Apple connects computer to TV

Apple has unveiled Apple TV, which can connect computers and TVs without wires, reports Xinhuanet.

The box went on sale this week for $300. Its competitors include Microsoft's Xbox 360, at $400, which also acts as a bridge between PC and TV, and Netgear's week-old EVA8000, for $350. Xbox 360 also has its own online movie store, and Netgear features an Internet connection for viewing YouTube videos and listening to Internet radio.

Apple TV is small and quiet compared to the Xbox, but requires a widescreen TV - preferably an HDTV. It doesn't work with the traditional TVs many people still have.

Laptops will overtake desktop PCs as the dominant form of computer in 2011, says IDC, reports BBC News.

The demand for bulky machines will continue to slowly grow, but at a declining rate as portable machines become quicker and more efficient. The IDC report predicts the laptop market will grow by 16.1% year-on-year until 2011, compared to 3.8% for desktop PCs.

There will also be a short burst of desktop shipments over the next year as Microsoft rolls out Vista, it predicts. "The release of Vista and a desktop refresh will create some growth opportunity in late 2007 and early 2008, before resuming a declining growth trend," said Doug Bell, IDC analyst.

An Australian man pleaded guilty to breaking into eBay and a local bank to steal AU$42 000 (about $34 000), in a case that demonstrates the problem of account takeovers on the auction site, reports The Register.

Dov Tenenboim, 21, of Sydney, stood accused of breaking into at least 90 different eBay seller accounts last year, mostly by guessing passwords. Tenenboim frequently figured out the credentials by matching usernames to passwords, prosecutors said. Other times he hacked into e-mail accounts.

Following a familiar route, Tenenboim targeted users with highly favourable feedback ratings from their eBay peers. Posting under the guise of a trusted user with an established account makes it easier to dupe buyers.

Information stolen from the systems of retailer TJX was used fraudulently in November 2006, in an $8 million gift card scheme, one month before TJX officials said they learned of the breach, reports eWeek.

The significance of this new TJX detail - discovered as Florida authorities issued arrest warrants for 10 suspects and took six of them into custody - is unclear, but it might yield clues as to how TJX learned of the breach.

The $16 billion retail chain has officially said a huge amount of information was accessed as early as 2005 (with some of the captured data dating back to 2003), but that TJX officials didn't learn of the breach until December 2006.