Matthew Hicks

Microsoft Corp. this week released a follow-on update to its earlier patch for an Internet Explorer spoofing vulnerability. The new update, released in a series of service packs on Thursday, fixes Microsoft Extensible Markup Language (MSXML) functionality so that it can work properly with the changes made in the IE security bulletin that Microsoft released […]

RealNetworks Inc. recently released a security update to plug a series of vulnerabilities in its media players that could open a users machine to malicious code. Security researchers at British-based NGSSoftware Ltd., which issued an advisory on Wednesday, discovered the security holes in December and informed Real Networks of the vulnerabilities. The Seattle-based Real Networks […]

AOL Instant Messenger is entering the world of video chat and joining hands with Mac OS X users in the process. America Online Inc. on Thursday launched AIM version 5.5 for Windows with a new streaming video chat feature that includes compatibility with Apple Computer Inc.s iChat AV video conferencing application. Along with AOLs AIM […]

Nuance Communications Inc. on Tuesday rolled out updated versions of its speech recognition engine and voice authentication software with a focus on improved accuracy and performance. With Nuance 8.5, the speech vendors latest version of its namesake speech recognition engine, Nuance is promising a 50 percent reduction in errors in recognizing spoken commands and phrases. […]

Search engine message boards and Weblogs are aflutter with news of a new MSN Search beta, but officials at Microsoft Corp.s Internet division say the beta test is nothing new. MSN began a beta test of its Web search site early in the fall and has targeted less than 4 percent of MSN Search users […]

VoiceXML 2.0 is one step away from becoming a full-fledged standard of the World Wide Web Consortium. A Web specification for the development of voice response applications, Voice Extensible Markup Language 2.0 has reached the W3Cs “proposed recommendation” stage, a final review period before becoming an official recommendation, or standard, the W3C announced on Tuesday. […]

In its legal battle with Google Inc., American Blind and Wallpaper Factory Inc. is challenging much more than the search engines keyword-based advertising practices. The home decorating retailer also is questioning Googles cherished search algorithms and Web index. American Blinds lead attorney, in a recent interview with eWEEK.com, made it clear that the scope of […]

Apple Computer Inc. on Monday released an update to its Safari Web browser that adds new digital certificate and Java support as well as greater keyboard accessibility. Safari 1.2 is only available for Mac OS X 10.3, known as “Panther.” The update takes advantage of Panthers Keychain feature for enabling its support for personal certificate […]

Days away from facing the potential of separate distributed denial of service attacks, The SCO Group Inc. and Microsoft Corp. on Friday were providing few new public details on how they plans to stop the variants of the MyDoom e-mail worm from hitting their Web sites. Both are targets of DDoS attacks that security experts […]

A federal appeals court has upheld a preliminary injunction in a 3-year-old case involving the use of the Internets database of domain name registrants for marketing purposes. Domain name registrar Register.com Inc. on Wednesday announced the decision, handed down last week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. The […]