Ed Oswald

RIM said Monday that it expects to have a workaround completed soon that may stave off a potential shutdown if it loses a patent battle with NTP. The company's co-CEO Jim Balsillie told Reuters in an interview that RIM would "keep our business going as we always have, always will."

The maker of the popular BlackBerry e-mail device has received some good news in recent weeks, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office found two NTP patents invalid last week in a "non-final action." The company still has three valid patents that are still being examined.

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Billionaire investor Carl Icahn inserted his two cents into the rumored exclusive negotiations between AOL and Google. Icahn warned that if the deal with the search engine would prevent a merger or deal with another online company, the board could be "on the verge of making a disastrous decision."

Icahn has already called for a shareholder vote to replace the Time Warner board, saying the company needs to streamline its business and begin setting up sales of assets that were holding the company's stock price down.

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Blinkx on Monday unveiled blinx.tv To Go, a new service that will help users to search for online video content and then sync it to their iPod or personal video player. The service would automatically re-encode the video to play in the user's selected format.

Users would be able either save the video to their player with a single click, or save the search to a channel, which would then continuously update their player with new video. "Our vision of IPTV combines the interactive, customizable experience of the Internet, with the simple, seamless way we watch TV, and now we've made it portable," Blinkx founder Suranga Chandratillake said.

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THQ and Massive on Monday announced plans that would allow Massive, an in-game advertising network, to place its ads in THQ video games. The two companies say that the deal would help to enhance the realism of THQ games, and would enable the company to monetize its titles even further.

In-game advertising has become a big business, with companies using the revenue gained from these partnerships to further ensure the profitability of video game titles. For example, Massive offers the publisher $1-$2 for each ad served in the game.

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If you wanted a 1GB iPod Shuffle for Christmas and haven't gotten it yet, good luck finding one. A message in the Apple store indicates that the larger version of the two Shuffles has "sold out for the holiday," with no availability until the middle of January.

While the player may still be found in some retail locations, it is likely that the stock currently available is the last of the players from Apple until next year.

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Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate completed negotiations Monday on a deal that would mandate a transition to digital television by February 17, 2009. Included in the agreement is a $1.5 billion fund to help consumers buy the converter boxes that allow analog televisions to continue operating.

The two sides met practically half way to make the bill happen. The Senate had approved a $3 billion fund for the set top boxes and set a date of April 7, 2009 for the conversion, while the House approved a $900 million fund and a December 31, 2008 deadline.

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Hoping to use the holiday shopping season as a way to draw attention to the issue of violent video games, New York Senator Hillary Clinton on Friday introduced legislation to prohibit the sale of violent games to minors. The bill was co-sponsored by fellow Senators Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Evan Bayh of Indiana.

Clinton had first suggested that she would pursue such legislation after the revelations of sexually explicit material in the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game. Clinton then announced on November 30 that she and Lieberman would introduce the legislation before the holiday recess, and the Senator made good on her promise on Friday.

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DVR maker ReplayTV said Monday that it was exiting the set-top DVR market, instead planning to release a new software-based DVR solution in 2006. Through a deal with TV card manufacturer Hauppauge, the software would be bundled with the company's WinTV-PVR cards in North America.

ReplayTV has had its share of difficulties, coming in second to market-leader TiVo and struggling in retail due to its competitor's much stronger brand recognition.

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The push to make song lyric sites and programs illegal has cooled -- at least on one front. Walter Ritter, creator of the popular PearLyrics lyrics program, and Warner/Chappell announced that they would work together to allow the program to continue being offered.

Ritter said this holds benefits for the user, as it would give pearworks access to accurate lyrics for songs in the company's catalog. Many of its programs rely on unofficial sources.

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Google has offered to pay $1 billion for a 5 percent stake in America Online, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, effectively pushing Microsoft out of any negotiation with Time Warner. The news marks a major setback to Microsoft's efforts to gain a more even footing with Google in the search industry.

If the rumors prove true, it would mean nearly a year's worth of negotiations between Microsoft and AOL would have been for naught. Microsoft had endeavored to convince AOL to drop Google for MSN Search, as well as combine the sales and advertising departments of the two companies.

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T-Mobile USA has big plans for 2006, the company told BetaNews in an interview on Thursday. The carrier intends to complete the rollout of GSM 850, which has boosted its coverage area by nearly 40 percent, and finally establish its long-awaited 3G network. T-Mobile also believes it could top Verizon in Consumer Reports rankings of quality service.

The biggest benefit of GSM 850 would be increased coverage, mainly throughout the central part of the United States. However, the rollout would also include rural areas of the Northeast and West. Altogether, nearly 400,000 square miles of new coverage has been added during 2005, according to the carrier.

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The U.S. Supreme Court's June decision against Grokster may need to be further defined in order to protect companies with no intention of breaking the law, according to at least one intellectual property attorney.

Case in point is Warner/Chappell's action against the Macintosh-based PearLyrics program, says Michael Graham, an intellectual property attorney and partner with Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP in Chicago.

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Five library associations voiced their support for the use of OpenDocument (ODF) in Massachusetts this week, sending a letter to William Galvin, the Commonwealth's Secretary of State. In it, the groups say the open source format is the best choice, as everyone has access to its specifications.

Secretary Galvin has publicly derided the plan, saying he has "grave concerns" about switching to OpenDocument from Microsoft Office. He also had been rumored to be pushing the various state agencies to decline to participate.

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Cingular on Thursday detailed its plans for an upcoming 3G video service from the cellular carrier to be called Cingular Video. The new feature would allow for the on-demand streaming of video content, including clips from premium movie channel HBO.

Users would be able to personalize the service to their liking, which would also include news, sports, weather and entertainment clips. Those with compatible 3G phones could view the content over the carrier's new HSDPA network, announced on December 6.

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The FCC will likely force Internet telephone, or VoIP, providers to contribute to the Universal Service Fund, a program that helps subsidize telecommunications services in high-cost regions of the country, and in schools and libraries.

The comments came from FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who spoke Wednesday in Washington at a question and answer session hosted by Comptel, a group that represents communications service providers.

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