Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » février 2009

BetaNews.Com (212 non lus)

Pirate Bay testimony blooms into spouse appreciation

Publié: février 28, 2009, 11:49pm CET

flower rose bloom Supporters of Pirate Bay's file-search service are showering the wife of media researcher Roger Wallis with bouquets after the witness for the defense testified on Thursday concerning the connection (or lack of one) between album sales and downloading.

On beyond DEMO with Chris Shipley

Publié: février 28, 2009, 4:32pm CET

She's leaving the conference she's helmed for 13 years; now what?

A fond farewell to Computer Shopper in print

Publié: février 28, 2009, 12:14am CET

Before the Internet, in the era when information was delivered in packages and envelopes and crates, there was Computer Shopper.

Sneak peek of 'green' solar radio with 30-hour battery life

Publié: février 27, 2009, 11:33pm CET

At Greener Gadgets in New York today, Freeplay Energy gave a sneak peek of a solar-powered radio with a 30-hour battery life and cell phone-like status bar.

Can't we just settle on 'netbook' already?

Publié: février 27, 2009, 11:10pm CET

To you and me, they're netbooks... but if only it were that easy for the computer industry.

Mufin music-recommendation engine heads for your desktop

Publié: février 27, 2009, 9:26pm CET

More song similarities from that virtual friend with the slightly weird ear

Another Google service outage makes its cloud look more like Swiss cheese

Publié: février 27, 2009, 8:54pm CET

But it has led to the creation of "the best place" to find service outage information anywhere in the world, according to Google.

iPhone gets CBS shows for free with TV.com app

Publié: février 27, 2009, 6:58pm CET

CBS' TV.com and NBC Universal and News Corp.'s Hulu have been in the tech news foreground this week, revealing their struggle to meaningfully coexist on the PC screen. Meanwhile, the mobile device screen presents a different set of challenges, which TV.com today has officially addressed.

Bartz: 'Look for Yahoo to kick ass again'

Publié: février 27, 2009, 6:20pm CET

The CEO of Yahoo definitely made a statement yesterday, and that's not to mention her inaugural blog post.

Trapped motorist triggers nationwide LG handset recall

Publié: février 27, 2009, 5:24pm CET

LG Spyder Today, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall of 30,000 LG 830 "Spyder" handsets for an inability to maintain a connection to 911.

Smoldering Bolds: New BlackBerry gets yanked from shelves again

Publié: février 27, 2009, 4:57pm CET

RIM's BlackBerry Bold continues to cause problems. Now NTT DoCoMo has pulled the device from shelves after only a week.

Analysis: WiMAX faces competition from HSPA, not LTE

Publié: février 27, 2009, 4:05pm CET

In-Stat's study of the global 4G market predicts that the fixed nature of WiMAX won't put it in direct competition with LTE

Fun with algorithms at Microsoft TechFest

Publié: février 27, 2009, 3:51pm CET

Free-roaming mathematicians solve problems, make lights blink

Sir Howard Stringer will expand role at Sony

Publié: février 27, 2009, 1:00pm CET

Chairman, CEO and now president: Howard Stringer's role at Sony is expanding in the wake of the firm's unprecedented recent losses. Ryoji Chubachi, who oversees the electronics division, will step down from the president's role, staying on as vice-chairman of the board. The changes will take effect April 1.

Google News to add ads

Publié: février 27, 2009, 11:28am CET

Traditional publishers aren't making money, but maybe the search guys will

Google blocks paid apps on unlocked G1 thanks to 'rip and return' loophole

Publié: février 27, 2009, 1:27am CET

Pilfering free apps from the Android Market via an unlocked G1 took less than 12 hours. In less time, Google has blocked all its protected apps.

Dell's Q4: 'Flat' is not a bad place to be

Publié: février 27, 2009, 12:57am CET

Much lower operating expenses offset earnings that are declining, but not more than the rest of the industry.

Here's a get-well-soon gift idea: An Apple board with a grip

Publié: février 27, 2009, 12:10am CET

What does Apple have to lose by proving they've got a succession plan?

Confirmed: Time Warner Cable users impacted by DDoS attack

Publié: février 26, 2009, 11:20pm CET

A slowdown, if not shutdown, of DNS processing is plaguing customers in California and elsewhere.

Facebook's new terms of service: Direct Democracy 2.0

Publié: février 26, 2009, 10:34pm CET

In an apparent effort not to repeat last week's PR disaster, Mark Zuckerberg is literally asking users to fill in the blanks for him.

Bartz wields Yahoo's terrible swift sword, Jorgensen falls

Publié: février 26, 2009, 10:15pm CET

Yahoo CFO Blake Jorgensen is out and the much-rumored reorganization is on as CEO Carol Bartz blows up the "notorious silos" that have left the company sluggish in recent years, and makes visible moves to renew the company's consumer focus.

Nintendo to replace Wii classic controllers that triggered patent suit

Publié: février 26, 2009, 10:00pm CET

Last May, Texas company Anascape won $21 million from Nintendo in a patent infringement suit regarding the video game giant's "classic controller" for the Wii. The analog stick architecture of a number of Nintendo's controllers infringed on a patent held by Anascape, and the future of the Wii classic controller became uncertain.

Where have you gone, Joe Nacchio? (Jail, possibly.)

Publié: février 26, 2009, 9:53pm CET

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reinstated former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio's 19 insider-trading convictions. He's appealing the 5-4 decision to the Supreme Court, but unless the Supremes grant a stay within the next couple of weeks, Nacchio's on his way to federal prison.

Dell Studio XPS 435 goes up for sale

Publié: février 26, 2009, 9:49pm CET

The defining design feature of the Dell XPS 435 Dell's newest performance desktop is now available for purchase online. Geared toward the "power user," the XPS 435 has six DIMM slots, and three drive bays for a maximum potential of 24 GB of DDR3 1066 MHz Tri-Channel memory, and 4.5 TB of storage.

Can Lenovo afford to take the Dell route for product support?

Publié: février 26, 2009, 9:29pm CET

A late decision to subtract another 450 from Lenovo's payroll has an eerie ring to it.

Digital Music Forum: Age matters, but how much?

Publié: février 26, 2009, 9:08pm CET

Although age is a big factor in Internet behavior, there might be more overlap among generations than you think.

Asus Eee drops $100 in price

Publié: février 26, 2009, 7:45pm CET

Asus eee 900

Microsoft sues TomTom over Linux kernel

Publié: février 26, 2009, 7:06pm CET

Microsoft has taken legal action against portable navigation device maker TomTom for violations of eight patents

Microsoft's 'green dashboard' manages energy costs and consequences

Publié: février 26, 2009, 6:29pm CET

Businesses are undergoing a 'massive paradigm shift' to green computing, said a Microsoft exec whose new tool offers to help.

Nokia 'looking very actively' at making laptops, says CEO

Publié: février 26, 2009, 6:14pm CET

Convergence is happening on all sides. PC makers Acer and HP pushed their way into the smartphone market this month, and now we await the push by a phone maker into the PC business.

Digital Music Forum: State of the industry in 2009

Publié: février 26, 2009, 3:13pm CET

Some bands are selling music online and drawing a lot of Web traffic, but it isn't easy.

Apple Safari 4 beta raises the bar for speed, compliance

Publié: février 26, 2009, 5:11am CET

Google has had a tough time explaining why users should switch to Chrome. Apple's task now might not be as tough.

The future (and several alternatives) on display at Microsoft's TechFest

Publié: février 26, 2009, 3:31am CET

Microsoft's annual research event gives glimpses of what might emerge in later products.

Verizon takes on fuzzy-bunny robo-dialer

Publié: février 26, 2009, 2:01am CET

Like most current and former children, the lawyers at Verizon presumably have nothing against the Velveteen Rabbit. They do not, however, care for the Utah-based telemarketer that apparently made nearly half a million calls to Verizon Wireless subscribers on behalf of Family 1 Films, which is distributing a movie version of the beloved book.

DirecTV and DISH Network want compensation for carrying local channels in all markets

Publié: février 26, 2009, 1:35am CET

In testimony to the House communications and technology subcommittee, heads of DirecTV and DISH Network argued against legislation that would force them to carry local channels... unless they received payment.

