RealPlayer for Linux to play Windows Media ... Google's free WiFi in Mountain View online ... Faulty batteries likely in other products

Today's IT news audio update
RealPlayer for Linux to play Windows Media ... Google's free WiFi in Mountain View online ... Faulty batteries likely in other products

HIGHLIGHTS

News: Google launches Wi-Fi network in Mountain View
News: Microsoft will fix bum patch crashing IE 6
News: Digital image watermarks could combat trademark theft
News: Yahoo, Go2 will display mobile ads
News: Sony battery problems could go beyond Dell laptops
News: Customer satisfaction dips for Google, Yahoo, MSN
LinuxWorld SF: RealPlayer to support Windows Media on Linux
LinuxWorld SF: BPM latest app to be 'open-sourced'
LinuxWorld SF: IBM expands open-source plan beyond Linux
ITwhirled: The dark side of mobility

NEWS UPDATES

Google launches Wi-Fi network in Mountain View
The Wi-Fi network Google Inc. built for Mountain View becomes generally available on Wednesday, providing free broadband wireless access in this California city that the search engine giant calls home.

Microsoft will fix bum patch crashing IE 6
Microsoft Corp. will update a patch by next Tuesday that's causing a version of Internet Explorer (IE) to suddenly crash.

Digital image watermarks could combat trademark theft
Technology from one of Germany's renowned Fraunhofer Institutes could help companies protect pictures of their products from being stolen by groups trying to promote cheap imitations.

Yahoo, Go2 will display mobile ads
Yahoo Inc. and Go2 Directory Systems are partnering to display advertisements along with search results on mobile phones in the U.S.

Sony battery problems could go beyond Dell laptops
Faulty batteries produced by Sony Corp. like those that caused Dell Inc. to initiate a huge recall this week could be present in laptops from other companies and other portable electronics products.

Customer satisfaction dips for Google, Yahoo, MSN
U.S. residents are less satisfied with search engines like Google Inc. and news Web sites like MSNBC.com, but happier with Web portals like AOL LLC, a study from the University of Michigan and ForeSee Results Inc. has found.

RealPlayer to support Windows Media on Linux
RealNetworks Inc. will support Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media formats in an upgraded version of its RealPlayer multimedia application for Linux systems scheduled for release in December.

BPM latest app to be 'open-sourced'
Open-source business models continue to permeate the enterprise applications market, with BPM (business performance management) the latest software to get a makeover, courtesy of formerly closed-source vendor Adaptive Planning Inc.

IBM expands open-source plan beyond Linux
IBM Corp. is expanding its open-source strategy beyond Linux by targeting eight new technology areas where it will focus open-source attention going forward.

ITWHIRLED

The dark side of mobility
According to a survey conducted by Info-Tech Research Group, 81 percent of employees feel obligated to one degree or another to be available to the office 24 hours a day. Only 19 percent of the people surveyed felt no obligation at all to stay connected around the clock. This is of course, the dark side to all the spiffy connectivity technology that's come out lately.