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Automatically compiled digests of SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY news stories
(originally clustered by the Google News):


Sunday


  • July-06-2008 -- PS3 BioShock goes to Digital Extremes
    It was announced by 2K studios that 2K Marin, 2K Australia and 2K Boston would be working on the PS3 version of Bioshock.
    The PS3 can be a tricky piece of hardware to work with. 2K is employing the help of Digital Extremes to optimize the upcoming PS3 version of BioShock. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Microsoft Hopes Office Subscription Plan Will Counter Free Software
    Dubbed Equipt, the new service combines Office Home and Student, Workspaces, OneCare, and a handful of other free Windows Live applications into a single package.
    Well now it'll be every year that people consider whether to 'invest' in Microsoft Office, rather than every few years and generally with a new computer purchase. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Firefoxing away to Version 3
    Just over half of IE users were using Internet Explorer 7, 92 percent of Firefox users were on the latest update (the dats was pre-Firefox 3) and 70 per cent had a newly updated version of Safari.
    Munich (dpa) - Internet users can download the new 3.0 version of the popular Firefox browser starting immediately. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Samsung phone has a lot of good instincts
    Here comes the long-awaited iPhone killer, a cellphone with features so compelling it will make Apple Inc.' s renowned touch-screen phone instantly obsolete.
    Bell Canada, one of the competitors to dominant Canadian telco Rogers, isn't also selling the iPhone - but has just introduced unlimited $10 mobile web browsing on the Samsung Instinct. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Sunday Liquor Sales Goes Into Effect
    PJ's Wine & Spirits, 665 Frontage Road, will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays to start with, according to David 'Whit' Whitman, one of the store's wine managers.
    A coalition of liquor store owners supported the change because of a competing bill in the legislature that would have allowed supermarkets, convenience stores and larger chains to sell alcohol. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- FreeRunner no longer has a free run at open source
    Black, oval-shaped and weighing 6.5 ounces, the Openmoko Neo FreeRunner features a 2.8" 480 x 640 VGA touchscreen, Wi-Fi (802.1 1b/g), AGPS, GPRS 2.5G, Bluetooth 2.0, two 3-axis motion sensors and comes with 128MB WSDRAM and 256MB NAND Flash.
    Based on the hardware specs I would say that you could basically turn the phone into a Linux-based version of the iPhone when you consider that it has a touchscreen and two 3-axis motion sensors. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Wireless Loop,
    Just days after announcing Mac OS X-specific support , Linksys has announced its WRT610N Wi-Fi router, which offers wireless connectivity for 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n devices on two separate spectrum bands simultaneously -- effectively doubling available wireless bandwidth.
    Performance depends on many factors, conditions and variables, including distance from the access point, volume of network traffic, building materials and construction, operating system used, mix of wireless products used, interference and other adverse conditions. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Sony Wants to Make Blu-Ray More Interactive.
    Glasgow said Sony would be doing everything it can to boost mix of component procurement and operations it bills in dollar terms instead of other currencies.
    The Entertainment Merchants Association said last week that Blu-ray disc revenue would surge to about $9.5 billion in 2012, overtaking sales of standard-definition discs in the process. More...

Sunday


  • July-06-2008 -- It Only Looks Like an iPhone
    You can now get $20 in exchange for shameless product placement in a YouTube video.
    And, for the record, I must refresh your memory to my statement that I believe Sprint to have better network technology. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Midnight Club stalls again
    Rockstar Games announced this morning that Midnight Club: Los Angeles has a new release date.
    All three editions of Midnight Club are now expected to arrive in North American stores on October 7, with European launches set for October 10. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Firefox 3 Boosts Browser's Market Share Over 19%
    Just over half of IE users were using Internet Explorer 7, 92 percent of Firefox users were on the latest update (the dats was pre-Firefox 3) and 70 per cent had a newly updated version of Safari.
    I use Firefox 2 99% of the time, using IE6 for one forum that only has RTF in IE, and for 'Patch Tuesday' of course. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- PS3 BioShock goes to Digital Extremes
    It was announced by 2K studios that 2K Marin, 2K Australia and 2K Boston would be working on the PS3 version of Bioshock.
    The PS3 can be a tricky piece of hardware to work with. 2K is employing the help of Digital Extremes to optimize the upcoming PS3 version of BioShock. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- FreeRunner no longer has a free run at open source
    Black, oval-shaped and weighing 6.5 ounces, the Openmoko Neo FreeRunner features a 2.8" 480 x 640 VGA touchscreen, Wi-Fi (802.1 1b/g), AGPS, GPRS 2.5G, Bluetooth 2.0, two 3-axis motion sensors and comes with 128MB WSDRAM and 256MB NAND Flash.
    Based on the hardware specs I would say that you could basically turn the phone into a Linux-based version of the iPhone when you consider that it has a touchscreen and two 3-axis motion sensors. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Review
    Publisher Activision has released another trailer of Neversoft's upcoming rock legend send-up Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, showcasing some of the game's music from the headlining band as well as several other acts.
    Before that, music games typically featured covers of famous songs by sound-alike bands. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Weekend project: Sync your .Mac bookmarks one last time
    It's already begun: iPhone 3G line starting in New York City German publisher drops 12,000 PCs for Mac; more New Apple touch patents show body part sensing, fingernail input Apple lops $500 off the price of SSD-based MacBook Air Apple accidently ships MobileMe boxes; Google Talk for iPhone Challenges ahead as Apple and Best Buy expand Mac program iPhone 3G plans to start at $18 in Australia Jobs & Co. sued again; Mac web share up; iTunes K-12 launches iPhone 3G plans start at $48 in the Netherlands, $128 in Denmark Adobe's PDF format now an ISO standard AT&T says original iPhones can be deactivated and used as WiFi iPods iPhone 3G to be in healthy supply as iPod touch supplies weaken Apple named in lawsuit over wireless data, circuits Apple's iPhone 3G guided tour reveals extra details How to hand-down your old iPhone after upgrading to iPhone 3G Moving to iPhone 3G: a guide for current and non-current AT&T customers New and old AT&T iPhone plans compared, cost increases detailed AT&T announces iPhone 3G plans, 8 a.m. launch time on July 11 iPhone 3G plans start at $25 in Switzerland, $50 in Finland Apple releases Mac OS X 10.5.4 update, security fixes Report: half of prospective smartphone buyers eying iPhone 3G Three says Hong Kong iPhone plans to start at $24 per month Real embraces Apple's iPod with new Rhapsody MP3 service AT&T memos detail iPhone 3G unbricking tool, crowd planning, more.
    I saw this story on MacDailyNews and thought you should see it. More...

  • July-06-2008 -- Scientists call for update of extinction-risk models
    Scientists at the University of Colorado say the problem is a result of a mathematical mistake.
    When a species dwindles beyond a certain point, even the loss of a handful of individuals can have devastating long-term consequences, Melbourne explained. More...





Saturday


  • July-05-2008 -- Study: Price, Not Availability Keeping Dial-Up Users From Broadband
    Broadband prices, however, have edged down slowly during that time while dialup costs have flattened, and now started to rise, suggesting it is becoming a niche specialization.
    The 2008 broadband subscriber numbers represent an overall growth rate of 17 percent, compared with 12 percent the year before, which is pretty good performance in a bummed-out economic climate. More...

  • July-05-2008 -- Firefox 3 Boosts Browser's Market Share Over 19%
    Just over half of IE users were using Internet Explorer 7, 92 percent of Firefox users were on the latest update (the dats was pre-Firefox 3) and 70 per cent had a newly updated version of Safari.
    The researchers -- Frei and Martin May from ETH Zurich, Thomas Duebendorfer from Google Switzerland, and Gunter Ollmann from IBM Internet Security Systems -- estimate that the data provided by Google covers 75 percent of all Internet users. More...

  • July-05-2008 -- Scientists call for update of extinction-risk models
    Scientists at the University of Colorado say the problem is a result of a mathematical mistake.
    When a species dwindles beyond a certain point, even the loss of a handful of individuals can have devastating long-term consequences, Melbourne explained. More...

