Microsoft announced the launch of MSN Video Downloads, which will provide daily television programming, including video content from MSNBC.com, Food Network, FOX Sports, and IFILM for download to Windows Mobile-based devices such as Portable Media Centers and select Smartphones and Pocket PCs. Since the launch of the Microsoft Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Center last fall, more than 20 new content partners, including CinemaNow, MLB.com, MSNBC.com, MSN Music, MTV Networks Music, Napster, SnapStream Media, and TiVo have agreed to make video available online specifically formatted for Windows Mobile-based multimedia devices.

DataViz announced that it has licensed the Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol. DataViz intends to incorporate this technology into RoadSync, a mobile ActiveSync client available both commercially and to potential licensees. It will provide non-Microsoft smartphones and other mobile devices with direct, over-the-air, secure synchronization with corporate Outlook email and personal information management data, such as Calendar and Contacts. By integrating the RoadSync client with ActiveSync, enterprise customers will have more choices in the types of mobile devices they deploy and will be better able to utilize their existing Exchange Server investment instead of relying on costly middleware solutions.

KPN and Research In Motion (RIM) have introduced BlackBerry Internet Service in the Netherlands and in Belgium via BASE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KPN Mobile N.V. BlackBerry Internet Service provides individual users and smaller businesses with a leading mobile solution for staying connected. BlackBerry, developed and manufactured by RIM, helps mobile professionals make the most of their day by enabling them to easily manage their email and other information wherever they are. The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution is already very popular among KPN and BASE’s corporate customers who are also supported by a network of BlackBerry Solutions Partners.

It’s not often we get to bring you half-nekkid hotties in the service of The Magazine, but this time, through a dubious stretch of the imagination, we can. The iPose competition, according to the iPose.org Web site, is an all-Greek modeling contest at the University of Arizona, hosted by the fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi and the sorority Alpha Phi. Money is being raised from the contest for tsunami relief. We voted for Emily, but you can vote for either dudes or dudettes. The charitable folks in the competition are each shown wearing an iPod Shuffle, and therein lies the weak connection that allows us to bring you this very slightly lascivious content.

Not content to watch Spiderman-2 and play Need for Speed, Seth Fogie took apart his PSP to see what makes it tick–and if hardware mods are in its future. Luckily he took notes (and pictures) so the rest of us could take a peek inside, too.

The Voice over IP Security Alliance, a recently formed industry group, has created a new committee to define security requirements for Internet telephony networks. The committee will define security requirements across a variety of voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) deployments and address issues such as security technology components, architecture and network design, network management, and end-point access and authentication. Another panel will research infrastructure weaknesses, vulnerabilities and emerging application attacks, the group said.

Price isn’t the only thing shrinking on a new generation of low-cost laptops. Some are losing weight, as well. WinBook, a division of Micro Electronics, announced on Monday that it will put a $699 price tag on a LX 300 portable PC that comes with Linux and weighs 4.6 pounds. Dell has also updated its low-price laptop line for consumers, adding the Inspiron 1200, which starts at $749 and has a 14.1-inch screen. It weights 6.3 pounds, less than predecessors such as the 6.8-pound, $949 SmartStep 100N. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart continues to offer budget Balance notebooks on its Walmart.com Web site, starting at less than $500.

With eight new variants surfacing in the last week alone, and over a dozen reported since the beginning of March, the Mytob mass-mailing worm appears to be evolving rapidly. On Monday, security software maker Symantec reported two new versions of the virus, labeled as W32.Mytob.R and W32.Mytob.S. Both worms achieved a low or moderate threat rating from Symantec, as have earlier variants of Mytob, but the company is still recommending that people update their security software immediately to protect against the emerging threat.

Mobile TS is the first and only application to connect Palm OS handhelds to Windows desktops or workstations via the Terminal Services or Remote Desktop capabilities built into many Microsoft Windows operating systems. Mobile TS takes advantage of the new wireless enabled handhelds, high-resolution screens, and DPad controls, using RDP Protocol to securely (SSL encryption) and efficiently control your computer remotely, via Internet or network connection.

Struggling to cope with a dramatic rise in malicious hacker intrusions, a group of 18 network providers and ISPs announced plans to share real-time data on cyber-attacks. The vendors, which include Cisco Systems Inc., British Telecommunication Plc., EarthLink Inc., MCI Inc. and XO Communications Inc., have formed the Fingerprint Sharing Alliance to automate the way information is distributed during an intense hacker attack.