Ed Oswald

Atlanta-based ZapMedia says Apple is infringing on technology to distribute music over the Internet covered in two of its patents.

Specifically, ZapMedia holds patents on sending music from a server to multiple players. The company applied for the patents in 2000, however the first one wasn't granted until March 2006, and the other on Tuesday.

Continue reading →

Two groups of hackers trying to keep the iPhone unlocked say they have obtained the beta of the iPhone firmware version 2.0, and have already cracked it.

With this, the upgrade will be able to be "jailbroken" as soon as it's released. This will allow users to run unsigned applications from third-party developers as well as those officially approved by Apple.

Continue reading →

The Time Warner division said it would acquire social media network Bebo, which is highly popular outside of the US, for about $850 million in cash.

That international draw appears to be much of the reason why AOL looked to Bebo, and it should play a large part in the company's overall international expansion strategy. In addition, the link-up between AOL's AIM and ICQ properties and Bebo will help it draw in more users.

Continue reading →

Following a raid in January of the office of Samsung's chairman Lee Kun-hee, the lead Korean prosecutor in the case is being given extra time to complete his investigation.

Special prosecutor Cho Joon-woong asked for additional time as he claimed he would not be able to complete the investigation in the original 60 days he was granted.

Continue reading →

Although it's not exactly clear how the law could be enforced, the lawmaker said outlawing anonymous posting could curb online bullying.

Kentucky Representative Tim Couch introduced the bill in the state's Legislature last week. Under the policy, anyone who contributes to a Web site will have to submit a name, e-mail address, and mailing address.

Continue reading →

Microsoft moved to adjust Xbox 360 prices in the European market, likely in an effort to both line up its cost with other regional markets while also taking into account a weakening US dollar.

The changes are taking place in both the UK and markets where the Euro is the currency of choice. In the UK, the base Xbox 360, the Arcade, will fall to £159, down £20, the standard model to £199 from £249, and the Elite £259 from its original £299 price.

Continue reading →

Lionsgate became the first movie studio to incorporate a digital copy of its movies intended for playback within iTunes for purchasers of select DVDs.

The first two films to include the file on the DVD are Rambo and The Eye. The former will be available on May 27, while the latter will be available this summer.

Continue reading →

Vudu pushed an update to its platform this week which would allow for users to free up hard drive space by "storing" purchased movies on the company's own servers.

Known as the "Vault," it appears to merely allow for the customer to delete the movie from the set-top box's hard drive by flagging the movie as having been previously purchased from the Vudu servers.

Continue reading →

March 6, 2008 4:10pm - Ask.com sat down with BetaNews Thursday afternoon to publicly dispel some misunderstandings regarding Wednesday's news, as well as provide additional clarification on our original story.

Primary to this, Ask.com spokesman Nicholas Graham said that while Ask.com certainly does have a large female demographic, it was "not becoming a women's site." Rather, the new strategy going forward will pay closer attention to this group, while also attempting to expand it outside of this demographic.

Continue reading →

Two of the Apple iPhone's biggest negatives were addressed on Thursday, as the Cupertino company announced both native third-party application and Exchange support.

Along with the new functionality, Apple also demonstrated a beta of the 2.0 release of the iPhones firmware, which incorporates the changes necessary for the new development platform.

Continue reading →

A settlement has been reached with a Chinese company accused of providing cybercafes with copies of movies by MPA member studios.

Announced Thursday, the agreement was reached on February 28, and will settle any pending litigation. Five MPA member companies had filed complaints with the Shanghai No.2 Intermediate Court in September and December of last year.

Continue reading →

Adobe is not the only target of Steve Jobs' ire -- it appears movie studios are as well. The Apple CEO made clear in comments earlier this week he's unimpressed with progress in making videos available through iTunes.

While an exact count of the number of rentable movies has yet to be assessed, current estimates peg it at about 400 to 500. This is less than half the promised amount when Apple first announced its rental initiative at Macworld last January.

Continue reading →

Swiss bank Julius Baer has dropped its case against whistleblower Wikileaks, without giving any reason for doing so..

A district judge reversed his own injunction which shut the site down last Friday, saying he had concerns over Wikileaks' First Amendment rights and legal jurisdiction. Several media companies, the ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation all filed motions to intervene in the case.

Continue reading →

Despite discussion that the company needs to reduce prices in order to advance the format, Sony still seems to be mostly ignoring those calls.

Price continues to be the biggest argument against Blu-ray, even though it is no longer facing serious competition from HD DVD. It is no surprise that analysts and press have begun pressing for answers from the company on this issue.

Continue reading →

Google global sales chief Sheryl Sandberg will leave the company to become second in command at Facebook.

Sandberg will be the one of the highest ranking executives to leave Mountain View following its high-flying IPO four years ago. The change wasn't taken well on Wall Street -- who pushed the stock to 52-week lows.

Continue reading →