Google's latest experiment in opening up its massive resources for the latest in knowledge and wisdom, has a familiar ring to it. And perhaps for that reason, the outcome of that experiment can be predicted.
Comcast sues NFL to block slanderous emails
Comcast yesterday filed suit against the National Football League, claiming it was acting in breach of contract for encouraging Comcast subscribers to drop their service.
Is the Linux/Windows interoperability deal paying off for Novell?
The Linux vendor partners with Microsoft in one respect and takes it head-on in another. This time, the results are mixed as Novell suffers a small quarterly loss.
Free remote PC access for iPhone and iPod Touch
Remote PC access software company Orb has announced support for iPhone and iPod Touch, allowing users to stream their music, movies, and TV without being locked into iTunes.
Online movie releases: the new 'straight to video?'
Jackass 2.5 from Paramount is believed to be the first studio-backed feature film to premiere online, and will be streamable for two weeks completely free of charge.
Google marked by Chinese company for trademark violation
A Beijing company has taken Google's Chinese division to court over the search company's Mandarin name.
Microsoft acknowledges Vista kernel elevation vulnerability
What was not supposed to happen in Windows Vista apparently has: Despite a layer of protection that was supposed to prevent against processes elevating their own privileges, Microsoft now says someone found a way to do it.
Netherlands war against Microsoft advances on two fronts
A junior economics minister in the Dutch government has made significant inroads this week in his battle against Microsoft there, both in transitioning his government to ODF and in decoupling bundled software from PCs.
Seductive Russian chat bot tries to steal your private data
A chatroom bot called Cyberlover and designed in Russia claims to be able to secure private information from unsuspecting users by seducing them.
How IBM could lead AMD to 32 nm
At this morning's analyst conference, AMD executives said they may scale back some on R&D. But earlier in the week, partner IBM unveiled a plan that could help fill the gap: a way to rework existing 45 nm parts designs for 32 nm.
The opportunities revealed by Sun's open-source CPU
By releasing the code for its new Niagara 2 processor into the open source community today, Sun is paving the way for its underlying architecture to eventually pop up in wireless and other embedded systems, and maybe even in future game consoles.
Mapping services find themselves today's hot commodity
Two major global information system (GIS) and satellite imagery acquisitions were announced on Wednesday, illustrating the continuing desirability of such services to both hardware and software manufacturers.
Nokia wins one round in Qualcomm IP battle
Just when it appeared Qualcomm finally had a fight on its hands after winning one round last month against Nokia, a judge has invalidated a good chunk of Qualcomm's original injunction request against the handset maker.
Most ReplayTV assets sold to DirecTV
The struggling DVR company has once again changed hands, this time to the nation's largest satellite provider.
Sprint customers get next-gen MySpace Mobile first
With its subscriber base declining, Sprint surely needs a lift in its heated competitive struggle with AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Could a newly unveiled deal with MySpace Mobile help do the job?
Apple iPhone and iPod Touch get their very own Picasa
Google brings its Picasa photo sharing application to Mobile OS X Safari, with an interface designed especially for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Bebo takes a page from Facebook with new API
By adopting its competitor's platform, the site will allow developers to port their applications to its network.
Microsoft releases HD DVD emulator software
In an attempt to further spur development for its chosen next-generation DVD platform, Microsoft is making the tool available for $2,999.
Another big beta: Microsoft releases Windows Server Virtualization test
After a major delay in the early spring which threw off the development cycle of Windows Server 2008, a public beta -- as opposed to a technology preview -- is being released by Microsoft this morning.
Patent infringement decision against eBay upheld
MercExchange, a tiny Virginia-based company that has taken eBay to all levels of the US court system for patent infringement, has won at the District Court level in Virginia.
Linden Lab CTO leaves the real world of Second Life
In an apparent split at the top, one of Second Life's founding employees has left the company, and his former boss apparently bids him a heartfelt good riddance.
Out of options, Opera files EU antitrust against Microsoft
UPDATED Just when Microsoft thought it had the EU out of its hair, Opera may have brought it back to the bargaining table.
AMD in trouble: Barcelona bug, ATI write-down cast bad shadows
At the opening of an analyst meeting this morning, the president of AMD lowered expectations for his company, saying it no longer needs to produce the best performing CPUs, and hinted at scaling back its R&D.
'PlaysForSure' logo being replaced with 'Certified for Vista'
Without much explanation, Microsoft's PlaysForSure Web page, which had once been the meeting ground for its portable media tech partners, now bears a statement to users that the logo is being dropped.
Analyst: Consumerism to blend with social networks in 2008
Where traditional Web sites provide content to visitors, social networking sites tend to offer sets of tools that allow "the consumers to become the content," a lead Parks Associates analyst told BetaNews this afternoon.
Study: The Internet's spam problem is getting worse
A study finds that only one out of every 20 e-mails is from a legitimate source, and business professionals now rate it the top form of junk advertising.
AT&T to put RFID and GPS in schoolbuses
The San Antonio telco announced today the availability of "black box" type solutions for K-12 school busses, working toward a day when school vehicles can be tracked like aircraft.
