Microsoft search tool due tomorrow

Microsoft will unveil its Internet search engine tomorrow, entering a market dominated by Google, Yahoo and America Online.

According to NYTimes, Internet search engine advertising has become a hotly contested market in recent years and Microsoft has been rushing to catch up by bringing a competitive offering to market.

Google - the largest search engine - was able to more than double its revenue in the first quarter after its initial public offering, emphasising the rapid market growth for online advertising.

Industry speculation has been widespread that Microsoft will try to compete with Google by integrating Internet search into the desktop of its Windows operating system.

However, the software giant`s Longhorn operating system - which is focused on search technology - has been indefinitely delayed, while Google is moving to offer services that compete directly and indirectly with Microsoft.

A new MyDoom variant that exploits a Microsoft vulnerability has surfaced, but is unlikely to have any real impact on users.

The latest MyDoom virus appears as an e-mail, with the following body text: "Look at my homepage with my last webcam photos!" or "FREE ADULT VIDEO! SIGN UP NOW!"

Both messages have text that links them to a Web page generated by the virus. When users click on the link, a Windows-based PC will call Internet Explorer and load a malicious Web page from the previously infected computer, News.com reports.

According to Mikko Hypponen, director of anti-virus research at F-Secure, the program makes use of a new IFRAME vulnerability in Internet Explorer. However, XP SP2 users are not vulnerable.

McAfee rates the virus as a low threat and has only received one report so far, but Craig Schmugar, McAfee`s senior virus researcher manager, says the technical aspects of the virus are worrying. "It has all the components there to become a significant virus."

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group today announced the adoption of Bluetooth Core Specification Version 2.0 and Enhanced Data Rate.

The new spec is expected to increase data rates by up to three times current levels and support running multiple Bluetooth devices simultaneously, Palm Infocenter reports.

Bluetooth technology is the only proven short-range wireless technology and is widely used in the personal arena for networking with devices like mobile phones, PCs, PDAs, headsets and hands-free kits.

A spammer who sent as many as 15 million unsolicited mails a day has been set bail of $1 million (R6 million) by a Virginia judge.

Judge Thomas Horne set the record bond for Jeremy Jaynes on Monday on the condition that he wear a GPS leg monitor and not use a computer, News.com reports.

Prosecutors had argued that Jaynes was a flight risk, given that he amassed as much as $24 million (R144 million) in assets from fraudulent e-mail scams.

According to a Virginia felony law passed in July 2003, which penalises people who mask their identity in order to send unsolicited bulk e-mail, Jaynes faces nine years in prison.

As of yesterday afternoon, Jaynes had not yet posted bail.