Comcast will cut back some customers' speeds after FCC order
Just one day after the Federal Communications Commission released its official opinion and order regarding the cable provider's throttling practices, Comcast has changed its ways.
Called Fair Share, the service's new protocol will slow down the connection speeds of Comcast's most bandwidth-heavy users for periods of up to 20 minutes. It will be application-agnostic, and will be triggered by the customer's overall use of bandwidth.
Microsoft trademark apps hint at 'private' browsing in IE
Bloggers have uncovered paperwork for two possible applications from Microsoft having to do with keeping the details of a user's browsing session private.
Critics of what could become a critical feature for Internet Explorer 8 have derided the idea of a built-in privacy feature for erasing histories and other trace elements, as nothing more than a "porn mode," allowing for surfers to cover their tracks if they are viewing questionable content. However, Mozilla -- which was set to include the feature in Firefox 3, but later pulled it -- argued for its legitimate uses.
Jobs: Fix for crashing iPhone apps bug en route
Apple is apparently set to release a fix for an issue which is locking some iPhone users out of their installed third-party applications.
Users have been complaining about the issues in Apple support forums since earlier this month. With the first post coming before the 2.0.1 update, its not unreasonable to believe some have been experiencing this problem nearly from the start.
Sirius XM disputes negative interpretation of its CEO's comments
Following a BetaNews article indicating that Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin suggested the company's finances were in bad shape, the company shot back that it was not the case.
A spokesperson for the satellite radio provider contacted BetaNews late Tuesday refuting the original article's premise that Karmazin had admitted that Sirius XM's finances were not healthy.
American Airlines launches in-flight Wi-Fi on busy routes
Three of American Airlines' routes out of New York will get in-flight Wi-Fi: Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco. The service will be available on all Boeing 767-200 planes in the fleet.
Starting Wednesday, AA's new Gogo service will be available to customers, and will be run by aviation telecommunications company Aircell. Passengers will pay $12.95 for access during flights longer than three hours.
Gag order against 'subway hackers' lifted
After reviewing the merits of the case, Judge George O'Toole has denied the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority's motion to issue a five-month injunction to further prevent three MIT students from talking about their subway hack.
The restraining order against the students expired on Tuesday. Judge O'Toole explained that the transit agency had no likelihood of success on the merits of the case under federal computer intrusion laws. In addition, the MBTA in filings yesterday admitted that its fare collections system did indeed have flaws and would take approximately five months to fix.
Apple gives MobileMe subscribers more free time
Subscribers who have remained with MobileMe through its continued growing pains will be rewarded with another 60 days free, bringing the total free time to 90 days.
To be eligible for the new extension, customers must be enrolled members by midnight Tuesday. Those who have already enrolled will see their free trial periods extended another 60 days.
Japan says iPod nanos may pose overheating risk
The country's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry said Tuesday that it had received two additional reports of iPod nanos that caught fire after overheating.
The incidents involve the following model numbers: MA004J/A, MA005J/A, MA099J/A, and MA107J/A, which encompass about 1.81 million units sold in Japan between September 2005 and September 2006. Neither of these most recent events caused injury, although earlier incidents were to blame for at least two cases of minor burns.
Apple releases iPhone 2.0.2 update, 3G problems remain
Just two weeks after the initial update to the iPhone's second generation firmware, another has appeared with promises of more "bug fixes."
At a little under 249 MB, the latest iPhone firmware update, version 2.0.2, is about the same size as the previous patch. While many had hoped for fixes to the 3G connectivity issues the device has been experiencing, reports on Apple's support forums seem to indicate there may be no fix in this patch.
Yahoo to open up Buzz submissions to public
While news aggregator Buzz has been up for about six months, until now, users could only vote for content, and the link inclusion process was limited to suggestions from only 400 publishers. That's about to change.
Beginning next Monday at 10:00 pm EDT, users will be able to submit content suggestions to Yahoo Buzz, as it emerges from beta. If a content item gets enough votes, it will appear on the front page of Yahoo.
CEO Mel Karmazin admits Sirius XM is in bad financial shape
The satellite radio company's CEO told reporters this past week that the company had to accept less than favorable debt terms to close the merger of the two companies.
The US Federal Communications Commission approved the deal on July 25, and the company wanted to move quickly to avoid any potential delays related to court challenges of the merger.
GOP uses Facebook-like site to expose Obama's 'friends'
Through a design that mimics the look of the popular social network Facebook, Republicans hope to build an image of Barack Obama based on the company he keeps.
The Republican National Committee has touted the creation of a site called "BarackBook" that includes profile pages for many of the controversial associates that Sen. Barack Obama's critics claim he is linked to in some way.
Qwest, unions reach agreement to avert strike
A communications strike that could have affected both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, set to be held within the next two weeks, has been avoided.
An agreement, announced early this morning with both the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, covers over 20,000 union members across 13 states, and is set for a period of three years. Both new contracts now go to their respective union members for a vote.
US Internet speeds still slow compared to the rest of the world
A survey by the Communications Workers of America indicates that the median download speed for US Internet connections has changed little, and remains far slower than the rates experienced in other developed nations.
The typical US Internet connection delivers 2.3 Mbps downloads, according to the CWA's annual survey -- 400 Kbps over the previous year.
Former Apple counsel settles options backdating charges
Apple's former general counsel will pay the US Securities and Exchange Commission some $2.2 million in fines to settle charges related to the Cupertino company's stock options scandal.
SEC officials said Nancy Heinen's fine was comprised of $1.6 million in what it called "ill-gotten" gains, plus interest, and a $200,000 penalty. The former executive is one of two from the company to agree to pay fines. Like former Apple CFO Fred Anderson -- who was fined $3.5 million -- Heinen is neither admitting nor denying guilt.
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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