Best Buy launches collectively customized 'Blue Label' laptops
How would you describe your 'ideal laptop'? Starting with new Toshiba and HP models, Best Buy is now offering an exclusive line of CE products -- based on people's answers to questions like these -- under its new 'Blue Label" program.
Retail giant Best Buy has rolled out new Toshiba and HP laptops as the first results of Blue Label, a new effort to work with computer vendors on building products that directly reflect consumers' wishes.
Microsoft preps gamers for the Xbox Experience
At last July's E3, Microsoft first announced its concept of an avatar-based community for online gaming, along with the ability to install games to the hard drive. At the Tokyo Game Show, the experience got a launch date: November 19.
With what's now being called the "Xbox Experience," gamers will be able to create customized avatars (similar to, but more tweakable than Nintendo's Miis) that can host "Live Parties" or engage in one-to-one chats with other users. These avatars will also be fixtures of new massively multi-player social games that are expected to arrive by the holidays like Scene It? Box Office Smash and Lips, a multi-player Karaoke game not unlike Singstar.
First Asus WiMAX notebook ships, others from Lenovo, Acer to come
Now that the long promised faster speeds of WiMAX are starting to rev up into reality, PC makers are rolling out the first WiMAX-enabled networks. At least one model -- from Asus -- is already shipping, but it'll cost you a cool $1,399.
Sprint's launch in Baltimore of the first WiMAX network in the US drew support this week from a long list of PC vendors that are either planning or already selling WiMAX-enabled laptops, including Asus, Lenovo, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony.
What crisis? IBM spoils the bears' day with good Q3 news
Usually when a company these days gives advance warning to the press about earnings numbers that aren't due for another week, it's to help diffuse a negative backlash. Not this time, as IBM handed the market a rare gift.
In an SEC filing this morning, IBM went out of its way to bring good tidings of great earnings for a market that could really use a little Christmas cheer even two months early. Total revenues for the third quarter of this year for the company will be up 5% annually to $25.3 billion; and with margins rising, its net income will likely be up as much as 20% on the year, to $2.8 billion.
Record label EMI to launch new music portal
"Big Four" major label EMI has plans to launch a dedicated Web portal, but contrary to what many are reporting, it will not be a competitor to other online music shops.
A source familiar with proceedings told BetaNews this morning said that the forthcoming EMI.com is not an attempt to compete with, or displace iTunes, Amazon, or any other digital music store.
Keepers of .info TLD move to clean up its act
The much-abused .info top-level domain may be making a renewed bid for respectability with policy changes announced this week, in an effort that may make the TLD a little less meaningless.
It's reasonable for the well-traveled reader to feel that it's the net, not the .info TLD, that's the much-abused party here. One of the vaunted TLD class of 2000, .info has over its eight years of existence fallen down the spam-and-scam rabbit hole.
Major beta changes summon all hands to TweetDeck
A popular Twitter client gets stronger as TweetDeck's v0.19b release makes its way to users of the AIR-based application.
One of a number of desktop clients for managing one's Twitter habit, TweetDeck lets users sort active feeds into various configurable columns -- for instance, Friends, Newsfeeds, and Fictional Characters (to recognize what often seems to be the greatest area of growth on the microblogging service). It's built on the AIR platform, and versions are available for Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Vista.
YouTube takes first steps toward an entertainment shopping mall
For the first time, video downloads generated from Google's YouTube site are no longer 100% free. Rather surprisingly, though, users have greeted the new links to fee-based music and content largely with positive comments, if any.
Google-owned YouTube yesterday abandoned its traditional business model of free content provider, adding links to paid video and audio in such a slick manner that most users either didn't mind or didn't even notice.
It's not over: Broadcom files a new suit against Qualcomm
Can a company with patent rights over a technology charge royalties to anyone who uses that technology...even as it's passed down from reseller to retailer to customer? Recently the Supreme Court said no, and that gave Broadcom an idea.
There for awhile, it really did look as though the legal disputes between the two biggest names in the field of wireless technology licensing, were finally unraveling themselves into something resembling resolution...if not just sputtering out altogether. But as it turns out, a US Supreme Court ruling in a case involving two other parties has breathed new life into Broadcom's hopes attaining full litigation superiority, in its interminable fight with Qualcomm.
Intel expresses concern about the AMD split and intellectual property
For the better part of two decades, AMD has been a producer of x86 chips, and at times sold more of them to consumers than Intel. So since x86 technology was conceived by Intel, what happens to it now that someone else will build upon it?
In an agreement between the two microprocessor manufacturers reached in the spring of 2001 and retroactive to the previous January, Intel granted AMD a license to make certain products that contain Intel's intellectual property; and AMD granted Intel a symmetrical license under that same agreement. A redacted publication of that agreement -- which is the only version that has been allowed to be made public -- clearly shows where AMD was granted "a non-exclusive, non-transferable [redacted] worldwide license, without the right to sublicense, under Intel's Patents to...make, use, sell (directly or indirectly), offer to sell, import and otherwise dispose of all AMD Licensed Products."
Motion denied: Class-action suit against Apple, AT&T continues
The class action antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple and AT&T last year for their strict control over the iPhone has withstood the companies' motions to dismiss, Northern California District Court Judge James Ware has ruled.
The original filing on behalf of Paul Holman, Lucy Rivello, and a class of complainants one year ago alleged that Apple "implemented a scheme to prohibit users from acquiring programs to run on the iPhone unless those were purchased directly from Apple." and that AT&T "will not provide the unlock code for the iPhone for international travel or otherwise. On information and belief, that is because AT&T and Apple unlawfully agreed that the iPhone would not be unlocked under any circumstances."
Yahoo's new social networking calendar enters beta
After ten years, Yahoo is finally updating its online calendar, with new capabilities ranging from Flickr-based photo integration to iCal compliance for sharing information with friends all over the Web.
Yahoo today launched the beta release of a new online calendar. While delivering its own new twists, Yahoo's revamped calendar adheres to the same iCal calendar standard used by Google, Microsoft, Apple, Microsoft, Mozilla, and IBM's Lotus.
Burst Media's 'Thought Leaders" network: Grownups wanted
When the going gets weird, the weird... grow up? That's the bet Burst Media is making with its new Thought Leaders network.
Among advertisers online, where so much can be known about individual site visitors, demographic targeting is king and A/S/L information is mapped to every group from gamers to moms to trendsetters. Within the blog-advertising ecosystem, Burst Media puts together bundles of 100-200 sites that appeal to a particular demographic and sells ad space on those sites.
AdSense ads wind their way into Flash games
After initial testing with social media game maker Playfish, Google is now launching a beta that will include Sprint and Sony as advertisers and Zynga and Konami as game creators. Is this the beginning of an ad-supported virtual world?
Can online gaming and advertising co-exist, or will gamers tune out the ad-supported games at too intrusive? Google will soon find out, with the beta rollout of AdSense for Games software.
Verizon officially announces touchscreen BlackBerry
"The world's first touchscreen BlackBerry...What will it feel like?" asks Verizon's teaser page for the upcoming BlackBerry Storm that was announced today.
Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A network will carry the Storm in the US, while Europe, India, and Oceania will offer the device through Vodafone. In India last August, however, the launch of the 3G iPhone was heavily qualified with disclaimers on the 3G network's limitations. Like the complaints about AT&T's 3G in the US, Indian consumers, too expressed frustration at the unreliable service provided by Vodafone's less-than-ready 3G network.
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