  • July-05-2008 -- It Only Looks Like an iPhone
    Here comes the long-awaited iPhone killer, a cellphone with features so compelling it will make Apple Inc.' s renowned touch-screen phone instantly obsolete.
    A 60-second cinema spot featuring an interrogation scene sets up the movie theme of the campaign with a trailer-style clip promoting Instinct: The Greatest Product-Placement Movie of All Time, a film that promises "no plot, no romance, just phone." More...

  • July-05-2008 -- Linspire Chairman Frustrated By Futility Of Desktop Linux, Rebuts ...
    The deal has not been well received by a lot of users in the Linux community, with former Linspire CEO Kevin Carmony also not happy.
    Three years later, Microsoft ended up paying $20 million to Linspire, which agreed to drop the Lindows name. More...

  • July-05-2008 -- Sony Wants to Make Blu-Ray More Interactive.
    Glasgow said Sony would be doing everything it can to boost mix of component procurement and operations it bills in dollar terms instead of other currencies.
    The Entertainment Merchants Association said last week that Blu-ray disc revenue would surge to about $9.5 billion in 2012, overtaking sales of standard-definition discs in the process. More...

  • July-05-2008 -- US Justice Dept. sued for info on cellular tracking practices
    Washington, D.C. -Well its not 1984, but there are a couple of civil rights groups that feel that the United States Government should reveal exactly how they use Cell phones to track individuals and groups.
    Law enforcement is becoming increasingly adept at using technology in investigations. More...

  • July-05-2008 -- Netflix box by Roku to get more content providers
    Each also has about 100 HD movies available.
    Apple is selling/renting 50,000 movies and TV shows per day, many in hi-def. More...

Saturday


  • July-05-2008 -- More drunken driving arrests, fewer fatalities so far this holiday ...
    After driving for an hour over the county's roads and freeways, Reid had found only one violator.
    During the holiday weekend, the CHP will be joining forces with statewide traffic safety agencies from Nevada, Arizona and Oregon in C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) enforcement focusing on speed, DUI and safety belt use. More...

  • July-05-2008 -- Teen Arrested for 'Cruelty to Child' Charge
    Now that 16-year-old boy is charged with felony cruelty to a child.
    It didn't go very high in the air and only flew about 1.5-2 feet away. More...

  • July-05-2008 -- The laboratory at the end of the solar system
    Today, in Nature, an analysis of recent data streamed back from the Voyager 2 spacecraft helps build up a picture of how the Sun interacts with the rest of the galaxy.
    "The stream of in situ and remote data from the outer reaches of the heliosphere has revolutionized our view of how the Sun interacts with the Galaxy." More...

  • July-05-2008 -- Release Date For Midnight Club: Los Angeles Changed Again
    Rockstar Games announced this morning that Midnight Club: Los Angeles has a new release date.
    All three editions of Midnight Club are now expected to arrive in North American stores on October 7, with European launches set for October 10. More...

  • July-05-2008 -- Linspire Chairman Frustrated By Futility Of Desktop Linux, Rebuts ...
    With similar product offerings from Ubuntu and Mandriva Linux, the company has had a difficult time as of late competing with other Linux distributions.
    New systems like eee PC need CNR which is why Linspire marrying Xandros makes sense More...

  • July-05-2008 -- Study: Price, Not Availability Keeping Dial-Up Users From Broadband
    Broadband prices, however, have edged down slowly during that time while dialup costs have flattened, and now started to rise, suggesting it is becoming a niche specialization.
    Nickel-and-dime department: When AT&T announced pricing plans for the new iPhone 3G, which goes on sale next week, it boosted the cost of a standard 450-minute plan with unlimited data from $60 to $70 a month. More...

  • July-05-2008 -- Sony Wants to Make Blu-Ray More Interactive.
    Glasgow said Sony would be doing everything it can to boost mix of component procurement and operations it bills in dollar terms instead of other currencies.
    '''Today, we are competing well for first place for worldwide market share due to the strength of our Bravia lineup.''' More...

  • July-05-2008 -- US Justice Dept. sued for info on cellular tracking practices
    Washington, D.C. -Well its not 1984, but there are a couple of civil rights groups that feel that the United States Government should reveal exactly how they use Cell phones to track individuals and groups.
    Law enforcement is becoming increasingly adept at using technology in investigations. More...

Friday


  • July-04-2008 -- Teen Arrested for 'Cruelty to Child' Charge
    Now that 16-year-old boy is charged with felony cruelty to a child.
    A baby is seen crying after landing face-first when launched several feet from a body-sized pillow, authorities say. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- Release Date For Midnight Club: Los Angeles Changed Again
    Rockstar Games announced this morning that Midnight Club: Los Angeles has a new release date.
    All three editions of Midnight Club are now expected to arrive in North American stores on October 7, with European launches set for October 10. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- Scientists call for update of extinction-risk models
    Scientists at the University of Colorado say the problem is a result of a mathematical mistake.
    When a species dwindles beyond a certain point, even the loss of a handful of individuals can have devastating long-term consequences, Melbourne explained. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- Study: Price, Not Availability Keeping Dial-Up Users From Broadband
    Broadband prices, however, have edged down slowly during that time while dialup costs have flattened, and now started to rise, suggesting it is becoming a niche specialization.
    More worryingly, over a quarter of Americans have no internet access at home, the majority of whom are either elderly or on low incomes. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- EIC Squared: Indexing Flash, Powerset and Viacom vs. Google
    With the rise of Flash content on the web over the last few years, webmasters and site designers have had to make a choice: use HTML, which can be optimized for search engine results, or use Flash, which looks impressive but wasn't as easily indexed by the search engines.
    Adobe announced Tuesday that Google and Yahoo are adding search capabilities that will enable users to look inside the content of files encoded in Adobe's Flash file format SWF. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- 2K Games Has Four Devs Working On PS3 Bioshock
    It was announced by 2K studios that 2K Marin, 2K Australia and 2K Boston would be working on the PS3 version of Bioshock.
    DE previously created Dark Sector, and this will be their next labour of love. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- Google Talk,
    "One of the last times I was stoned, I was convinced that I would die unless I kept moving my body.
    The clip, which is 38 seconds long, opens with a news anchor reporting on an outbreak of mad cow disease in a dry fashion, detailing the debilitating effects of eating tainted beef. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- Linspire Chairman Frustrated By Futility Of Desktop Linux, Rebuts ...
    The deal has not been well received by a lot of users in the Linux community, with former Linspire CEO Kevin Carmony also not happy.
    The cash will magically be gone." More...

Friday


  • July-04-2008 -- Weekend project: Sync your .Mac bookmarks one last time
    Beyond selling you a phone, Apple is selling you a platform, and like Windows and Mac OS, once you're entrenched in one computing platform you usually stay entrenched.
    The MobileMe retail box pictured below was delivered to one customer today. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- Four Microsoft Patches Due Tuesday; Not Rated Critical
    Next Tuesday, Microsoft plans to ship four security updates for multiple flaws affecting Windows, Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange Server but the absence of fixes for publicly known Internet Explorer issues is causing raised eyebrows among security professionals.
    For the first time this year, Microsoft will release no 'critical' updates for Windows or other software on July's Patch Tuesday. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- Firefox 3 Share Shoots Up
    The researchers also concluded that as a group, Mozilla Firefox users were the most likely to be using the latest, most secure and stable version of the browser: 83.3 percent of Firefox users were found to have the latest version installed at any given time.
    Often times the reasoning, as is the case with Firefox, is that the new version is buggy and some of the add-ons will not work. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- What if 23 Million People Used Bluetooth?
    "Talking on your cell phone while driving is like talking to someone in the back seat except you're looking at your phone."
    The Voyager can also minimize wind noise with a built-in wind screen. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- US Justice Dept. sued for info on cellular tracking practices
    Washington, D.C. -Well its not 1984, but there are a couple of civil rights groups that feel that the United States Government should reveal exactly how they use Cell phones to track individuals and groups.
    So Tuesday, the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit in federal court to try to force the Justice Deaprtment to comply. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- AT&T rolls out new iPhone plan
    Washington (dbTechno) - AT&T has announced pricing details for the Apple iPhone 3G on Tuesday, stating that the new prices for the phones will range from $199 for the 8GB model, to $299 for the 16GB model for eligible customers.
    AT&T confirmed another tidbit that many assumed true, but again it's nice to hear the official word. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- Netflix box by Roku to get more content providers
    Each also has about 100 HD movies available.
    Saratoga, Calif. -based Roku, best known for its networked music player SoundBridge, in May rolled out a set-top box that streams Netflix (nasdaq: NFLX - news - people ) movies. More...

