Vodafone confirms HTC Sensation: 1.2GHz dual-core and qHD display

Vodafone UK has prematurely announced the HTC Sensation, the device formerly known by its codename of HTC Pyramid, and not expected to make its official debut until HTC’s event later on today. Confirmed is the 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4.3-inch 540 x 960 touchscreen and 8-megapixel camera with autofocus and dual-LED flash.

There’s also a front-facing webcam, 3G, WiFi b/g/n and GPS, along with a unibody-style chassis. We can spy a microUSB port too, and Vodafone says there’ll be 4GB of internal storage and an 8GB microSD card bundled in the box.

No word on pricing or availability – all Vodafone say on that point is that the HTC Sensation is “coming soon” – but we expect to hear more later on today at the event-proper.

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Flash Exploit can nail early versions of Android

Adobe has announced a critical vulnerability in Flash Player 10.2.153.1 and earlier versions which may, and we do underscore MAY, affect early versions of the Android OS. The vulnerability causes a crash and could also allow a savvy attacker to take control of affected systems. It is usually triggered by an infect .swf file embedded into a Microsoft Word document delivered as an email attachment. Now, granted, this is going to be rare for the Android platform but Adobe felt it important enough to mention that early versions of the Bot OS may be affected.

So if you have an old G1 that you’re hanging onto, you may want to steer clear of using Flash until adobe gets a fix out, which is currently scheduled for June 14, 2011 as part of their quarterly security update schedule. Yeah, June. You’d think if Adobe though this was important enough to mention, and exploits always are, that they’d have a regular update schedule like Microsoft does with Windows. I mean, QUARTERLY?

Then again, if you are still using an G1 or early model Android handset, you’re probably WAY due to upgrade anyway. There’s plenty of great handsets out there and many are free. I mean, we know the G1 was the first and all, but come on, get with the program! Seriously, this likely much ado about nothing for your average AC reader, but its always a good idea to keep up on what attackers are trying to do in case something pops up that nobody saw comin.

Security Advisory for Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Reader and Acrobat

Release date: April 11, 2011

Vulnerability identifier:APSA11-02

CVE number: CVE-2011-0611

Platform: See “Affected software versions” section below for details
Summary

A critical vulnerability exists in Flash Player 10.2.153.1 and earlier versions (Adobe Flash Player 10.2.154.25 and earlier for Chrome users) for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris, Adobe Flash Player 10.2.156.12 and earlier versions for Android, and the Authplay.dll component that ships with Adobe Reader and Acrobat X (10.0.2) and earlier 10.x and 9.x versions for Windows and Macintosh operating systems.

This vulnerability (CVE-2011-0611) could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this vulnerability is being exploited in the wild in targeted attacks via a Flash (.swf) file embedded in a Microsoft Word (.doc) file delivered as an email attachment, targeting the Windows platform. At this time, Adobe is not aware of any attacks via PDF targeting Adobe Reader and Acrobat. Adobe Reader X Protected Mode mitigations would prevent an exploit of this kind from executing.

We are in the process of finalizing a schedule for delivering updates for Flash Player 10.2.x and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Solaris and Android, Adobe Acrobat X (10.0.2) and earlier 10.x and 9.x versions for Windows and Macintosh, Adobe Reader X (10.0.2) for Macintosh, and Adobe Reader 9.4.3 and earlier 9.x versions for Windows and Macintosh. Because Adobe Reader X Protected Mode would prevent an exploit of this kind from executing, we are currently planning to address this issue in Adobe Reader X for Windows with the next quarterly security update for Adobe Reader, currently scheduled for June 14, 2011.
Affected software versions

* Adobe Flash Player 10.2.153.1 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris operating systems
* Adobe Flash Player 10.2.154.25 and earlier for Chrome users
* Adobe Flash Player 10.2.156.12 and earlier for Android
* The Authplay.dll component that ships with Adobe Reader and Acrobat X (10.0.2) and earlier 10.x and 9.x versions for Windows and Macintosh operating systems

