Another Google service outage makes its cloud look more like Swiss cheese
A Google spokesperson confirmed to Betanews this afternoon that soon after the company's Gmail service outage Tuesday, but in an unrelated incident, customers of the company's AdSense network were notified of a service outage.
"On February 25 in the morning Pacific Time," the spokesperson said, "there was a 90-minute AdSense outage that affected a small number of AdSense customers. All affected publishers were notified, and the problem was quickly resolved."
iPhone gets CBS shows for free with TV.com app
CBS' TV.com and NBC Universal and News Corp.'s Hulu have been in the tech news foreground this week, revealing their struggle to meaningfully coexist on the PC screen. Meanwhile, the mobile device screen presents a different set of challenges, which TV.com today has officially addressed.
TV.com has launched an iPhone app that allows users to stream CBS' content over AT&T's mobile wireless signal. This is an accomplishment for several reasons. First, other streaming TV apps for the iPhone (Joost, BBC iPlayer) required a Wi-Fi connection to receive content. Secondly, it utilizes the iPhone's native QuickTime video player by streaming in H.264 and not a proprietary protocol like Joost.
Bartz: 'Look for Yahoo to kick ass again'
There was no all-lower-case text, an absence of apology, not a single metaphor, and a definitive lack of "peanut butter" in yesterday's appearances, both in public and online, from new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. Upon assuming the post from Jerry Yang, Bartz said she would clean house, and analysts were told to expect fireworks. She absolutely delivered.
"Our brand [is] one of our biggest assets," Bartz wrote in her premiere on her new company's old blog yesterday. "Mention Yahoo practically anywhere in the world, and people yodel. But in the past few years, we haven't been as clear in showing the world what the Yahoo brand stands for. We're going to change that. Look for this company's brand to kick ass again."
Trapped motorist triggers nationwide LG handset recall
Today, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall of 30,000 LG 830 "Spyder" handsets for an inability to maintain a connection to 911.
The recall is based on a report to the commission of a motorist trapped in a disabled car who attempted to dial 911 for help. The phone was unable to keep a usable connection to the emergency service, dropped the call, and could not establish a GPS lock to locate the distressed individual.
Smoldering Bolds: New BlackBerry gets yanked from shelves again
Research In Motion's BlackBerry Bold has been one of the most problematic smartphones of the year. The handset was delayed several times for purported 3G network testing, while rumors swirled that the real problem was that the device was overheating.
RIM's Erik Van Drunen told Betanews in July that he had no idea where such rumors were coming from, discounting it as a product of the blogosphere. At that point, RIM would not confirm when the device would actually be released in the US.
Analysis: WiMAX faces competition from HSPA, not LTE
Industry analysis firm In-Stat this week released a worldwide "state of the union" for 4G networks, finding that though WiMAX has a strong lead in deployments, it won't even be competing with LTE when that standard starts to be rolled out.
In-Stat analyst Daryl Schoolar says, "Most of the operators looking to deploy WiMAX come to it from the fixed network space. These operators are looking to use WiMAX as an enhanced DSL service. Enhanced DSL will combine both the fixed broadband service with some form of nomadic coverage."
Fun with algorithms at Microsoft TechFest
It's a shame Microsoft only lets wizened old journalists into TechFest and not, say, packs of second graders. Because if there's anything that could show kids that math really is a ridiculous amount of fun, it would be a room full of people paid to find new ways to go about it.
All the truly significant tech companies have understood that somewhere at the heart of the firm, you have to make room for the guys who will never hand over an entirely shelf-ready product. That's true of most items found at TechFest, but it's a little more true of those working in theory -- and if you doubt me, ask the video crew charged with getting good footage of new search algorithms.
Sir Howard Stringer will expand role at Sony
Chairman, CEO and now president: Howard Stringer's role at Sony is expanding in the wake of the firm's unprecedented recent losses. Ryoji Chubachi, who oversees the electronics division, will step down from the president's role, staying on as vice-chairman of the board. The changes will take effect April 1.