  • July-04-2008 -- Google Talk Revamped For Apple's iPhone
    Through its blog, Google has announced that a new version of Google Talk is available for the iPhone and the iPod touch.
    Google has announced an iPhone version of Google Talk which is simply an iPhone-ized browser-formatted version of the Google's text chat application. More...

Thursday


  • July-03-2008 -- Researchers find Washington's boyhood home
    WASHINGTON (AFP) — U.S. archaeologists believe they have found the long-sought childhood home of George Washington, the United States' first president, siting it close to Fredricksburg in the state of Virginia.
    The home of the first President of the United States, George Washington, has allegedly been found in Virginia, 50 miles south of Washington. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Mac Bloggers Gnash Teeth Over iPhone Pricing Numbers
    AT&T today finally released its pricing plans for Apple's long-awaited second-generation iPhone, set to go on sale on July 11th at 8 AM. The 8GB iPhone 3G is set at $199 with the 16GB going for $299, both with a two-year contract.
    Go with Samsung Instinct and $99 everything plan including MMS picture messaging and all the other things Iphone 3G doesn't have. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Rhapsody In Bloom With Verizon, DRM Free Downloads
    RealNetworks said Monday it's switching gears in its quest for a larger slice of the legal music download market with the launch a DRM-free a la carte MP3 store that will cater to iPod owners directly rather than through unauthorized hacks of the past.
    Real Networks' Rhapsody has opened an MP3 store that works independently of the subscription-based service, bringing Rhapsody ever closer in design (but not execution) to the venerable iTunes. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Study: US Dial-Up Users Bypass Broadband
    A new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project highlights that while broadband adoption still saw a healthy growth of 17% over the last year, adoption stalled or was minimal among the poor and African Americans.
    The pollsters said average prices might have fallen even more were it not for an increasing number of broadband users (29 percent) who pay an average of $5 a month extra for higher speed, premium service. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- .Mac Bookmark Sync Deadline Extended to July 6
    Beyond selling you a phone, Apple is selling you a platform, and like Windows and Mac OS, once you're entrenched in one computing platform you usually stay entrenched.
    I saw this story on MacDailyNews and thought you should see it. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Clothes don't make this man: Sweatshirt helps nail Citibank card ...
    The thefts came to light almost by accident, as police stumbled upon an individual with large amounts of cash along with dozens of counterfeit ATM cards and electronic debit card magstripe encoding gear.
    The software bundle also includes Microsoft's Live OneCare computer security software and will be sold at nearly 700 Circuit City stores for $70 per year. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Mars lander's next bake test could be its last
    The instrument analyzed the gases given off by the warming sample, but found no water vapor.
    Just when the world is abuzz about the possibility that the Mars Phoenix Lander will find evidence of liquid water and life-enabling conditions in the prehistoric Martian past, a new report throws a bucket of salty water on that enthusiasm. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Google and Creator of 'Family Guy' Strike a Deal
    The company has partnered with Seth MacFarlane, the brains behind the popular Family Guy TV show, to use AdSense to deliver a new animated show via the web, the New York Times reports.
    A celebrated content creator hopping on the clip culture bandwagon is old hat in the new economy. More...

Thursday


  • July-03-2008 -- Google and Creator of 'Family Guy' Strike a Deal
    It's unknown what kind of money was involved in the deal, but Google has teamed up with the creator of Family Guy to create two minute episodes of a new cartoon called "Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy".
    The New York Times reports that the MacFarlane program will run as 50 two-minute episodes (possibly the optimum viewing time for the Internet), supported by a range of advertising formats, including "preroll" ads that run before the program, banner ads and text messages. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Adobe Updates Reader, Hands Off PDF Standard
    The move, according to Adobe CTO, Kevin Lynch, is in response to governments and organisations increasingly requesting open formats.
    By comparison, ISO 29500 is stuck at 40.99, where the final draft of the standard is ready for registration but which awaits final approval. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Making Desktop Linux Work for Business
    The deal has not been well received by a lot of users in the Linux community, with former Linspire CEO Kevin Carmony also not happy.
    According to the Xandros spokesperson, who confirmed that the acquisition was complete, the agreement was signed on June 19. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- What is the best method for picking up an iPhone 3G on July 11th?
    AT&T today finally released its pricing plans for Apple's long-awaited second-generation iPhone, set to go on sale on July 11th at 8 AM. The 8GB iPhone 3G is set at $199 with the 16GB going for $299, both with a two-year contract.
    The iPhone 3G will come with the iPhone 2.0 system software preinstalled, while the first generation iPhone users will get a free software upgrade through iTunes, starting July 11. iPod touch users will have to pay $9.99 for the software upgrade. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Join the community and start enjoying the benefits:
    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest philanthropic actor in the world, and with the pledged addition of Buffett's fortune, it is getting a lot bigger, with anticipated assets nearing $100 billion within a few years.
    You had the opportunity to interview the Chairman of Microsoft, on the cusp of the Internet AND the cusp of the release of Windows 95 and how did you spend your opportunity at this unique moment of history? Conferential posturing. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- AMD improves CPU market share ' with little impact on Intel
    AMD has announced three new processors in its quad-core Phenom X4 range, the new flagship 9950 Black Edition featuring a max TDP of 140 watts with a clock speed of 2.6GHz, and two more energy-efficient chips, the Phenom X4 9350e and Phenom X4 9150e.
    The year-over-year results were the reverse of AMD's -- Intel lost 0.7 percent compared to the first quarter of 2007. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Driving in California? Save $20 -- Use a Headset
    "Talking on your cell phone while driving is like talking to someone in the back seat except you're looking at your phone."
    One reason is that people have known for a year and a half that the law was coming. More...

  • July-03-2008 -- Eight years in the making: Blizzard unveils Diablo III
    Blizzard unveiled Diablo III at a worldwide invitational gaming event held in Europe over the weekend, and has posted details to its Web site, including a cinematic trailer and gameplay video that offers an in-depth look at some of the game'''s new capabilities and features.
    The result was a fast-paced game full of endless monsters, dungeon crawling and an enormous variety of loot. More...