Microsoft ODM tells Bloomberg: Windows 7 coming as soon as September

Publié: février 26, 2009, 12:34am CET

While Microsoft continues to maintain that Windows 7 will launch "3 years from Vista," or early 2010, a Microsoft ODM partner says otherwise. The president of Compal, a Taiwanese manufacturer that builds laptops for HP and Acer, told Bloomberg that Microsoft may begin shipping Windows 7 in late September or early October of this year.

Nintendo points finger at pirate countries, asks for help

Publié: février 26, 2009, 12:20am CET

Not only have sales of Nintendo products continued to rise, but so has piracy of those products. In a report to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the body specializing in international trade agreements, Nintendo listed six countries where piracy of the Wii and DS are out of control.

Unified Blu-ray licensing is remedy to 'bag of hurt'

Publié: février 26, 2009, 12:00am CET

Sony, Panasonic and Phillips have banded together to simplify the licensing process for Blu-ray technology

Digital Music Forum: Monetization still hard to come by

Publié: février 25, 2009, 11:19pm CET

Despite the pervasiveness of music on the Web, adequate monetization is still hard to come by.

Rambus continues to turn the tables in remaining patent disputes

Publié: février 25, 2009, 11:18pm CET

Almost everyone who was laughing at Rambus' predicament three years ago, isn't laughing now.

Internet Explorer gets updated Google search toolbar

Publié: février 25, 2009, 10:14pm CET

Google toolbar QSB

LeapFish attempts to break into the search game by contextualizing results

Publié: février 25, 2009, 9:50pm CET

Countless startups have tried, and failed, to compete in the search market, but LeapFish is trying a different approach: make existing services more useful.

SP2 for Vista, Windows Server 2008 coming next week

Publié: février 25, 2009, 9:46pm CET

It's the latest signal that Vista's time as Microsoft's principal client OS is winding up fast.

PlayStation Network claims 20 million users

Publié: février 25, 2009, 8:59pm CET

While the PlayStation 3 continues to be regarded as the runner-up in online console gaming, the system's growing library of free to play online titles has helped PlayStation Network (PSN) grow to double every year, and the growth continues.

Better Business Bureau gives failing grade to Linden Lab

Publié: février 25, 2009, 8:56pm CET

Second Life creator Linden Lab logs 43 complaints over the past three years.

My first day with Kindle 2: I'm finally ready to drop the paperback

Publié: février 25, 2009, 8:00pm CET

After spending a day with the second-generation Kindle, Betanews' Nate Mook finds it a worthy upgrade, but not without its quirks.

A Google Chrome user's opinion of Safari 4 Beta

Publié: février 25, 2009, 7:07pm CET

Thanks to the iPhone, it's the world's #3 browser. Should its new version give Safari good reason to capture second place?

Windows 7 testers should upgrade their IE8

Publié: février 25, 2009, 5:08pm CET

Though there is no IE8 release candidate for Win7, there's now another way for testers to apply critical bux fixes.

Adobe updates Photoshop CS4

Publié: février 25, 2009, 4:07pm CET

Adobe has released an update (11.0.1) to Photoshop CS4 which includes a handful of significant fixes. Performance issues have been tweaked, the pen barrel rotation feature on Wacom tablets has been fixed, 3D textures edited by plug-ins are now properly recognized, and the quality of Stacked (auto blend) images has been improved. Also, attempting to paste formatted text, or open a corrupt font no longer result in a CS4 crash.

Corel keeps the paint wet for new Painter 11

Publié: février 25, 2009, 4:05pm CET

It's the dream of graphic artists to be able to use a program that emulates -- not just simulates -- the texture, the behavior, the luminance of pigment...while at the same time preserving all the conveniences of digital editing, such as layering and selective blending and the ability to "undo."

Marvell SheevaPlug crams Linux PC into a power adapter

Publié: février 25, 2009, 3:45pm CET

Marvell's plug-in computer consumes one-tenth the power of a regular home media server PC and runs most Linux distros.

AT&T to spend $1B on global network, business services this year

Publié: février 24, 2009, 3:07am CET

The economy might be down, but that won't stop AT&T from building out either its network or IBM's.

Windows XP to Windows 7 upgrades: Difficult, but not impossible

Publié: février 24, 2009, 2:53am CET

Early indications from Microsoft are that Windows 7 setup will only work on Vista-based computers. But if you're running XP, you may not be out of options.

Find out where TV's 'white spaces' are, online

Publié: février 24, 2009, 12:37am CET

You, too, can be a TV broadcaster, and a new Web site shows you how to do so over WiFi or 3G.

Futuresource: 82% of Blu-ray discs are 'pipeline fill'

Publié: février 24, 2009, 12:29am CET

An analyst firm found that of the 200 million Blu-ray discs manufactured last year, only 18% were sold to consumers.

California video game law beaten back again

Publié: février 23, 2009, 11:49pm CET

A 2005 California law criminalizing the sale of violent video games to minors has been annulked by both the District Court and Court of Appeals

AOL makes a move on Craigslist's classified territory

Publié: février 23, 2009, 11:03pm CET

Taking dead aim at territory captured by the Internet from the newspapers of yore, AOL announced on Monday that it's getting into the local-classified space in a big way.

AOL's Bebo becomes more of a SocialThing

Publié: février 23, 2009, 10:47pm CET

First came the social networks, then came the struggle to keep up with all one's social networking activity.

Novell lays off openSUSE Linux developers

Publié: février 23, 2009, 10:36pm CET

But what's the main cause of the job cuts: the Microsoft-Red Hat pact or the financial crisis?

Vizio in a showdown with Funai over an HDTV patent

Publié: février 23, 2009, 9:37pm CET

Could a patent intended to support an international standard be used against companies that have no choice but to follow it?

Windows 3.1 installed on Nokia N95

Publié: février 23, 2009, 8:46pm CET

Polish bulletin board FrazPC last night received a post from developer and writer Marcin-PRV showing that he can successfully run Windows 3.1 simultaneously with Symbian S60 on a Nokia N95.

Red Hat rolls out Linux product family and strategy for virtualization

Publié: février 23, 2009, 7:59pm CET

Less than a week after its virtualization interoperability pact with Microsoft, Linux leader Red Hat today took the wraps off products and a strategy to support the deal.

A more social way to sync mobile contacts

Publié: février 23, 2009, 6:34pm CET

dub contact sync on iPhone

Nielsen finds TV consumption at all-time high

Publié: février 23, 2009, 5:34pm CET

Television ratings company Nielsen finds that Americans are spending more time watching videos online and on their phones.

Eee maker Asustek ponders an Android netbook

Publié: février 23, 2009, 5:16pm CET

With more momentum mounting for Ubuntu Linux on netbooks, and for Android Linux on phones, Asustek is reportedly eyeing a netbook based on Android.

Broadcom brings the Chumby RIA platform to STBs, Blu-ray

Publié: février 23, 2009, 4:05pm CET

Chumby is designed to bring Internet content directly to consumer electronics devices through widgets that are essentially micro-applications.

Microsoft seeks to Elevate the nation's tech skills

Publié: février 23, 2009, 11:13am CET

The Redmond company wants to teach basic computer skills to 2 million Americans in the next three years through vouchers for eLearning courses and exams.

Capitol One phishing warning looks, well, fishy

Publié: février 23, 2009, 10:42am CET

An attempt by credit-card issuer Capital One to alert customers to ongoing phishing attempts may be causing more FUD than it's curing, according to an observer posting to the RISKS discussion list.

Microsoft biffs the severance-payout math

Publié: février 22, 2009, 8:51am CET

The proverbial adding of insult to injury was underway at Microsoft this week, only they seem to be having some trouble over there with the whole "adding" concept: TechCrunch is reporting that a number of laid-off Microsoft folk have received letters informing them that they were paid out too much severance... and please send the money back, kthx.

High-Def Culture Shock: Blu_Ray Makeup

Publié: février 22, 2009, 12:02am CET

Cosmetics company Cargo has infiltrated the consumer electronics lexicon. Now offering a line under the name "Blu_Ray," Cargo has produced makeup for those conscious of the flaw-exposing power of high definition cameras. The High Definition Make-up Essentials Kit "delivers a look that can easily stand up to high-definition filming, so you will be ready for your close-up." For those wondering: Yes, "Blu_Ray" is an official trademark of the Cargo cosmetics company, obtained in May 2008. Also be on the lookout for Italian-designed Blue Rey clothing.

