Roundup: New Android G2 makes an appearance, layoffs hit 300,000, Apple sales slowing
Here’s the latest action:
HTC’s G2 Android phone – Sites like Gizmodo are giving the new Android phone the thumbs up based on working demos available at the Mobile World Congress.
Hacking Caller ID – A service dubbed TrapCall from TelTech Systems of New Jersey lets people figure out who is calling them, even if that caller is trying to stay anonymous by using Caller ID. Now what will obscene pranksters do to hide?
Lots of cash, but no buying… Continue Reading
Roundup: Zune prunes, tech gets part of the stimulus, Sprint cuts a lot of jobs and more
Here’s the latest action:
Zune prunes — Microsoft’s Zune portable media player saw its revenue decrease by over $100 million, or 54 percent, in the fourth quarter of 2008. Microsoft blames price cuts on the 30 gig model (you know, the one that had the massive failure) as well as a shrinking MP3 player market. Funny, iPod sales still went up during the same time period. mocoNews has more.
Yes. We (The tech industry). Can. – Looks like… Continue Reading
Text messaging further exposed as a colossal rip-off
I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am that The New York Times decided to take on the colossal rip-off that is text messaging in a story this weekend. Text messaging is a great service, but it should be included for free with your “unlimited” data plans. Instead, carriers charge an absolutely ridiculous rate to send a tiny amount of data.
It took the iPhone 3G price change to realize what a rip-off it… Continue Reading
The iPhone outsells that thing I’m using as a paperweight (the RAZR)
About four years ago Motorola’s RAZR was the sexiest phone out there. I remember waiting with bated breath for the CDMA (a wireless technology) version, so I could use it with my Verizon account. Times have changed.
Now, of course, the RAZR seems like a relic of the past, but that doesn’t mean they’re not selling — they are, like crazy. So it’s big news when the new sexiest phone on the market, Apple’s iPhone, surpasses… Continue Reading
Roundup: Layoffs hit Revision3, Google Earth on the iPhone and more
Here’s the latest action:
Layoffs hit Revision3 — A number of shows are leaving the online video network or have been canceled.
Google Earth now available for the iPhone – The Google Earth Blog declares that the new iPhone app is “awesome.”
Microsoft opens Surface to third-party developers — The goal is to find the “killer app” for Microsoft’s tabletop computer.
AOL to use Brightcove video player — The move marks a shift in AOL’s strategy, because it has spent the last… Continue Reading
The pressure from Google and Apple continues: Verizon goes contract free
As the mobile world continues to evolve rapidly in the United States, Verizon is trying to maintain its role as a cellular leader despite many of its rivals garnering far more buzz. AT&T has the iPhone and now T-Mobile is set to be announced as the first Google Android phone maker with the G1 device at a press conference tomorrow. Verizon preempted this with its own announcement today: The removal of contract requirements for customers.
Verizon… Continue Reading
iPhone apps like Whrrl preview the power of location, but there is far greater potential
With a global positioning system (GPS) chip now in the iPhone 3G, location services are becoming important to many mobile application developers. Each day, we’re seeing new iPhone apps launch which, if they’re not centered around location, rely heavily on it for core functions. But because Apple will not allow any applications to run in the background, it is hampering much of what location-based services (LBS) can do, as Brady Forrest rightly argued on O’Reilly… Continue Reading
Roundup: Cloud computing stays free, big wind in SoCal, open source business and more
Dell doesn’t get cloud computing — A bid by computer maker Dell to trademark the term “cloud computing”, a broad term generally used to describe services and software that live on the Internet, has been preliminarily rejected by the US Patent Office.
SoCal Edison signs for 900MW of wind — Following close on the heels of PG&E’s announcement of an enormous 800 megawatt solar power plant, Southern California Edison, which serves the other half of the state, has… Continue Reading
Verizon shows you Visual Voice Mail — if you show them the money
Talk of Apple’s iPhone forcing competitors in the mobile industry to adapt has largely been focused on its large multi-touch display and more recently, the App Store. But there’s another, small feature that never ceases to wow new iPhone owners: Visual Voice Mail.
It’s been around since the launch of the initial iPhone last year, but now competitors are starting to figure out that customers like it. First, Sprint licensed the feature for its Samsung Instinct… Continue Reading
Stalking your friends could be big business. $3.3 billion location-based social network economy by 2013?
While even the popular social networks nowadays aren’t making that much money (Facebook expects to make $350 million in revenues this year), the burgeoning field of mobile social networks could be big business shortly, a new report by ABI Research indicates. Specifically, location-based mobile social networks could earn revenues of $3.3 billion within five years.
