Filed under: Computers, Breaking News

You can’t beat free online e-mail. You want a different e-mail address for every day of the week? You got it. Need separate accounts for those sites you just know are going to spam you like there’s no tomorrow? No problem.

No problem, that is, until those sites go down, which is exactly what happened to Microsoft yesterday. Most users of the company’s Windows Live suite of tools, which includes the free online e-mail client Hotmail, were unable to access the site for much of the day, leaving them with no way to look at all of their spam.

The outage was total, leaving the service’s 260 million subscribers with nothing but a “Service Unavailable” message when they attempted to view the site.

Today, we’re happy to report, things seem to be back up and working correctly — if a bit slowly. Spam ahoy.

From CNET News.com

Related Links:

• Microsoft Office Served Up On the Web
• Gmail Overhaul On the Way?
• The Hitman Spam Scam

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Filed under: Cell Phones

The same thing that sent the Hindenburg zeppelin skyward (and dramatically brought it down) could be the solution to providing cell phone coverage to rural areas across America, according to a Phoenix, Ariz.-based company that launches six-pound transmitters into the stratosphere with the help of hydrogen-filled balloons.

According to Space Data Corporation’s Jerry Knoblach, the best way to provide cell phone service to America’s often underserved rural areas is not by stringing along more cable wire or building expensive cell phone towers - which wouldn’t be cost effective since so few customers equals very low revenues. Instead, the solution, as Knoblach sees it, is to send up these balloons, which, amazingly, are not expected to be anything close to permanent. In fact, the average lifecycle of one of these hydrogen balloons is about one day.

The interesting thing that could be inflating Jerry Knoblach’s fortunes is interest from Google, which as a part of its push into wireless services may cooperate with Space Data Corporation or even buy it out.

Space Data Corporation is constantly making new balloons — about 10 balloons per day — and, believe it or not, relies on a network of strategically placed regular folks such as dairy farmers who launch the devices at specific locations and times.

When the transmitters come down, it’s up to a network of volunteers to seek them out and pick them up, returning them to the company for a $100 reward. They use GPS to find the transmitters, which descend gently on parachutes after being separated from the balloon, which rises higher into the atmosphere until it bursts into tiny pieces, which Knoblach says are harmless.

Space Data Corporation is able to adjust the direction of the balloons and their overall trajectory is pretty well easy to predict and monitor, so this isn’t just like letting a regular balloon go and hoping it ends up somewhere interesting.

Each balloon travels 20 miles into the stratosphere and can bring service to an area that would otherwise need 40 cell towers.

From The Wall Street Journal via Dvorak Uncensored and Gizmo Watch.

Related links:

• City Makes “Art” Out of Cell Phone Towers
• New Device Improves Cell Phone Reception Indoors
• Customer Flattens Cell Towers in Tank

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Filed under: Audio/Video, Cameras, Computers

Sony doesn’t give consumer electronics aficionados a chance to catch their breath.

Coming on the heels of a whole host of big announcements made at the annual Consumer Electronics Show last month in Las Vegas, the consumer electronics powerhouse returned to Sin City for its line show, where it introduced a boatload of new products, including no fewer than 18 audio products and accessories, from Bluetooth-capable Walkman portable audio/video devices to a turntable (yes, a turntable!) for those music aficionados who still have vinyl records (and want to turn them into MP3s).

Of course, we’d be remiss not to mention the big ticket items you’ve come to expect from Sony, such as new Blu-ray disc players. The BDP-S350 (coming this summer with a $400 price tag) and the BDP-S550 (arriving this fall with a $500 tag) — both feature picture-in-picture capability, which is a new feature showing up on many BD movie releases. Plus they both have Ethernet ports, which Sony calls “BD Live,” so you can plug them in to an Internet connection and receive firmware updates and interactive content.

We are particularly interested in the four BRAVIA products that Sony introduced with the new S-AIR technology, which is all about wireless audio transmission. We’re big fans of systems that eliminate wires around the house. The top of the line unit is the DAV-HDX576WF model, which includes one S-AIR Air Station receiver/speaker (AIR-SA10) and a wireless rear speaker kit (WAHT-SA10). That’s coming next month for $500. The DAV-HDX277WC is basically the same system without the rear speaker kit, for $400, and the DAV-HDX275 is again the same without the Air Station or the rear speaker kit. That kit alone will run you $149.

The Walkman players consist of a whole slate of audio and video capable units with Bluetooth capability. They’ll run you from $150 to $370 depending on memory size and feature sets.

Kind of an odd addition to all these product intros were two new Cyber-shot digital still cameras. First, the new 9.1-megapixel DSC-H50, with a 15x optical zoom lens, will be shipping this May for $400. Then the slim DSC-W300, which has a 13.6-megapixel CCD, a 3x optical zoom lens, a 2.7-inch LCD and an eye-level viewfinder. All that plus a titanium body is coming out this May for $350.

Oh, we didn’t forget. That turntable, the PS-LX300USB, has USB output and can deliver MP3s of your records to your computer. Look for it next month for about $150.

Finally, one interesting announcement was for a limited edition Vaio notebook computer series, the FZ Series, which can be ordered up with one of three highly stylized covers. The so-called Graphic Splash Expression Collection PCs will have cover options called Victorian lace, flora, and leaf, and with four variations on keyboard fonts, including three new ones called Bradley Hand, Copperplate, and Synchro. These laptops are available now starting at about $1,300.

From Gearlog and Sony.

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Related Links:

• Sony Mylo 2 Personal Communicator Out Next Week
• Sony Now Selling DRM-Free Music on Amazon
• Sony’s Almost-Paper-Thin OLED-TV Coming to U.S.

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Actress Mischa Barton has been charged with drink-driving, cannabis possession and driving without a licence, Los Angeles prosecutors have said.

The ex-star of The OC was pulled over in December when police said they saw her car straddling two road lanes and failing to signal when making a turn.

Barton, 22, spent about seven hours in a West Hollywood jail before being released on $10,000 (£5,005) bail.

She will appear in court on Thursday to face the charges.

Barton’s lawyer, Anthony V Salerno, said in a statement that he was pleased the star “received no special treatment” from the District Attorney.

“The DA’s office is to be commended for treating this case the same as it would any other matter,” he added.

Barton played Marissa Cooper on teen drama The OC from 2003 until 2006, when her character died in a car crash.

The London-born actress has also appeared in several movies, including The Sixth Sense and St Trinian’s, plus forthcoming film Virgin Territory.

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Hollywood actress Kate Beckinsale is excited on celebrating her fourth wedding anniversary this year.

The 34-year-old star believes that three years is a long time to be married in Hollywood and insists her marriage to Die Hard director Len Wiseman is still strong.

“Any more than three years is a really long time to be married here in Hollywood,” a website quoted her as saying.

“I feel like we`re oddly-weds rather than newlyweds, like we`re in our dotage or something.”

However, Becksinale admits that sometimes it`s tough having a moviemaker as a husband because of his hectic work schedule.

“He is really supportive. The only thing I hate about being married to a director is that he works so much and he`s away a lot, like when he was working on the Die Hard film for 900 years, and that`s lame,” she said.

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