AMD: Considering the chips that comprise the cloud

Publié: février 21, 2009, 9:07pm CET

In all the talk lately about "the cloud," the topic of computer processors doesn't always happen to float by. But it should, according to AMD's Margaret Lewis.

Vista SP2 update sent to testers, but is really an RC?

Publié: février 20, 2009, 11:17pm CET

What really, really looks like a release candidate for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 -- which first entered beta in December -- is officially being called an "update" this afternoon, after Microsoft declined to give it a more formal title.

Rhode Island goes for Government 2.0

Publié: février 20, 2009, 9:18pm CET

Delivering on a campaign promise made in 2006, Rhode Island's General Treasurer Frank Caprio has made the state checkbook available to the public in an easily comprehensible online format.

Designers set off Layer Tennis match

Publié: février 20, 2009, 8:39pm CET

A Friday amusement for the design-interested kicks off in about 30 minutes, as the latest iteration of Layer Tennis gets underway. The live artists' face-off begins at noon PST; the artists at the epicenter are Mitch Ansara and Rod Hunting, with play-by-play commentary from Matthew Baldwin.

Apple Mac sales are down, but maybe not everywhere

Publié: février 20, 2009, 8:12pm CET

Although Apple no longer seems immune to the PC industry sales slump, analyst figures released this week don't actually show the entire sales picture.

50 Mbps Comcast network to be 65% complete this year

Publié: février 20, 2009, 7:25pm CET

Comcast began the rollout of its wideband DOCSIS 3.0 network in October last year, promising an elevated 50 Mbps speed ceiling for 10 million homes in the northeastern United States.

Adobe acknowledges another JavaScript issue with Acrobat, Reader

Publié: février 20, 2009, 5:59pm CET

An independent security research firm is warning of a non-ingenious JavaScript buffer overflow ploy that modern Web browsers would probably filter out, but which impacts recent versions of Adobe Reader for PDF files.

CBS/Hulu conflict lends power to third party sites

Publié: février 20, 2009, 5:28pm CET

This week, NBCU/News Corp. joint venture video service Hulu removed its content from CBS Interactive's TV.com without specifying a motive, just like it did with Boxee earlier this week.

The data-breach devil's in the details

Publié: février 20, 2009, 10:39am CET

Kim Zetter over at Wired's Threat Level blog has a tremendous feature story up today concerning the work of the Open Security Foundation, a volunteer organization that keeps track of data breaches big, small and smaller.

Our troops and the Internet (the continuing saga)

Publié: février 20, 2009, 10:27am CET

No one reasonable thinks that our armed forces' cybersecurity isn't regularly at risk from The Bad Guys. On the whole, the various service branches have been working recently toward a reasonable balance of security and access. So how badly do you have to mess up, Maxwell-Gunter AFB in Montgomery, Ala., to get your entire Internet connection taken away?

Oh, Yahoo, that's just rich

Publié: février 20, 2009, 6:39am CET

Yahoo celebrated the fifth anniversary of its own home-brewed search engine this week, and to mark the occasion they're folding multimedia ads into the sponsored-links mix -- a big step for the company's ad program.

Dell launches XP Mini 10 netbook on QVC first, its own site later

Publié: février 20, 2009, 5:18am CET

Dell's new Inspiron Mini 10 netbook is pre-orderable from the QVC consumer shopping site about a week before Dell starts taking advance orders on its own Web site.

Who ya gonna call? CISOs!

Publié: février 20, 2009, 12:40am CET

A brief interlude, security-minded readers, to brighten your day, as Guerilla CISO Michael Smith explains how Everything He Needs To Know About Security, He Learned From "Ghostbusters." Many information-security personnel could do a lot worse.

More Palm Pre goodies -- this time, it's HTML 5

Publié: février 20, 2009, 12:10am CET

The giddiness continues over Palm's upcoming Pre handset, as attendees at a Mobile World Congress demo this week saw the much-anticipated handset running a version of Google Maps and an offline-ready Gmail entirely coded in HTML 5. And running them well, apparently.

Sony closing its only US PlayStation retail store

Publié: février 19, 2009, 11:20pm CET

As Microsoft ramps up its own retail efforts, Sony will be closing its flagship PlayStation store in the Metreon Mall in San Francisco, California.

Sony to close its only US PlayStation retail store

Publié: février 19, 2009, 11:20pm CET

As Microsoft ramps up its own retail efforts, Sony will be closing its flagship PlayStation store in the Metreon Mall in San Francisco, California.

Microsoft in pact with semi-open source map maker

Publié: février 19, 2009, 10:27pm CET

Microsoft today announced an IP licensing deal with 123map GmbH, a company with digital mobile mapping products that combine open source and propietary technologies.

Norwegian Communist party voices support for Pirate Bay

Publié: février 19, 2009, 10:24pm CET

It wasn't long ago that Microsoft's "I'm a PC" campaign took the label originally intended to be a pejorative and made it a badge of honor. Now, Norway's Red Party is trying to do the same with "pirate."

Baidu search engine takes financial hit after scandal

Publié: février 19, 2009, 10:12pm CET

Et tu, Baidu? The Chinese search engine showed both profit and growth during its recent fourth quarter, but it didn't meet analyst estimates. The company's struggling not only with the rough economy but with a fracas over preferential placement given to paid search results.

comScore January survey reveals uptick, Web de-stress tactics

Publié: février 19, 2009, 9:13pm CET

Fifty-two percent of people stressing out about the economic situation are de-stressing by surfing the Web -- more even than use the TV or family time to knock the edge off, according to numbers released Thursday by comScore.

Who needs Android? Windows Mobile gets the rest of Google's apps

Publié: février 19, 2009, 8:20pm CET

Just about one year ago, Google finalized its plug-in for Windows Mobile that brought a Google search field to the WM home screen. Now, the app has expanded to include Maps, Gmail, News, and more in the same small window.

LG shows off instant-on 10-inch netbook

Publié: février 19, 2009, 7:55pm CET

Where netbooks were originally thought to be a low-cost entry point for consumers, LG is proving it's just as much an entry point for manufacturers with the debut of the HSPA-connected LG-X120 netbook.

Flat panel television market shows first ever decline

Publié: février 19, 2009, 5:52pm CET

Echoing iSuppli's research data published last month, NPD market analysis subdivison DisplaySearch released its quarterly report on the flat panel television market, showing its first ever decline in revenue.

Canada looks into ISP tax for $100m Web content fund

Publié: février 19, 2009, 5:19pm CET

In the middle of the global financial crisis, the Canadian government is now weighing establishment of a controversial $100 million program to support homegrown Internet programming, to be funded by a new tax on Canadian ISPs.

Shareholders approve AMD's foundry spinoff gamble

Publié: février 19, 2009, 5:19pm CET

It is perhaps the most colossal gamble in the history of the semiconductor industry, and now, the chips are down. AMD shareholders yesterday voiced their approval for a deal that effectively spins off the crown jewel of their company -- its processor foundry operation -- to a new corporation run by the government of Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

Judge knocks the thunder out of 'Vista-capable' class-action suit

Publié: février 19, 2009, 4:58pm CET

Though the likelihood of Microsoft's prevailing actually looks worse than it did last week, if it ends up losing, it might not be much after the judge says plaintiffs failed to prove its actions harmed a plurality.

Yahoo up, Ask and Fox down in latest search rankings

Publié: février 19, 2009, 3:53pm CET

ComScore's January 2009 numbers are out, and the most popular search site in America is...oh, that one you can easily guess. The less obvious numbers involve who's gaining ground, and which mega-funded search entity seems to be slipping.

Sprint customer drain continues in Q4, 1.3 million leave

Publié: février 19, 2009, 3:45pm CET

This morning, Sprint Nextel reported its fourth quarter earnings, or more accurately, losses. The wireless operator posted a $1.2 billion loss for the quarter, a 14.4% drop in revenue, and a loss of 1.3 million customers.