NOTE: Adobe Reader 9.x for UNIX, Adobe Reader for Android, and Adobe Reader and Acrobat 8.x are not affected by this issue.
Severity rating

Adobe categorizes this as a critical issue.
Details

A critical vulnerability exists in Flash Player 10.2.153.1 and earlier versions (Adobe Flash Player 10.2.154.25 and earlier for Chrome users) for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Solaris, Adobe Flash Player 10.2.156.12 and earlier versions for Android, and the Authplay.dll component that ships with Adobe Reader and Acrobat X (10.0.2) and earlier 10.x and 9.x versions for Windows and Macintosh operating systems.

This vulnerability (CVE-2011-0611) could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this vulnerability is being exploited in the wild in targeted attacks via a Flash (.swf) file embedded in a Microsoft Word (.doc) file delivered as an email attachment, targeting the Windows platform. At this time, Adobe is not aware of any attacks via PDF targeting Adobe Reader and Acrobat. Adobe Reader X Protected Mode mitigations would prevent an exploit of this kind from executing.

We are in the process of finalizing a schedule for delivering updates for Flash Player 10.2.x and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Solaris and Android, Adobe Acrobat X (10.0.2) and earlier 10.x and 9.x versions for Windows and Macintosh, Adobe Reader X (10.0.2) for Macintosh, and Adobe Reader 9.4.3 and earlier 9.x versions for Windows and Macintosh. Because Adobe Reader X Protected Mode would prevent an exploit of this kind from executing, we are currently planning to address this issue in Adobe Reader X for Windows with the next quarterly security update for Adobe Reader, currently scheduled for June 14, 2011.

Users may monitor the latest information on the Adobe Product Security Incident Response Team blog at http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt or by subscribing to the RSS feed at http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/atom.xml.

Adobe actively shares information about this and other vulnerabilities with partners in the security community to enable them to quickly develop detection and quarantine methods to protect users until a patch is available. As always, Adobe recommends that users follow security best practices by keeping their anti-malware software and definitions up to date.

Acknowledgments
Adobe would like to thank Mila Parkour (http://contagiodump.blogspot.com) for working with Adobe on this issue to help protect our customers.

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Skype with Video for Android Mini Review [Pre-Release]

The only reason I call this app review a mini review is because there’s simply not that much to say about it. It appears, from here, and this far into the app, that this Skype with Video chat does exactly what it says it does and it does it well. Remember back when we took a look at the app called Tango – another video chat app? Believe it or not, this iteration of Skype is VERY similar to that, only Skype has a big bonus : it’s Skype.

The source of the APK we’re using for this mini review comes from our awesome friends at Droid Life. Before we continue, just incase you’d like to follow along while we review, let’s take a look at some downloads from several sources and a QR-code that’ll lead you to a Megaupload:

Download: com.skypevideo.apk [mirror] [mirror]
Download: [zipped version] Just a zip file.

Now, on with the review. This app how four main tabs: contacts, call, my info, and events. You’re able to call people with voice only, via instant message, or with – yes! Video calls. If you’ve got a Skype account already, you’re in luck, because just like you get the full Facebook experience when you use a Facebook app, you get your whole list of contacts from your Sync account from your desktop version of the app.

You can access all the information the people you have on your contact list wish you to be able to see. You can contact them via your contacts list in a way that makes you (and me, doing this review) feel comfortable and “at home” if you know what I mean. Calls sound great between phone and phone as well as between phone and computer, (that’s what you’re seeing in the photograph above,) the same goes for video. Video isn’t the greatest thing in the world, but it’s certainly as good as Tango.

Now that Skype is coming out with video calling over Android, does Tango have a chance to survive? Does Digg survive even though there’s Reddit to fight? Do some people own both a Motorola XOOM and an iPad as well as a few smaller devices that can now run Skype with Video? Sure, why not?

