The real reason why Warner went Blu?
We knew this wouldn't take long — just like when Paramount made the switch to HD DVD, rumors are swirling that a sum of $500 Million was involved in the decision to make the switch. The rumor goes on...
“Major Nelson” emerges as face of Xbox
REDMOND, Washington (Reuters) - Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and sporting unkempt graying hair, Larry Hryb looks like just another guy in Microsoft's corporate headquarters. — But Xbox 360 players...
Sony BMG Plans to Drop DRM
The last major label will throw in the towel on digital rights management and prepare to fight Apple for valuable download revenues — In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony B...
Intel Leaves Group Backing Education PCs
SAN FRANCISCO — Intel said Thursday that it had chosen to withdraw from the One Laptop Per Child educational computer organization, which it joined in July after years of public squabbling between Int...
New features for 2008!
It's been two months since we launched Google Presentations and already we've got new toys! We've been listening to your feedback and working hard to get you new features as quickly as possible (so k...
Google Patent Imagines Robots Indexing The Grocery Aisle
The two computer scientists behind “recognizing text in images” search technology also worked on Google Street View and Google Book Search. — A patent application filed by Google with the World Inte...
Yes, Virginia, any idiot CAN file a lawsuit!
Congratulations, Stacie Somers of San Diego County! You're the first jackass of 2008! — Well, OK, technically, since the suit was filed on December 31, you're the last jackass of 2007. But as it's...
Today is My Last Day at Google
After a life-changing four and a half years of working with the most talented group of people I have ever met, I've decided to take the plunge and do it all over again, working for a very small start-...
The coming 2008 dot-com crash
Early January is the time we see many predictions for 2008. I have not played this game since 2006, but I want to chime in this year. — I am only going to make one prediction, but one with broad im...
Monster Acquires Affinity Labs, Developer Of Vertical Career Sites, For $61 Million
Online jobs firm Monster Worldwide has acquired SF-based Affinity Labs, a developer of community sites centered around various vocations, for $61 million in cash. Examples of its portfolio include Po...
CES gadgets: Sling Media unveils new Slingbox PRO-HD for moving HD video around the home
Sling Media, the local outfit recently acquired by Echostar, is benefiting from our urge to watch videos anytime, anywhere, and to sling it around the house so we can watch it in whatever room, except...
Microsoft Takes Heat for Office 2003 SP3 File Format Blocking
CorelDraw .CDR files are one of the formats that have been blocked. — Microsoft is facing criticism from a competitor and some customers for its decision to block some older file formats with Office...
Sears Exposes Customer Purchase History in Violation of Its Privacy Policy
Want to know what a given customer has purchased from Sears? It's surprisingly easy to find out. Here's the procedure: — 1) Go to the Sears “Manage My Home” site, www.managemyhome.com . Create an...
Never mind what are Twitter costs, whats the cost of Twitter?
Over the past few days we have seen lots of posts on the cost of running Twitter from such luminaries as Jason Calacanis, Paul Walsh, Marc Canter, Dave Winer , Fred Wilson and Allen Stern — Myself a...
Gefen and Pulse~LINK Introduce
LAS VEGAS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Gefen, a leader in innovative audio/video solutions and Pulse~LINK, the UWB semiconductor performance leader …
NY Google Vet Hirsch Leaving For Startups
David Hirsch, an eight-year Google sales vet who helped open the company's New York office, is leaving the company at the end of January. The 36-year-old is looking, he tells us, to invest in and adv...
Apple music monopoly lawsuit seeks class-action status
A class-action suit filed against Apple alleges the company unfairly uses technological restrictions with its iPod line and iTunes Music Store to beat out competitors. — The suit, filed in U.S. Dist...
Leah Culver, 25, writes the code that powers Pownce
Technorati — Facebook — Digg — How does a 25-year-old computer science major from the University of Minnesota wind up as a co-founder of one of Silicon Valley's most closely watched startups?
Digg And Others Sued For Infringing Infamous Computer Solitaire Patent
from the aren't-patents-great? dept — The Patent Troll Tracker is back from holiday vacation and he's got quite a post listing out a bunch of interesting (i.e., depressing) lawsuits involving quest...
