Starbucks has partnered with Yahoo this week to launch the Starbucks Digital Network, a Web portal with content that can be accessed only when you are using Starbuck's free Wi-Fi.

The network will launch on Wednesday and will be available in all 6800 Starbucks locations.

Starbucks Digital Network will have six channels: News, entertainment, wellness, business and careers, My Neighborhood, and Starbucks. Additional partners are the Bookish Reading Club, Foursquare, Good, LinkedIn, New Word City, and The Weather Channel.

The free Wi-Fi is accessible via smartphones, tablets and laptops and requires a quick login.

"The team at Starbucks wanted to enhance the time our customers spend in our stores, so we had a vision to create something new, localized, unexpected… and online," says Adam Brotman, vice president of Starbucks Digital Ventures. "The Starbucks Digital Network was developed to provide customers instant access to a collection of hand-picked premium news, entertainment and lifestyle content along with free downloads, local insights and events from nearly 20 different content providers including iTunes, Nick Jr. Boost, Rodale, WSJ.com and Yahoo! It's all free and only available at Starbucks."

Users of the news section will get content from The New York Times, WSJ.com, and USA Today as well as Yahoo News and Yahoo Sports.

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Mozilla has patched 12 vulnerabilities in the popular Firefox browser today, including an updated patch for the highly publicized "binary planting" issue that was initially patched last year.

8 of the vulnerabilities were rated "critical," meaning the bugs could be used to hijack a system. After the critical ones there were two "high," one "moderate" and finally a single "low."

PCAdvisor explains that the 'binary planting' vulnerability has also been called 'DLL load hijacking'.

Says the site: "Regardless of the term, the flaw existed in Windows applications that do not call DLLs (dynamic linked libraries) or executable files using a full path name. Instead, they rely on the filename alone. The latter can be exploited by attackers, who can trick the program into loading a malicious file with the same title as a required DLL or executable. If attackers can con users into visiting malicious websites or remote shared folders, or get them to plug in a USB drive, they can compromise a computer and infect it with malware."

Mozilla also recommends updating to the latest version of the browser if you have not already.

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Earlier today during the "Back to Mac" event, Apple unveiled its upcoming Mac App Store, an applications store based on the store available to owners of iOS devices.

The Mac App Store will give Mac owners a chance to download Mac applications with one-click.

Additionally, the store will provide auto-updates and a license to use the software on all Macs you may own.

For developers, Apple takes 30 percent of revenue, similar to the cut the company takes for iOS apps.

To access the store you will need Mac OSX Snow Leopard or the upcoming Lion.

Developers can begin submitting applications next week and the Mac App Store will open in 90 days.

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Swedish source TheLocal has reported this week that a lucky professor at the Umeå University in northern Sweden has had his data returned to him anonymously after a thief stole his notebook.

On the way to the laundry room, the professor dropped his backpack behind a door in the nearest stairwell, knowing he would be back within five minutes.

That was all it took for a thief to take the bag, which held his computer, calender, keys and other documents. The professor said he was most saddened by the loss of his calender: "It is my life. I have documented everything in it that has happened in the last 10 years and beyond."

The professor then called the police to report the incident and cancelled his credit cards. Much to his surprise, however, he returned to the stairwell a couple of hours later and found the backpack returned, with everything in it except for his notebook and a library card.

One week later, the story gets even more interesting as the professor returned home from class to find an envelope waiting in his mailbox that had a USB flash drive in it. The drive was full of all of the professor's data from the notebook.

"I am very happy," says the professor. "This story makes me feel hope for humanity."

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Electronic Arts will purchase Chillingo, the publisher behind the blockbuster game "Angry Birds" in an effort to boost their mobile gaming catalog.

The software company will pay around $19 million for Chillingo.

EA has confirmed, however, that they will not get the intellectual property rights to "Angry Birds," which was developed by the Finnish company Rovio Mobile.

One analyst was surprised by the purchase because it lacked the IP for Angry Birds: "I'm kind of wondering what they bought," says Todd Mitchell, a Kaufman Bros analyst, via Reuters. "But in light of EA not getting the IP, they're buying the development platform to put their own IP on it in hopes of driving social networking and customers back to their own properties."

Chillingo's other popular game is "iDracula," a shooter available for iOS devices.

Concludes EA: "By acquiring Chillingo, EA Mobile is increasing its market leadership on the Apple platform as well as reaffirming its position as the world's leading wireless entertainment publisher."

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Verizon has announced that it will charge $600 for the Samsung Galaxy Tab beginning on November 11th, pricing the tablet high because you do not need to sign up for a two-year contract to access 3G data.

Customers will pay monthly to use the 3G data, with the cheapest price being $20 for 1GB. After that comes 3GB for $35, 5GB for $50 and 10GB for $80.

Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney says the no-contract plans will remain unique to tablets (including the iPad).

"Verizon Wireless has always been committed to providing customers with the latest technology, and the latest announcements reflect that commitment to a relatively new entrant into the mobile arena -- tablets," adds Raney, via CW. "The data plan pricing for the tablets are reflective of how people use these multi-purpose devices, and because they are 3G and Wi-Fi enabled, customers have a choice in how, when and where they use them."

The carrier is offering the 16GB model, but it has a memory card slot which allows for expansion of 32GB.

Samsung's tablet runs on Android 2.2, has a 1GHz processor, a 7-inch multi-touch screen and dual cameras.

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"One more thing..."

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has just announced that the new rumored MacBook Air is a reality.

Jobs asked the crowd: "What would happen if a MacBook and an iPad hooked up?" "This is the result. One of the most amazing things we ever created. We think this is the future of notebooks."

The updated MacBook Air weighs 2.9 pounds, has a unibody construction, uses flash storage instead of a hard drive and promises 7 hours of battery life with standard use.

As rumored, there will be an 11.6-inch version as well as a 13.3-inch version.

Each model is 0.68 inches at its thickest point and 0.11 inches at its thinnest.

Resolution is 1440x900 or 1366x768, the computers use Core 2 Duo processors and use GeForce 320m video cards.

The 11.6-inch model comes with 64GB flash and costs $999. The 13.3-inch comes with 128GB flash memory and will cost $1299. A high-end 250GB model will cost $1600.

(Pic via RWW)

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