All the images you see below are either photographs of a conversation between a MacBook Pro and a HTC ThunderBolt OR screenshots of the Skype with Video app in action – there’s no screenshots of the video conversation in action because screenshots refuse to pick up the images behind the call button. Harsh! Best way to see the video quality here is to try it out for yourself. If you do, be a real pal and let us know (in comments below) how it went installing on your device (and which device it was you were using.)

Thanks a bunch!

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Google Invests in World’s Largest Solar Power Tower Plant

Google has just sealed a deal to invest $168 million in a Mojave Desert solar energy plant.

The investment is going to BrightSource Energy, a company that developes and operates large-scale solar power plants, specifically to fund its Ivanpah project.

Ivanpah is a solar electric generating system that uses solar thermal technology and “an environmentally responsible design,” according to the project’s website, to deliver reliable, clean and low-cost power to Californians.

The plant will generate energy with a technology called power towers. Mirrors, called heliostats, are arranged in an array and aim the sun’s rays at a receiver atop a tower. The receiver generates steam; the steam causes a turbine to rotate; the rotation causes a generator to generate electricity. Because such large quantities of solar energy are being directed to such a small area, the power towers are very efficient.

The power tower at Ivanpah will be around 450 feet tall. The plant will use 173,000 heliostats, and each heliostat will have two mirrors, making Ivanpah the largest project of its kind.

Construction at Ivanpah should be completed in 2013. Here’s a video from the plant’s groundbreaking ceremony:

Google’s been on something of a clean energy investment kick over the past year or so. The company was granted the ability to buy and sell energy as a public utility last February, ostensibly to find better ways to power its own massive data centers.

A short time later, Google began making significant investments in green energy technologies. The company sealed a $38 million wind farm investment in May, bought 20 years’ worth of wind farm energy in July, and provided a substantial investment for a huge offshore wind farm in October.

Rick Needham is Google’s Director of Green Business Operations. On the company blog, writes, “We hope that investing in Ivanpah spurs continued development and deployment of this promising technology while encouraging other companies to make similar investments in renewable energy.”

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VHX Wants To Be Your Video Dashboard For The Entire Internet

Launching in private beta today and founded by original Vimeo developer Casey Pugh and Know Your Meme co-founder Jamie Wilkinson is VHX.tv, a site that aims to “combine the best parts of the TV experience with the best of the web.” But wait, haven’t we heard this like a bajillion times?

Right away there’s something different about VHX as a video-sharing experience, namely that when you hit the service after initially registering and following other users, the videos in your VHX dashboard start playing right away, almost like you’ve turned on the social video TV.

The site, which runs in flash, is admittedly quite slow to load, but once it does the experience of watching videos in your dashboard stream (what your friends have decided to share), in your queue (what you have flagged to watch later) or in your history is pretty much the closest I’ve come to non-fragmented experience on the web. This is great if you want to watch online video while folding clothes or cooking or doing exercise, and don’t want to have to click around aimlessly for the next thing distraction.

VHX also lets you download a bookmarklet that lets you share or queue up videos from around the web, and the VHX browser extension tracks what videos you’ve watched on other sites, adding them to your history. You can share directly to Twitter, Facebook, Gmail and Tumblr from within the app, linking to the original video. And while VHX currently only supports Vimeo and YouTube, Wilkinson tells me he wants to add other formats soon, essentially becoming a video dashboard for the entire web.

Working on in the online video space is a hard row to hoe, especially when you stand in the shadows of YouTube, Vimeo and Boxee, and audience success is not necessarily matched by a viable business model. “Online video consumption is not a simple problem to solve. Everyone distributes video differently and we’re here to smooth out these inconsistencies for the end-user.  We’ve been working in online video for years, have great relationships with all the players,” Wilkinson acknowleged.

VHX is working on more-in depth features that would turn the service into “your own personal Internet TV Station” where users would be able to create video playlists to share on VHX or embed on their own blogs. Wilkinson eventually wants to give user the ability to edit the videos themselves. The team also has native iPhone and iPad apps in development, as well as a Boxee app for those not content with watching videos on a computer screen.

The first hundred TechCrunch readers can get early access to the VHX beta here.

