Legislation would block the resurrection of TV's 'Fairness Doctrine'
If your YouTube video makes a statement, and it gets onto somebody's HDTV some day, is YouTube obligated to make time available for opposing viewpoints? Certainly not...or so you might think.
Since 1949, a law has existed on the US federal books mandating that broadcasters who grant time for certain viewpoints or opinions grant "equal time" to opposing viewpoints. This is the infamous Fairness Doctrine, which is still the law of the land -- according to a Supreme Court ruling -- although the federal mandate for the FCC to enforce that law was officially repealed in 1985.
Best Buy gets by on Web sales, Circuit City's struggles persist.
Two major CE retailers released news about how they're coping with the economic downtown, with Best Buy doing considerably better than Circuit City -- which might cease to exist before the month is out.
Best Buy released its sales figures for the 2008 holiday season, and there was good news and bad news. According to the Financial Times, though December sales dropped 6.8% in U.S. stores, the retailer's overall business actually went up 4%. The company also said in its statement that its Web sales had grown 34% in the month of December. The segment which did the best was home office -- which actually went up year over year by 6.5% -- and the segment which did worst was appliances, which went down 24.5%.
Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 betas go live
Download Windows 7 Beta from Fileforum now (or at least try).
Huge public turnout online for a beta package that flirts with the 3 GB mark, forced Microsoft Friday afternoon to suspend distribution of its Windows 7 beta.
AMD to develop a cloud supercomputer for graphics rendering
The system that could render the next 3D game for cell phones and handsets may not even reside on those devices, if AMD has its way.
Easily AMD's most important announcement from a corporate survival standpoint was its Phenom II X4 platform, which could earn the company some bragging rights in the important enthusiast market. But AMD also needed a psychological boost, something which could represent the company's goals equally among everyone, not just system builders.
Hauppage takes Pinnacle off of Avid's shoulders
Hauppage Digital Inc., a developer and manufacturer of analog and digital TV tuner products for PCs, has eliminated a competitor by buying the Pinnacle PCTV product line from Avid Corp.
Avid is best known for its video editing hardware and software.
Obama transition team suggests delaying DTV transition
With the latest technological countdown for change still in progress, the incoming President-Elect may try to call a halt.
While the February 17 switchover date to a new, principal broadcasting format is looming, another huge switchover is even nearer: January 20. And all of a sudden, the transition team that had until recently suggested that there is only one administration in power at any one time, is suggesting that the US government may not be doing enough to help citizens through this difficult change.
New Pioneer Blu-ray players turn up the RAM for Blu-ray
One of the most venerable names in consumer electronics, Pioneer, showed that it was still a player. No pun intended.
Like a TiVo for XM radio, Pioneer Electronics' GEX-XMP3 portable XM Satellite Radio with MP3 provides more than 170 channels of XM content, with the capability to schedule recordings of up to 75 hours of XM programs, and automatic recording of 15-30 hours of XM programs -- five channels at a time. It can also replay up to 30 minutes of live XM. In addition, it includes a microSD card slot for playing recorded music. It is available now for $279.
Macrovision's appeal for CE makers to stop bypassing the IPG
The channel behind the TV channels you watch could be the most lucrative new advertising platform since the advent of the Web.
Last year, Macrovision acquired TV Guide magazine not so much for the magazine -- it ended up selling the publication arm for a single buck -- but for its interest in its interactive program guide partnerships with content providers like Comcast. With HDTV manufacturers at CES this year integrating their own program guides into their displays, Macrovision's investment is threatened with irrelevance in the coming years.
ViewSonic brand adorns a new netbook
Known for its crystal-sharp displays, ViewSonic will enter (or re-enter) the PC business with its Atom-based LinkPC.
New netbooks are struggling to find the right price point, and the sluggish economy may not be helping much. So $400 is going to be a gamble for ViewSonic, a company not known to current buyers as having ever made a PC.
Counter-'tock:' AMD fires back at Intel with everything it's got
This may be it. If AMD has one trump card left in its deck, it could be the ability to deliver a system that balances attractive performance with a measurably lower price. Today at CES, AMD is making its one shot to win back the enthusiast.
In recent months, the general perception among knowledgeable system builders has been that Intel has taken back the performance crown in nearly all market categories, and is threatening to lock in on the two market segments AMD has historically championed: 1) the budget-conscious buyer, and 2) the system builder and enthusiast.
Sony's big news: the Vaio P 'Lifestyle PC'
The question in advance of Sony's first press conference at CES (there will be more than one) is whether it would choose to talk about its financial condition first. The answer is apparently "no," as it premiered its secret Vaio PC.
But in typical Sony fashion, its late afternoon press conference got off the ground about a half-hour late, amid a sea of reporters. Many of them had been given advance word of the Vaio P series, which Sony is describing as "a new line of high-performance, ultra-portable notebooks that fuses Sony's eye-catching design and mobility."
Upgraded TiVo Search enables finding videos on broadband, cable
TiVo viewers are already accustomed to finding content textually through a menu, even if typing on a remote is a pain. But soon, a new feature will enable them to find Internet videos alongside their regular HD media.
Betanews tests of a late beta of the new TiVo Search feature reveals the presence of a very sophisticated underlying search engine, not only capable of estimating what you might be looking for -- the way Google tries to complete your query when you're typing it in -- but also associating content you've selected for viewing or recording with other content with a similar theme or with matching cast members.
AMD's Athlon Neo processor will take on Intel's Atom
As the netbook platform takes shape this year at CES, AMD is giving a more focused picture of what the inside of that platform could look like...but not too focused, at least not for a few days yet.
What AMD had been calling its "Yukon" notebook processing platform and will now call...something else, was officially unveiled this morning with HP effectively beating AMD to the punch. Its new dv2 line of netbooks will include AMD's new Athlon Neo processor, the centerpiece of the CPU maker's new netbook platform.
Microsoft elevates Bob Muglia's role in a changing company
The man who brought new life to the Server and Tools division, and who now challenges Ray Ozzie as the future prince of company keynotes, is being rewarded with an upgrade to his role that places him on a par with Dr. Qi Lu.
Up until recently, Bob Muglia's role at Microsoft has been to lead the Server and Tools division, making him effectively the fellow in charge of both Visual Studio and Windows Server -- two of the company's four pillars, besides Windows client and Office. (Frankly, SQL Server should be added to that list, and Muglia heads that project too.) Muglia has also been a member of the company's Senior Leadership Team, making him jointly responsible for corporate strategy. After today, none of those facts will have changed.
Jobs-less Macworld offers up 17-inch MacBook Pro, variable iTunes prices
Expectations were moderated after the king of the keynotes stepped aside for what he admitted yesterday to be health problems. But at a quieter, gentler Macworld, the crowd did get something to take home.
For perhaps any other company than Apple, the expectation of a world-changing product at least twice per year, if not more frequently, might be too much to ask. At what appears to be the final Macworld conference with which Apple will directly participate, Steve Jobs' stand-in, Apple SVP for Marketing Phil Schiller, showed off some software updates -- specifically, to the iWork and iLife software suites -- before premiering a new widescreen edition of the MacBook Pro.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.