Sprint hands keys for cellular towers to third-party
Operation and maintenance of Sprint's cellular network towers will be taken over by TowerCo, freeing up capital for the cash-strapped company.
TowerCo paid $670 million for about 3,300 CDMA and IDEN towers. In exchange, the company has signed a long-term lease with Sprint for their use. The deal is expected to close within 90 days.
Facebook to integrate Microsoft Web search, search ads
Microsoft and Facebook strengthened their existing partnership Thursday with the announcement that Microsoft would be powering the social network's Web search and sponsored links.
The announcement was made at Microsoft's annual financial analysts meeting in Redmond. Sources indicate the search services will be integrated into Facebook without many changes to the overall site design.
Brits who download music illegally to receive warning letters
If you live in England and download a lot of copyrighted music, check your mailbox. The British government said Thursday that the recording industry and the country's largest ISPs have agreed on a deal to cut down on piracy through warning letters.
ISPs will identify and send postal letters to the most prolific downloaders, warning them of being detected. What the companies would do next is not yet known, as procedures have not been finalized.
XM, Sirius talking to FCC about finalizing merger approval
XM Radio and Sirius appear ready to accept concessions that would finally bring their 17-month merger effort to a close, according to a statement issued Thursday.
XM and Sirius confirmed they are in talks with the FCC enforcement bureau to accept specific conditions that would gain the merger approval from the body. It appears that the stipulations match those of Republican commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, who is the lone holdout.
Facebook to share its logins with other sites, wants better apps
At its annual F8 developer conference Wednesday, Facebook unveiled a system like OpenID where users can login to other sites with their Facebook account. It also rolled out new tools to help developers create better applications.
Available in the fall, Connect will allow users of Facebook to take their identities with them across partner sites. 24 websites and applications have already announced their support for the initiative, including Digg, Six Apart, and Citysearch.
Is Apple's business health tied to that of its CEO?
Concerns over Steve Jobs' health continue to dog the company, and its attempts to quell such discussion seem to be falling mostly on deaf ears.
The issue cropped up once again during Apple's financial results call Monday when Lehman Brothers financial analyst Ben Reitzes said he was forced to ask for an official statement from the company on Jobs' health.
New wireless HD standard to compete with other proposed technologies
Hopefully it won't be another HD DVD/Blu-ray situation: Several consumer electronics companies have partnered to develop a technology that could deliver high-definition video wirelessly to television sets, but the technology will compete against another proposed standards.
Sony, Samsung, Motorola, Sharp, and Hitachi have formed a group that will focus on further developing technology known as Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI), the companies announced on Wednesday.
Microsoft makes Games for Windows Live free, will sell game downloads
Microsoft announced late Tuesday that it would no longer charge Windows gamers to connect to one another for multiplayer gaming, and this fall will launch an online store for downloading PC games.
All users will be able to access the Games for Windows Live, which is similar to Microsoft's Xbox Live -- service at no cost. Microsoft said that the decision to remove the pay tier came after discussions with developers and fans led it to believe that multiplayer gaming should be free.
MySpace support bolsters OpenID, but the logins won't be portable
Popular social networking site MySpace said Tuesday it will join the open source authentication platform OpenID, further bolstering the idea of a unified system to carry online identities between Web sites. But for now, MySpace's OpenID accounts cannot be used elsewhere.
OpenID has already been embraced by nearly 8,000 sites, including Yahoo (the largest supporter in terms of users), Plaxo, Wetpaint, Technorati, and LiveJournal. But MySpace is the second largest site to join the network to date, and will nearly double the amount of OpenID accounts to a half-billion. Although, because MySpace doesn't require e-mail verification, many of its accounts may not be legitimate.
Comcast to provide Web video services to rival cable operators
A division of cable provider Comcast has struck deals with three other rival cable operators to help them serve online video to their customers.
thePlatform is a Seattle-based digital media company that was acquired by Comcast in 2006 for about $100 million. The folding of its operations under the cable operator's umbrella has allowed thePlatform to invest further in its technologies.
Adobe refreshes media player, adds free Sony, CBS movies
Adobe on Tuesday said it had begun to roll out the first update to its desktop media player, complete with a new interface and content deal with Sony.
Signing Sony onto the service means Adobe Media Player users will soon be able to watch full-length feature films from Sony Pictures. Among the first titles to debut will be Men in Black and The Fifth Element among others, according to reports.
QVC 2.0: TiVo users can buy products on their TV through Amazon
In an attempt to further monetize its DVR offering, TiVo has partnered with online retailer Amazon to allow advertisers to sell products to TiVo users directly through their TV.
The new service is most easily described with this example: an author appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote his or her new book. At the end of the show, TiVo pops up a window with an option to purchase the book. TiVo currently embeds advertisements at the bottom of certain windows, which is likely where this offer would appear.
Apple's Q3 numbers: iPod sales mostly flat, Macs selling at record pace
Apple said in its quarterly earnings conference call Monday that it has shipped 2.5 million Macs in its fiscal third quarter, with the company hinting at a "product transition" to come during this quarter.
In typical Apple fashion, chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer gave little details as to what the transition may be. The only hint was that the mystery product would cut into the company's gross margins.
More trouble for Apple as MobileMe users locked out of e-mail
In what is proving to be one of Apple's more problematic product launches since the G4 Cube, the company is now admitting some MobileMe users are unable to access their e-mail accounts.
AOL's Unofficial Apple Weblog said Monday that it had been receiving reports of MobileMe subscribers unable to access their e-mail accounts, reportedly for as long as four days.
AT&T again offers, then rescinds free Wi-Fi with iPhone
For the second time, free wireless Internet at the carrier's hotspots including Starbucks was set to become a reality for AT&T iPhone customers; again, the carrier has pulled the offer.
The first time this happened was in late April. While it was not advertised, many iPhone users were able to access AT&T's network through hotspots without having to pay an additional fee or log in. However, the company later relocked those hotspots.
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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