Hulu apologizes as it bids an early goodbye to Boxee

Publié: février 19, 2009, 1:45am CET

Freeware media center Boxee is still very young, but offers a comprehensive solution for both managing a user's existent collection of movies, music, and photos, and discovering free online content. Unfortunately, it will be continuing ahead without support from Hulu.

HP revenues lift slightly, but profit sharply falls by 13%

Publié: février 19, 2009, 1:35am CET

Services sparked a slight first-quarter revenue gain for Hewlett-Packard, but profits fell by 13% over the prior year, prompting the company's shares to fall 6% in after-hours trading.

IFPI site hacked amid Pirate Bay trial

Publié: février 18, 2009, 11:46pm CET

The Swedish language Web site belonging to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry -- which is leading the legal charge against file sharing site The Pirate Bay -- was hacked this afternoon and has been pulled offline.

A veritable absence of panic after some TV stations throw the switch

Publié: février 18, 2009, 11:40pm CET

The US Federal Communications Commission reports that, after 421 of the nation's analog television stations ceased transmission on February 17 as originally planned, its call centers received a grand total of 28,000 calls from viewers, with a great many of those apparently concerning the proper use of converter boxes already received.

CBS to move 'March Madness' to Silverlight

Publié: février 18, 2009, 11:05pm CET

If Microsoft's Silverlight is indeed fizzling, someone didn't get the message out to the NCAA. For its annual endeavor in covering all the NCAA basketball playoff games online, CBS has opted to triple the NCAA's bandwidth over last year by switching from a Flash-based player -- which already received rave reviews -- to a Silverlight player produced in conjunction with Microsoft.

At last, a miniature USB cable for handsets is at hand

Publié: février 18, 2009, 10:41pm CET

Two years ago, the Micro USB spec was standardized, and shortly thereafter, the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) announced that it had approved it as the universal standard phone cable.

Court dismisses claim Google Street View invades folks' privacy

Publié: février 18, 2009, 10:33pm CET

A privacy invasion case against Google that was given extra attention after the company asserted in court that getting your picture taken is just part of life in the 21st century, was dismissed yesterday by a judge who apparently agrees.

Microsoft tells their security story (in pictures)

Publié: février 18, 2009, 9:35pm CET

It's been a long strange trip toward better security for Microsoft, but they've made enough progress to have both improvements to their technique and some highly interesting war stories. The company's got a new site explaining the past decade's advances, and you have a reason to read comics at work today.

Courtroom webcast fight may delay RIAA trial

Publié: février 18, 2009, 8:47pm CET

In an attempt to block the Courtroom View Network (CVN) from broadcasting the RIAA v. Tenenbaum trial, the counsel representing the record labels escalated the affair to the US Court of Appeals.

Something to woot about

Publié: février 18, 2009, 8:16pm CET

In an age of breakdown, a small but cheerful -- not to mention colorful -- bit of news reaches us from Texas, where woot.com's t-shirt site recently sold its 1,000,000th printed piece of geek culture. Since site launch, shirt.woot.com has sold a garment every 48.24 seconds since July 22, 2007.

Verizon names partners in LTE development

Publié: février 18, 2009, 7:21pm CET

Partners in Verizon's most recently announced LTE deployment will include hardware vendors Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, packet core vendor Starent Networks, and IMS partner Nokia Siemens.

MySpace expands smartphone support, embraces Symbian

Publié: février 18, 2009, 7:07pm CET

Social network MySpace is now battling back against Facebook by adding more smartphone support to its mobile site, including new applications for both the Palm Pre and Symbian OS-based Nokia S60 phones.

Nintendo DSi comes to US on April 5

Publié: février 18, 2009, 7:02pm CET

Today, Nintendo announced that the next generation of its DS handheld gaming console will be released on April 5 in the Americas, just one day later than last month's predictions.

Could Intel stop Nvidia from producing chips for Nehalem?

Publié: février 18, 2009, 5:41pm CET

Updated Last July, Nvidia announced it would make its chipsets and SLI multi-GPU technology interoperable with Intel's latest generation of CPUs, with their highly-advanced Nehalem architecture. Monday, Intel said no to that in court.

HP joins the Ubuntu Linux bandwagon

Publié: février 18, 2009, 5:26pm CET

HP's Linux support will no longer be limited to Red Hat and SuSE Linux. Through a new partnership with Canonical, HP is becoming one of the latest in a series of huge IT players to hop aboard the Ubuntu Linux bandwagon.

The long road to a happy ending for Nokia and Qualcomm on 3G

Publié: février 18, 2009, 3:48pm CET

Handset manufacturer Nokia and wireless chip maker Qualcomm were in and out of court for the better part of two years. Now, after a six-month truce, they'll be working together on UMTS devices for the North American market.

New Sidekick, Pre spotted 'in the wild'

Publié: février 18, 2009, 10:45am CET

Sightings of both the Sidekick 2009 and the Palm Pre -- both wildly anticipated smartphones not yet available to the masses -- have been inflaming the gear-gossip blogs for days in the wake of the the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona.

Sun gives key management an open-source twist

Publié: février 18, 2009, 9:44am CET

Key management standards may not be the most glamorous aspect of IT security, but when you're trying to get your encryption-using devices to interoperate with your network, it matters. Now Sun's offering an open-source option.

Facebook backpedals on terms snafu, seeks advice

Publié: février 18, 2009, 2:01am CET

Facebook's recently changed ToS slipped in new language that many users identified as a violation of personal privacy and copyright... and, after mass uproar, promptly rolled them back again.

RIM settles options kerfuffle with SEC

Publié: février 18, 2009, 1:17am CET

An SEC inquiry into whether their options-granting practices were on the square has concluded for Research In Motion, which has -- jointly with four of its senior executives -- entered into two settlements over the matter.

Some analog TV stations have already thrown the switch

Publié: février 18, 2009, 12:50am CET

It was supposed to be a day of reduced confusion, but in many places around the US today, some major affiliate stations have gone dark on their old analog frequencies...while others go on.

NPD: 2008 was a bad year for operating systems

Publié: février 18, 2009, 12:24am CET

Market research company NPD released its non-game software sales figures for 2008, which showed a nearly 10% overall decline, with operating systems taking the greatest hit, selling 40% less than the previous year.

Pirate Bay copyright infringement trial begins, founders plead 'not guilty'

Publié: février 16, 2009, 10:02pm CET

Today marked the first day of the criminal copyright infringement suit against The Pirate Bay that was initiated in Sweden one year ago by Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, Sony BMG, EMI, Universal, Metro Goldwin Mayer and 20th Century Fox.

Can mobile phones finally replace point-and-shoot cameras?

Publié: février 16, 2009, 9:40pm CET

Today is without a doubt the day of highest pixel density in mobile phone history. Top three handset manufacturers Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson all unveiled additions to their 2009 cellular phone lines that are heavily stacked in the imaging department.

Windows Mobile 6.5 gets official, but won't come to older devices

Publié: février 16, 2009, 7:00pm CET

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft gave a grand tour of the new iteration of Windows Mobile, along with My Phone, the company's MobileMe equivalent.

Sprint adds mobile broadband to 'Everything' plan for $150 per month

Publié: février 16, 2009, 6:52pm CET

Claiming it offers a savings of $599 compared to AT&T and Verizon, Sprint has unveiled a version of its unlimited "Everything" plan that includes mobile broadband for both businesses and consumers. The plan will cost $149.99, and include everything its existing $99.99 unlimited voice and messaging plan offers, along with 5GB of 3G access using a laptop. Sprint charges $59.99 for mobile broadband on its own, so the bundle amounts to a savings of $10 per month. The company says existing customers can upgrade to the new plan without extending their contract; new activations will require a two-year agreement in exchange for a free USB 3G broadband device. Despite Sprint's assertions about competitors' pricing, both AT&T and Verizon offer unlimited calling plans for $99.99 per month. However, these plans don't include 3G data or text messaging.

