Creative to Launch Music Video Store
Singapore based Creative on Thursday announced it had joined forces with Soundbuzz to launch the Soundbuzz Music Video Store. Creative hopes that the creation of the store will help drive sales of its new Zen Vision player as well as future video-enabled portable players.
Although Apple was thought to be moving towards the medium, Creative says that it's always had its eyes on music videos.
Access Buys PalmSource and Palm OS
The death knell may be ringing for the Palm OS as Japan-based Access announced on Friday that it had acquired PalmSource, the spin-off of Palm, Inc. that produces the operating system for Palm handhelds. The deal is worth $324.3 million or $18.50 per PalmSource share.
Access will pay an 83 percent premium on Thursday's closing price of $10.09, although by mid-morning PalmSource had skyrocketed $7.79 to $17.88 in heavy trading.
GTA Re-Release Due Next Week
The re-release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is due next Tuesday, according to the Web sites of gaming retailers. GameStop lists the title as being available September 13, roughly two months after it stopped selling GTA due to the "Hot Coffee" modification, which allows the game's main character to engage in sex acts.
Every major retailer has pulled the game from their shelves, and Take Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games vowed at the time to have a new version of GTA: San Andreas available minus the "Hot Coffee" scenes within "six to eight weeks."
Solar Flare Disrupts Communication, Navigation
One of the largest solar flares ever recorded was observed Wednesday afternoon by forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center, and scientists are predicting more significant flares could occur over the next two weeks.
Spacecraft operations, electric power, high-frequency communications, and low-frequency navigation systems could all experience disruptions. The flare came from the same region, called Sunspot 798, that caused the northern lights to be visible as far south as Colorado in the northern hemisphere, and the southern lights as far north as Australia and New Zealand in July.
Internet Founding Father Joins Google
The man widely known as a "founding father" of the Internet is now a Google employee. Vinton Cerf, the man who helped co-found TCP/IP, the system that routes Internet traffic, will join the search giant as Chief Internet Evangelist.
Cerf said he would continue his work in leadership roles within the Internet community including chairman at ICANN, as well as his work as a visiting scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to figure out ways to connect the Internet to outer space.
New Sony Walkman Challenges iPod
Just hours after Apple unveiled its iPod Nano, Sony on Thursday unveiled several new Walkman players in an effort to recapture the portable music player market it once dominated.
"We are not at all satisfied with where we are now," Koichiro Tsujino, co-President of Connect, Sony's digital music arm said. "I understand a certain company made an announcement earlier today. We will accelerate our challenge with these new models."
eBay in Talks to Buy Skype
Skype appears to be looking for a suitor, although it does not seem to be having much success. The company had been in talks with several firms including News Corp, however the VoIP provider's search may end with an unlikely buyer: eBay.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that talks are in the formative stages for a $2-3 billion takeover of Skype by eBay.
News Corp Buys IGN Entertainment
Less than a month after its high-profile purchase of community site MySpace, News Corp said on Thursday that it would buy Internet company IGN Entertainment for $650 million. The network would become part of Fox's Interactive Media unit, and would push its U.S. web traffic to over 70 milllion users and 12 billion pageviews per month.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, and IGN CEO Mark Jung will remain in his position after the transition. IGN is most commonly known for its gaming Web sites GameSpy and GameStats.com among others, as well as movie review site Rotten Tomatoes.
Ruling in MS-Google Case Tuesday
Washington state judge Steven Gonzalez said late Wednesday that he expected to issue a ruling Tuesday morning on whether former Microsoft executive Kai-Fu Lee would be allowed to work at Google. Microsoft had asked Gonzalez to bar Lee from starting work in Google's China division until a trial is held in January.
Google argued that Lee's contact does not prevent him from doing recruiting work in China. The announcement follows two days of testimony where lawyers argued over whether Lee had any pull at Microsoft and how vital his position was to Microsoft's search efforts.
The Buzz: Nano Rocks, ROKR Flops
Analysts and bloggers alike sounded off on Wednesday's announcement of the ROKR iTunes phone and iPod Nano, Apple's replacement for the iPod Mini. While it looks like reception for the Nano has been more than positive, the same cannot be said for the much anticipated ROKR. Here is a sampling of what people are saying:
"The big news here in SF wasn't so much the iTunes phone but rather the iPod Nano...Pictures do not do this device justice. The form factor is amazing, this clearly fits in our mobile taxonomy in the invisible space. But it's a real iPod, with scroll wheel and a beautiful hi-res color display."
iPod Integration Coming in 2006 Cars
Apple announced on Wednesday that it had signed agreements with Acura, Audi, Honda and Volkswagen to feature seamless iPod integration in factory car stereos in their 2006 models. According to Apple, 30 percent of cars sold next year will come pre-equipped with iPod support.
Honda and Acura's implementations will also be the first to feature text-to-speech or VoiceID capabilities, which can be used to search for music. "We're thrilled to team up with Acura, Audi, Honda and Volkswagen to provide drivers with a seamless iPod experience," Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing, said. "Car companies are embracing the iPod."
Apple, Motorola Launch ROKR Phone
As expected, Apple and Motorola on Wednesday unveiled the long-awaited iTunes phone at an exclusive event at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The phone, dubbed the "ROKR E1," will launch exclusively today with Cingular in the United States and with various operators worldwide throughout the rest of the month.
The ROKR can only hold about 100 songs, Jobs told attendees, which would be transferred via USB to the phone.
SUSE Linux 10.0 Due in October
Novell announced on Wednesday that it would release SUSE Linux 10.0 in early October. For the first time, SUSE Linux includes changes and bug fixes proposed by the open source community. Novell recently created the openSUSE project, which opened up the code behind SUSE to developers.
The 10.0 release will include the latest version of Firefox as well as the OpenOffice.org 2.0 productivity suite. New features and usability improvements will appear throughout the release, and Novell has included tools to simplify the migration process from Windows to SUSE Linux. The upgrade will cost $59 USD.
XM, Red Cross Use Sat Radio for Relief
XM Satellite Radio on Wednesday said that it had launched a new channel with the American Red Cross specifically aimed at the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Called "Red Cross Radio," the station will be used by the organization to broadcast messages to its workers in the field 24 hours a day. XM will donate radios to relief workers, shelters and aid stations.
The station can be heard on XM channel 248. It will broadcast regular updates on relief efforts, as well as locations where the Red Cross is assisting evacuees. The service also has the Emergency Alert Channel on XM channel 247 that updates clean-up, road closures, school closings, and other pertinent information from local officials.
Gateway Introduces New Tablet PC
Gateway showed off the latest addition to its line of notebook computers Wednesday at the Microsoft Small Business Summit in Redmond, WA. The CX200, Gateway's new convertible notebook with a 14-inch display, also comes in at a competitive price compared with other Tablet PCs at $1099 USD.
The company says it is aiming the notebook at students and home users rather than business users that have predominantly been the target market for tablets.
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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