Sony, Dell must probe batteries

Japan's trade ministry on Thursday ordered Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). and Dell Inc. to investigate the trouble involving Sony batteries that caused Dell to recall 4.1 laptop computers last week because they were at risk of catching fire.
The ministry said Sony and Dell must report on their findings and say how they will prevent future problems by the end of August, or face a fine under Japan's consumer safety laws.

Lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Sony for Dell laptops imported to Japan overheated and caught fire in at least two separate instances in October and June, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a statement. No one was injured in those incidents, but the fires destroyed the machines, according to ministry official Atsuo Hirai.

The ministry also pointed to problems with battery cells supplied by Sony for Dell computers in other countries, and told the companies to investigate the safety of Dell models Latitude, Inspiron and Precision imported to Japan from April 2005.

The ministry also instructed other Japanese electronic makers to check the safety of their laptop batteries.
Source

Hoping to spur interest among video game enthusiasts, creative types and students, Microsoft Corp. said it plans to offer a consumer version of the professional software tools used to create video games for its Xbox 360 console.

The XNA Game Studio Express program, an offshoot of the company's more robust XNA Framework, will be available Aug. 30 for a $99 annual subscription, the company announced Monday.

The software, which requires a Windows PC to operate, will let anyone with the desire create their own video games and then share them on Microsoft's Xbox Live online game service, said Peter Moore, a Microsoft vice president.

Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) as a "high priority"

Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) is due in late 2006 and the finished version will be flagged as a "high priority" automatic download for Windows users.

Microsoft said the update would help users be "more secure and up-to-date".

The release of IE7 will be the biggest update to Microsoft's web browser in five years. Many keen users have been testing out beta, or trial, versions of the software for some time.

When the finished version of the new browser becomes available via the automatic update system users will get offered three options either to install, install later or not install at all.

If users choose to install it, Microsoft said IE7 would not make itself the default browser but it will "transfer the user's previous homepage, favourites, search settings and compatible toolbars".

The final version of the browser is expected to weigh in at about 12MB.

Microsoft expects IE7 to be more secure than previous versions of the browser. Many of the security updates released monthly are for loopholes found in the IE 6 program.
Source

Good News, AOL e-mail accounts, software to be free

AOL will give away e-mail accounts and software now available only to its paying customers in a strategy shift likely to accelerate the decline in its core Internet access business.

The decision, announced Wednesday by AOL parent Time Warner Inc., removes the few remaining reasons for AOL subscribers to keep paying when they already have high-speed Internet access through a cable or phone company.

AOL hopes that by making services free, it can draw Internet users to its ad-supported Web sites and keep them from defecting to Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., which have offered free e-mail for years.