Vizio Tops LCD TV Sales in US
Virtual unknown Vizio catapulted to the number one spot in LCD TV sales during the second quarter, data from research firm iSuppli indicates.
According the the report released on Monday, the firm sold some 606,402 LCD TV’s during the quarter, a rise of 76 percent over the previous one. The firm now holds a 14.5 percent share of the market. Samsung dropped to second place, selling 467,210 TVs, although it also saw a quarter-to-quarter increase.
American Airlines Sues Google Over AdWords
Upset that advertisements for its competitors are appearing in searches for its trademarks, American Airlines parent AMR has sued Google seeking unspecified damages.
AMR says that ads for competitors' services appear when searching for its trademarked names, such as its “Aadvantage” frequent flyer program. The company says the ads appear alongside ads placed by the company itself in the ‘Sponsored Links’ section.
Researcher: US Gov't Editing Wikipedia Entries
Entries in Wikipedia involving subjects such as the Iraq War and Guantanamo Bay have been edited by individuals using FBI and CIA computers, a scanning program indicates.
The researcher says he created the application to "to create minor public relations disasters for companies and organizations I dislike" and see if others are attempting to edit Wikipedia entries that may involve them, according to an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday.
HP Silences Critics With Stellar Quarter
In a stock market desperately searching for good news, HP's quarterly numbers provided a much needed boost.
Since joining HP in 2005 as the permanent replacement to controversial CEO Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd has engineered a stunning comeback. In fact, this quarter revenue grew at the fastest rate that it had since 2000, amidst the height of the dot-com boom.
The Compact Disc Celebrates 25 Years
Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the Compact Disc. However, is there much time left for the format in the age of the digital download?
The first CDs rolled off an assembly line on August 17, 1982 with a copy of Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony. It was hailed as the next big thing in music, replacing the cassette tape and vinyl LP as the de facto format for many music aficionados.
Nokia Looks for Import Ban of Qualcomm Chips
Qualcomm found itself in legal trouble yet again Friday, as Nokia said it will ask the US International Trade Commission to investigate claims of patent infringement.
Nokia says Qualcomm's chipsets infringe on five of its patents relating to CDMA2000 and GSM/WCDMA. It is asking the ITC to investigate and bar the importation into the US of these chips.
Microsoft Actively Lobbying Against Doubleclick Deal
Microsoft is actively getting into the business of lobbying the federal government to reject the Google-DoubleClick merger, government documents indicate.
A Wednesday Associated Press article detailed a lobbying disclosure form that the Redmond company is required to file with Congress. It showed that Microsoft hired Patton Boggs LLP to lobby the government concerning the DoubleClick merger.
New Zero-Day Flaw for Yahoo Messenger
McAfee said Wednesday that it was able to confirm an earlier reported zero-day flaw in Yahoo Messenger, which could put users at risk of a code-execution attack.
According to a post on the company's Avert Labs web log, the flaw can be exploited when the victim accepts an invite for a webcam chat. McAfee said that it had informed Yahoo of the issue, which was not available for comment.
Sprint to Spend $5 Billion on WiMax
Sprint reiterated on Thursday its plans to spend $2.5 billion through the end of next year on WiMax, claiming that it will spend an additional $2.5 billion on the technology through 2010.
The company says it has gotten several manufacturers to commit to putting 50 million WIMax devices in consumer's hands through the end of the decade. Sprint had already partnered with Nokia, Samsung, and Motorola on WiMax devices, but this appears to be more extensive.
Company Says FCC Blocking Free Broadband
A company that is aiming to bring free broadband to the entire US is being blocked by the Federal Communications Commission, its CEO claimed Wednesday.
M2Z Networks now plans to take the FCC to court over the rejection, apparently claiming the agency has not given the idea a fair study to determine its viability. M2Z's plans call for vacant radio spectrum to be used to provide high-speed Internet service to 95 percent of Americans within 10 years.
Microsoft Licenses Audio Watermarking Tech
Microsoft said Wednesday that it had licensed its audio watermarking technology to Activated Content in an effort to spur the efforts behind embedding trackable "watermarks" in audio files.
The process of watermarking holds many benefits, as it can potentially be used in the fight against piracy. For example, DRM-less files could carry an identifiable code in them. When these files appear on peer-to-peer networks, labels would be able to identify where they are coming from.
AllofMP3 Exec Cleared of Charges
The former head of Mediaservices has been cleared of any wrongdoing surrounding AllofMP3 after a Russian court threw out charges against him.
EMI, Universal, and Warner Music Group had sued former Mediaservices chief executive Denis Kvasov for $587,000 USD. However, a Russian District Court judge said that he could not be sued under current laws because of a change in the rules.
DirecTV to Offer Internet Over Power Lines
DirecTV said Wednesday that it had signed an agreement with Current Group, which would allow it to offer Internet broadband services via power lines.
The company had indicated in May of this year that it was shopping around for a partner to test out so-called "broadband over power line" (BPL). Current appears to be it; the service will premiere in Dallas later this year or early next year.
San Francisco Gets Second Wi-Fi Option
A small Mountain View, Calif. based company isn't waiting for EarthLink and Google to iron out contractual details to provide free Wi-Fi in the city of San Francisco.
Meraki would use volunteers who would manage routers themselves to maintain its network, somewhat similar to efforts by Spain's Fon. It would give its routers away for free to those who would agree to maintain them.
Sirius Debuts the Stiletto 2, Adds Wi-Fi
Along with the release of several other new products, Sirius on Wednesday debuted the Stiletto 2, the second live-reception capable version of its popular portable radio.
Along with the capability to receive Sirius programming in a portable fashion, the Stiletto 2 would also have Wi-Fi capabilities, including the ability to connect to commercial hotspots. The device is scheduled to become available in fall 2007.
Ed's Bio
Ed Oswald is a freelance journalist from the Reading, PA area. Although he has written across a variety of subjects, Ed’s passion and focus has been on technology and gadgets. His work regularly appears on tech news sites BetaNews, PCWorld, and Technologizer, and has been syndicated to eWeek, Time’s Techland blog, VentureBeat and the New York Times.
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