VMware to buy Novell's Suse?

Novell is in discussions to sell off its Suse Linux division to VMware, according to various reports on the Web. The rumours indicate that Novell is attempting to sell various parts of its business, including its Suse Linux subsidiary, which the company acquired in 2003, reports Computing.

Various sources, including The Wall Street Journal, claim to have confirmation that VMware is to be the buyer. Neither company would comment on the story when contacted.

VMware is said to be interested in the acquisition in order to widen its product portfolio to offer a complete software stack, and better compete against rivals such as Red Hat and Microsoft.

Intel has confirmed Blu-ray HDCP encryption is cracked after admitting a leaked master key is the real deal, notes The Register.

A leaked key, now confirmed as genuine, was published online on Tuesday via Pastebin, and quickly spread around the Web. The master key creates a mechanism to strip the encryption from, for example, an HD satellite TV broadcast and a DVR, at least in theory.

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) copy protection technology is designed to protect high-definition video content as it travels across digital interfaces. The technology was developed by Digital Content Protection, a subsidiary of Intel, and licensed to HDTV, set-top boxes and Blue-ray disk manufacturers and the like.

Facebook denied a story published this weekend that says the company is “building a mobile phone,” but CNET has confirmed that the social networking giant has reached out to hardware manufacturers and carriers seeking input on a potential Facebook-branded phone.

TechCrunch published a story saying: “Facebook is building a mobile phone... or rather, they're building the software for the phone and working with a third party to actually build the hardware.”

Facebook quickly tried to discredit the story, with a spokesman telling CNET: “Facebook is not building a phone. Our view is that almost all experiences would be better if they were social, so integrating deeply into existing platforms and operating systems is a good way to enable this.”

Cars could soon be ringing the emergency services themselves if they are involved in a crash.

Sensors embedded in future vehicles could also let emergency services work out the severity of the crash and how many people were involved, reports BBC.

The predictions came at a symposium considering the changes ushered in by the spread of small, smart processors. The growing number of on-board computers could also spell big changes for the way people drive.