Wednesday


  • July-02-2008 -- Game makers set Sept. release for 'Rock Band 2'
    Update: Okay, so it's only the Xbox 360 version that is going to come out first; it will debut in September.
    There have been several important dates in the history of The Who: May 23, 1969 ''' Iconic rock album Tommy is released and rockets to No. 4 on the U.S. charts. More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Sprint's YouTube Payola: User Instinct In Your Videos, And We'll ...
    If you love to play around with your phone and enjoy discovering new applications, as of July 11, there'll only be one obvious choice: The Apple iPhone 3G (comare it to other multimedia smartphones ).
    Despite mixed reviews, the Instinct smartphone broke the company's record for the first week of sales for any high-speed EVDO mobile device. More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Nokia Tries Apple's Tune
    Nokia has secured a third major for its Comes With Music initiative after striking a deal with Warner Music.
    The move follows Nokia'''s similar tie-ups with other leading music companies namely Sony BMG and Universal Music Group. More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Microsoft Seeks Path Beyond Gates's Legacy
    A lack of obsession with one goal could actually be a strength for Ozzie, whereas it was Gates' Achilles heel.
    People don't like being treated like fools, and federal government lawyers - unlike, say, Microsoft competitors - didn't have to sit there and take it. More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Hit Us Blizzard One More Time! Unknown Game Confirmed
    Blizzard unveiled Diablo III at a worldwide invitational gaming event held in Europe over the weekend, and has posted details to its Web site, including a cinematic trailer and gameplay video that offers an in-depth look at some of the game'''s new capabilities and features.
    Suuuuuuuure, you'll be the only one buying it. More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Tech Titans Form Patent Trust
    According to The Wall Street Journal, the companies will pay around $250,000 to join the organization, and around $5 million more as a deposit for future patent purchases, which means only the big names will afford to join.
    "The trust provides opportunities to enhance companies' freedom to sell products by sharing the cost of patent licenses." More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Apple releases Security Update 2008-04 for Tiger
    The company has now released a version for the Mac OS X Tiger operating system.
    The Mac maker released the update, version 10.5.4, yesterday. More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Linspire sinks under Xandros waves
    In math, two negatives make a positive.
    Carmony predicts Linspire stockholders will be "given a handful of Xandros stock. More...

Wednesday


  • July-02-2008 -- Harmonix: They Put a Guitar Hero in Every House
    Update: Okay, so it's only the Xbox 360 version that is going to come out first; it will debut in September.
    The fact that you can't change the lead singer of a band without losing all your unlocked content is a complete joke, as is the way you have to navigate the menu with the instrument you want to play with (for single-player at least). More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Apple Pushes Peck of Patches
    The company has now released a version for the Mac OS X Tiger operating system.
    The company promises that the update delivers security, reliability and performance enhancements, as well as the code to support the upcoming MobileMe online service that is set to debut on July 11. More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Your Name Your Email Address Recipient's Email Address
    A lack of obsession with one goal could actually be a strength for Ozzie, whereas it was Gates' Achilles heel.
    "I have got to get out of the way, and let that new thing step in there." More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Wait Till the NEXT One!
    Microsoft Vista may have its fair share of detractors, including some of Microsoft's closest allies in the past, but the Redmond giant seems determined to increase its acceptability among PC users by discontinuing with Vista's predecessor XP effective yesterday.
    Microsoft officially shoves XP off retail\'s mortal coil in favour of Vista. More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Oracle Opens BEA Roadmap, Reassures Channel Partners
    The combined Oracle & BEA middleware product direction provides greater opportunity to execute an effective SOA strategy and deployment that can help lower costs, increase agility and mitigate risks.
    One area where I pricked up my ears was when Kurian started to talk about the co-mingling of human interactions with process automation (see image above.) More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Tech Titans Form Patent Trust
    According to The Wall Street Journal, the companies will pay around $250,000 to join the organization, and around $5 million more as a deposit for future patent purchases, which means only the big names will afford to join.
    In an effort to fend off the ever-increasing and shameful practice of patent trolling, a number of technology heavyweights have joined forces to launch the Allied Security Trust ' an organization which will acquire patents and subsequently grant member companies nonexclusive rights to use them. More...

  • July-02-2008 -- A New Twist in Penguins' Already Uncertain Future
    In partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society and colleagues from the University of Washington, Boersma has studied the world's largest breeding colony of Magellanic penguins at Punta Tombo on the Atlantic coast of Argentina and seen breeding pairs fall from 400,000 pairs between the 1960s and 1980s to around half that today.
    A new study claims that penguins now run a gauntlet of environmental challenges, from climate change, commercial fishing, pollution and tourism. More...

  • July-02-2008 -- Chip Wars: Intel, AMD Both Gain On Competitors
    Intel and AMD each benefited from a PC market that, so far, has not succumbed to the sluggish U.S. economy.
    About half of AMD's growth in the past year came at the expense of Intel. The remainder came out of the market-share of smaller computer chip makers, said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst of compute platforms for iSuppli. More...

Tuesday


  • July-01-2008 -- In-Depth: Sams Talks The State Of Blizzard
    Blizzard unveiled Diablo III at a worldwide invitational gaming event held in Europe over the weekend, and has posted details to its Web site, including a cinematic trailer and gameplay video that offers an in-depth look at some of the game'''s new capabilities and features.
    The really key and important thing is do we play like World of Warcraft? No! We don'''t play anything like it, Diablo has a different feel to it and that'''s fine. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Windows 7 is coming. Will your PC be ready?
    Redmond, WA-There are literally millions of users around the world who still use the popular Windows XP operating system, with no sign of letup.
    Things change seriously, we WANT to keep XP?!? I'm sorry, but I don't want to keep a 7 year old OS around. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Canadians continue feeling rogered by Rogers' iPhone plans
    I will buy an iPod touch instead and use a separate cell phone with Telus mobility.
    Every iPhone plan requires a three-year contract; the company has already outlined pricing for the phones themselves, which match the U.S. prices of $199 for an 8GB model and $299 for a 16GB version. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Asteroid anniversary recalls Earth's rocky history
    The 1927-expedition led by Leonid Kulik, a leading meteorite expert at the Academy of Sciences, discovered the massive destruction left by the blast and gathered witness statements from locals living in the area.
    The Italian trio believe the answers lie in a curiously-shaped oval lake, called Lake Cheko, located about 10 kilometres (six miles) from ground zero. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Security Bites 106: McAfee talks SPAM
    McAfee Inc. today released the results of its S.P.A.M (Spammed Persistently All Month) Experiment, in which 50 people from around the world surfed the Web unprotected for 30 days.
    Each of the participants were encouraged to visit places online that most Internet users avoid for fear of attracting spam attention or machine infection. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Google goes after video, forgets about YouTube
    It's unknown what kind of money was involved in the deal, but Google has teamed up with the creator of Family Guy to create two minute episodes of a new cartoon called "Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy".
    Google has struck a deal to help finance and distribute on the Internet an animated series from Seth MacFarlane, creator of "The Family Guy" television series. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Good Virtual Security Requires Better IT Teamwork
    Bill Hilf, general manager of Windows Server Marketing and Platform Strategy at Microsoft, explained that in order to truly see the benefits of virtualization, it is critical to have the right processes and tools in place.
    It's the only hypervisor that has no dependence on an operating system. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Deal Is Struck in Montana to Preserve Forest Areas
    This morning the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land announced the largest private land conservation sale in U.S. history: an agreement to purchase approximately 320,000 acres of western Montana forestland from Plum Creek Timber company for $510 million.
    The area is located in the ecoregion known as the Crown of the Continent, one of the most ecologically diverse and intact biological systems remaining in the United States. More...

Tuesday


  • July-01-2008 -- In New Deal With Tele Atlas, Google Maps Sends Data Back
    The agreement spans Google's current and future map-based services and navigation offerings across mobile, online and desktop environments.
    The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Tele Atlas said it makes Google among its largest customers. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Intel Bets on the Past
    Gelsinger, currently VP of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, also served as the Santa Clara, Calif. -based chip maker's first CTO and was chief architect on the 386 or IA-32 instruction set architecture, which debuted in the Intel 80386 central processor in 1985.
    Products are due in Q1 2009. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Sprint may be making a comeback
    Not to be outdone by Sprint and AT&T, Verizon now joins the touch screen multi-media party with the LG Dare.
    Best Buy handles Sprint and AT&T, as well as T-Mobile and Verizon, meaning that the iPhone and its leading competitor also will have an in-store challenge from the LG Dare, designed for Verizon. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Digg's recommendation engine slated for release this week
    This week social-news site Digg is launching a new way for users to find new stories by adding a recommendation engine that will suggest things for users to read in the upcoming story section based on past site usage.
    You can always remove specific users from the Recommendation Engine by clicking on the user name and selecting '''remove from Recommendation Engine.'''" More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Windows XP Officially Retired By Microsoft
    Redmond, WA-There are literally millions of users around the world who still use the popular Windows XP operating system, with no sign of letup.
    Using Vista now for almost a year Vista is another poorly executed deliverable by Microsoft. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Scientist: Ice-Free North Pole Would Be 'Symbolic'
    Toronto, June 29 (IANS) The North Pole faces the prospect of becoming iceless this summer for the first time in history, scientists warn.
    There is no sign of a summer cooling switchover http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/map/images/rnl/sfctmpmer_07b.rnl.html, although there has been a Low pressure where there usually is a High pressure system, at the same area where the ice melted last year mainly North of the Yukon and Alaska. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- What might the hands-free law accomplish?
    After the hands-free law takes effect, the state should expect 300 fewer traffic fatalities every year, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
    Getting people to not initiate calls without a hands-free device will be hard enough. More...