Pro sports teams embrace HDTV, but are unsure about wireless
Among professional sports leagues, high definition video is a permanent fixture, both inside the new stadiums where fans congregate and on HDTVs that fans are watching. But there's confusion there today, it seems, over wireless technologies.
Preview patch returns ActiveX to the way it was
More than a decade after Microsoft used an idea for making binary programs work with one click from inside Web pages, the company is testing a patch that restores that functionality in the wake of a settlement with the idea's creator.
Google's Street View expansion brings privacy jitters
Google's expansion of the street view option for its mapping service into another eight US cities has renewed privacy concerns over what it photographs.
The 2007 'Word of the Year' is...w00t!
That's not an interjection from the reporter. The exclamation "w00t" was chosen by Merriam-Webster's online users as 2007's Word of the Year.
Radiohead to bypass record labels, letting its publisher handle rights
Radiohead's album in Rainbows was revolutionary for its "pay what you like" availability. Now the band's plan for licensing that album continues the trend, further eroding the bond between bands and the record industry.
FCC commissioner compares DTV transition to Y2K
After a congressional report last month criticized the FCC and private industry for not working better together to ensure a smoother DTV transition, one commissioner responded by saying the executive branch should get involved.
How much open source software are businesses really using?
Open source vendor OpenLogic is today kicking off a new industry initiative meant to help both users and software companies find out precisely what kinds of open source software is being used -- and who is using it.
Microsoft ends free software for monitoring giveaway
Microsoft pulled the free software offer from its Web site Tuesday, which made free copies of Vista and Office among other applications available in exchange for feedback.
Office for Mac set to ship next month
The long wait for a new version of Microsoft Office for the Mac OS X platform is just about over, with development of the suite completed.
Vista SP1 release candidate goes live
This morning, BetaNews FileForum was alerted to the availability of the latest release candidate for Windows Vista Service Pack 1, just released from Microsoft.
Video search engine and indie film festival collaborate
Blinkx, a video search engine featuring over 18 million hours of searchable video with more than 200 media partnerships already, announced a new one yesterday with the Raindance Film Festival.
AT&T: 1 million U-verse subscribers by end of '08
This morning, the head of AT&T said his company expects to have attained one million U-Verse subscribers by the end of 2008, and coverage for 30 million by 2010.
OpenDocument debate resumes in the Netherlands
While Microsoft's Office Open XML format slowly makes inroads towards acceptance as an international format, the Dutch government debates whether the software behind that format must also be open-source.
Ask.com debuts erasable searches, with stipulations
Oakland-based search engine Ask.com debuted "AskEraser" today, a feature which can mark all of a user's queries in the company's servers for deletion.
Microsoft continues legal push against software fraud
Microsoft announced the filing of 52 lawsuits against sellers of pirated and fraudulent copies of its software, as well as referring another 22 cases to law enforcement.
NBC Universal content now for SanDisk video service
The entertainment group continues to move on from its breakup with Apple and iTunes, this time signing a deal with SanDisk to provide content for "Fanfare."
Canadian ISP flouts net neutrality principles again
Rogers Yahoo, which has repeatedly come under fire for traffic shaping, has now ventured even further away from neutral ground, by inserting usage messages into its users' unencrypted data streams.
Microsoft bug deletes files instead of sharing them
The company's FolderShare application is intended to allow customers to synchronize files across multiple machines, but a bug has ended up deleting them.
IDC: Fewer desktop PCs to be sold from now on
Emphasizing the declining role of the desktop PC form factor in worldwide sales, the analysts of IDC's Quarterly PC Tracker now predict portable PCs will constitute 65% of US PC sales by 2011.
New high-def owners may shake up format war
While Blu-ray has certainly won the opening salvos, new data suggests those new to HD seemed to have a preference for HD DVD.
Sony CEO replaces gloomy predictions with rosier outlook
Buoyed by Black Friday sales plus an investment in Sony last month, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer said this morning he believes a financially stressed-out US population will stay at home this winter and use CE products...like Sony's own.
Office 2007 SP1 goes live, Windows XP SP3 RC1 follows along
As anticipated and without much fanfare, Microsoft this morning made active links for downloads of Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 1, as well as the complete Office 2007 Service Pack 1.
VoIP calls on iPod Touch now closer to reality
Developers are claiming that they are close to allowing users to place VoIP calls over the iPod Touch, with initial tests proving successful.
New Bourne released in streaming HD day-and-date with DVD
IPTV service Vudu has announced that The Bourne Ultimatum will be available as a 1080i high-def download today -- the same day as it is released on DVD.
Debate over telco immunity rages on between DNI, Senate
Setting up a fiery public showdown between the justice and intelligence communities and the Congress, the country's highest-ranking intelligence official argued publicly in favor of immunity for telcos that turned over private data.
Samsung at center of 'Korean Watergate' bribery probe
In South Korea, Samsung Electronics' politically powerful parent company stands accused by a whistleblower of creating a $220 million slush fund for paying off government officials. The investigation keeps intensifying.
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