Google today said it will stop collecting Wi-Fi network data from its Street View cars, after an investigation from the German Data Protection Authority (DPA) found the search company was also collecting personal data about user behavior on these public hotspots.

Google's Street View cars weren't only taking 360-degree images of our streets for use on Google Maps, but they were also pulling publicly broadcast SSID and MAC information from Wi-Fi hotspots.

Continue reading →

It has been said that a win is a win. That notion was effectively proven false today, as the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals granted EchoStar's and former sister company Dish Network's motion to throw out its own decision last March.

In that decision, a three-judge panel voted 2-1 to rule that a fix to EchoStar software that TiVo claimed infringed upon its patents, was not so broad that it mandated a new and separate trial of TiVo's complaint. Now, the Federal Circuit will meet en banc, with as many as 12 judges seated instead of 3, to rehear EchoStar's argument.

Continue reading →

Today, Google announced that it is going to end its online-only sales of the Nexus One smartphone, start selling the Android-powered device through retail channels, and eventually stop selling phones in its Web store altogether.

"While the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the web store has not. It's remained a niche channel for early adopters, but it's clear that many customers like a hands-on experience before buying a phone, and they also want a wide range of service plans to chose from," Andy Rubin, Google's Vice President of Engineering said today.

Continue reading →

Google Voice is still only available with an invitation from Google or from another Google Voice user, but today it made a big step toward being open to everybody.

Now, if you have an email account ending in .edu, you can get Google Voice, Jason Toff of the Google Voice team posted in the service's official blog today.

Continue reading →

NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled end its 25-year career with one final trip into space today. The shuttle will be manned by six astronauts and is expected to be in flight for twelve days. The STS-132 mission is to deliver equipment to the International Space Station which includes a Russian Mini-Research Module, a set of batteries for the station's truss and dish antenna, and other replacement parts.

However, the launch takes place today at 2:20pm EST, a time when most of the United States is at work.

Continue reading →

At a posh, invitation-only bash in New York City on Wednesday, Microsoft launched Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010. In so doing, the company touted many of the oft-repeated benefits around collaboration, employee productivity, and cost reduction. But more and more, it's relying on the products' own users to make its case.

The new Office apps made their premiere at the historic NBC Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center -- the home of everyone from Arturo Toscanini conducting Beethoven's 9th, to Chet and David calling the 1960 election, to Betty White wowing the crowd on Saturday Night Live just last week. To this illustrious roster, Microsoft this week added an ordinary customer -- Wolfje Van Dijk of Netherlands-based KPN/Getronics, its lead-off speaker.

Continue reading →

Today, I received Amazon e-mail about a one-day sale on Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 -- hey, just $54.99 before a $20 mail-in rebate. What's not to like about that? The landing page listed something else: "Adobe Photoshop Extended CS5 Student and Teacher Edition," which releases on May 25. Whoa, could this be like Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition, with multiple licenses and availability to anyone with enough gumption to claim they're a student of life? Hardly. Adobe's license-key terms are so onerous, I predict there will be higher-than-normal attempted returns of this edition.

But first a history lesson: Microsoft pulled something of a retail coup in autumn 2001 with the $149 Office XP edition for students and teachers. The edition let Microsoft drop the price for consumers without risking business version revenues. What success! As I wrote for CNET News.com in August 2001: "Retailers have sold 300,000 copies of the academic version of Office XP since October, taking in about $43 million in revenue, according to NPDTechworld. By comparison, the full standard version has racked up 121,000 retail sales and the standard upgrade version has sold 100,000 since Office XP's release in May 2001." Something else: Microsoft didn't card buyers at the door so to speak. No one checked (wink, wink) that buyers were students (wink, wink).

Continue reading →

In a pair of Android smartphone product previews this week, LG and Verizon Wireless promo'd an Iron Man 2 "augmented reality" app for the Ally, while HTC and Sprint drew on Sprint's long-time relationship with Disney to drum up interest. Yet sneak peeks of the two forthcoming smartphones also revealed the Ally's highly functional physical keyboard, and the EVO's impressive videoconferencing capabilities.

Verizon's LG Ally

Continue reading →

Video game company Nintendo today said it filed a civil lawsuit against New York-based website owner NXPGAME for selling game copiers that let users download and play ROMS of Nintendo DS and DSi games.

Nintendo says NXPGAME agreed to stop selling the game copier on its sites, but simply moved operations to a different URL.

Continue reading →

An assembled group of telecommunications ministers from the European Union's member states, called the Article 29 Working Party, has warned Facebook that changes it recently made to its privacy policy to enable "Instant Personalization" -- also known as "Like" -- may be in violation of what they thought was an agreement made in November 2009.

That warning stops short of directly accusing Facebook of violating laws, though it leaves the door open for such a decision in the future.
According to a statement released yesterday from Brussels (the text of their letter has yet to be released), the ministers did imply that Facebook's public presence at a meeting entitled "Safer Networking Principles for the EU," where its representatives signed a pledge, appears to contradict the changes it made to privacy policy just days later.

Continue reading →

Video chatting is on the rise. Yesterday, we got to take a look at Qik's mobile video chat client for the Sprint EVO 4G, and today, we get to take a look at Skype's latest development: five-way video chat.

Today, popular VoIP and chat client Skype launched a beta of Skype 5.0 for Windows, which includes a free trial of group video calling, a re-designed call view window, improved video snapshots gallery, and improved browser plugin performance.

Continue reading →

Yeah, but will Apple's CEO love Adobe back?

The Adobe-Apple breakup has taken on strange tabloid-like qualities over the last 30 days or so. Quick someone call in the paparazzi, but first ask if they'll be editing those photos in Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Lightroom or Apple Aperture. Today, Adobe cofounders Chuck Geschke and John Warnock responded to Jobs' Aptil 29 "Thoughts on Flash" memo with their own: "Our thoughts on open markets." Adobe is supporting the memo with a marketing campaign -- "We love Apple" ads and "Freedom of Choice" Website." Adobe's response is measured and embracing, subtly placing the blame for the breakup on Apple. In the court of public and developer opinion -- perhaps shareholders in both companies -- Adobe may prove the venerable of the two parties here.

Continue reading →

Adobe is running quite a cleanup campaign after Apple CEO Steve Jobs' recent criticism of the Flash platform, which he laid out in a letter called "Thoughts on Flash."

Adobe has released a flurry of responses, including a letter from Chuck Geschke and John Warnock Adobe's Cofounders and Chairmen of the company's board of directors called "Our thoughts on open markets," an advertising campaign called "Freedom of Choice" which includes the banner shown above (and display ads that say "We [love] Apple,") an information page titled "The Truth about Flash," and a full-page ad in today's Washington Post.

Continue reading →

Modern "American dream" stories often start with a romantic phase: A young couple struggles through graduate school, starving on measly stipends covering ramen noodles and cheap wine. Unfortunately, that story is about to disappear, following American manufacturing jobs. College professors are now outsourcing grading, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported in April.

Teaching assistants (TAs) have provided that service for generations, but now it is going overseas. Recession-hit universities get even better deals outsourcing than they did with notoriously underpaid graduate students. Now, this work often ends up in the hands of credentialed Indian stay-at-home moms eager to work part-time.

Continue reading →

Streaming video service Qik first debuted just over two years ago, letting users turn their smartphones into live webcams with just a simple app and a strong connection. Users can stream video from their phones live to Qik's site, but with considerable buffering.

However, with the growth of faster 4G connections, Qik has been able to put together a new two-way video chat app that lets users communicate in streaming video with very little latency.

Continue reading →