Mac's market share growth is “nothing short of spectacular,” suggests analyst
Apple has been on a tear of late, but it's not just a story of iPods. Indeed, web analyst Net Applications now puts the Mac's market share at 8%, up from 5.3% in early 2007. That is stunning growth ...
Will fans pay? Reznor opens books on 'Net music experiment
Radiohead isn't talking numbers, but Trent Reznor is. After producing Saul Williams' The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust and offering it to fans online, Reznor yesterday laid out the ...
Verizon sues Alltel over homicidal guinea pig
Little more than two months after forking over one million smackers to settle accusations it was guilty of false advertising, Verizon Wireless has accused one of its biggest competitors of false adver...
Sennheiser Wireless Earphones Utilize Kleer Technology Instead of Bluetooth
Sennheiser MX W1: First Wireless Stereo Earphones Using the Kleer Bluetooth Alternative — Kleer wireless technology has shown promise in terms of both energy efficiency and sound quality when compar...
Warner goes Blu-ray exclusive
We've all been wondering what to make of those whispers that Warner was indeed going Blu-ray exclusive, and apparently, those rumblings are true. Based on a breaking release, Warner Bros. Entertainm...
A Little ‘Intel’ on Apple's Next Move
Wondering what Steve Jobs will announce in his Macworld keynote on Jan. 15? The newest chips from Apple's sole supplier offer some intriguing hints — With Macworld Expo just days away, the pre-"Ste...
Human vs. Machine: The Great Challenge of Our Time
In an email conversation with Bill Janeway about our upcoming Money:Tech Conference, he said something really profound: … I've written quite a bit about “bionic software,” the idea that one of the dis...
HD DVD group cancels CES press conference in wake of Warner announcement: daaamn
We just got an email which stated that the HD DVD group is canceling its CES press conference; tail severely between legs over today's explosive news that Warner — the last “undecided” studio …
New features for 2008!
It's been two months since we launched Google Presentations and already we've got new toys! We've been listening to your feedback and working hard to get you new features as quickly as possible (so k...
An Open Letter from Marc Whitten about Xbox LIVE this Holiday
Dear Xbox LIVE Members: — During this past holiday season you helped us break a number of Xbox LIVE records. This included our largest sign-up of new members to Xbox LIVE in our 5 year history and ...
U.S. Album Sales Fell 9.5% in 2007
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Album sales in the United States plunged 9.5 percent last year from 2006, as the recording industry had another weak year despite a 45 percent surge in the sale of digital tracks, a...
Digg And Others Sued For Infringing Infamous Computer Solitaire Patent
from the aren't-patents-great? dept — The Patent Troll Tracker is back from holiday vacation and he's got quite a post listing out a bunch of interesting (i.e., depressing) lawsuits involving quest...
Sling Media's Slingbox PRO HD, SlingPlayer for BlackBerry announced
Sling Media's starting up this year's CES blitz early (like just about everybody else this year) with the announcement of the Slingbox PRO HD box and SlingPlayer client for BlackBerry cellphones.
GeForce 9800 GX2 Exclusive Pics & Specs
NVIDIA's yet-to-be released 9800 GX2 in the “flesh." We reveal some of the specs and what should be expected. — NVIDIA's yet-to-be released GeForce 9800 GX2 in the “flesh." We reveal some of the s...
Live Disc
Every time we exhibit at Macworld Expo, we hand out CDs with trial copies of all our software on them. And every time, we face the same problem, of how best to create these discs such that the softwa...
On the record with Jim Whitehurst, Red Hat's new CEO: “I must have a mission”
I wasn't very nice to Jim Whitehurst I heard the news that he had been named the new CEO of Red Hat to replace Matthew Szulik. My reasoning? Matthew Szulik had done so much for Red Hat and besides …
Mountain View's Meraki proposes free Wi-Fi network for S.F.
San Francisco's plan to provide citywide wireless Internet access, which foundered last summer when EarthLink pulled out, is being revived by a Mountain View company that wants to turn the city into a...