The electronics division was ground zero of the bomb that was Sony's most recent earnings report. This quarter's not looking any brighter. For the quarter ending in March, the company now expects to report a loss of $1.53 billion, compared to earnings of $3.77 billion during the same quarter last year. (One widely quoted analyst, Yuuki Sakurai, suggested that the UK-born Stringer was moved into the driver's seat precisely because the situation's tough -- and will require someone with "non-Japanese loyalties" to make tough restructuring and cut decisions. Let the gaijin do it!)
Google News to add ads
On the same day that the 150-year-old Rocky Mountain News announced that it was shutting down effective Friday for lack of revenue, Google News confirmed its plan to sell AdWords placement on its Google News searches.
The ads, which officially debuted Thursday, work as AdWords usually do, serving up pages related to the search terms (rather than news results from specific publications). Josh Cohen, a business product manager for Google, described the results as "similar to what you see on regular Google searches or Google Book Search."
Google blocks paid apps on unlocked G1 thanks to 'rip and return' loophole
Google has unceremoniously blocked a large portion of the applications in the Android Market from owners of unlocked G1s. Any copy protected application (all of the new for-pay apps) are now unusable, according to an Android Market forum post.
Google told IDG's MacWorld that it is no longer distributing copy-protected apps to reduce the unauthorized copying of those applications.
Dell's Q4: 'Flat' is not a bad place to be
When former CFO Don Carty left Dell Inc. to rejoin his retirement, after having pulled one more rabbit out of his hat and perhaps saved the company, it was last May, and the first signs of the economic crisis (the collapse of the housing market) were only just now upon us. It looked as though Dell would ride a gradual wave of slow redemption, if not overall prosperity, having emerged from an accounting crisis the likes of which would have crippled almost any other US company in the public mind.
But did Carty exit at the wrong time for Dell, not knowing what lay ahead? Late this afternoon, the world's #2 PC maker revealed the answer: It's weathering the storm pretty well, thank you very much, with Michael Dell actively manning the tiller, and former GE Plastics CEO Brian Gladden in the CFO's chair.
Here's a get-well-soon gift idea: An Apple board with a grip
There exists a man named Steve Jobs. If we were to tell his life story, it would include his parentage of diverse companies. Some grew up smart and strong (Pixar). Some struggled through brief lives but live on in memory (NeXT). And then there's Apple -- the immature brat that refuses to move out of the house and do its own damn laundry.
Seriously, Apple board members, what have you been thinking all these years, that you spend your time during Jobs' six-month medical leave whining like a two-year-old about when Daddy's coming home and acting shifty when someone rings the doorbell? How did you let yourself get into a situation where corporate-governance folks want to string you up for not giving up even more information about what should by rights be a private and peaceful time in Jobs' life?
Confirmed: Time Warner Cable users impacted by DDoS attack
When users of Time Warner Cable systems report issues concerning slow broadband performance affecting a wide region, they've been happy to see prompt responses from JeffTWC -- one Jeff Simmermon, who's the company's New York-based Director of Digital Communication. In recent days, though, Simmermon's Twitter feed has been exploding with complaints.
As it turned out, there's a serious reason for concern, as Simmermon explained in a longer-than-Twitter post late yesterday: Time Warner Cable systems are the apparent target of an orchestrated denial-of-service attack.
Facebook's new terms of service: Direct Democracy 2.0
In light of Facebook's recent Terms of Use conflicts, users' pages are now stamped with a message linked to a blog post from founder Mark Zuckerberg announcing suggested changes to how Facebook may be governed in the future.
Two documents, called "Facebook Principles" and "Statement of Rights and Responsibilities" have been posted for user review and comment. These will not go into effect until they have been voted upon and changed by the users. The comment period closes at 12:01 am Pacific Time on March 29.
Bartz wields Yahoo's terrible swift sword, Jorgensen falls
Yahoo CFO Blake Jorgensen is out and the much-rumored reorganization is on as CEO Carol Bartz blows up the "notorious silos" that have left the company sluggish in recent years, and makes visible moves to renew the company's consumer focus.
Current CTO Ari Balough will now hold sole managerial responsibility for all of Yahoo's technology and products. The company will seek a new CFO, and Jorgensen will fill in during that period.
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