Latest Technology News

Last year at Google I/O, the search company's annual developer conference, we got the first look at Android 2.0, also known as "Eclair."

On Wednesday this week, Google I/O 2010 will begin, and we're sure to see the next version of Google's mobile operating system: Android 2.2, also known as "FroYo." Last week, the telltale giant dessert-themed sculpture representing 2.2 was rolled out onto the lawn of Google's Mountain View headquarters, just as they have before previous versions were released.

Two months ago, VPN builder VirnetX was awarded $105.75 million by a Tyler, Texas jury, for Microsoft's infringing upon its patented tunneling protocol for private networks. Realizing that this could actually be the first home run by VirnetX in the same turn at bat, Microsoft has opted to pay $200 million to VirnetX as a settlement for this and all future lawsuits.

The technology that triggered the initial award was a way for VoIP phones to conduct communications on secure channels, without the phone user having to log in using some kind of keyboard. What Microsoft wanted for its Unified Communications suite was a way to keep the same "dialtone" when a user picks up a voice receiver and dials a recipient, and yet keep the channel between the parties secure using VPN technology.

Flash, sharply rejected by Jobs and Company, has moved on to Apple's competitors, hoping for a warm welcome and the promise of a place in the mobile market. While Apple CEO Steve Jobs' recent open letter deploring Adobe's Flash managed to do little in terms of settling the argument as to who was right in the debate, it did point out many of the problems with the oft-buggy software that may indeed plague the smartphone experience.

With Flash Player 10.1 set to debut later this year and a slew of Flash alternatives moving into the forefront, the need for compatibility between third-party developers and designers has grown significantly. In 2009, Avi Greengart, the research director of consumer devices at Current Analysis, predicted that if Apple were to leave Flash out of its lineup, then it must be coming up with its own video support setup since it would end up being a disadvantage.

On its five year anniversary, popular video streaming site YouTube announced it streams two billion videos every day.

"What started as a site for bedroom vloggers and viral videos has evolved into a global platform that supports HD and 3D, broadcasts entire sports seasons live to 200+ countries," it said in the official YouTube Blog on Sunday. "We bring feature films from Hollywood studios and independent filmmakers to far-flung audiences. Activists document social unrest seeking to transform societies, and leading civic and political figures stream interviews to the world."

Two years ago, Roku launched the first set top box dedicated to Netflix's Instant Streaming. Since that time, Roku has added enough partnerships to make that $99 box into its own little a la carte TV service.

In addition to the Netflix channel, the Roku streamer has Amazon Video on Demand, MLB.TV, NBA Game Time, Revision3, Blip.tv, DreamTV, Moonlight Movies, Kung-Fu Theater, Drive-In Classics, Cowboy Classics, Midwest Cage Championship, Pandora, Weiss Money Network, MediaFly, Motionbox, Twit.TV, Flickr, FrameChannel, MHz On Demand, Facebook Photos, Blubrry Podcast Community, MobileTribe, The Highway Girl, SmugMug, and Tech Podcasts Network. There are more than 50,000 instantly streamable movies, TV Shows, live sporting events, and podcasts available on Roku with more being added every day. Since it's an open platform, users can even create and add their own stations.

Big news yesterday: A judge unsealed lots of juicy court documents related to Apple's lost smartphone, what Gizmodo calls the "next iPhone." Since seemingly every blog or news site on the planet covered the unsealing while I was out sick yesterday, I am writing a lighter, top-10 followup today.

But first the news-heavy recap: An Apple employee lost the iPhone prototype in mid-March, while celebrating his birthday. The finder later sold the device to Gizmodo, reportedly for $5,000, although the unsealed court documents list the sum as $8,500 with promise of a possible bonus later on. Gizmodo published a series of stories, with photos and videos, starting on April 19. On April 23, San Mateo police officers raided the home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen. Court documents refer to him as "suspect Chen."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

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.