British technology start-up, Power Ethernet, has launched the 'PE Socket', the first product to integrate Powerline networking technology directly into an electrical socket. The PE Socket provides a simple and professional way of specifying high-speed data network connectivity throughout a building by using electrical cabling. The 'PE Socket' is available from leading electrical resellers including CPC and Rapid Electronics.

Based on the HomePlug AV standard for Powerline networking, Power Ethernet's all-in-one PE Socket combines four Ethernet network ports, a fully-managed network switch and filtered power socket into a single device. It fits a UK Standard 35mm double gang metal back box and uses a building's electrical wiring to create a high-speed and secure data network for connecting computers, Voice over IP phones, Internet-connected TVs and digital signage, home automation and entertainment systems, building management systems, CCTV cameras and other Ethernet connected-devices.

Boffins at Google are looking at ways of speeding up the internet. Not by making the underlying physical network faster, but by improving the efficiency of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) that underpins the internet. This will have the benefit of making all networks that use the new improved version faster and being more scalable with improvements to the underlying physical network. The new TCP stack will be compatible with the old one by running alongside it and only kicking in when both client and server have it installed. This is currently implemented in the Linux kernel and is in the process of becoming the TCP standard.

There are four basic ways that they're looking at improving TCP: 1) Increase the number of TCP packets sent at the beginning of a TCP connection from three to ten. This reduces latency. 2) Reduce packet loss timeout from three seconds to one ie shorten the time between retries, which is more appropriate for modern high speed networks. 3) Use TCP Fast Open (TFO) a faster way for a web browser to initiate a connection with a website and 4) Use Proportional Rate Reduction for TCP (PRR) which is a more efficient way to deal with traffic congestion.

The research team are also looking at improved transmission recovery (data loss) in noisy mobile environments. Full technical details are available at the Google blog.

The protests to the widely condemned SOPA & PIPA "antipiracy" censorship bills have been a resounding success. They have gone viral with many, many websites blacking out and putting up protest pages, with big players taking part such as Wikipedia, Google, EFF, Reddit, Craigslist, Techdirt (greyed out) and many more taking part. Unsurprisingly, the bills' backers have not shown any sign of backing down (yet) but were prompted to make statements "wondering what all the fuss is about" to play down the damage done to their play for power, since they have recently made changes to them, such as removing the DNS blocking provisions - for now. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) senior vice president of communications Jonathan Lamy called the protests 'stunts': "It's a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users and arm them with misinformation. It's time for the stunts to end and those who claim to care about rogue website theft to back up their rhetoric and work with us on meaningful solutions." This is the same RIAA that sued their own customers with extortionate "settlement" letters remember.

Major Internet service providers (ISPs), home networking equipment manufacturers, and web companies around the world are coming together to permanently enable IPv6 for their products and services by 6 June 2012.

Organized by the Internet Society, and building on the successful one-day World IPv6 Day event held on 8 June 2011, World IPv6 Launch represents a major milestone in the global deployment of IPv6. As the successor to the current Internet Protocol, IPv4, IPv6 is critical to the Internet's continued growth as a platform for innovation and economic development.

Anno 2070's Draconian DRM: Guru3D's Graphics Card Review Killed Off (UPDATED)

Hilbert Hagedoorn of well-known PC tech review site guru3d.com recently bought a copy of Ubisoft's Anno 2070 and wanted to use it in one of his graphics card reviews. However, he became badly unstuck. This game comes on the Steam platform and the store page states: "3rd-party DRM: Solidshield Tages SAS 3 machine activation limit". Unfortunately for Guru3D, they found out exactly what this means, which resulted in just one performance graph, an aborted review, an unplayable game - and bad publicity for Ubisoft once again. They have published an article about their experience, pledging not to use their titles again because of this DRM.

The highly controversial SOPA & PIPA bills currently being rushed through Congress by Big Media are encountering ever more opposition from minor and major players alike, such as Google. Now gog.com, owned by parent company CD Projekt RED, has come out against these bills too and are one of many games companies to do so. They address the questions of "will it work?" and "will it stop piracy?" with the answers being sort-of and no.

BitTorrent, a leading peer-based technology company, today announced that the company's flagship BitTorrent Mainline and µTorrent software clients have grown to over 150 million monthly active users worldwide.

In December 2011, the classic BitTorrent Mainline client boasted over 20 million users, while the legendary tiny-but-mighty µTorrent client grew to over 132 million users. The numbers represent an aggregate count of both software clients running on Windows, Mac, Android and Linux platforms.

