Apple has a surprise competitor in notebooks: Samsung
Samsung is actually known as an innovator in the notebook computer field, having equipped some models with solid state drives as early as two years ago. But it hasn't made its notebook presence known in America until today.
While the requisite drooling over the new MacBook Pro's slick glass surface goes on in Cupertino this morning, there's a tsunami under way in notebook computing, and its source appears to be Seoul. Samsung today announced it is storming onto the US notebook market with a complete lineup whose marketing structure has already been tested elsewhere in the world, and with price-competitive models that have intriguing features and a promise for quality.
Pioneer gets in on the Qflix direct-DVD-download act
Sonic Solutions announced Qflix download and burn technology for DVD nearly a year ago. Now, following Dell's lead, Pioneer has announced its own Qflix compatible burners.
Today, Pioneer announced two Qflix DVD/CD burners: the internal DVR-2920Q,
and the external DVR-X162Q. Both drives incorporate Sonic Solutions' Roxio Venue software, which was designed to create protected DVDs from legally purchased downloads, as stipulated by The DVD Copy Control Association in 2006. The drives will begin shipping this month, and carry an MSRP of $69.99 for the internal model, and $114.99 for the external, a scant $5 cheaper than Dell's.
Analysts: Will $999 MacBook have an impact?
Apple today finally broke the $1,000 barrier on MacBooks, yet it didn't break out a sub-$800 notebook or netbook. Will people forced into penny-pinching still be willing to pay what some call the "Apple tax?"
At a hyped-up Cupertino launch event today, Apple dashed the hopes of a lot of users, introducing the expected new models of its existing MacBooks, but not rolling out a rumored sub-$800 notebook or netbook.
Downloaders declare open season on OpenOffice 3.0 servers
Download OpenOffice.org for Windows 3.0 Final Edition from FileForum now.
Flattened by popular demand: Servers hosting the final version of OpenOffice 3.0, released yesterday, have been struggling to keep up with would-be downloaders.
New MacBook Pros look a lot like the early pictures
Apple's spotlight on notebooks this morning in Cupertino unveiled the company's newest line of MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks, proving once again that there is nothing that Apple can make that the blogs can't leak.
The leaked images that have been circulating on Engadget and elsewhere for the last two weeks have been of the new MacBook Pro, which was announced today; likewise, the "brick" term that was thrown around in rumors referred to Apple's new manufacturing process of this chassis, also announced today.
Steve Jobs: Blu-ray is a bag of hurt, no netbook planned
During a Q&A session following Apple's special MacBook event on Tuesday, company CEO and industry magnate Steve Jobs said Apple was holding off on incorporating Blu-ray because licensing the technology is "a bag of hurt."
Apple was an early backer of Blu-ray, but has been silent about adding Blu-ray drives to its notebooks or desktop computers. Meanwhile, Acer, HP and others have already been shipping Blu-ray drives with their systems.
Joost re-launches as a Flash-based movie site
Contrary to earlier reports saying that P2P TV service Joost would release a browser plug-in not based on Adobe Flash, the site has done just that.
Joost has relaunched its free streaming TV service in Flash and intends for in-browser content consumption. Previously, users had to download and install a desktop client to participate; and though interest was high, beta testers expressed disappointment in the service's speed and bandwidth consumption.
Final Silverlight 2.0 ships Tuesday
Download Silverlight 2.0 for Windows from FileForum now.
11:56 am EDT October 14, 2008 - BetaNews has verified that Silverlight 2.0 has been released on schedule, and that the update process has begun.1:03 pm EDT October 13, 2008 - In a teleconference today, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Scott Guthrie told the press that the company's 2.0 version of Silverlight will be ready to ship tomorrow, October 14.
President signs controversial IP enforcement act into law
Convicted counterfeiters will now be subject to increased fines and the forfeiture of their property, under a new law that took effect yesterday. And the size of government just got bigger, with the creation of one more office.
While opposition was, as we put it some weeks ago, "mounting" against an intellectual property enforcement bill that would create a new government office in charge of enacting government policy against IP infringement, piracy, and counterfeiting, it's fair to say that opposition remained in large part outside of Congress. Last September 26, the US Senate passed the PRO-IP Act by unanimous consent; two days later, the House ratified it by a vote of 381-41.
T-Mobile cannot confirm 1.5M pre-orders of Android G1 phone
While stopping short of confirming rumors of 1.5 million pre-orders, T-Mobile told BetaNews today that pre-sale demand for its G1 is "robust," and that the first Android device will, in fact, be available on Oct. 22.
In a statement to BetaNews this morning, T-Mobile finally lifted its veil of silence on reports that customers have pre-ordered 1.5 million G1 phones. Although neither confirming nor denying rumors flying around since Friday, a T-Mobile spokesperson said that the industry's first Android device is "one of the most highly anticipated phones of the year," that demand "continues to be robust," and that the phone will be available on Oct. 22 for customers "to be able to experience."
Bypassing Blu-ray, Sony to stream first-run movies to Bravia TV
Sony's Bravia Internet Video Link will receive its first movie premiere, Hancock, on October 28, before it is released on any other media.
Early in the summer, Sony CEO Howard Stringer announced that broadband-connected Bravia TV's would receive a streaming movie service, beginning with the premiere of Sony Pictures' Hancock.
Those who can't hack (much), write
Since there have been computer intrusions, it seems, there have been crackers (that is, black-hat "hackers") wanting to write books detailing What They Did. But often, the better the hack, the less the urge to write a book about it.
David Kernell, the college student currently accused of "hacking" into VP candidate Sarah Palin's e-mail account, may yet end up taking his lumps from the legal system -- even if he didn't do much more than take an educated guess at Palin's "secret" security question. If Kernell does end up with a conviction, I would humbly ask that repayment of his debt to society consist of haranguing Yahoo about their pitiful secret-question security system. Or maybe he should have to field-dress a Palin-shot moose as punishment. Please, though, kid -- would you spare us the book telling us how clever you were?
BlackBerry flip phone now available on T-Mobile
Showing that the upcoming G1, the industry's first Android-based mobile device, isn't the only new smartphone to be "exclusive" to its wireless network, on Monday, T-Mobile USA announced the availability of a BlackBerry flip phone.
T-Mobile competitor Verizon Wireless got the honor of being the exclusive provider of another new RIM smartphone -- the BlackBerry Storm -- in the US. But T-Mobile is the exclusive US provider of the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220, the first smartphone from RIM to come in a flip phone form factor.
No surprise: 'Windows 7' will be Windows 7
Is it an indication that poetic titles and artificial excitement can do less to endear an OS in the minds of its users than simple, straightforward functionality? Today, Microsoft said it's going back to doing things by number.
In a quick announcement this afternoon on the company blog for Windows Vista -- what's already being perceived as the "old version of Windows" by Microsoft -- the company's corporate VP for Windows product management revealed what many developers had already long suspected: The next version will be called what we've been calling it for months already, "Windows 7."
Columbus Day means tech stocks re-discover forward momentum
For the last several days, investors whose contribution of capital influx fuels the US technology business had difficulty determining which way was up. Today, on what for some was a holiday, they definitely found up again.
In perhaps the most welcomed rally in the history of the US stock market, a single-day 936.42 point surge in the Dow Jones Industrials (an 11.08% gain) indicated investors' newfound confidence in the British and European governments' respective bailout plans for their troubled banks. Almost every major technology stock participated in the rally, giving much needed support for some issues that were, and even still are, dangerously close to delisting.
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