This is great news for many of the location-based mobile networks out there now such as Whrrl, Loopt, Where and Plazes…. Continue Reading
Entropic’s chips to cut the cost of multiple satellite TV set-top installations
It’s painful to get satellite TV service installed at your home because technicians have to spend a lot of time wiring multiple set-top boxes to a single dish antenna.
Entropic Communications has a solution that eliminates that problem. And today, the San Diego, Calif. company is announcing that DirecTV is adopting its chips.
The company’s chip is called a “channel stack switch” and it will be built into a new DirecTV satellite dish. Earlier this year, DirecTV… Continue Reading
Location buzz continues: Nokia buys Plazes, Verizon backs Loopt & NIM
Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, has agreed to acquire the Swiss-German start-up Plazes, the companies said in a statement today.
Plazes, based in Berlin, Germany is a service that lets you share your location and leave a brief message — akin to Twitter — about what you’re doing. Your message is placed on a map. In other words, it’s like Twitter, only with the added feature of location tags. Plazes’ most recent… Continue Reading
Roundup: New York Social Times, a cleaner MySpace, and Wii Fit underwear girl
The New York Times adds social networking: The nation’s biggest daily newspaper is embracing Web 2.0 with the launch of its new online feature: TimesPeople. This beta program allows users to build up a friends list and view a news feed for stories that their friends are recommending. It shows that newspapers aren’t just sitting back and letting the Internet wipe them out. On a personal page, a user can save all of the content… Continue Reading
Roundup: Verizon buys Alltel, CalPERS backs Khosla, and more
Verizon to buy Alltel, your cell phone bill to go up? — Verizon has concluded a deal to buy smaller wireless operator Alltel for $27 billion. Combined, the two will pass AT&T to become the largest operator in the US. Alltel has many users in the Midwest, and it has gotten relatively good marks for things like customer service, that market leaders like Verizon and AT&T are not known for. Analyst Craig Moffett of Sanford C…. Continue Reading
LiMo gets new partners including Verizon — an open rival to Google’s Android?
The Linux Mobile Foundation, or LiMo, has been trying to create an open-source platform for device manufacturers, carriers, third-party application developers and others in the mobile industry since last year. By using the open source Linux operating system, companies across segments of the mobile industry will have lower technical and cost barriers to mobile operating system innovation, the effort hopes.
Today, LiMo has gotten a big boost, maybe: Eight new member organizations have joined, including the… Continue Reading
Google sounds off on spectrum auction results
The FCC-imposed period of silence following the spectrum auction has finally been lifted, and Google is talking.
As we suggested when news about the auction results broke, Google is very happy with the outcome despite not winning a single piece of the 700 Mhz spectrum. Why are they so happy? The company believes its actions both leading up to and during the spectrum auction helped consumers and the industry as a whole.
“Partly as a result of… Continue Reading
Verizon asks FCC for permission to interrupt cable’s broadcast
Verizon has filed a request with the FCC asking for the right to cancel existing cable television service on a customer’s behalf. Such a move could change the landscape, allowing for new television providers, such as Verizon with its FiOS (Fiber Optic Service) network, to get a foot in the door.
Current regulations stipulate that the customer must be the one to terminate their service. Verizon argues that the removal of this requirement would create a… Continue Reading
Did Google trick Verizon into spending billions for an open spectrum auction win?
The 700 Mhz spectrum auction results were revealed today. The big winner? Verizon Wireless, which took the largest chunk of the sought-after C-block according to The Wall Street Journal. But was Verizon the real winner in this situation? Or was it actually Google?
Google, after all, is the company that pushed for the FCC to adopt certain “open” requirements for the winner of the spectrum auction. These included opening the network and any devices used on… Continue Reading
Ignore that Android buzz, put down that iPhone: Verizon says it’s opened the network
Verizon Wireless today unveiled the specifications for its open network and promised to partner with inventors to grow the industry. That sounds good, but what does it really mean?
On the consumer end, unless you’re willing to pay several hundred dollars for a phone, you’re still likely to end up signing one of those 2-year contracts. On the developer end, you’re going to need to create a device that adheres to CDMA (the network protocol Verizon… Continue Reading
Roundup: Farber takes over at CNET, Mozilla’s new email subsidiary, Scribd iPaper, and more
Here’s the latest action:
1) Dan Farber takes the helm at CNET
2) Mozilla launches email-focused subsidiary
3) Scribd creates iPaper, an Acrobat competitor
4) Hewlett-Packard has great first quarter
5) Tesla Motors pulls in another $40M
6) Verizon, AT&T unveil new unlimited wireless plans
7) Oligarchs, proletariat run amok in Silicon Valley
Scientists suck up CO2 to make alternative fuel
Dan Farber takes the helm at CNET — One familiar figure is stepping aside for another at CNET, where long-time editor-in-chief Jai Singh… Continue Reading