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Indian Stealth Startup Mojostreet Secures $350K From Former Microsoft VP, Others

Hyderabad-based Mojostreet, a location-based mobile gaming startup, announced today that it has received $350K in seed funding, led by Srini Koppolu, former Managing Director of Microsoft India and J.A. Chowdary former Managing Director of Nvidia India. Mojostreet will use its infusion of capital to ramp up hiring efforts and to assist in the startup’s beta launch in early May.

Like a mix of its American counterparts Foursquare, SCVNGR, and Booyah’s My Town, Mojostreet’s first product is a location-based app, which will allow users to check in at various point of interests in a game format. At launch, Mojostreet will be restricted to 5.5 million locations in India, but Founder and CEO Kalyan Manyam said that he hopes to launch Mojostreet in the U.S. and Singapore shortly thereafter.

The startup has partnered with several major national retail outlets in India to provide real world offers to complement the virtual gaming experience. So, as users check in at various locations, they will be awarded virtual currency, or “Mojo bucks”. Gamers are pitted against their friends in a mobile scavenger hunt, unlocking special offers at check-in, and stockpiling virtual cash along the way.

Manyam, who also founded Indyarocks.com — an Indian social network with more than 6 million users — said that mobile gaming is currently exploding among the more than 600 million mobile phone users in India. As a result, Mojostreet will be available on Blackberry, Nokia, IPhone and Android phones.

“As data plans become more affordable in India, location-based services are going to play a crucial role in community-based entertainment and eCommerce”, Manyam said. “And we are very excited to see the ways Mojostreet can influence real world experiences and commerce”.

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Startup Helps Small Restaurants Get Online

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: BistroSquare 

Quick Pitch: BistroSquare is a website builder specifically for restaurants.

Genius Idea: Making it easy for restaurants to create websites that are as simple or as fully featured as they need them to be.

Richie Ward’s family has been in the restaurant business for three generations. Ward prefered to start a tech company, but didn’t want to abandon his deep understanding of independent restaurants. So last month Ward and his co-founder Andrew Kurz launched a website builder targeted specifically at the 311,548 businesses in the United States that fit into that category. 


“I’m sure that there are some out there who have a background in web development and just kind of landed in the restaurant industry that could build a website themselves and never need our service,” Ward says. “But by and large there seem to be restaurateurs out there who are excellent at running restaurants but don’t really know where to start when it comes to building a website. That’s who our product is geared toward.”

BistroSquare is designed for restaurants and other small food businesses, like bakeries and caterers, and has features that easily create online menus, coupons and reservations. Instead of paying hundreds to thousands of dollars for a functional website, restaurant owners with minimum technology skills create and maintain their own sites.

Other startups like Culini and LetsEat.at are also targeting independent restaurants with web builders that integrate social media and help create a sleek website. Ward says his bootstrapped startup is different in that its web builder goes beyond putting up a “build it and forget it” website.

“We’re not really just a web builder,” Ward says. “We’re kind of the complete package for managing a website.”

BistroSquare’s site offers the basics, but it also has advanced features like a reservation system, email accounts, multiple user management tools and a shopping cart. LetsEat.at integrates with OpenTable, but doesn’t have its own system.

An ad-supported free version of BistroSquare has limited features and doesn’t include the $19.99 annual domain name fee. Other plans run from $29.99 to $49.99 per month, which is considerably more expensive than LetsEat.at but on par with Culini, which has more complicated features.

•  Image courtesy of iStockphoto, nikada 

 Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

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What Impact Has The New York Times Paywall Had on Traffic? [STATS]

The New York Times‘ paywall has now been up for two weeks. What impact has it had on the popular website’s traffic? More importantly, is the paywall working as intended, or is it taking a bite out of The New York Times‘ revenues?

Experian Hitwise thinks it has the answer to the first question. The research and intelligence firm analyzed traffic data for NYTimes.com from before and after the paywall was erected. According to its data, traffic has declined overall by 5% to 15%.