Palm joins Adobe's Open Screen Project to bring Flash to Pre

Publié: février 16, 2009, 6:38pm CET

Timed with the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Monday, Palm announced it is joining the Open Screen Project spearheaded by Adobe, which aims to bring applications and web experiences to TVs, PCs and mobile devices using Flash. Specifically, Palm plans to integrate Flash into its upcoming Pre smartphone and future devices running webOS -- something Apple has yet to do with the iPhone. "We're excited that our customers will benefit from the creativity and broad range of Flash content and applications created by the millions of designers and developers using Adobe's popular tools and technologies," remarked Pam Deziel, vice president of software product management at Palm. Whether it will be as simple as downloading a Flash app onto the Pre is not yet known. Apple still has plenty of time to make some decisions regarding Flash, as the mobile Flash Player isn't scheduled to arrive until the end of 2009.

LG agrees to make Windows Mobile its primary smartphone operating system

Publié: février 16, 2009, 5:30pm CET

In a big win for Windows Mobile, LG -- the world's third largest mobile handset maker -- has agreed to make Microsoft's struggling and aging operating system the primary for all its smartphones.

Orange promises to deliver LG's watch phone, likely this year

Publié: février 16, 2009, 4:53pm CET

Today, French carrier Orange announced that it will be the first mobile operator to bring LG's touchscreen watch phones to market.

Mobile app stores: Nokia and Microsoft each get one, too

Publié: février 16, 2009, 4:30pm CET

Today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Nokia announced that its Ovi suite of mobile applications will be getting its own App store in May, and Microsoft announced Windows Marketplace for Windows Mobile devices.

Analyst: Video game industry continues growth

Publié: février 15, 2009, 10:24pm CET

Market research group NPD has released its latest tally of sales in the video game industry, which continues to grow despite worsening economic conditions.

Vizio turns tables in ongoing HDTV litigation

Publié: février 15, 2009, 6:00pm CET

While we wait for the digital-TV switchover, the manufacturers of high-definition television sets will joust for our entertainment. On Friday, a day after the International Trade Commission upheld the invalidation of a crucial HD patent, Vizio filed suit against the company that made the assertion.

Opera to launch 'Turbo' for faster Web browsing

Publié: février 14, 2009, 1:10am CET

Opera Software will next week roll out Turbo, a new server-enabled compression technology for speeding up Web browsing on PCs, mobile phones, gaming machines, and other devices.

Court disallows brief in trial against Harvard student who downloaded music

Publié: février 14, 2009, 1:09am CET

One of the three amicus briefs filed in support of Webcasting the proceedings in the trial of a Harvard student accusing of illegally downloading music has been refused for consideration by the First Circuit Court.

Moonlight 1.0 means more Silverlight apps run smoothly on Linux

Publié: février 13, 2009, 10:20pm CET

Microsoft had always promised interoperability as one of its key goals for Silverlight. The way it's accomplishing this on the Linux side of the scale is by empowering Miguel de Icaza to take the project and run with it.

Is text-to-speech on Kindle 2 a threat to audiobooks?

Publié: février 13, 2009, 6:57pm CET

Yesterday, the Author's Guild aired complaints about the Kindle 2's new onboard text-to-speech function from predictive text specialists Nuance Communications, warning that the function could eventually cut into the audiobook market.

Nvidia: First Ion PC to ship by summer, might use Vista

Publié: février 13, 2009, 6:46pm CET

PC makers are working on both netbooks and small desktop systems using Ion, but the first Ion PC, expected by this summer, will probably be a desktop model, an Nvidia spokesperson said today.

Google: now making you even more visible

Publié: février 13, 2009, 5:14pm CET

This week, Google cranked out several tools that exploit the search company's strength in the LBS (location based service) model. Betanews took a look at one for Android, and one for Gmail.

Facebook's '$65m settliement' might be worth a lot less

Publié: février 13, 2009, 4:16pm CET

A settlement by Facebook's founder to college classmates, pegged by lawyers at $65 million, contained only $20 million in cash, according to an AP report this week which also revives the issue of Facebook's real stock value.

More specs, photos turn up for next Sidekick

Publié: février 13, 2009, 9:54am CET

T-Mobile tends to keep the wraps on each new iteration of the Sidekick for as long as it can, but that doesn't keep details on (and photos of) the 2009 iteration of the cult-fave smartphone from making their way to the fan sites.

Paul Allen's cable company charts Chapter 11 course

Publié: février 13, 2009, 5:54am CET

Charter Communications, the nation's fourth-largest cable company and a major component of Paul Allen's Vulcan, has turnaround experts on board and is prepping a Chapter 11 filing to restructure approximately $8 billion in debt. The purchase of the St. Louis-based company in 1988 was a big component of Allen's "wired world" vision -- "I will finally have some wires for my wired world," he said back when he was purchasing both Charter and the quickly ingested Marcus Cable -- but the provider's had a hard time in the marketplace, ranking at or near the bottom of various customer-satisfaction polls over the years and getting a rare public warning from the Better Business Bureau in 2006. Charter's Internet division also had the signal dishonor of ranking #114 -- dead last -- on Forrester Research's 2008 Customer Experience Rankings, released in December. (The video-service division shone at #110.) The operator currently serves 27 states and 5.5 million customers.

Microsoft offers $250,000 for capture of Conficker writer

Publié: février 13, 2009, 4:25am CET

The Conficker situation has to be maddening for Microsoft. The vulnerability was patched months ago, but as the infection spreads through unpatched systems, it's hitting some very high-profile networks. And so the company's offering a remarkable reward for what could be a very fragile peace of mind.

Windows 7 build 7022 leaks to torrent sites

Publié: février 13, 2009, 4:03am CET

After Microsoft ended the Windows 7 Beta 1 downloads this week, reports of the appearance of a new leaked build quickly began to roll in. Users who didn't get a chance to download Beta 1 are now turning to BitTorrent sites to get the newer, leaked release. Though reportedly "nothing major," the 7022 build is dated January 15, and includes Internet Explorer 8 RC 1. Windows 7 Beta 1 was build 7000.

Microsoft follows Apple with retail stores, but will people line up for a Zune?

Publié: février 13, 2009, 3:48am CET

Planning a foray into standalone retail stores is risky business for a tech company not named Apple, but if Microsoft's going to take a shot, it could have done worse than hiring David Porter, the former DreamWorks and Wal-Mart exec.

Youtube goes downloadable

Publié: février 13, 2009, 3:27am CET

So begins a new day for the venerable YouTube, the popular video streaming site is testing downloadable videos which include both a free and a for-pay model. Thai Tran, Product Manager at YouTube announced today in the site's official blog that YouTube is "going offline." That is to say, it is giving video owners the option to make their videos downloadable under the Creative Commons License. Also, the option to make the videos available through a Google Checkout purchase is being tested. Videos available for purchase currently have a small link under the left corner, across from where the "Watch in High Quality" tab is currently placed. Clicking there will expose the Google Checkout gadget that carries the user through the transaction. Videos are in the MP4 file format with H.264 video and AAC audio, suitable for play on most portable media devices including the iPod and iPhone.

Sprint announces aggressive phone-recycling plans

Publié: février 13, 2009, 2:00am CET

With an estimated 44% of all mobile phones sitting around unused, many handset and service providers are working to keep gear from landing in landfills. On Thursday, Sprint announced an initiative to, by 2017, recycle or reuse 90% of all mobile phones compared with annual wireless device sales.

Celebrity gadget notes from all over

Publié: février 13, 2009, 1:10am CET

Hard to imagine that Apple will be falling over themselves to celebrate this "celebrity" sighting, but a doozy in Al-Jazeera does have interesting implications for understanding how the Taliban has changed since the war started.

Android to get GPS navigation through Telenav

Publié: février 12, 2009, 11:26pm CET

T-Mobile's G1 will be getting its first full-featured navigation system on February 24 when Telenav releases its GPS Navigator for Android.

FCC tells 25% of requesting TV stations they can't switch on 2/17

Publié: février 12, 2009, 11:11pm CET

Claiming that certain areas of the country are less ready than others for the switch to digital broadcast television, the FCC denied 123 termination notices from a list of 491.

Symbian makes new friends

Publié: février 12, 2009, 10:31pm CET

Don't call it a comeback: Despite a solid year of competitive pressure from Apple, Google, RIM and the like, the world's biggest mobile OS system got bigger again on Thursday with the addition of 14 companies to the Symbian Foundation.

