Federal Trade Commission officials have filed a lawsuit to halt an alleged spyware distributor from surreptitiously installing software on users’ computers and then trying to induce them to purchase anti-spyware products, according to court documents filed Thursday. The FTC is seeking an injunction against Sanford Wallace and his two companies, Rochester, N.H.-based Seismic Entertainment Productions and Richboro, Pa.-based Smartbot.net, according to filings in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire.

About 4.4 million AC adapters sold worldwide with Dell notebooks between September 1998 and February 2002 were recalled Friday. Dell sold the adapters with its Latitude, Inspiron and Precision series of computers, as well as separately. As part of the recall, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission advised consumers who suspect they have one of the adapters to contact the company. Dell will send free replacements to customers with the recalled adapters.

Fujitsu Computer Systems introduced its second-generation convertible tablet PC, the LifeBook T4000, featuring an integrated modular bay that can accommodate various options. The T4000’s modular bay is compatible with several optional components, including a DVD-ROM drive, DVD/CD-RW combo drive, multi-format DVD burner, and second battery. With the latter, the tablet can run for up to 8.5 hours.

Mobility-solutions provider 4SmartPhone announced a service that gives mobile-device users real-time access to corporate data. Designed for small and medium-size businesses, the company’s service runs on the Windows Exchange 2003 platform and is optimized for Windows Mobile-based smartphones, though certain features are also available to Palm OS and Symbian smartphones, data-enabled standard phones, and wireless PDAs.

Apparently, it’s Columbus Day (who knew?). In any case, all the news that’s fit for bits will return tomorrow, unless that’s another holiday no one told us about. Hey, if the Dunkin’ Donuts is open and serving coffee, we figure it’s a legitimate work day!

Starting this month, the Tapwave Zodiac Palm Powered multimedia handheld and its accessories will be distributed by D&H Distributing, one of America’s largest distributor of computer products and consumer electronics. D&H’s broad customer base with leading retail and e-commerce partners allows Tapwave to expand their reseller base quickly and efficiently.

Jeff Hawkins, Palm Computing founder and palmOne CTO, has published a new book. On Intelligence, discusses Hawkins’ theory of how the human brain works and explains his thoughts on why computers today are not intelligent and how, based on this new theory, we can begin to build intelligent machines.

Icom has announced the release of version 2.0 of its flagship product, the all-new MobiPassword 2.0, an Advanced Secure Personal Information and Access Management solution for MS Windows and a number of mobile platforms. MobiPassword features a number of mobile client applications supporting all Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld devices as well as Sony Ericsson P800/P900 smart phones.

Belkin said that it will begin to sell Wi-Fi routers and network cards supporting the not-yet standardized 802.11n technology through retail outlets in the US on October 22. The technology increases the bandwidth of today’s 802.11g standard from 54 Mbit/s to 135 Mbit/s.

Nintendo said it expects about 25 games for the Nintendo DS (dual screen) player by early next year, with about 120 games currently in development. Analysts said the relatively large number of games being made by third-party developers such as Activision, Electronic Arts and THQ bodes well for Nintendo heading into the busy holiday shopping season. The DS debuts in the United States on Nov. 21 and in Japan 10 days later.