How Syria Turned Off the Internet
Today, 29 November 2012, between 1026 and 1029 (UTC), all traffic from Syria to the rest of the Internet stopped. At CloudFlare, we witnessed the drop off. We've spent the morning studying the situa...
After Deal Changes With Zynga, Facebook Could Now Make Its Own Games
Could Facebook delve into the game-making business? — According to documents filed with the SEC, it's possible. — Facebook and gaming giant Zynga revised their long-standing contract agreements on...
Scoop: Key pricing and launch details of Redbox Instant revealed
The online video joint venture Redbox Instant by Verizon is set to launch sometime before the end of the year. The service is currently being tested in private beta, and Verizon and Redbox have kept ...
Microsoft Said to Plan Next Xbox Console for 2013 Holiday Season
The Halo 4 game by Xbox 360 was launched on Nov. 6, 2012. The next version of Microsoft's Xbox video-game machine is scheduled to be available for the holiday season in 2013. — Microsoft Corp. (MSF...
iTunes — It Goes To 11. (In Design, If Not Performance.)
It Goes To 11. (In Design, If Not Performance.) — Yes, that headline. Obvious. But appropriate. — Yes, after much delay (about a month), iTunes 11 is here today. And yes, it is one of the bigge...
Apple begins selling unlocked iPhone 5 in the US, starting from $649
It's that special time of the year... that is, when Apple decides to unfetter the iPhone for US shoppers. The Cupertino crew has quietly started selling the iPhone 5 in an unlocked, off-contract form...
Atari celebrates 40 years of Pong with new, free iOS Pong game, custom portable Xbox 360
Atari's celebrating 40 years of arcade classic Pong today by releasing ... another version of Pong. Pong World is being dubbed “the first-ever official new Pong game on iOS” (despite our search …
Staples Announces In-Store 3-D Printing Service
Pretty soon you'll be able to print your 3-D projects at the local Staples. — A new service called “Staples Easy 3D” will allow customers to upload their designs to Staples' website, then pick up th...
Peter Thiel And Existing Investors Put Another $49 Million In Accounting Software Company Xero
PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, along with existing investors, has invested $49 million in Xero, the online accounting software for small businesses. — It is Thiel's third investment in Xero.
Tony Fadell: From iPod father to thermostat start-up
Father of the iPod — Tony Fadell on changes at Apple, Nest and doubts about Kickstarter
Dell, Intel in Talks for Stake in Sharp
TOKYO—Sharp Corp. is in discussions with U.S. technology companies to bolster its battered balance sheet and has offered a stake to Dell Inc., among others, in return for a stable supply of breakthrou...
Syria Has Disappeared From The Internet
A few hours ago, Syria, the middle eastern country in the middle of an especially bloody civil war, disappeared from the Internet. — The research firm Renesys, which keeps track of the status and he...
iPhone 5 Gets China Network Access License
Looks like Apple Inc.'s iPhone 5 may be coming to China soon. — According to a regulatory website, an Apple device resembling the iPhone 5 has received approval for a “network access” license in Chi...
Obama opposes Silicon Valley firms on immigration reform
White House announcement before congressional vote on STEM Jobs Act puts president in opposition to many of the Silicon Valley firms and executives who bankrolled his re-election campaign. — Preside...
Fantastical: the intelligent iPhone calendar app we've been waiting for is here (hands-on)
Can the best Mac calendar app transition to the small screen? — I'd consistently heard great things about Fantastical for Mac, but I wouldn't buy it. I wasn't ready to pay upwards of fifteen dollar...
No VPN? No Problem. A New Way Around China's Great Firewall
NPD: U.S. Windows Device Sales Down 21% On Last Year; Windows 8 Tablet Sales “Almost Non-Existent”
Microsoft earlier this week made a point of noting that there have been 40 million downloads of Windows 8 since it launched a month ago, putting it ahead of where Windows 7 was at the same point in it...
Merrill Lynch: T-Mobile USA may get the iPhone next week
The deal would give Apple access to 33 million more mobile subscribers — FORTUNE — It was only last week that Jim Alling, COO of T-Mobile USA, poured cold water on speculation that his company might...
Groupon CEO Andrew Mason Was Just Put In A Bizarre Situation — And There's Really Only One Way It Can End
And There's Really Only One Way It Can End — Yesterday, three news stories appeared that reported essentially the same thing: — Board members at Groupon were discussing firing the company's CEO, An...
Piracy site Newzbin2 gives up and closes 15 months after block
Newzbin originally claimed it was unaffected by the block as it offered workarounds — Newzbin2, once one of the web's most popular sites offering links to pirated content, has decided to close.
How Facebook's Top Engineer Is Trying to Read Your Mind
It's been a great year for the Facebook platform, but Mike Vernal wants more. Facebook's director of engineering tells us the social network is trying to pump up user posts, favoring longer stories a...
RIM jumps 10 percent in Toronto trade after Goldman upgrade
TORONTO - Shares in Research In Motion Ltd rose more than 10 percent at the open on the Toronto Stock Exchange after Goldman Sachs upgraded the BlackBerry maker's stock to a “buy” from a “neutral” rec...
Barnes & Noble Beats Fiscal Q2 2013 Estimates, Reports $1.9 Billion In Revenue And Losses Of $0.04 Per Share
Literary retailer Barnes & Noble reported its fiscal Q2 2013 earnings this morning, and they're just a bit stronger than some had forecasted in the days leading up to the release.
Free Market Failure: Telcos Charge More For Sending A Text Next Door Than Cost Of Sending Data From Mars
Infrastructure: The telco industry charges more, kilobyte by kilobyte, for sending a text message from your phone to next door than what it costs to send the same message from Mars to Earth.
In Retribution for Huawei Investigation, Chinese State Media is Going After Cisco
Earlier today I wrote about an interesting if misleading report in the state-owned and state-run magazine China Economy and Informatization. Though light on facts, the article takes US tech companies...
Palm's webOS lives on.... as an Android app
Palm webOS fans left in the cold from HP's debacle with the mobile operating system can rejoice a little. HP open-sourced the webOS platform, making for some interesting third-party webOS efforts and...
In Silicon Valley, Technology Talent Gap Threatens G.O.P. Campaigns
SAN FRANCISCO - I live in Brooklyn, where President Obama won 81 percent of the vote earlier this month. It's hard to find anywhere in the country that is more Democratic-leaning. — But San Francis...
iPhone 5 supply stabilizes in the U.S. for first time since launch
With the lucrative holiday shopping season in full swing, the popular iPhone 5 handset is now readily available in the U.S. at Apple's brick-and-mortar retail stores as the company has apparently over...
Millennial: Apple Still Leads Samsung In Overall Impressions, But Android Dominates iOS With 52% Share
Leading mobile ad network Millennial Media today released ist Q3 Mobile Mix report, and it would appear that Apple has kept its lead as top manufacturer on the platform, with the top device being the ...