Mozilla: We're not joining the EC's Microsoft complaint

Publié: février 12, 2009, 10:30pm CET

Though it took several days for it to decide upon the proper language, Mozilla today posted its final explanation about its status with respect to the European Commission's latest Microsoft complaint: an "interested party."

Garmin-Asus releases more G60 details, adds M20 Windows phone

Publié: février 12, 2009, 10:29pm CET

After last week's rollout of plans to re-launch a line-up of Nuvifone smart phones -- this time together with Eee maker Asus -- GPS specialist Garmin has teamed with its partner on a new Web site for Nuvifone.

One less WMV customer: Verizon V Cast now powered by Real's Helix

Publié: février 12, 2009, 9:10pm CET

RealNetworks announced yesterday that Verizon's V Cast Video service has transitioned over to the Real Helix media delivery system, in a move which puts Real in charge of two major carriers' multimedia platforms.

Report: Apple 'iTunes Replay' service rumored

Publié: février 12, 2009, 8:02pm CET

Apple is rumored to be readying an on-demand video service that would let users stream iTunes Movie and TV show purchases directly from iTunes servers for playback. The speculation springs from a report in Apple Insider, which proposes that such a service would benefit users by eliminating the need for local storage of media files. According to Apple Insider, Apple is now putting the finishing touches on "iTunes Replay" for inclusion in iTunes 8. But the report also noted that it appears undecided by Apple whether or not it plans to charge for the service. Apple Insider does not cite any sources at Apple as the basis for the report. When Betanews attempted to confirm this information with Apple today, spokespersons were not immediately available for comment.

Latest Mozilla updates, including Firefox, address a serious vulnerability

Publié: février 6, 2009, 11:02pm CET

Some of Mozilla's best researchers into the field of cross-site scripting discovered another instance where code from one site can be made to control the interface of another. As it turns out, version 3.0.6 software contains the fix.

News Corp. has an 'other' problem

Publié: février 6, 2009, 10:38pm CET

Rupert Murdoch's empire is sprawling, varied and, as everyone saw in yesterday's News Corp earnings report, hurting in the current economy. What does that mean for MySpace and the company's IGN Entertainment properties?

Roku begins private beta of Amazon on Demand

Publié: février 6, 2009, 10:03pm CET

The $99 Roku set-top box that ushered in the age of streaming Netflix became an open platform late last year and will soon be offering Amazon on Demand to all. The streaming service this week entered private beta for select Roku users.

Corel opts out of gloomy outlook

Publié: février 6, 2009, 8:55pm CET

Reporting fourth quarter revenues that were down 4% year over year, Corel closed out fiscal 2008 with full year revenues up 7% over 2007, with $268.2 million. Corel's interim CEO Kris Hagerman said, "Despite facing a tough economic climate as we closed out the fourth quarter, revenues for the full year were up across all geographies and business units...Looking ahead to 2009, we have an exciting slate of new product introductions that we believe will further enhance our market position, even in a challenging economy." Hagerman's belief was not reflected by the company as a whole, however, as Corel opted to not provide guidance for the first quarter of 2009, nor for the full fiscal year.

Sharp to post its first ever annual financial loss

Publié: février 6, 2009, 8:13pm CET

Blaming dramatically falling prices on LCD TVs, Sharp today warned that it will report its first annual operating loss ever at the end of March.

A new take on Hollywood's 'wall of fame'...from Microsoft

Publié: février 6, 2009, 8:00pm CET

The first day of Wonderwall.com from MSN Movies

Microsoft's MSN together with BermanBraun Interactive yesterday launched Wonderwall.com, a celebrity gossip site like the popular TMZ.com or People.com. Sites like these are in no short supply, but neither is their demand. Yahoo's top ten search terms overall are consistently dominated by celebrity names. 2008's top 10 from Yahoo, for example, included Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, and Angelina Jolie. Google Zeitgeist year-end summaries have shown the celebrity search trend every year since 2001. BermanBraun was founded in 2007 by ex-Paramount Pictures executive Gail Berman, and former Disney, ABC and Yahoo executive Lloyd Braun. The company focuses on providing the content and advertising on the site, MSN handles the rest.

Microsoft My Phone...not a phone

Publié: février 6, 2009, 7:34pm CET

Of Microsoft's anticipated "Sky"-prefixed services: SkyMarket, SkyLine, and Skybox, which are all cloud-based services for Windows Mobile consumption, Skybox has made an advance appearance, but with the title Microsoft My Phone beta. The My Phone service, which is located at getskybox.com (link currently inactive), will be a cloud sync tool similar to the one used natively by Android with Google services or MobileMe on the iPhone. Contacts, calendar information, emails and texts, photos, music, and video can all be synched between the Windows Mobile 6+ device and the related Windows Live service. Microsoft will be premiering the free service at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain next week.

Intel begins shipping new Atom Processor

Publié: février 6, 2009, 6:18pm CET

Intel is now shipping the next generation of its Atom processor, the single core N280, to PC manufacturers. This iteration of the Atom microarchitecture has already been slated for use in Asus' latest Eee PC Netbook, the 1000HE. Asus has increased the battery life of this Eee to a purported 9.5 hours on a single charge, thanks to the new Atom processor which only consumes 2.5 Watts of power. The Atom N280 runs at 1.66GHz, FSB 667MHz, and Pre-orders for the first netbook equipped with it, Asus' 1000HE, began this week.

Pandora likes Palm Pre, but iPhone and others still in the cards

Publié: février 6, 2009, 5:53pm CET

Online music streaming leader Pandora is indeed "putting a bid" on Palm's Pre, but the company's founder, Tim Westergen, doesn't exactly see the Pre as the only game in town. Westergren spoke with Betanews last night.

Microsoft says yes, will augment UAC in the next Win7 RC

Publié: février 6, 2009, 5:50pm CET

In a stunning and maybe unprecedented accedence to public opinion this morning, Microsoft has announced it will take the emotion out of its discussion, and simply do something its users are asking for.

TiVo releases Desktop 2.7 for Windows

Publié: février 6, 2009, 5:00pm CET

It's been just under a year since TiVo last updated its Desktop software which allows videos to be shared between a user's TiVO DVR and PC or other networked devices. Now there's a new version for both Desktop and Desktop Plus users.

Garmin re-announces Nuvifone, this time with Asus

Publié: février 6, 2009, 4:58pm CET

GPS maven Garmin has re-announced intentions to launch GPS-enabled mobile phones, and this time around, the rollout is planned with Eee maker Asus for later this month in Barcelona.

Prosecutor in Jammie Thomas case joins DoJ

Publié: février 6, 2009, 4:54pm CET

The lawyer who argued the only RIAA case to go all the way through the trial process has been named an Associate Attorney General for the new administration. Donald Verrilli Jr. is a senior litigator with Jenner & Block, a DC firm.

Dream jobs: IEEE's list goes to eleven

Publié: février 6, 2009, 10:01am CET

The latest issue of IEEE Spectrum (you don't read it? what kind of geek are you?) includes, along with a great story on the new breed of massive server farms, their annual Top 10 Dream Jobs list. We beg to differ -- or to amend, anyway.

Government contractor warns of possible breach

Publié: février 6, 2009, 2:22am CET

We talk a lot at Betanews about weak security at certain government agencies (hello, IRS!), but let's not forget that federal employees can suffer too when protections fall at an agency or contractor -- for instance, at Virginia-based SRA International, which handles IT services for various defense, military and civil agencies.

MIT develops an even more augmented reality device

Publié: février 5, 2009, 11:30pm CET

On Wednesday at the Technology Entertainment and Design Conference, Dr. Pattie Maes, founder and director of the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT, presented a smart device with ordinary parts that can turn any surface into a touchscreen.

Android gets native support for Broadcom's wireless combo chip

Publié: février 5, 2009, 10:55pm CET

Broadcom said today that combo drivers for its Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/FM wireless chip have now been ported to the Android operating system. As a result, designers of future Android phones should be able to easily build the chip -- known as BCM4325 -- into their devices. The company's combo chip becomes the first in the industry to achieve native support in Android, according to Broadcom officials. The chip provides advantages in space, power, cost and coexistence among wireless technologies, the company maintained in a statement. "We expect a plethora of products and applications to evolve from the connected Android platform in the not-so-distant future," predicted Chris Bergey, Director of Broadcom's Embedded WLAN line of business.