  • July-01-2008 -- Seven Tips for Managing a Multiple-Vendor Virtualization Environment
    With the hypervisor and management tools just emerging from beta, most organizations don't take Hyper-V seriously -- yet.
    XenServer combines comprehensive server virtualization capabilities with unparalleled scalability, performance, economics, and ease-of-use. More...

Monday


  • June-30-2008 -- It's not Vista: Windows Server 2008 gets the nod from IT
    Despite the hoopla about Microsoft's upcoming release, executive John Gilmartin says Hyper-V is six to seven years behind VMware's technology curve.
    Performance over the network, using Hyper-V Manager to route screens and keyboard and mouse responses to and from the virtual machines hosted on another system, was quite good as well. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- Martian Soil Points Toward Possibility Of Life
    There is still no answer to the old question of whether there has ever been life on Mars but apparently there could be vegetable life.
    The wet soil was only a cubic centimeter - less than the size of a sugar cube - but as it was heated, the rising temperature first drove off small amounts of carbon dioxide and then revealed traces of Martian water vapor that had been bound in the minerals of the soil, Boynton said. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- Microsoft To Acquire Search Engine Maker Powerset?
    Many futurists think that the ''' semantic Web ''' will be the next wave in Internet sites ''' a so-called Web 3.0.
    The company last month unveiled a search tool for Wikipedia that does just that, a move viewed as a challenge to Microsoft rival Google. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- Venus, Jupiter and Mercury among sights in night sky
    Saturn, Mars and Regulus will be equally spaced, looking very much like the familiar three stars of Orion'''s Belt.
    In the eastern sky, you'll see the prime stars of summer on the rise. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- LHC: Cern in numbers
    MEYRIN, Switzerland The most powerful atom-smasher ever built could make some bizarre discoveries, such as invisible matter or extra dimensions in space, after it is switched on in August.
    The particles in the LHC tunnel will travel a little faster, taking around 90 microseconds to complete one circuit. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- Gates rules out Yahoo acquisition
    New York- In a morning interview with NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw, the founder and creator of Microsoft spoke out, saying that a deal with Yahoo or a merger with Yahoo, Inc. is an unlikely event.
    "I don't think that one's likely but there are plenty of others that will get done and I'll look on with great respect." More...

  • June-30-2008 -- He said, she said: Which is it? Facebook asks
    Facebook is requesting that its members declare if they are male or female so it can correct a grammatical device that causes the site to refer to users as "they" or "themselves."
    Unless the user'''s gender is evident, Facebook does not know which pronoun to use when notifying other members of information added to a user'''s site, a problem multiplied in non-English languages where feminine and masculine differences are grammatically embedded. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- Leaked K-Mart Xbox 360 ad hints at looming $50 price cut
    "Well, we did warn you" is just a corporate insurance policy.
    Around 90% of last-generation console sales were made at the $199 price point or below." More...

Monday


  • June-30-2008 -- Calif. cell phone laws at a glance
    California and Washington are the latest two states to enact a law prohibiting talking on cell phones while driving.
    New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and the District of Columbia have similar laws, while Washington state's also goes into effect Tuesday. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- Microsoft Acquires Search Engine Maker Powerset?
    Many futurists think that the ''' semantic Web ''' will be the next wave in Internet sites ''' a so-called Web 3.0.
    June 27, 2008 (IDG News Service) A report has set off a ripple across the Internet that Microsoft Corp. is set to announce it is buying semantic-search engine provider Powerset. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- In Hindsight: A green valley? Try a hazy, smoky shade of gray
    New York- In a morning interview with NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw, the founder and creator of Microsoft spoke out, saying that a deal with Yahoo or a merger with Yahoo, Inc. is an unlikely event.
    For the three months ended May 31, the Sunnyvale, Calif. -based company reported a loss of $43.4 million, or 40 cents per share, compared with a year-ago fourth-quarter profit of $15.4 million, or 15 cents per share. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- Chrysler's uconnect Turns Car into Wi-Fi Hotspot
    The Uconnect router is priced at US$449 excluding installation, while the accompanying Autonet Mobile 3G internet service costs US$29 a month.
    The service will be available in August as a dealer-installed accessory and will be an option for all new Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles in September. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- Mobile Linux Groups to Merge
    Mobile Linux Group LiPS has had to merge with the LiMo Foundation because of increasing competition from the likes of Symbian and Android, this merger will only help to advance their OS. On Thursday the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum announced that they will be rolling their activities and members into the Linux Mobile Foundation (LiMo), it is hoped that this move will help to create a stronger entity for pushing mobile Linux.
    "Ten years ago, Symbian was established by far sighted players to offer an advanced open operating system and software skills to the whole mobile industry", said Nigel Clifford, CEO of Symbian. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- He said, she said: Which is it? Facebook asks
    Facebook is requesting that its members declare if they are male or female so it can correct a grammatical device that causes the site to refer to users as "they" or "themselves."
    Unless the user'''s gender is evident, Facebook does not know which pronoun to use when notifying other members of information added to a user'''s site, a problem multiplied in non-English languages where feminine and masculine differences are grammatically embedded. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- Verizon Communications Wants To Buy Out Vodafone's Verizon ...
    Verizon Communications has increased the pressure on Vodafone to sell out of Verizon Wireless, their mobile joint venture, saying that the second largest U.S. telecommunications operator intends to be the hunter in future industry consolidation, according to the Financial Times citing from an interview with Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg.
    We keep busy telecoms professionals across the globe up-to-date. More...

  • June-30-2008 -- Advocacy Groups Coalesce to Fight NebuAd
    NEW YORK (AP) — Although a large Internet service provider has backed away from technology that tracks subscribers' Web use in order to deliver personalized advertising, two other broadband companies said Wednesday they are still considering whether to deploy it.
    NebuAd has been accused of forging Google data packets . More...