The company also announced four new strategic "BitTorrent Certified" device partnerships at CES in Las Vegas including TVs, set-top boxes, media adapters, and Blu-ray players. BitTorrent Certified devices are designed to enable consumers to discover, play, share and move all types of personal media, regardless of size, type or format, so that they can play high-quality content in their living rooms. New certification partners include:

After overtaking Mozilla Firefox in terms of web-browser market-share in December 2011, Google Chrome has its eyes trained on Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE), still the most popular web-browser in use today. According to the most recent StatCounter figures, at the rate at which Google Chrome's market-share is growing, it will overtake that of MSIE in 2012. It will do that as early as in June-July. Interestingly, Google Chrome is the youngest web-browser among its competitors, launched in Q4 2008, but has surpassed the market shares of much older competitors in a matter of months. Apart from stats, Google's web-advertising prowess makes Chrome's MSIE overtake in June-July seem realistic.

The GoDaddy boycott over their support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation, which took effect today, appears to have worked. The initial fallout over GoDaddy's support for it, resulted in a furious backpedal and then a bit of dirty tricks to stop customers leaving. However, this backpedal stopped short of actually criticising it. The boycott, called by a user on Reddit and aided by Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia, appears to have focused GoDaddy's mind on what's right and what's wrong. They have finally given us that criticism of SOPA that they should have made in the first place, as CEO Warren Adelman, said in this statement:

We have observed a spike in domain name transfers, which are running above normal rates and which we attribute to GoDaddy's prior support for SOPA, which was reversed. GoDaddy opposes SOPA because the legislation has not fulfilled its basic requirement to build a consensus among stake-holders in the technology and Internet communities. Our company regrets the loss of any of our customers, who remain our highest priority, and we hope to repair those relationships and win back their business over time.

Go Daddy is no longer supporting SOPA, the "Stop Online Piracy Act" currently working its way through U.S. Congress. "Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation - but we can clearly do better," Warren Adelman, Go Daddy's newly appointed CEO, said. "It's very important that all Internet stakeholders work together on this. Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it."

Go Daddy and its General Counsel, Christine Jones, have worked with federal lawmakers for months to help craft revisions to legislation first introduced some three years ago. Jones has fought to express the concerns of the entire Internet community and to improve the bill by proposing changes to key defined terms, limitations on DNS filtering to ensure the integrity of the Internet, more significant consequences for frivolous claims and specific provisions to protect free speech.

Google Chrome is a fast and functional web browser. Let's get that out of the way first. But one of the main reasons a largely successful corporation put resources into developing a web-browser into a market that isn't very profitable, is cost-cutting. Since it's inception, the search bar Mozilla Firefox came with, has Google as its default search provider. Every time people search using that search bar in Firefox, Mozilla Foundation makes money. It is estimated that these Google searches amount to a majority of Mozilla's revenue, as Google pays it as much as 50 million dollars an year. Google Chrome, despite its genuine merits, is a cost-cutting operation. The more people use it over Firefox, the less Google has to pay Mozilla.

Web security researchers have historically rated Google Chrome has having the worst security and privacy compared to Firefox, and Internet Explorer (read this, and here), but the most recent research by Denver-based security consultancy Accuvant claimed that Google Chrome has the best security and privacy features, while Mozilla Firefox has the worst. Want to hear the kicker? That research by Accuvant was funded by Google. Want to hear another one? A similar research firm that has historically done vendor-funded research, NSS Labs, voiced strong objections to Accuvant's research, calling it an all-out attempt to malign Mozilla Firefox.

Three days ago, we brought you news of how researchers have made proof-of-concept attacks on HP printers by reprogramming their firmware. Among other things, these attacks could deliberately cause the fuser in a printer to overheat and singe the paper, until shut down by a built-in unoverridable thermal switch, preventing a fire. Now, in light of this, a lawsuit has been filed by David Goldblatt of New York, seeking damages for fraudulent and deceptive business practices and is looking for class action status: "As a result of HP's failure to require the use of digital signatures to authenticate software upgrades, hackers are able to reprogram the HP Printers' software with malicious software without detection," the suit says. "Once the HP printers' software is maliciously reprogrammed, the HP printers can be remotely controlled by computer hackers over the Internet, who can then steal personal information, attack otherwise secure networks, and even cause physical damage to the HP printers, themselves." Note that HP has used digital signatures since 2009 to authenticate the firmware updates, helping to mitigate this potential problem in recent models.

Despite this though, HP still intends to patch the firmware to eliminate threats from this hack, which exploits bugs in the firmware. As these attacks have only actually been demonstrated in the lab and no actual losses have been incurred by Goldblatt, it makes one wonder if he is just using the prevailing American "victim culture" to try and make a quick buck off HP. HP are the top printer brand, mainly because their products are excellent, performing well and lasting a long time, plus other companies' printers and embedded devices have the same problems, so it seems unlikely that he would really not have bought HP printers.

