Latest Technology News

Verizon and Motorola weren't the only companies making big announcements at the Droid X debut today. Google's CEO and President Eric Schmidt and Vice President of Engineering Andy Rubin were both present. Following the introduction of the Droid X, Rubin officially announced the open sourcing of Anrdoid 2.2 also known as "Froyo."

Typically, when Google drops the open source version of Android, it means a wave of upgrades to existing handsets will follow soon after.

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The Android community was looking forward to today like it was Christmas, and Verizon and Motorola delivered exactly what the community was expecting: the "sequel" to the popular Motorola Droid, the Droid X.

Droid X features:

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Verizon is considering the deployment of a 10 Gigabit per second passive optical network (XG-PON), and began testing the technology last year. The company's trials with Huawei hardware sought to prove the viability and capabilities of the faster fiber optic networking technology.

Today, Verizon announced that the latest (second) field trial in Taunton utilized Motorola's XG-PON FTTP (fiber to the premesis) hardware to deliver downstream speeds of 10 Gigabits per second and upstream speeds of 2.5Gbps.

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Second quarter is just days from finishing. In the home stretch, could Apple generate enough revenue to top Microsoft? Strong iPhone and, particularly, iPad sales should make the difference. Apple's ascension and Microsoft's descension would mark a turning point in computing eras. Microsoft represents the past -- PCs tied to the Office-Windows-Windows Server applications stack. Apple represents the future: mobile devices and applications connected to the cloud.

I have raised the Apple-overtaking-Microsoft-revenue topic before -- 10 days ago when Apple announced 2 million iPad shipments and on April 23, after both companies announced first-quarter earnings. Yesterday, Apple announced that it had sold -- parlance for shipped -- 3 million units, or another 1 million units in the previous 9 nine days. At that rate, Apple could conceivably add another 500,000 units before quarter's end. I'd say 1 million, but tomorrow's iPhone 4 launch almost certainly will be friction against iPad, if no other reason than how busy Apple retail stores will be.

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In a statement to the press this afternoon, national wireless carrier AT&T outlined the different ways that customers will be able to get the first batch of the new Apple iPhone 4.

Customers who pre-ordered an iPhone on June 15 will begin getting theirs this week. Emails will be sent to customers when each order has shipped. One of our staffers received a note earlier today that estimated an afternoon delivery tomorrow.

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Well, hell, it must be "five reasons" day here at Betanews, and I certainly didn't plan it that way. Earlier I posted "Five reasons why Apple will deliver iPhone 4 preorders early." Now it's Microsoft's "five reasons." I had planned to post this one yesterday but held back because of Apple's iOS 4 release, which gravity well pulled away tech readers' attention (surely the many blog posts or news stories made the update hard to ignore).

I completed the main contents of this post yesterday morning (Hey, I don't have an iPhone on which to test iOS 4) as a follow-up to Friday's "I have lost confidence in Steve Ballmer's leadership." I see that some pundits are taking swings at Microsoft. Yesterday, Henry Blodget asked: "Can Microsoft collapse?" My response: Why ask? This is a $60-billion revenue a year company. RealNetwork's founder Rob Glaser answers thequestion: "Why has Microsoft seemingly stopped innovating?" Considering Real's lack of innovation for most of the Noughties, Glaser is perhaps a good person to answer that question.

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Google Voice, the popular and often controversial VoIP, voicemail, and messaging service from Mountain View search giant Google is now open for anyone in the U.S. to use.

Previously, you could only open a Google Voice account if you received an invitation from a user already participating in the program.

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Adobe began testing Flash Player 10.1 on Android 2.2 in late May, and hit the beta 3 phase last week.

Today, Adobe announced that the final version of Flash Player 10.1 has been sent to mobile platform partners, and that Flash Player 10.1 will be available as a final production release on the following "Froyo" (Android 2.2) devices:

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The notices went out last night: iPhone 4 will arrive a day early for some people -- perhaps even all who successfully preordered on June 15 for a June 24 delivery date. Now why is that? I've got five reasons, but first the obligatory background information.

I placed my order around 7:40 p.m. PT on June 15. Hours earlier, many Apple enthusiast and tech blogs reported that iPhone 4 preorders had sold out and the new arrival date was July 2. I credit these, ah, mistaken reports for the sudden responsiveness of Apple's online iPhone 4 ordering system late on June 15. I finally got through the process with ease, after about a dozen failed attempts throughout the day.

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Sonic Solutions today announced it will be providing the streaming video platform for connected TVs, Blu-ray players, and mobile phones sold at Sears and Kmart stores.
The streaming video services are expected to launch later this year, and will be built upon Sonic's RoxioNow platform.

RoxioNow was formerly known as CinemaNow, but Sonic changed its name last April to fit in with the company's other products. But new name aside, it's the same streaming video platform that powers Blockbuster on Demand and Best Buy's in-house brands.

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Late last year, chipmaker Intel became the subject of sweeping antitrust investigations from the European Commission, the state of New York, and the US Federal Trade Commission.

Today, lawyers for both Intel and the FTC have filed a motion to suspend the trial while both parties consider potential settlement of the case, which was filed in December of 2009. The motion, according to the announcement, opens a window through July 22, when Intel and the FTC will discuss a consent order, which is currently confidential.

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No sooner does Barnes and Noble lower the price of its nook e-reader, than Amazon does the same with the Kindle.

Amazon.com has just announced that the 3G-equipped Kindle 2 e-reader is now $189 (down from $259,) making it $10 cheaper than Barnes and Noble's newly reduced 3G nook.

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Apple is carefully manipulating its share price by the timing of certain product announcements; iPhone 4 is the clearest, recent example. Not that the manipulation is new. In December I asked: "Are Apple stock price gains the reason for recent tablet rumors?" The answer was an unequivocal "Yes!" based on share price gains aligned with rumors -- and Apple announcements that followed.

To be clear: In asserting manipulation, I don't mean to suggest someone is breaking the law or acting unethically. I liken it to a puppeteer masterfully and artistically moving marionettes across a stage. With respect to its share price, Apple is carefully timing certain announcements for maximum share price benefits, with an artist's -- or, perhaps better stated, a master marketer's -- skill.

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Today, Toshiba's Digital Products Division announced an exciting limited edition dual touchscreen netbook/umpc called the Libretto W100.

Specs:

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Late in 2009, leading U.S. book retailer Barnes and Noble launched its first e-reader, the Android-based nook. The nook includes a 6" e-ink display and a 3.5" LCD touchscreen for content navigation, giving it an instantly recognizable shape in an e-reader market packed with selfsame competitors.

When it hit retail, there was only a single nook model which included AT&T 3G wireless that cost $259, the exact same price as the Kindle 2 from Amazon.

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