Microsoft on Win7 UAC: 'Take the emotions out of the discussion'

Publié: février 5, 2009, 10:24pm CET

The latest blog posts from Windows 7 engineers reveal this quandary: If the whole point of accelerating Win7 was to eliminate the Vista complaints, and the tool to accomplish that is generating more complaints, what do they do?

Lenovo posts Q4 loss, fires its CEO

Publié: février 5, 2009, 10:24pm CET

In announcing a fourth quarter loss of $96.7 million, China-based PC maker Lenovo today ousted former Dell exec Bill Amelio as CEO and handed the leadership reins back over over to company founder Liu Chuanzhi.

Mandriva community called to communicate

Publié: février 5, 2009, 10:24pm CET

The long strange tale of Mandriva, that fascinating French Linux distro, continues -- and perhaps, soon, in a more organized fashion. Pending a vote by members of the community, the Mandriva Linux Assembly is at hand.

Woz gets a job!

Publié: février 5, 2009, 6:13pm CET

A producer of high-speed solid-state storage devices announced this morning that the legendary Steve Wozniak, the co-designer of the Apple I and II computers and the keeper of the technological spirit of that company during its formative years, has joined the company as its Chief Scientist. A Fusion-io statement this morning quotes Woz as saying, "The technology marketplace has not seen such capacity for innovation and radical transformation since the mainframe computer was replaced by the home computer. Fusion-io's technology is extremely useful to many different applications and almost all of the world's servers." Fusion-io creates and produces networkable, high-capacity solid-state storage systems that can be integrated into storage networks.

Ceasefire called in Norway's battle over iTunes for non-iPods

Publié: février 5, 2009, 5:53pm CET

Yesterday, Norway's PMP interoperability champion, Consumer Ombudsman Bjørn Erik Thon, said there is no reason to continue his fight against Apple now that iTunes is DRM-free.

AP stakes a claim on 'Hope,' literally

Publié: février 5, 2009, 5:35pm CET

Barack Obama 'HOPE' poster by Shepard Fairey, from a photograph by Mannie Garcia.

It is perhaps the first truly iconic poster to be produced in the 21st century: the steadfast and upward-looking face of a presidential candidate, produced in a rich combination of just four colors, emblazoned with the word "HOPE." It has come to stand for the new president, Barack Obama; and its artist, poster painter Shepard Fairey, is being honored with awards and even documentary coverage from USA Network. But now that it's all pretty much done, the Associated Press is claiming it is the rights holder for the photograph on which Fairey's work is based. Though it has not sued Fairey, as other sites are reporting, its attorneys have sent Fairey correspondence which apparently seeks compensation.

A private Web site tries to clean up the public DTV coupon mess

Publié: février 5, 2009, 5:08pm CET

The US DTV transition debacle has become almost comical in its exposure of the failure of bureaucracy, but an announcement this morning only serves to underscore it even more: A social Web site is offering to collect unused government converter box coupons being distributed to citizens who did not actually request or need them, and distribute them to citizens who have requested coupons but did not receive them.

Tech firms battle US job protection laws while importing workers

Publié: février 5, 2009, 4:31pm CET

On the one hand, importing more foreign workers into the US for lower wages than US workers might earn, would save companies money. On the other, exporting US workers to foreign soil could save them money too.

Orange loses its iPhone exclusivity appeal in France

Publié: février 5, 2009, 4:25pm CET

Yesterday, after Orange lost its appeal to retain its position as the exclusive iPhone carrier in France, complainant rival mobile operator Bouygues Télécom was reportedly ready to move on and start offering its own iPhone deals.

Intel software engineer: Is Win7 on netbooks worth the premium?

Publié: février 5, 2009, 4:14pm CET

It may be the clearest demonstration to date that the working relationship between Intel and Microsoft is about as loosely coupled today than at anytime in the companies' histories. A very frank but official blog post from Intel software engineer Josh Bancroft, dated Tuesday, warns prospective netbook buyers that one of the elements not revealed by Microsoft's not-very-revealing announcement on Windows 7 SKUs earlier this week concerns licensing fees.

Windows 7's ability to selectively elevate privileges is under scrutiny

Publié: février 5, 2009, 2:02am CET

In Microsoft's ongoing effort to alleviate users' discomfort with Windows Vista's security nags, the company may be re-introducing a potential powder keg of new problems, as researchers continue to discover.

New Guitar Hero record set; no music harmed

Publié: février 5, 2009, 2:01am CET

From the Okay, But Is That The Best Use Of Your Time? files, the Guinness world-records people want you to know that there's a whole new collection of gamer scores in print, ready for videogame pikers to look upon and despair.

Akamai profit up by double digits

Publié: février 5, 2009, 1:07am CET

Internet acceleration-and-management firm Akamai announced on Wednesday that the company's fourth-quarter profit exceeded analysts' estimates, climbing 13% year-to-year. As announced in November, the company will lay off 110.

Cisco head gives emphatic thumbs-down to layoffs

Publié: février 5, 2009, 1:06am CET

John Chambers isn't crazy and he isn't unaware of the market, but Cisco's CEO wanted to make something quite clear Wednesday: Restructuring and realignment, not layoffs, are the path Cisco intends to follow through this crisis.

YouMail: Free visual voice mail free for BlackBerry, with some kinks

Publié: février 5, 2009, 12:41am CET

While visual voice mail through Verizon carries an additional charge, and is only offered on select devices through others, YouMail today launched its carrier-agnostic free visual voice mail app for BlackBerry. Betanews took a look.

House bill would strike radio's exemption from performance royalties

Publié: février 5, 2009, 12:20am CET

In the first round of a new chapter in the music royalties debate, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has proposed a fresh bill that would excise language in US law exempting terrestrial radio stations from paying royalties.

Does a cell phone's name spell its success?

Publié: février 4, 2009, 11:34pm CET

While Motorola's RAZR launched an industry movement into "cooler" names, the now financially ailing manufacturer was soon outdone by names such as the Samsung Blackjack and LG Chocolate, a new study says.

Microsoft offers clarifications on Windows 7 SKU issues

Publié: février 4, 2009, 9:53pm CET

Updated A number of key details surrounding Microsoft's announcement yesterday on Windows 7 versions were left up in the air, and now spokespersons are working to bring them down to earth.

California waits for Delaware in Rambus patent infringement suit

Publié: février 4, 2009, 9:47pm CET

California's Federal District Court placed an indefinite delay on Rambus' coordinated SDRAM patent infringement suit against Micron, Hynix, Samsung, and Nanya yesterday.

LG rumored to be readying Arena and AT&T Neon phones

Publié: février 4, 2009, 8:52pm CET

With the texting-friendly LG KS 360 now looking likely to morph into the AT&T Neon, LG is also reportedly prepping an iPhone-like device dubbed the Arena.

Yahoo unwraps a Search Pad

Publié: février 4, 2009, 8:46pm CET

Despite the real possibility that your desk actually is composed of nothing but sticky notes and scraps of random paper, Yahoo's testing a new tool that could help you dismiss some of the daily data debris.

Some smart thoughts on why some gear IS selling

Publié: février 4, 2009, 8:06pm CET

We all know that plenty of gear isn't selling right now. What can we learn from pondering the gear that is? A variety of companies are still enticing consumers into the stores, and as you navigate your Wednesday, it may be edifying to think about who and why.

RIM settlement in backdating scandal to be heard tomorrow

Publié: février 4, 2009, 7:53pm CET

Research in Motion announced that it has reached an agreement with the Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission in the investigation of the company's backdating practices.

Spring Wireless bounces into Seattle

Publié: février 4, 2009, 8:46am CET

A Brazilian mobile-software company with an eye to worldwide expansion announced this week that it'll set up its US headquarters in downtown Seattle. The advent of Spring Wireless could mean 35 new jobs for Rain City.

At Yahoo, three weeks and a cloud of dust

Publié: février 4, 2009, 7:51am CET

Carol Bartz was a surprise pick for the top spot at Yahoo, and even three weeks after the announcement the invigorating effect appears to be ongoing as she deals with both the leaking and the listing aspects of her metaphorical ship.