Sunday


  • June-29-2008 -- Chrysler's uconnect Turns Car into Wi-Fi Hotspot
    The Uconnect router is priced at US$449 excluding installation, while the accompanying Autonet Mobile 3G internet service costs US$29 a month.
    AUBURN HILLS, Michigan -- Chrysler said it will use the name "uconnect" as an umbrella brand for a wide variety of wireless in-vehicle products and services in 2009, including satellite TV and in-car Internet access. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Warming world sends plants uphill
    For the first time, research can show the "fingerprints of climate change" in the distribution of plants by altitude, and not only in sensitive ecosystems, said Jonathan Lenoir of AgroParisTech in Nancy, France.
    Professor Lenoir, an ecologist at AgroParisTech, France, said the team wanted to establish whether "fingerprints of climate change were already apparent in ordinary ecosystems". More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Smartphone wars and hype heat up
    June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Sprint Nextel Corp., the third- biggest U.S. wireless carrier, is running short of the touch screen Instinct e-mail phone it began selling last week in a challenge to Apple Inc.' s iPhone, an analyst said.
    When it comes to looks, the Instinct employs a sexy design that is similar to other touch models on the market, including a large, 3.2' screen with tactile feedback (which I find absolutely essentially for a phone that doesn't have a physical QWERTY keyboard), and a rotation function that adjusts data on the screen according to how you're holding the phone. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Nokia's Symbian Deal Rewrites The Smartphone Rules
    Mobile Linux Group LiPS has had to merge with the LiMo Foundation because of increasing competition from the likes of Symbian and Android, this merger will only help to advance their OS. On Thursday the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum announced that they will be rolling their activities and members into the Linux Mobile Foundation (LiMo), it is hoped that this move will help to create a stronger entity for pushing mobile Linux.
    "Ten years ago, Symbian was established by far sighted players to offer an advanced open operating system and software skills to the whole mobile industry", said Nigel Clifford, CEO of Symbian. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Does Yahoo reorg signal cloud computing move?
    "In order to expand its cloud computing capabilities, the Company will form a Cloud Computing & Data Infrastructure Group, charged with developing a computing infrastructure that balances scalability with cost effectiveness."
    The Web portal's much-anticipated reorganization, which it unveiled Thursday, might do little to placate investors still smarting after the company rejected two offers from Microsoft ( MSFT ) to buy the company for more than $40 billion, several analysts say. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- He said, she said: Which is it? Facebook asks
    Facebook is requesting that its members declare if they are male or female so it can correct a grammatical device that causes the site to refer to users as "they" or "themselves."
    Unless the user'''s gender is evident, Facebook does not know which pronoun to use when notifying other members of information added to a user'''s site, a problem multiplied in non-English languages where feminine and masculine differences are grammatically embedded. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Motorola ROKR E8 Set For US Release
    The ROKR E8 also includes haptic technology for a tactile response when a virtual key is pressed, FastScroll navigation wheel, patented CrystalTalk for increased call clarity, Windows Media Player 11 compatibility and pre-loaded music tracks and album art.
    Quality construction and materials help make ROKR E8 durable and reliable, and a high gloss front, aluminum soft touch back, spun metal side keys and engraved banding offer the modern style expected from Motorola. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Scientists work on short-term climate predictions
    For those who didn't happen to notice, perhaps because it wasn't exactly front-page news in most of the country, NASA's James Hansen, the man who first alerted Congress to the dangers of global warming 20 years ago, returned to testify before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming this week.
    The warming issue is not simple, but what does seem clear is that the wrong policies could be more humanly destructive than warming itself and that climate-change science is making lots of guesses. More...

Sunday


  • June-29-2008 -- Phone Giants Roll Out
    The carrier's @Home offering allows T-Mobile USA customers to place unlimited nationwide and long-distance calls over an Internet connection for an extra $10 per month.
    Bellevue, Wash. -- Wireless carrier T-Mobile USA will begin competing with VoIP service providers with the July 2 launch of T-Mobile@Home service. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Nokia's Symbian Deal Rewrites The Smartphone Rules
    Mobile Linux Group LiPS has had to merge with the LiMo Foundation because of increasing competition from the likes of Symbian and Android, this merger will only help to advance their OS. On Thursday the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum announced that they will be rolling their activities and members into the Linux Mobile Foundation (LiMo), it is hoped that this move will help to create a stronger entity for pushing mobile Linux.
    Right now, with Symbian, Microsoft, LiMo, Android, Apple, RIM, Palm, and other Linux consortia all fighting for a place at the table, somebody's going to have to lose. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Smartphone wars and hype heat up
    The stock has been falling for most of the past year.
    If you're what some might call a cell phone junkie, you should already know that HTC is releasing a top-end flagship device known as the Touch Pro in the very near future to the U.S. market. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- DNA study shakes up bird family tree
    Birds have a complex evolutionary history due to a rapid radiation that occurred over a few-million-year period sometime between 65 million and 100 million years ago.
    The scientific names of dozens of birds, such as the orders (groups of closely related families) of the nightjars and falcons, will have to be changed, and biology textbooks and birdwatchers' field guides will have to be revised in the wake of the new understanding where orders of birds roost in their evolutionary tree. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Warming world sends plants uphill
    For the first time, research can show the "fingerprints of climate change" in the distribution of plants by altitude, and not only in sensitive ecosystems, said Jonathan Lenoir of AgroParisTech in Nancy, France.
    Professor Lenoir, an ecologist at AgroParisTech, France, said the team wanted to establish whether "fingerprints of climate change were already apparent in ordinary ecosystems". More...

  • June-29-2008 -- FCC may tighten product-placement rules
    Under pressure from digital recorders that let television viewers skip commercials, advertisers have increasingly resorted to sneaking product placements into the shows themselves, from characters using branded props to actually shifting the plots of shows to focus on particular products as plot points.
    The FCC scheduled a vote on rules for embedded advertising at a commission meeting more than six months ago, but the item was pulled from the agenda after pressure by the advertising industry. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Scientists work on short-term climate predictions
    For those who didn't happen to notice, perhaps because it wasn't exactly front-page news in most of the country, NASA's James Hansen, the man who first alerted Congress to the dangers of global warming 20 years ago, returned to testify before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming this week.
    Hansen's theories notwithstanding nor the skeptics''' declamations upheld, the prime need, in funding and time, is not to avert climate calamity. More...

  • June-29-2008 -- Charter Delays Plan for Targeted Web Ads
    Someone who visits a lot of travel sites might see more ads touting deals on hotels or airfare.
    The month of unfavorable attention was more than Charter's public relations ministers could handle. More...





Saturday


  • June-28-2008 -- Smartphone wars and hype heat up
    The stock has been falling for most of the past year.
    The Samsung Instinct offers the option to browse the internet and visit Web sites such as UPS.com to ship packages. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- Five Reasons The Intel-Microsoft Duopoly Is Dead
    The latest buzz around Windows Vista is that chipmaker Intel -- Microsoft's partner in the famed "Wintel" alliance -- isn't migrating its own employees to the new operating system.
    Given a higher-powered dual core processor with at least 2 GB of RAM (and with associated higher operating costs for the more energy-intensive processor, and neglecting the resultant costs to the environment and global warming), Vista can work; and since it is installed on almost all new personal computers, there is not much choice. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- Price not GTA IV to blame for slow PS3, 360 sales, says analyst
    "Well, we did warn you" is just a corporate insurance policy.
    Sure it costs more at purchase time, but you'll save when it comes to headsets, higher capacity hard drives and online play as the PS3 is the only open standards console with full free online multiplayer support! More...

  • June-28-2008 -- Google Media Server brings Google to your TV
    Typical uPnP devices include the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360, and the number of uPnPs available to consumers is growing dramatically.
    Google has released an application that enables a Windows PC to show videos and photos and play music on a digital television. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- China Mobile ready to talk iPhone again
    After over a year of playing cat and mouse, it looks like Apple (AAPL) may be close to a deal with China Mobile (CHL) to sell the iPhone on the mainland.
    Now, with revenue sharing apparently off the table, China Mobile appears to be willing to come back for another round of negotiations. According to Reuters , a spokesperson for the company said that the absence of revenue sharing meant the '''biggest hurdle''' for bringing the iPhone to the country had been cleared, but there will still other issues to work out before the iPhone is available'''legitimately'''in the world'''s most populous country. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- Phone Giants Roll Out
    The carrier's @Home offering allows T-Mobile USA customers to place unlimited nationwide and long-distance calls over an Internet connection for an extra $10 per month.
    Setup was dead easy'''I just attached the router's power cord, installed the included SIM card into the appropriate slot, plugged in my broadband Ethernet cable, and finally plugged my phone into the router. (T-Mobile sells a $60 VTech touch-tone system'''complete with two wireless handsets'''to go with @Home, but again, any touch-tone phone will work.) More...

  • June-28-2008 -- Why Are 3G iPhones So Cheap?
    "The new iPhone is significantly less expensive to produce than the first-generation product, despite major improvements in the product's functionality and unique usability, due to the addition of 3G communications," said Jagdish Rebello, director and principal analyst for iSuppli, in a statement.
    The iPhone 2.0 software would be a free upgrade for users of the original handset. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- Charter Delays Plan for Targeted Web Ads
    Someone who visits a lot of travel sites might see more ads touting deals on hotels or airfare.
    The month of unfavorable attention was more than Charter's public relations ministers could handle. More...

