VUPEN Security has announced the discovery of a vulnerability in Google's Chrome browser software.

Google Chrome has survived assaults at the Pwn2Own contest for the last three years. Now, French security firm VUPEN says it is unhappy to announced that it has officially "Pwned" Google Chrome and its protective Sandbox measures.

VUPEN uploaded a video of the browser exploit in action which bypasses all security features including ASLR/DEP/Sandbox, without exploiting a Windows kernel vulnerability. It works on all Windows systems and with the latest versions of the Chrome browser.

In the video, a web page is loaded displaying just a text message - "Your browser is being Pwned!" - and after a few seconds of inactivity (and without a visible crash in Chrome), the windows calculator application runs. According to the VUPEN write-up, the calculator executable is downloaded and executed.

At Pwn2Own in March this year, VUPEN successfully attacked Safari in much the same way. A specially crafted web page was loaded and several seconds later, the Mac OS X calculator application was launched and a file was written to the hard drive to demonstrate that the Sandbox had been compromised.

For obvious reasons, the write-up does not disclose technical information on the exploit, only to say that it is one of the most sophisticated codes they have used so far.

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Google has introduced Android@Home today during their I/O conference, a service that it will give users a chance to control their home's lights and other appliances using an Android device.

The new remote is dubbed "Project Tungsten."

Using Android@home, users can also send their brand new Google Music cloud library to any computer or stereo in the home.

Making it even more interesting is the fact that if you have appliances that do not have built-in Wi-Fi, future items will have a protocol to make them compatible.

One example Google used was CDs selling with an NFC device inside the case. When you tap the case with your Android device with NFC, the entire album's content is uploaded to your cloud music library.

For now, Android@Home is a demo with future ambitions.

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Following our ongoing coverage of Google's I/O conference, the search giant has announced streaming movie rentals for the Android Market, giving users one of their most asked for features.

Unfortunately, the service is only live for Honeycomb tablets and your home computer, for now.

The updated movie service will be available for phones and tablets running Android 2.2 Froyo and 2.3 Gingerbread "in a few weeks."

There will be "thousands of titles" available at launch.

You can stream the movies online or "pin them" to your phone/tablet and then watch offline.

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Google has just launched their oft-delayed Google Music service in beta, live now at music.google.com.

You can head over now to request an invitation using your Gmail account.

For the service, you can upload up to 20,000 tracks to the cloud and stream the music from any computer or Android device.

The service will initially be free, and currently only for U.S. users.

For those with Honeycomb tablets, the service uses CoverFlow-esque browsing, and you can "Genius" tracks using InstantMix, which will then create a 25-song playlist of similar music.

Google adds that if you lose Internet, "the songs you've recently played will automatically be available offline."

If the embedded link doesn't work, click here to watch video: Google Music beta

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Speaking at their I/O conference today, Google has said they are activating 400,000 Android devices daily.

Overall, activated Android devices now stand at around 100 million.

Since launch, there have been over 4.5 billion app installs.

Google is rolling out Android 3.1 today to Verizon Xoom owners. The Honeycomb update will bring performance enhancements like faster app switching and the ability to stretch widgets vertically and horizontally.

Finally, Android devices will now be able to act as USB hosts, meaning users can import photos directly from cameras to tablets. The devices will even be able to support Xbox controllers.

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In what will become the largest unauthorized torrent downloading lawsuit in U.S. history, the U.S. Copyright Group is expected to sue 23,000 file sharers for downloading the Sylvester Stallone hit film "The Expendables."

A federal judge has given the Group the rights to subpoena ISPs to find the identity of those who downloaded the film, which means that 23,000 number may be a lowball figure.

Subpoenas will begin being sent out on Thursday.

Under the U.S. Copyright Act, damages allowed per infringement are $150,000 and the group will ask for that in each case.

Of course, they will also offer a settlement payment of $3000. If every accused downloader settles, the lawyers will make a cool $69 million.

The Group finds the IPs by starting downloads of active torrents and capturing the IP addresses of peers that are sharing.

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Electronic Arts (EA) CEO John Riccitiello has noted this week that the company will eventually move completely to digital distribution, killing off physical discs.

Says the CEO during the company's quarterly earnings conference call:

Over the coming years, we will transform EA from a packaged goods company, to a fully integrated Digital entertainment company. We're transforming EA to a games as a service model by focusing on three new strategies.

Those three strategies are (via TechSpot):

#1: IP. We believe we are driving the strongest portfolio of IP in the industry with EA Sports, FIFA, Hasbro, Madden, Pogo, Battlefield, Need for Speed, The Sims, Tetris, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and more. We fully intend to make these properties into year-round businesses that lead their sectors across a range of platforms.

#2: Platform. Increasingly, we see ourselves as a software platform every bit as much as we see ourselves as a content maker for other companies platforms. We had a great start with 112 million consumers in our nucleus registration system, up from 61 million a year ago. And while we will continue to be a great partner to our best retail customers and our first-party partners, you will see the beginnings of a consumer game platform emerge at EA that complements and extends the console ecosystem and addresses the wider opportunity on other devices.

#3: Talent. To deliver on the 2 strategies above, IP and platform, we will expand on a model that is already working at EA, and only at EA. We are the only company with world-class teams working across platforms on social, mobile, and console development. We are integrating these teams and augmenting them with product monetization and marketing. It's a big change. As an investor, you can see this as a way to better manage our IP and drive up the ARPU for our core properties. As a developer, you can see this as the reason EA will be the most interesting and satisfying place to work in the game industry.
The shift, when it occurs, will be a massive one. EA is one of the largest video game publishers in the world. Its revenue relies heavily upon packaged goods selling at various retail outlets.

Earlier this year, EA announced they would no longer ship paper manuals with games, instead offering on-disc manuals that can be accessed by pausing the game, or through the main menu.

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According to WinRumors, Verizon may be ready to launch its first Windows Phone 7 device this week, on May 12th.

The HTC 7 Trophy, which has been delayed for a month, should be ready for official launch as early as this week, say sources.

Verizon's roadmap originally showed the device with an April 15th launch and $200 price tag with contract.

That price is expected to stick.

The Trophy will ship with the "NoDo" firmware update that brings copy and paste and performance upgrades.

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Following two nights of speculation, Microsoft has confirmed it will be purchasing Skype for $8.5 billion in cash.

The deal has already been approved by both boards of directors.

Skype has 170 million "connected users" and those users ran over 207 billion minutes of voice and video in 2010.

Microsoft says:

The acquisition will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications, bringing benefits to both consumers and enterprise users and generating significant new business and revenue opportunities. The combination will extend Skype's world-class brand and the reach of its networked platform, while enhancing Microsoft's existing portfolio of real-time communications products and services.

Skype will be added to the Xbox 360, Kinect, Windows Phone, Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live "and other communities."

The service itself, will continue to run independently.

Concludes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer:

Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world. Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world.

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