Maybe if they called it the Super-Connect-O-Fier

Publié: février 4, 2009, 6:16am CET

Call it a femtocell, call it an Access Point Base Station -- look, maybe the industry should instead try calling it something that clicks with consumers, because according to a recent study by In-Stat, the niche needs some help.

Rules change approved, DTV delay may be debated tomorrow

Publié: février 4, 2009, 3:09am CET

What a vote of the entire US House failed to accomplish a few days ago, the House Rules Committee did Tuesday evening: enabling a delay of the DTV transition date to be debated without spending time in markup.

Next Sidekick to run on NetBSD?

Publié: février 4, 2009, 2:47am CET

Fans of the Sidekick, who have fretted over its fate since the purchase of manufacturer Danger, Inc. by Microsoft, apparently don't have Windows CE in their favorite handset's future. Instead, Microsoft's looking for... NetBSD programmers?

EA: Virtual people delayed, real people laid off

Publié: février 4, 2009, 1:47am CET

After an earnings spanking in its 2009 Q3, games publisher Electronic Arts announced plans to go Wii-Wii-Wii all the way home, refocusing much of its development effort on the console for which it's currently the #3 developer.

FinCEN gets so-so security report card from GAO

Publié: février 3, 2009, 11:32pm CET

The Treasury Department bureau responsible for watching out for money laundering isn't watching its security closely enough, according to GAO auditors, who claim much of FinCEN's problems lie with the notoriously security-poor IRS.

Verizon Wireless denies it's sponsoring a Sony Vaio-P rebate offer

Publié: février 3, 2009, 11:28pm CET

Reports yesterday of a $200 rebate being offered by major carrier Verizon Wireless toward the purchase of a Sony Vaio-P netbook computer, spread like wildfire.

T-Mobile to roll out Android update

Publié: février 3, 2009, 10:07pm CET

From February 5 to February 15, G1 users will be receiving an over-the-air update to the Android operating system. This release, known as RC33, adds a number of new features, including Google Voice Search.

EMI's digital music fortunes rise, while its CD market share falls

Publié: février 3, 2009, 9:57pm CET

For major UK-based record label EMI, digital music revenues rose 38% for a recent six-month period over the same six months the year before. But despite job cuts, lowered royalty payments to musicians, and other big cost savings measures, the gains on the digital side didn't offset sliding CD sales and large interest on a $2.7 billion bank loan. EMI's share of global CD sales dropped to 9.8% from a prior level of 10.6%. Still, in results reported Friday, EMI did better on the whole during the six-month stint ended September 30, 2008 than for the earlier six-month period. The music company reported a loss of only $221.3 million, in contrast to a loss of $462.5 million before, and operating profits of $8.6 million this time around, in contrast to a loss of $285 million previously. EMI cut 1,500 jobs after a recent acquisition by privaty equity firm Terra Firma.

Rumored Apple tablet PC patent app has some history behind it

Publié: février 3, 2009, 9:23pm CET

An article in this morning's Electronic Pulp shows what turns up to be a patent application filed early last month for a kind of laptop computer assembly where the logo is etched on panes of translucent plastic, such that it's invisible when turned off but illuminated eerily below when turned on. The publication talks about it as a possible application for a tablet PC or MID computer design. A diagram from the application is reproduced, and the accompanying text reads, "Something tells me that the device illustrated above, taken from one of Apple's recent patent applications, shows us...Apple's upcoming tablet PC." The presence of the Apple logo, the writer went on, suggests that the company's design is "near complete." Well, unfortunately, he's quite right. "The rest of the story," as Paul Harvey would say, after the jump...

Shazam Android music app now available throughout Europe, too

Publié: février 3, 2009, 8:15pm CET

Following a rollout last year in the US and UK markets, the highly rated, Android-based Shazam mobile music application is now available throughout Europe. Countries added to Shazam's availability list today include Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Could Shazam give Apple's iTunes and Microsoft's Zune some real rivalry whenever more Android devices come to market? Shazam's Android-accessible database contains more than 8 million tracks, including pre-release tunes and music from various eras and parts of the world. Shazam was the third most popular app when the Android Marketplace launched last fall, and it now holds a rating of "4.5 stars out of 5 stars" among more than 6,000 Android Marketplace reviewers, according to Shazam CEO Andrew Fisher.

Metamorphosis complete: Skype 4.0 for Windows is released

Publié: février 3, 2009, 8:09pm CET

Today, the "gold version" of Skype 4.0 for Windows is available. The latest version of the popular voice chat client has been in development since 2006, and is the team's "most distinctive new release in Skype's five year history."

Sony's new 'mofiria' aims for more accurate biometric ID

Publié: février 3, 2009, 7:48pm CET

A diagram of Sony's 'mofiria' biometric scanning system

Sony today unveiled a new finger vein authentication technology called "mofiria." In comparison to other biometric authentication techniques, vein authentication is more accurate and harder to forge, Sony contended in a statement, explaining that finger veins are different in each person and each finger, and that veins don't change over the years. The new "mofiria" technology uses a CMOS sensor to "diagonally capture scattered light inside the finger veins, making a plane layout possible." After the vein pattern is extracted from the captured image of the finger vein, data from the pattern is compressed, enabling storage of the biometric identifier on a mobile device or gateway security system, for example. Sony is looking to commercialize the new biometric technology within the 2009 fiscal year.

Wireless devs plan more apps for Windows than iPhone or Android

Publié: février 3, 2009, 7:14pm CET

Whether or not they're being overly optimistic, 94% of corporate developers expect wireless application development to either stay the same or rise over the year ahead, despite the economy. Forty percent more of the developers plan to focus on Windows Mobile than on Apple's iPhone, and 46% more will focus on the .NET Compact Framework than on Google's Android, say the newly released results of an Evans Data Survey.

Version 3.0.6 of Firefox goes live, formal release is pending

Publié: février 3, 2009, 6:58pm CET

Download Mozilla Firefox 3.0.6 for Windows from Fileforum now. This morning, our Fileforum editor dutifully noticed that the Mozilla organization has placed the final candidate for the sixth update build to Firefox 3.0 on its FTP servers. As is Mozilla's procedure, this happens prior to the official "release" of the build to general users; and indeed, according to the development team's checklist, contributors are just now being notified of the availability of this build for final testing. Users of earlier editions are not yet seeing notices that the new edition is available, and exactly what issues have been addressed have not yet been listed. Download Mozilla Firefox 3.0.6 for Linux from Fileforum now.

IBM raises the goalpost: 20 petaflops in three years

Publié: février 3, 2009, 6:04pm CET

Typically, the reason a manufacturer helps a government agency build a supercomputer is to establish bragging rights. But this time, IBM plans to help the DOE put its latest creation to work with the nation's infrastructure.

Dell thin clients feature SUSE Linux

Publié: février 3, 2009, 6:02pm CET

SUSE Enterprise Linux Thin Client 3D effect

Dell's new OptiPlex Thin Client devices will be pre-loaded with Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Thin Client. This version of the SUSE Enterprise Linux desktop is optimized for use on the smallest thin client footprints, offering images from 128MB in size. Linux is the preferred operating system for resource-constrained devices, and IDC in June forecasted that it will reach 30.5% OS market share on thin clients by 2011, totaling around 1.8 million Linux-based units. Dell's OptiPlex thin Clients can be configured with a single core Intel Atom 230 processor or a dual core 330, hold between 512MB-4GB of 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC SDRAM, and have between 512MB-2GB of Flash Memory.

Financial firm sued for re-packaging software company's service

Publié: février 3, 2009, 5:46pm CET

Massachusetts software company NewRiver Inc. has sued financial research firm Morningstar Inc. for allegedly using NewRiver's proprietary technology to amass a database of US Securities and Exchange Commission Prospectuses.

Google execs face jail time in Italy over a user's video

Publié: février 3, 2009, 5:41pm CET

Four Google execs face trial today in Milan, Italy, on criminal charges of defamation and privacy around a cellphone video, in a case that raises questions around the applicability of country-specific laws to user-submitted content.

Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » février 2009

Canaux

BetaNews.Com (212 non lus)

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