For classic video game nostalgia fans, Halo debuts on the Atari 2600

Everybody knows Halo as the blockbuster video game franchise that debuted on the original Xbox in 2001. It has gone on to sell more than 30 million copies. But now Halo is coming to — of all platforms — the Atari 2600. It debuted this weekend at the Classic Game Expo in Las Vegas.

The game is called Halo 2600. Yes, that’s the pioneering video game console that debuted in 1977 and kicked off the … Continue Reading

Live demos show how the Nintendo DS and the Wii can be hacked to spread malware (videos)

Two hackers showed how they can hack Nintendo‘s handheld and console game devices to spread malware to whatever networks they are connected to.

At the Defcon security conference in Las Vegas, Ki-Chan Ahn (below) and Dong-Joo Ha (right) showed off a number of demos of how they could crack the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii and use them to upload malware. They said users don’t expect malware to be loaded on game console devices, so … Continue Reading

Week in review: An Android app that takes your data, a new Russian angel fund

Here’s our roundup of the week’s tech business news. First, the most popular stories published in the last seven days:

Android wallpaper app that takes your data was downloaded by millions — A questionable Android wallpaper app that collects your personal data and sends it to a mysterious site in China has been downloaded millions of times, according to data unearthed by mobile security firm Lookout. The firm described its findings at the Black Hat … Continue Reading

Hacker shows how he can intercept cell phone calls with $1,500 device (video)

A security researcher showed in a live demo today how he can intercept cell phone calls on 80 percent of the world’s phones with just about $1,500 worth of equipment.

Chris Paget, who also showed yesterday how he can hack into radio frequency identification tags (RFID) from a distance, created a fake cell phone tower, or Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) base station. GSM is the protocol for 80 percent of the world’s phones … Continue Reading

How North Korea could build a cyber army to defeat the U.S.

It wouldn’t be that hard for North Korea to build a cyber army to take on the U.S. in a war fought only in cyberspace. North Korea has an estimated cyber war budget of $56 million, and the cheap way it could attack the U.S. is by herding a bunch of compromised computers to do its bidding.

That’s the assessment by Charlie Miller (above, photoshopped into a photo with North Korea’s leaders), a veteran computer … Continue Reading

EC Roundup: Finding lawyers, preserving knowledge and unlocking fan marketing

Here’s the latest from VentureBeat’s Entrepreneur Corner.

How liable are you for copyrighted material on your Web site? – A user posts copyrighted material on your Web site: Are you liable? Attorney Curtis Smolar runs down how to protect yourself for legal action.

How to select your company’s lawyer – While the startup duties of a lawyer are pretty basic, you’ll regret going with the cheapest when you have a real issue come up down … Continue Reading

Roundup: Facebook letting fbFund fizzle, NYC bringing wireless to the subway

Here’s the latest action:

Wi-Fi coming to NYC subway — Plans to provide wireless access to subway riders in New York City have been resumed, with $200 million being allocated for company Transit Wireless to equip the tunnels with substations.

Twitter taking Saturday night off — The micro-blogging site is expected to go down Saturday night so that its hosting provider, NTT America, can upgrade portions of its network.

Nexus Two rumors emerge — Technology … Continue Reading

Push-notification platform Xtify picks up $2.8M, ramps up development

Working in the mobile advertising business, New York City-based Xtify has been building its platform for brands and other app developers, allowing for geo-targeted notifications — most often, ads — that are pushed to consumers when they are within a predefined area, say a one-mile radius from a department store. The company has announced it has raised $2.8 million in a first round of institutional funding, which it is using to beef up its product … Continue Reading

Workers easily tricked into revealing corporate secrets

Social engineering is the (morally vague) art of tricking someone out of their company’s technical secrets just by talking to them. It often involves deceit and relies on the fact that the weakest link in any computer security system is a human.

At the annual Defcon event, held in Las Vegas this week, attendees, mostly professionals in the computer-security business, engage in several contests. A new this one year involves launching social engineering “attacks,” where … Continue Reading

Security researcher explains how he hacked ATMs (videos)

Earlier this week, I reported about security research Barnaby Jack showing how to hack two different automated teller machines in front of a crowd of hackers and security professionals at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. Now you can see video footage of Jack responding to questions following his demonstration.