Saturday


  • June-28-2008 -- Update: Sony has no partners yet for movie download service
    Sony says the units have seen life to date shipped numbers of over 37 million PSPs and 12 million PS3s.
    Sony will reveal more information on it at the upcoming E3 Media & Business Summit in Los Angeles next month. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- Mobile Linux Groups to Merge
    Mobile Linux Group LiPS has had to merge with the LiMo Foundation because of increasing competition from the likes of Symbian and Android, this merger will only help to advance their OS. On Thursday the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum announced that they will be rolling their activities and members into the Linux Mobile Foundation (LiMo), it is hoped that this move will help to create a stronger entity for pushing mobile Linux.
    The move may have been inevitable, as today's announcement noted that many LiPS members already had joined LiMo, including Texas Instruments Inc., NXP Semiconductors, ARM Ltd., France Telecom/Orange, Huawei Technology and others. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- A Voice From Inside Yahoo
    Powerset is testing a search engine that attempts to understand the meaning of Web pages, in part using technology licensed from Xerox's PARC subsidiary.
    Microsoft admits Capitol Hill has little influence over the DOJ. But as long as the DOJ investigates the deal, Microsoft's camp will continue to fuel the antitrust debate. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- China Mobile ready to talk iPhone again
    "Apple is no longer insisting on a revenue-sharing policy, so the biggest hurdle for China Mobile to bring in the iPhone has been cleared, but there are practical issues still to be resolved," said China Mobile spokeswoman Rainie Lei.
    Now, with revenue sharing apparently off the table, China Mobile appears to be willing to come back for another round of negotiations. According to Reuters , a spokesperson for the company said that the absence of revenue sharing meant the '''biggest hurdle''' for bringing the iPhone to the country had been cleared, but there will still other issues to work out before the iPhone is available'''legitimately'''in the world'''s most populous country. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- He said, she said: Which is it? Facebook asks
    Facebook is requesting that its members declare if they are male or female so it can correct a grammatical device that causes the site to refer to users as "they" or "themselves."
    The reason behind the change, besides from placating the grammarphiles of the world, is the fact that many international languages rely much more heavily on gender-related syntax. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- Charter Delays Plan for Targeted Web Ads
    Someone who visits a lot of travel sites might see more ads touting deals on hotels or airfare.
    NebuAd has been accused of forging Google data packets . More...

  • June-28-2008 -- The Time Is Now, Climate Experts Warn
    For those who didn't happen to notice, perhaps because it wasn't exactly front-page news in most of the country, NASA's James Hansen, the man who first alerted Congress to the dangers of global warming 20 years ago, returned to testify before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming this week.
    We should all be grateful for Jay Ambrose pointing out the absolute absence of any sense of proportion among the global warming zealots. More...

  • June-28-2008 -- Free iTunes remote control app for iPhone and Touch?
    Use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home -- a free download from the App Store,' it reads the iTunes ReadMe.
    The remote control feature will apparently be available as a free application through the AppStore, slated to go live in a couple weeks. More...

Friday


  • June-27-2008 -- Smartphone wars and hype heat up
    Samsung Instinct provides easy access to Sprint exclusive multimedia content, business or personal email, GPS navigation, live and on-demand TV content, full song downloads, streaming radio and an impressive HTML Web experience.
    David Lichtor, of St. Paul, Minn., said he was planning to get the new iPhone for himself and his wife and two sons. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Motorola ROKR E8 Set For US Release
    ROKR E8 is a talented MP3 player that makes provides mobile phones with amazing music capabilities.
    The E8 is missing one key feature for a new, flagship phone: 3G. The E8 only supports EDGE, which transfers data at around 100-120 kbps. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Dell Studio 15
    "The new Studio products demonstrate that Dell is continuing to focus on design and value, delivering attractive, feature-packed mobile digital lifestyle products," said Alex Gruzen, senior VP of Dell's consumer product group, in a statement presented by the company's official Web site.
    Dell has released a new line of notebooks aimed at high-end multimedia creators and viewers. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Google Tries Tighter Aim for Web Ads
    Google acknowledges that it is now testing ways to use some of the data it has been gathering to better aim search ads at Web surfers, although it won't say how.
    Alongside privacy concerns, which have grown hand-in-hand with the Web itself, a new worry is arising: What does it mean when a single company becomes our main doorway to the entire content of the Web? Internet search is now by far the most important public tool for finding information, and Google controls the largest share of the search market. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Linux On The Move Once More
    Mobile Linux Group LiPS has had to merge with the LiMo Foundation because of increasing competition from the likes of Symbian and Android, this merger will only help to advance their OS. On Thursday the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum announced that they will be rolling their activities and members into the Linux Mobile Foundation (LiMo), it is hoped that this move will help to create a stronger entity for pushing mobile Linux.
    Nokia has promised to release the Symbian mobile OS to an open source community through the newly formed Symbian Foundation. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Apple Ships IPhone 2.0 SDK Beta 8
    The leak comes buried in the Read Me file for a pre-release version of iTunes 7.7, sent to developers last night, and simply states: '''use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home a free download from the App Store.'''
    "We encourage developers to apply to the iPhone Developer Program for access to additional support resources, as well as access to a certificate that enables development directly on an iPhone or iPod touch," Apple explains. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Microsoft To Buy Mobile Services Company MobiComp
    'Investing in the right solutions from companies like MobiComp will extend the capabilities of Windows Mobile and Windows Live to help us provide the most innovative and seamless way to stay connected.' The Portugal-based company is known for a variety of breakthrough mobile services including MobileKeeper Backup & Restore, MobileKeeper Sharing & Communities, and Active mTicker.
    The acquisition would combine MobiComp's expertise building innovative mobile data protection and sharing services with Microsoft's vision to provide compelling experiences that span work and play across mobile phones, the web and PCs. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Microsoft rumored to be buying Powerset
    VentureBeat said the deal for the Silicon Valley company, which specializes in semantic, or natural-language search, is due to be announced next month.
    Powerset was funded in a $12.5 Million Series A round by Foundation Capital, Founders Fund and various angel investors. More...

Friday


  • June-27-2008 -- History repeats itself: Intel chooses XP over Vista
    The latest buzz around Windows Vista is that chipmaker Intel -- Microsoft's partner in the famed "Wintel" alliance -- isn't migrating its own employees to the new operating system.
    I will agree with the folks at Intel that there have been more compelling reasons NOT to replace XP with Vista than compelling reasons to make the switch. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- T-Mobile Rolls Out Home Phone Plan
    T-Mobile is readying a VOIP phone service that will allow its customers to use standard landline phones over any broadband network for only $10 per month.
    T-Mobile's $10-per-month phone service add-on is just that 'cheap, secondary phone service. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Chrysler takes Wi-Fi on the road
    Wherever cellular service is available, uconnect web enables all vehicle passengers to simultaneously connect with WiFi-enabled devices like a laptop, iPhone, Sony Playstation (PSP), PDA and more to: -- access the Internet for e-mail, chat and IM -- view streaming movies or television shows -- download music and download/upload images -- play online games "Mopar's uconnect web brings a new level of convenience and technology to our Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles," said Rob Richard, Director - Mopar Part Sales and Service Marketing, Chrysler LLC. "With uconnect web, all passengers in or near the vehicle are continuously connected to the Internet.
    As the Internet has become accessible pretty much anywhere nowadays and surfing the web inside a coffee shop for instance, is now part of everyday life, Chrysler is getting ready to take things to the next level. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Mobile Linux Groups Join Forces To Advance OS
    "The move will encompass LiPS Forum members from across the mobile ecosystem, including chipset suppliers, Linux OS and mobile stack vendors, handset designers and OEMs and regional and global wireless operators.
    The intent, says LiPS General Manager Bill Weinberg, is to accelerate development of unified open source platform for mobile phones. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- MySpace, NBC Hold Citizen Journalist Cattle Call for Convention Gigs
    The panel of judges will be Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist from MSNBC ' s " Morning Joe " program, along with Tom Anderson, President and co-founder of MySpace, and Lee Brenner, Director of IMPACT and Executive Producer of Political Programming at MySpace.
    The judges will be Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist from NBC; Tom Anderson, president and cofounder of MySpace; and Lee Brenner, director of MySpace Impact and executive producer of political programming. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Send news tip to FOXNews.com
    For those who didn't happen to notice, perhaps because it wasn't exactly front-page news in most of the country, NASA's James Hansen, the man who first alerted Congress to the dangers of global warming 20 years ago, returned to testify before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming this week.
    Energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy sources won'''t affect the outcome of 40-percent growth of electricity demand balanced against only 8.5-percent growth in base load generation capacity by 2030. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Yahoo! deckchair! shuffle! filled! with! insight! and! clouds!
    In order to expand its cloud computing capabilities, the Company will form a Cloud Computing & Data Infrastructure Group, charged with developing a computing infrastructure that balances scalability with cost effectiveness.
    Yahoo! will also form an Audience Products Division which will lead the company's product strategy and product management. More...

