Spammed Trojan horses accounted for more than 7 out of every 10 new threats that users faced in August, Sophos reported recently.  The month's malware showed that 71.8 percent of the new malicious code was Trojan. The company spotted nearly 2,000 new exploits during August.

Rival security firm McAfee confirmed the trend toward one-off Trojans - which don't replicate on their own, or infect other systems via new malicious e-mail messages - and a corresponding decrease in traditional worms.

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Here Comes 4G from Samsung

Samsung held a 4G mobile conference in South Korea. The company claims its next-generation technology that would allow mobile data at 100 MBps, with fixed data rates exceeding one gigabyte per second.

In a demonstration, the technology was able to transfer a movie in about five seconds, and 100 songs in a little over two seconds. Another simulation would cram 32 high-definition television channels, Internet access, and video telephony into a single 4G signal.

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Wine Tasting Goes Robotic

NEC System Technologies and Mie University have jointly developed a robot that can recognise various eatables and wines through an electromechanical sommelier.

These wine tasting robots can be customised to identify the kinds of wines their owner prefers. The robots can be programmed in a manner that they can recommend new varieties of wine to suit their owner's taste. That's not all, considering the owner's health, the robots can even alert him not to consume a particular drink or food.

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Google Offers Free Downloads Of Books

Google started offering free downloads of out-of-copyright books from its library partners, which include Harvard, the New York Public Library and the University of California.

Out-of-copyright books have been available for reading online through Book Search. The new feature, however, makes it possible for people to store books on their computers and make copies. The available public domain books include both well-known classics and lesser-known scholarly works.

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APC Loses CEO

In a surprise announcement in mid-August, the company said its long-time president and CEO Rodger Dowdell was stepping down. Dowdell, who led the company for 21 years, has been replaced by APC's vice president Rob Johnson, who is now serving as interim CEO. APC's board of directors has formed a search committee to find a permanent replacement for Dowdell, company officials said.

Insiders have pointed to the company's recent poor performance and withering stock price as probable factors in Dowdell's "retirement."

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Microsoft Ships Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2

Microsoft has released beta 2 of Windows Media Player 11, adding the ability to stream music, pictures and video to devices attached to a home network.  The media-sharing feature follows Microsoft's strategy of offering Windows as an entertainment hub for the home. Media Player 11 will be embedded in Windows Vista, which is set for release to consumers in January.

Media Player 11 also includes many of the capabilities of version 10, released two years ago, including the ability to rip and play CDs and DVDs and manage music libraries. Version 11 Beta 2, which was released this week, requires Windows XP Service Pack 2.

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HD DVD Players in November

Next-generation HD DVD players will be widely available to the European market at the beginning of November, according to the HD DVD Promotion Group.  Consumers will be able to get their hands on Toshiba's first player in a few weeks and it will set them back just 9, while a second offering, released in December, will be slightly more expensive at 9.

HD DVD's battle with Blu-ray has been the industry's chief talking point in recent months, although a number of reports have suggested that the ultimate outcome will simply be widespread compatibility.

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