(See our roundup of all Black Hat and Defcon stories).

The two videos below show the Q&A session that took place immediately after … Continue Reading

PlacePop joins mobile loyalty program frenzy, gets funding boost

PlacePop,  a company that allows any company to create and maintain virtual loyalty cards, launched its iPhone app today. It also announced fresh funding of $1.4 million from a number of angel investors.

PlacePop wants to replace the clumsy, physical loyalty program cards people carry around in their wallets or forget in their desk drawers. So it’s joining  a lot of companies doing the same thing — helping people go virtual with their loyalty cards. … Continue Reading

Shmoop to bring its sassy textbook approach to Bio.com

Shmoop, the online study guide publisher founded by husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Ellen and David Siminoff, has announced the first of what it says will be a number of deals with major media companies. The Mountain View, Calif. startup says it has signed on to write content for Bio.com, the website of the A&E television show Biography.

Shmoop’s website offers study guides in areas including literature, US history, and economics, aiming for an entertaining, funny style. For … Continue Reading

Hacker tries to read a radio identification tag from 29 floors up (video)

Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are becoming pervasive as the barcodes of the 21st century. They are being used in everything from Wal-Mart merchandise to U.S. passport cards.

But the problem, as demonstrated by hacker Chris Paget at the Defcon security conference today, is that they have no security and can be read from a great distance. Paget has already shown he can read a tag from 217 feet. (See our roundup of all Black … Continue Reading

DiscoveryBeat 2010: How to get your apps noticed

So how do you get attention?

If you’re a developer of a web application and trying to compete with hundreds of thousands of applications already out there, it isn’t easy. An ever-expanding recipe of tricks is needed to stay in front of competitors, who themselves become even more aggressive with their techniques.

DiscoveryBeat 2010 is a one-day event designed to explore that magic recipe in detail. The recipe includes everything from new ways to track … Continue Reading

New Twitter feature suggests who you might want to follow

Twitter is starting to give personalized recommendations for people to follow, as it pushes to increase retention of new users.

The company will suggest accounts based on who you currently follow and who those accounts follow, according to a blog post today. Users will also see recommendations for people to follow when they look at other Twitter users’ profiles.

It’s like a “PeopleRank” of sorts — a social play on Google’s original PageRank algorithm, but … Continue Reading

Social game maker Zynga hires a new CFO; are more acquisitions coming?

In a move that will spur talk about a much-anticipated initial public offering, social game publisher Zynga hired a new chief financial officer today.

Dave Wehner, former managing director at Allen & Co., will be the new CFO. Wehner has worked at Allen & Co., the media and technology investment bank headed by Herb Allen, since 2001. He replaces Mark Vranesh, who becomes Zynga’s chief accounting officer, reporting to Wehner. A source familiar with matter … Continue Reading

Can real-time search make a buck? OneRiot restructures

The biggest of the independent real-time search engines, OneRiot, restructured its management today and laid off an unknown number of employees, including company co-founder Robert Reich.

Kimbal Musk, a serial entrepreneur who served as chief executive, is stepping aside to serve as chairman and making way for longtime president Tobias Peggs to take the lead.

The Boulder, Colo. company, which raised $27 million in venture capital, has pioneered real-time search, a way of looking for … Continue Reading

Dave McClure raises fund, says traditional VCs should 'die already'

Dave McClure is a well-known investor through the Founders Fund’s angel program and its joint Facebook fund with Accel, as well as his own investments. Now it looks like McClure’s about to ramp up his activity by raising a new $30 million fund under the name 500 Startups.

The fund was revealed through a regulatory filing spotted by the Form Ds website. The filing lists McClure as the firm’s executive officer.

The just-gone-live 500 Startups … Continue Reading

Evo 4G users to get Android 2.2 "Froyo" update starting August 3

Google’s Android 2.2 “Froyo” update is finally hitting more phones than just the Nexus One. Sprint announced today that it will start rolling out the update to Evo 4G users starting next Tuesday, August 3, Engadget reports.

Android 2.2 comes with a wealth of upgrades over 2.1, including OS-wide speed increases, a more polished user-interface, a faster web browser, support for Adobe Flash 10.1, built-in tethering capabilities, and improved camera options. Google has been saying … Continue Reading