India's United Progressive Alliance government is mulling censorship of the internet à-la China, to filter out any content that speaks against members of the ruling party. India's multi-partisan democracy is increasingly making use of the web as a medium of political discourse and exchange, something that only works to make voters more informed. Union minister of IT and Telecommunications Kapil Sibal kicked off a storm this week when he announced that he is in talks with representatives of search engines and social networking websites, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and Microsoft to work out a censorship model that filters content that "unfairly maligns" the government. Apart from anti-government content, the government is concerned about hateful or "blasphemous" content, which could disturb communal harmony. "Some of the content which is being carried is blasphemous. This can hurt religious sentiments and it has to be removed," Sibal said.

Google, fresh out of a censorship and GMail espionage tussle with China, stated that it will not remove any content from its search results that are legal, merely on grounds of being "controversial". "We work really hard to both follow the law and also give people as much access to information as we can. So we follow the law when it comes to illegal content. And even where content is legal but breaks our own terms and conditions we take that down too, once we've been notified about it," said Google in a statement. "When content is legal but controversial we don't remove it because people's differing views should be respected, so long as they are legal."

According to the latest data sourced by StatCounter for the month of November 2011, Google Chrome has overtaken Mozilla Firefox in terms of web-browser software market-share. The GlobalStats data provides a worldwide picture, and not just specific to a region. According to the data, Chrome took 25.69% of the worldwide market (up from 4.66% in November 2009) compared to Firefox's 25.23%.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer still maintains a strong lead globally with 40.63%. Google Chrome began in mid-2008 as an experimental minimalist UI web-browser based on the Chromium project, it is a multi-process tabbed web browser based on Apple Webkit and several other pieces of free, licensed, and open-source technologies. Its market share is on the rise. The stats can be accessed here.

StarTech.com, a leading manufacturer of hard-to-find connectivity parts has announced the release of the USB to HDMI Adapter (USB2HDMI) - a convenient multi-monitor solution that enables users to connect an HDMI-capable display to a Windows or Mac-based laptop or desktop computer, through a USB 2.0 port.

The adapter is a cost-effective solution for adding a secondary monitor or several monitors (using multiple adapters), without having to update the computer video card, or even open the computer case. The adapter offers practical, scalable technology that could be utilized in many environments, including business and home applications. As a solution for enterprise or SOHO business users, the adapter makes it easy to add multi-monitor configurations for the sake of improved employee productivity, while home-users/end-users could benefit from the adapter's use as a cost effective way to connect their home computer to an HDTV, for watching videos, viewing photos, or simply using the Internet.

Acer America today debuts the Acer AC700 its first Chromebook in the United States and its first product running Google's Chrome-based operating system. The Acer AC700 ultraportable delivers blazing boot times and instant access to the Internet.

The first in a planned line of products that will utilize Google's Chrome operating system, the Acer AC700 Chromebook is ideal for savvy mobile consumers, educational institutions, and business people that spend most of their time on the Internet for cloud computing such as using web-based email, uploading photos to sites like Flickr and Picasa, and keeping up-to-date on the latest news and events. The new Acer AC700 provides WiFi connectivity, a sleek thin and light form factor, long battery life and excellent HD playback.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) announced PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) (PCH-1000 series) as the official platform name for the next generation portable entertainment system at E3 2011. With an RRP of €249 for the Wireless model and €299 for the Wireless/3G version, PS Vita will launch in the global market starting at the end of 2011.

"Vita", which means "Life" in Latin, was chosen as the most appropriate name for the next generation portable entertainment system as it enables a revolutionary combination of rich gaming and social connectivity within a real world context as SCE aims to transform every aspect of a user's daily life into an entertainment experience and an opportunity to play.

AMD today launched its 9-Series chipset line-up today, helping PC builders to develop next generation high performance desktop platforms. The company also unveiled its 2011 HD Tablet Platform, based on the AMD Z-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), enabling vivid media display and content creation capabilities for the fast-growing market of Microsoft Windows-based tablets. These new AMD products are designed to enable more immersive digital experiences for the PC and tablet markets.

"As consumer appetites for more compelling, lifelike visual experiences increase, there is greater need for high performance, smooth, vibrant graphics as well as unparalleled computing power," said John Taylor, product marketing director, AMD. "From tablets to desktops, AMD is making powerful computing accessible to everyone."