Hitwise measured the change in total unique visitors between February 22 and March 5 as well as the number of visitors between March 29 and April 9. Overall, it was no contest: unique traffic has dropped since the paywall, with most declines in the 5% to 10% range.

The effects of the NYTimes.com paywall are far more pronounced on the website’s total pageviews, though. Using the same time period, Hitwise found that pageviews dropped between 11% and 30% after the paywall was erected. Pageviews typically exceeded 5.8 million before the paywall; after it went into effect, the site’s overall traffic has dropped under this number.

There are a couple of caveats to remember about the paywall before making any conclusions. First, The New York Times is currently running a promotion: $0.99 for the first four weeks of access. There could be a lot of people accessing NYTimes.com that won’t pay the normal $15 to $35 subscription fee. It’s also important to remember that the paywall doesn’t kick in until someone reads 20 articles a month (plus free visits from search and social media), which could explain why pageviews have dropped so much more than total visits.

So here’s the big question: Is NYT‘s paywall a success or a failure? When it comes to this big-picture question, we still don’t have enough information to make a conclusion. The paywall simply hasn’t been around long enough and we don’t have the financial data to see whether the paywall has made up for the loss in advertising revenue.

What do you think of the paywall? Is it the future of the news, or will sites that use a paywall destined for a slow death?

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Ask a VC: Bijan Sabet Returns to the Hot Seat. Send Your Questions Now!

This week, I invited Bijan Sabet of Spark Capital back to Ask a VC, because it’s been a while and there were a ton of questions we didn’t get to last time.

Sabet is in the middle of some of the most interesting companies on the Web today including Tumblr, Twitter and Boxee. And as you can see from his last time on the show, he’s a great guest. Last time we talked about everything from investing in Africa to why Boston is struggling to get its startup mojo back.

What do you want to know? Send your questions to askavc(at)techcrunch(dot)com. Feel free to check out his blog to come up with some good ones.

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Samsung Intercept Nabs Froyo Starting Today

We’re getting reports from owners of Virgin Mobile’s lovely Samsung Intercept that they’re being bumped up to Android 2.2 Froyo today, finally, oh joyous day! This update, like most upgrades to newer Android versions, comes after months of speculation. The first date was December 17th of last year, then it was “sometime this spring,” and now it’s today. Today, today, callooh, callay!

This update brings Virgin Mobile-carried Samsung Intercept up to the nearly-newest version of Android, Android 2.2 Froyo. Of course eventually it would be ideal for this phone to be upgraded to Android 2.3 Gingerbread and then 2.x (whatever it’ll be) Ice Cream. Don’t hold your breath! This may well be the last update in the lifespan of said phone. That said, we’ve been taking a peek at the cute little LG Optimus V for the past week, and Virgin’s been treating us well. 

To see if you’re next in line to get the upgrade to Android 2.2 Froyo, just follow the following directions:

Within the next few weeks you will be receiving a prompt on your phone to update your Intercept phone software from 2.1 éclair to 2.2 Froyo. The update process will take 5-15 minutes to complete. Ensure that your phone is charged or connected to AC before clicking Restart and Install. Do not remove your battery during the update process.
Google or Exchange Contacts, Email accounts, Text Messages, Alarms and installed applications will be backed up and restored. A soft reset may be required to re-sync Calendar events. Music files, Photos and Videos are stored on the memory card and are not affected. Memos, Call Logs, Speed Dial numbers, Playlists, Folders, App shortcuts and Widgets will be deleted. Backup any important Memos before proceeding.Speed Dial numbers, Playlists, Folders, App shortcuts and Widgets can be recreated after the update is complete.
After the installation is complete, your phone will restart. You will be prompted to re-enter your Google Account Password.
Froyo 2.2 enhancements include:
· Exchange Active Sync updates
· ability to install applications to external memory card
· improved Bluetooth device support
· Bluetooth Voice dialing
· improved operating system performance
· dedicated phone, application and browser icons on every home screen
Virgin Mobile

[thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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