  • June-27-2008 -- Mozilla pitches Firefox 3.1 alpha for July release
    Mozilla is steadily closing in on a 20 per cent share of the browser market, one week after the launch of Firefox 3.
    Like Safari, tabs can be dragged around to reorder them, but can't be ripped away into new windows. More...

Thursday


  • June-26-2008 -- MySpace Teams With NBC To Continue Citizen Journalist Craze
    The panel of judges will be Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist from MSNBC ' s " Morning Joe " program, along with Tom Anderson, President and co-founder of MySpace, and Lee Brenner, Director of IMPACT and Executive Producer of Political Programming at MySpace.
    NEW YORK -- Citizen journalists, MySpace and NBC News want you to help cover this summer's political conventions. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Why Are 3G iPhones So Cheap?
    Rebell quoted, '''At a retail price of $199 for the low-end 8Gbyte version of the new 3G model, wireless communications service carriers will be selling the product at a subsidized rate, using a common business model for the mobile-handset market.'''
    The cost of the phone will naturally fall over time as components, such as the Infineon Technologies AG (NYSE/Frankfurt: IFX - message board ) 3G chipset that's at the heart of the phone, decline in price. iSuppli estimates that the manufacturing cost will fall to $148 per unit in 2009. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Google Denies Android Delay
    ''So here is my''dilemma''I have been reading about a gPhone from Google for almost a year now, and in the back of my mind, I have been thinking that I would rather have a gPhone than an iPhone.
    Apple needs to open its platform if it is to have a chance against the Android onslaught that will soon hit smart phones. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Homecoming of Odysseus May Have Been in Eclipse
    Few people were convinced that the passage in The Odyssey was actually a reference to a mythical total solar eclipse, never mind a real one.
    Solar eclipses ALWAYS happen at the same time as the new moon. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Study: Hotter weather will shrink Calif. plant habitat
    '''Our study projects that climate change will profoundly impact the future of the native flora in California,''' said David Ackerly, a professor of integrative biology at University of California, Berkeley.
    Many face pressure from encroaching development. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Should you care about sex in video games?
    The lawyers behind the Grand Theft Auto Hot Coffee lawsuit say they are shocked by how few people have claimed for compensation over the game's hidden sexual content.
    The plaintiffs’ lawyers said that Take-Two would make a charitable donation to the video game industry’s ratings board under the settlement and argued that there was no way to know beforehand that so few people would apply for compensation under the settlement. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- 20 million Firefox 3 downloads in a week, ~4% market share
    The success was tempered by reports from a software security company that Firefox 3.0 contained a serious security flaw that potentially lets an attacker take over a PC if a user clicks on a booby-trapped link.
    The browser's password saving feature has also received a slight update, changing the obtrusive pop-up window asking to remember a site's password to a small slide-out bar. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Fishy Ancestors of Humans Surprisingly Diverse
    Swedish researchers Per Ahlberg and Henning Blom from Uppsala University have reconstructed parts of the animal and explain the transformation in the new issue of Nature.
    More...

Thursday


  • June-26-2008 -- Chrysler to turn cars into hot spots
    We are rapidly approaching the next frontier for the Internet: your automobile.
    Auburn Hills, MI (AHN) - Chrysler is set to roll out on Thursday its 2009 automobiles with wireless Internet access. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Fossil fills out water-land leap
    Fossils found at the site during subsequent excavations now allow scientists to more fully reconstruct the creature, says Per Ahlberg, a paleontologist at Uppsala University in Sweden.
    Prior to Ventastega's discovery, scientists had characterized the earliest tetrapods mostly on fossils of two primitive examples: Acanthostega and Ichthyostega. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Panasonic kicks out tough Intel Atom-based UMPC
    By most accounts, the Ultra Mobile PC has been bypassed in popularity by the mini notebook craze, but establishing a tough version of the handheld for a few select industries might be the best way to keep it afloat until a better consumer version comes along down the road.
    Support for twin batteries is arguably the most unique feature of the Toughbook U1. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Adobe issues final release of Acrobat 9 series
    Creative Suite 3.3 adds the updated version of Acrobat Pro to the Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, and Master Collection versions of Adobe'''s collection of applications aimed at creative professionals.
    Adobe Creative Suite 3.3 Design Premium also bundles Adobe Fireworks CS3 software as a special offering for designers. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Still Working For Bill Gates
    After that incident, Carnegie was widely reviled.
    Gates may be remembered less for any of that than he is for his philanthropic work - perhaps even as the greatest philanthropist the world has yet to see. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- DOJ Investigators Dig Into Windows 7
    Microsoft is expected to release a new version of Internet Explorer, IE8, by the end of the year.
    At the other end were upstart services like AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Messenger, quickly luring away ICQ users with new features and refined IM clients. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Researchers Nail A Date To Homer's 'Odyssey'
    Six days before the slaughter of the suitors, Homer writes that Odysseus returns with the Star of Dawn, a reference to the planet Venus, which is visible at sunrise.
    The results cast a new sheen of veracity on the story. More...

  • June-26-2008 -- Nintendo dates DS, Wii titles
    Jumping the gun a bit on E3, are we? Nintendo decided to use this morning to announce several new games coming later in the summer to Wii and Nintendo DS, including new Wario and Kirby titles that have already been announced for Japan.
    In addition to the classic game modes featured in the original, Kirby Super Star Ultra will support all new modes that will enhance the experience. More...

Wednesday (Update 1)


  • June-25-2008 -- Dell to Lower Ax on XP June 26: Downgrade Options Are Pricey
    With Microsoft drawing the curtain over Windows XP's career on mainstream computers (it'll still be available for low-cost devices such as Asus' Eee series, the XO and other UMPCs), we're in a strange situation where Dell will sell you a Vista-based PC with a downgrade to XP. It doesn't seem that long since vendors were selling PCs with XP preloaded with upgrade rights that could be used when Vista shipped.
    HP, on the other hand, doesn't add a downgrade surcharge for preinstalling XP in lieu of Vista. More...

  • June-25-2008 -- Diamond Viper Radeon HD 4850
    The ATI Radeon HD 4850 is priced at $199.
    We ran a quick preview on the Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 and then followed that up by running the Radeon HD 4850 versus the recently released GeForce 9800 GTX+. More...

  • June-25-2008 -- Calls From Crocodile Eggs Serve as Alerts
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Baby crocodiles start chatting to one another and to their mothers just before they hatch, perhaps signaling that it is time to be born, French researchers reported on Monday.
    Eggs were split into '''pre-hatch''', '''noise''' and '''silence''' groups, and were individually tested twice a day. More...

  • June-25-2008 -- Virgin Mobile Jumps Into Flat-Rate Fray
    With the cost of gas, air travel and other items, it seems the sky is the limit for what we have to spend.
    Virgin Mobile in the UK has a lot more phones.