot of work. We've optimized this module for the Oak Trail platform, with reduced power consumption, and tightly integrated sleep/resume functionality. Manufacturers building Oak Trail tablets therefore have a shorter time to market, and their customers get a hassle-free experience from day one."
A big part of this hassle-free experience will come from Ericsson's new "Quick Connect" feature that puts the wireless connection to sleep when the device is idle, and resumes the connection as soon as the screen comes back on. This helps conserve battery life, and gives devices the feel of being permanently connected. It only takes a matter of seconds for connections that have been severed to be re-acquired. The module, known as F3307, features download speeds up to 7.2 Mbps and upload speeds of 5.76Mbps and is compatible with HSPA networks.
The second module is Ericsson's fastest mobile broadband module yet, and the first one supporting HSPA+ designed specifically for use inside notebook computers.
Americans equate HSPA+ with T-Mobile, the only network utilizing the protocol in the United States at present. But this technology is growing like a weed.
"Last year, there was not a single 21Mbps HSPA+ network out there; now there are 63 of them in 35 countries," Norin said. "We have infrastructure commitments to more than 160 networks in 54 more countries. Very soon, there will be close to 90 countries with HSPA+ networks, and this has all taken place in the span of 18 months...impressive stuff."
So Ericsson today announced the 21Mbps HSPA+ F5521gw module. With it, notebook computers will have the 21Mbps connection, GPS with support for location-based services, hardware tracking and Geo-fencing, Wake-on-Wireless, Intel anti-theft security features, and the aforementioned Quick Connect feature. It's the telecommunications company's top of the line feature set.
"This module delivers speeds better than most fixed line connections today," Norin continued. "I use this in my office in Sweden now. I've cut the cord, it's cool. Of course, now there's no excuse for being unproductive outside of the office, so I guess it's actually kind of bad news."
Ericsson's Oak Trail-optimized tablet module (F3307) is shipping to manufacturers now, and the HSPA+ module (F5521gw) will ship to manufacturers in October.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Telecommunication - United States - High Speed Packet Access - Evolved HSPA - Sony