Apple tries to put options scandal behind it with settlement
A shareholder lawsuit accusing Apple and its executives of improper accounting as a result of its stock options practices will yield a $14 million payout to the plaintiffs.
As a result of a settlement in a shareholders' derivative action, liability insurers will pay Apple a total of $14 million, effectively restoring to the company -- and, in the "derivative," to its shareholders -- what executives of the company allegedly took for themselves through options backdating practices.
US gov't cannot use cell phone IDs without a warrant, court affirms
How much does your cell phone say about who you are and where you are? Last year, the US government wanted the authority to use the information cell phones put out naturally in its own investigations. Yesterday, a judge said no.
Pennsylvania US district court judge Terrence McVerry late yesterday denied the US government's appeal of a federal magistrate's order last February, that effectively prohibited the government from acquiring location information from individuals' cell phone location tracking devices without a warrant.
BlackBerry-controlled TiVo is on its way
A partnership between TiVo and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) was announced today, promising a future synergy between the popular smartphone and DVR products.
Unfortunately, we are not yet seeing the ability to stream TiVo to BlackBerry handsets, like Sling Media promised earlier this year. Instead, TiVo subscribers will first be given access to their program guide and scheduling functionality on their BlackBerry.
Analysis: US text messaging is way up, despite higher pricing
Voice calls by US wireless subscribers are getting shorter this year, but Americans are spending more of their time texting, playing games, and browsing the Web on their cell phones, according to a wireless industry group.
Although average local cell phone bills will drop to $48.54 per month this year, US wireless carriers will rake in nearly $144 billion in yearly service revenues, with about 20 percent of this total going for data services such as text messaging, games, Web browsing, and ringtones. This according to a new survey from the CTIA industry association.
Apple denies it caved in to NBCU's requests on iTunes pricing
It didn't even take 24 hours for Apple and NBC to begin arguing again. The latest dust-up? NBCU's claims that it only came back to iTunes after the Cupertino company agreed to variable pricing.
Many news outlets -- including BetaNews -- took Tuesday's announcement as an indication that Apple had agreed to allow NBC Universal to use a variable pricing structure like it had been demanding.
Opposition mounts to bill enabling US to prosecute suspected IP thieves
With the recording industry reportedly prosecuting tens of thousands of cases of intellectual property theft, the federal government is considering whether it should appoint a new agency head to take care of that job instead.
As the US Senate prepares to debate a bill introduced last July that would enable federal law enforcement agencies to seek, arrest, and prosecute suspected traffickers of intellectual property -- including unauthorized file-sharers -- a cavalcade of trade, industry, and advocacy groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, American Library Association, and Consumers Union, began a joint counter-offensive against the legislation.
Alcatel-Lucent grants more time for Motive to make up its mind
Alcatel-Lucent has extended its tender offer to purchase US software company Motive yet again, stretching the offer into its fifth month.
In early August, Alcatel-Lucent had collected approximately 27 million shares in Motive, but its tender offer was set to expire, and had to be renewed if any deal was to proceed.
Panasonic's Toughbooks to carry omni-connective 'Gobi'
Qualcomm's "global mobile Internet chip" Gobi, announced last October, is an SoC that enables connectivity to EV-DO Rev. A, UMTS, and HSPA networks as well as GPS. Today, Panasonic announced the chips will be used in upcoming Toughbooks.
According to Gartner research, embedded wireless broadband was seen as a problem for notebooks because of the disparity between available technologies, rapid evolution in the field, and the limitations of aligning with just one network. This is why Qualcomm developed the multi-connection software-swappable modem used in Gobi.
Vendors try new spins on DTV for smartphones
If you haven't watched any TV on a smartphone yet, you're not alone. But in one of two separate announcements today, MobiTV is gearing its new Mobi4BIZ on-demand mobile TV service for business rather than entertainment.
With mobile TV still in its early stages, especially in the US, two companies -- Openwave and MobiTV -- today announced offerings aimed at pushing faster adoption of video viewing on wireless smartphones and other untethered small-screen devices.
NYC 911 callers can now send video, pictures
Starting this week, New York City residents will be able to send in pictures and video to the authorities, which could aid not only law enforcement, but city services.
New York City's $11 million Real Time Crime Center, launched in 2005, is now equipped to handle pictures and video sent via computer or cell phone, city officials announced this morning. In addition, New York's city services number 311 will also be receptive to pictures and video.
Microsoft looks to blue lasers to improve computer mice
Microsoft is debuting new mouse technology called BlueTrack which it says offers better tracking on virtually any surface, it says -- even carpet.
The blue beam produced by the new laser in Microsoft's Explorer Mouse series is about four times as large as the beam used in current laser mice, according to a Microsoft statement yesterday. This, coupled with better tracking technology, can make its new model usable even on surfaces such as carpet, it said.
'Beta test' of DTV transition an apparent success
The Wilmington, North Carolina area has become the first all-digital TV broadcast market in the United States, despite tropical storms, and despite what some media outlets called an unprepared populace.
BetaNews spoke to Wilmington local television stations last week about the potential for Tropical Storm Hannah to interfere with the official "switch throwing," and the consensus among station managers was that the whole affair was under control and they were ready.
Xperia phone to premiere everywhere but North America
Sony Ericsson said today that its Xperia X1 phone will be available in the fourth quarter in parts of Western Europe, Central Europe, the Middle East, Asia/Pacific, Africa, and Latin America...yet not in North America.
The Xperia X1 will premiere on Tuesday, September 30, in the company's home base countries of Great Britain, Germany, and Sweden, the company stated today ahead of press events scheduled throughout Europe. But no release dates were given for the US or Canada.
First public beta of Opera 9.6: Chrome is on their mind, too
Download Opera 9.6 Beta 1 Build 10424 for Windows from FileForum now.
The first publicly released builds of the latest Opera browser suggest developers are working to clean up the rendering engine and spruce up its features, in light of new, bright, and shiny competition seemingly from out of nowhere.
RIM likely to debut first clamshell on T-Mobile USA
There's a mountain of evidence to support the theory that T-Mobile will be the first US carrier to feature RIM's eagerly awaited BlackBerry 8220, the manufacturer's first clamshell phone.
Although neither Research In Motion nor T-Mobile are confirming the news, clues point to the BlackBerry 8220 "Flip" making its way to the nation's fourth largest carrier. The first clue comes from RIM itself, which in a statement this morning listed UMA support. T-Mobile is the only carrier in the US thus far to fully embrace the technology.
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