live.com

iCloud gets tested and priced

Skype releases and then pulls its iPad app, Microsoft stops publishing the locations of millions of mobile and Wi-Fi devices, and Apple opens up iCloud.com for testing and reveals pricing for extra storage.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Microsoft curbs Wi-Fi location database

Microsoft has ceased publishing the estimated locations of millions of laptops, cell phones, and other devices with Wi-Fi connections around the world after a CNET article on Friday highlighted privacy concerns.

The decision to rework Live.com's geolocation service comes following scrutiny of the way Microsoft made available its database assembled by both Windows Phone 7 phones and what the company calls "managed driving" by Street View-like vehicles that record Wi-Fi signals accessible from public roads. Every Wi-Fi device has a unique ID, sometimes called a MAC address, that cannot normally be changed.

Live.com's database, … Read more

Microsoft's Web map exposes phone, PC locations

Microsoft has collected the locations of millions of laptops, cell phones, and other Wi-Fi devices around the world and makes them available on the Web without taking the privacy precautions that competitors have, CNET has learned.

The vast database available through Live.com publishes the precise geographical location, which can point to a street address and sometimes even a corner of a building, of Android phones, Apple devices, and other Wi-Fi enabled gadgets.

Unlike Google and Skyhook Wireless, which have compiled similar lists of these unique Wi-Fi addresses, Microsoft has not taken any measures to curb access to its database. … Read more

Microsoft ranked fifth worst spam service ISP

Microsoft is listed fifth in the Top 10 list of the worst spam service ISPs compiled by Spamhaus.org.

Spammers are advertising links to sites that "peddle fake pharmacy products, porn, and Nigerian 419 scams" on Microsoft's Live.com and Livefilestore.com sites because they know that the Microsoft sites won't get blocked by antispam groups, writes Brian Krebs on his Security Fix Blog at the Washington Post.

Spamhaus has been alerting Microsoft to the problem for some time, but to no avail, Richard Cox, Spamhaus' chief information officer, told Krebs. Other security companies, including McAfee … Read more

Live.com e-mail addresses up for grabs

The wait for Microsoft's Live.com e-mail addresses is over.

Microsoft is now taking sign-ups (or at least it was a few minutes ago) at get.live.com. The company released the final version of Windows Live Hotmail a little while back, but has held off on releasing the Live.com domain for a while, though some folks did manage to snag a few addresses before now.

What worked for me was going to that Web site (make sure you are logged out of Windows Live), clicking Hotmail, and then signing up. Some people in the newsroom have reported … Read more

Microsoft overhauls Live.com search page

Microsoft has overhauled the look of its Live.com search page, part of a series of changes expected in the coming weeks.

While the first visible changes are to the user interface, fonts and look of the Live.com search page, the bigger changes are coming to the engine itself, as well as the way Microsoft presents results. (Props to the folks over at Liveside.net for spotting the changes.)

Microsoft has scheduled a press event, dubbed "Searchification," for September 26 at its Silicon Valley offices, where it is expected to tell all.

But we'll keep watching … Read more