UIQ devices get Opera Mobile 9.5 beta

Opera Software has been touring the world this week to support the release of the latest Opera Mobile browser beta version 9.51b2, which was released on Monday.

In mid-summer, the first beta, exclusive to touchscreen Windows Pocket PCs with WM5 and WM6, was rolled out with about two-thirds of the expected features. That version has been upgraded, and support for UIQ has been added. The UIQ touch platform is supported on a number of Sony Ericsson handsets, such as the W950 and 960 Walkman phones, and the Motorola MOTORIZR Z8 and MOTO Z10.

By Tim Conneally -

EFF steps in on YouTube DMCA takedown controversy

With its strong condemnation of recent YouTube copyright takedowns of campaign videos incorporating news footage, the EFF might be able to accomplish for fair use what the presidential political campaigns have not.

Earlier this week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation stepped into the controversy over the takedowns, which are coming at a crucial time in the political season. (YouTube's DMCA-allowed review process would keep such videos off the service for at least 10-14 days -- in some cases, until after the November 4 election.)

By Angela Gunn -

Google wants to expand into Russia, but Russia won't let it

Google's attempts to buy a Russian contextual ad firm Begun are now being blocked by antitrust authorities in that country, who have turned down Google's application -- temporarily, at least.

Russian antitrust authorities today rejected an attempt by Google's affiliate there, Kokuna Holding, to buy a contextual advertising firm named Begun from Russian-based portal Rambler for $140 million.

By Jacqueline Emigh -

Making the G1's battery live longer than a soap bubble

Reckless usage of any 3G device, including T-Mobile's G1, can kill a fully charged battery in a matter of hours. With the benefit of history and some key Android apps, G1 owners can take precautions to extend their battery lives.

In June, PC World ranked the relative battery life of a dozen 3G smartphones. All of them tested in the "fair" range, except for the Palm Treo 750 which ranked as "poor." The issue of interest at the time was the battery life of the iPhone 3G, which has been called everything from "Questionably Adequate" to "Garbage."

By Tim Conneally -

Android to include more apps Monday, and some won't be free

Android open source developers will be able to start charging for their software in January, Google announced today. Meanwhile, Google's online store for mobile software -- now containing only a few dozen applications -- is still in beta.

Just after the New Year, Android open source developers will be able to start charging for their software applications, Google said in a blog post today, while also announcing that the Android market will start opening up for more applications next Monday.

By Jacqueline Emigh -

Beta test a new wireless headset for the office and your PC

Best test firm Centercode is looking for people in the workplace who spend a significant amount of time on the telephone. The product being tested is unlike any other in that it not only connects to the desktop phone system at your office, it also works with your PC.

Centercode wants those of you whose job depends on daily phone time and would have your life improved with a new wireless headset. You get the wireless freedom and the ability to conduct wireless VoIP calls as well as landline based calls easily.

By Nate Mook -

Samsung's Blu-ray players are next to get Netflix

Samsung today has announced two of its existing Blu-ray players, the BD-2500 and BD-2550, can receive a feature upgrade to support the popular Netflix streaming on demand service today.

These are the fourth and fifth devices this year to be granted access to the Netflix streaming library, and follow LG's BD300 as the latest dedicated Blu-ray players to receive the functionality. Both of Samsung's players are currently available for $399.99, roughly the same price as LG's player.

By Tim Conneally -

Comcast to roll out 50 Mbps 'wideband' to Philly, Boston, NJ, NH

With fiberoptic service such as Verizon's FiOS and AT&T's U-verse threatening to absorb current cable Internet customers, Comcast is moving ahead with its goal of leapfrogging over fiber by the end of 2010.

In another step toward its goal of providing DOCSIS 3.0 service nationwide by 2010, Comcast today said it will begin the formal rollout of what it's now calling "wideband" service, with download speeds peaking as high as 50 Mbps, in four more markets: Philadelphia, Boston, and parts of New Jersey and New Hampshire. Availability of very-high-speed service in those areas will come "in the next few weeks," according to a Comcast statement this morning.

By Scott M. Fulton, III -

TiVo lifts the curtain on new on-demand partner content

Broadband-connected TiVo owners today get a boost to their on-demand content catalogs as CinemaNow and Jaman make their libraries available for rent.

TiVo's partnership with CinemaNow was

By Tim Conneally -

Lala whistles a happy, DRM-free tune

The new Lala music service's great leap forward isn't in offering DRM-free tracks -- it's the acknowledgment that really, 30 seconds isn't enough to know whether you like a song enough to buy it.

Granted, Lala's offering of DRM-free music tracks is clearly another nail in the coffin of the sale of deliberately damaged downloads. But maybe even more importantly, Lala is acknowledging that, really, 30 seconds isn't enough to know whether you like a song -- and it's sure not enough to convince your friends.

By Angela Gunn -

Amazon CFO: New Kindle will wait until 2009

2:56 pm PDT October 22, 2008 - Amazon's third-quarter earnings call had plenty of positive things to say about their success with the Kindle e-book reader. Good thing the company's happy with it, because it'll be the one and only Kindle for the remainder of the year.

CFO Tom Szkutak confirmed during this afternoon's call that there will be no newer model of the Kindle reader until 2009.

By Angela Gunn -

Google is still talking with DOJ about Yahoo deal

Google hasn't changed its position around a Yahoo deal since early October, according to a report today. The search engine giant is still talking with the DOJ about antitrust concerns.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt reportedly said this week that his company is still talking with the US Department of Justice about a proposed pact with Yahoo which is widely seen as an effort to help Yahoo ward off buyout by Microsoft.

By Jacqueline Emigh -

Baltimore: No G1s available at T-Mobile stores, but no lines either

With the iPhone, thousands stood in line, some for days, some in tents, waiting anxiously for the first boxes to be trucked in. How would the wait for the T-Mobile G1 phone be any different? Tim Conneally found out right away.

BALTIMORE (BetaNews, 11:05 am EDT) - I was greeted by a white UPS envelope leaning against my front door as I came home from walking my dog last night. It was nearly 9:00 pm, and when I had left the house no more than an hour before, no deliveries had arrived. How did I manage to get this package after e-mailing and calling the company with no response? How had I received my long-awaited Android G1 with absolutely no word from T-Mobile?

By Tim Conneally -

Seattle: G1s sell out, especially due to short supply

Supplies of T-Mobile G1 phones were short at some stores in the Northwest US, so although customers numbered only a few dozen, at least a few stores could say they sold out by 12 pm PDT, as Angela Gunn reports.

SEATTLE (BetaNews) - 8:00 am comes early for some of us -- in fact, in Seattle in October, the sun's barely up. But today if you snoozed you lose, as those who were not in line in front of the downtown T-Mobile store were out of luck by noon.

By Angela Gunn -

New York: G1 business is brisk, though maybe not booming

Business for T-Mobile's new G1 phone is brisk, if not exactly booming, in the byways and boroughs of New York City, as Jacqueline Emigh found out first-hand today.

NEW YORK, N.Y. (BetaNews) -- Although the lines weren't necessarily all that long, some New Yorkers did get up early to stand in queue on the first day of sales for T-Mobile's G1, the first phone to be based on the Google-spearheaded Android open source platform.

By Jacqueline Emigh -
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