TYAN, an industry-leading server platform provider, and a subsidiary of MiTAC International Corp. will display a full line-up of cloud computing solutions that meet the increasing demand for higher density and lower power consumption at Computex 2011. TYAN will also provide a live demonstration of the FT77-B7015, a GPU Computing platform that features up to eight NVIDIA Tesla M2050 GPU computing processors in a 4U enclosure, at the TYAN booth (#407).

"Cloud Computing has changed the enterprise server landscape," said Albert Mu, Vice President and General Manager of TYAN Business Unit at Mitac International Corp. "TYAN is now positioned to lead the industry with high-density server solutions that meet the demand for more computing power and lower power consumption - at higher densities."

Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9, in its stable RTM form, nearly an year after it first released "Platform Previews", followed by Betas and Release Candidates. With its latest release, Microsoft's still popular web-browser underwent a major overhaul in terms of features and browser-engine. The new browser is backed by a faster Javascript engine, a faster rendering engine that makes use of GPU hardware acceleration for drawing, and redesigned user interface elements that make day to day web browsing experience snappier.

With Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft also took a bold step in not supporting Windows XP, which still holds a large chunk of the operating system market share, the new browser only supports Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows 2008/2008-R2 series operating systems. The user interface is far more minimalistic, uses simple icons, the status and menu bars are hidden by default, with tooltips doing the job of a status bar, and the browser continues to support a large number of ActiveX components. The browser also underwent a security overhaul. For 64-bit versions of Windows, the installer also packs a 64-bit version of the browser. Oracle already has a stable 64-bit Java ActiveX plugin, while Adobe Labs has a beta 64-bit Flash player for Windows, two big steps in porting the web-browser to x86-64.DOWNLOAD: Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer 9

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class award-winning Turbo NAS servers, VioStor NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Media Players today announced the availability of the new V3.4 NAS management software. The V3.4 NAS management software is embedded into the NAS as V3.4 firmware, which enhances several key aspects of the QNAP Turbo NAS units allowing owners to maximize their investments in a QNAP NAS. New enhancements in V3.4 include:

Continuing their pursuit of connectivity through convergence, IOGEAR today introduced the Multi-Link Bluetooth Keyboard with Touchpad (GKM611B) for wireless management of up to six Bluetooth enabled devices. Data input for social media, gaming or even board rooms has reached a new level.

Entertainment, productivity and communication blend more seamlessly with a single data input device. Bluetooth 2.0 technology in the GKM611B provides a 30-foot radius of operability allowing the IOGEAR Multi-Link Keyboard to go from couch to kitchen table or conference room to office, switching between different devices with ease.

TRENDnet, a best-in-class wired and wireless networking hardware brand, announces today from CES, the launch of the first to market 450Mbps Wireless N Gaming Adapter, model TEW-687GA, which networks computers, gaming consoles, televisions, and DVRs to the Internet with never before seen 450 Mbps wireless connection speeds.

High performance adapters on the market today produce actual wireless throughput in the 90 Mega bit per second (Mbps) range. In house testing reveals that TRENDnet's TEW-687GA (when paired with a 450 Mbps router such as TRENDnet's TEW-691GR) will break the infamous 150Mbps performance barrier. TRENDnet has also recorded sustained wireless transmission bursts in excess of 200 Mbps.

Verbatim, the information storage pioneer and computer peripherals leader, helps consumers nationwide get "plugged in" like never before with the brand-new MediaShare Mini, an easy-to-use home networking solution that makes any USB drive and its files network accessible. The new unit also allows for seamless content sharing with friends and family as well as multimedia streaming.

"With more than 18 million external hard drives expected to be shipped this year, coupled with the increasing need for users to be able to access and share their content whenever and wherever they are, the MediaShare Mini is the perfect solution for helping people manage their digital life in the most efficient possible way," said Verbatim Product Manager, Ron Hanafin. "Whether it's retrieving files remotely, streaming iTunes music or uploading photos directly onto Facebook, the MediaShare Mini is the must-have tool for today's connected consumer."

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world's largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards and mini-PCs, today reinvigorates the DVD-format with the new ZBOX DVD series mini-PCs powered by Next-Generation NVIDIA ION technology. The new ZOTAC ZBOX DVD series packs energy-efficiency, hardware high-definition streaming acceleration and advanced video processing capabilities into a slim chassis to create the perfect home theater PC for DVD aficionados.

A power-packed combination of Next-Generation NVIDIA ION graphics processor and dual-core Intel Atom D525 processor power the ZOTAC ZBOX DVD series for superior graphics performance, system responsiveness and energy-efficiency. The Next-Generation NVIDIA ION graphics processor is the heart of the ZBOX DVD series and delivers hardware decode acceleration and Adobe Flash acceleration for smooth playback of online and offline high-definition media.