After relaunch, AOL's Propeller not so Digg-like anymore
AOL's social news property Propeller, which began as a part of Netscape.com revamp headed by Internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, has been re-designed and re-launched under the same name.
Besides the nuclear-age design ethic upgrade, the service has scrapped its old ranking system entirely. Formerly, it worked like Digg and Yahoo Buzz, where a story's ranking was determined strictly by the number of votes it had.
Slydial helps avoid conversation with direct-to-voicemail messages
Ever have one of those moments where you wanted to leave someone a message without actually talking to them? Understanding this feeling, MobileSphere recently introduced Slydial, a free service that allows users to leave a voicemail for a person without risking that they answer the phone.
Those wanting to avoid an actual conversation simply need to dial 267-SLYDIAL (267-759-3425), sit through a brief history about Slydial and why it should be used, an advertisement that will last a couple of seconds, and then enter the person's phone number. Once all that is completed, the Slydial service connects to the person's voicemail just like a regular phone call.
Watch out Cisco: Brocade buys Foundry for $3 billion
In a move seen as posing stronger competition to industry giant Cisco Systems in storage networking, fiber channel (FC) specialist Brocade Communications has acquired Ethernet switch maker Foundry Networks for $3 billion.
With the merger, Brocade will now join Cisco in owning toeholds in both areas. Beyond giving Brocade new expansion opportunities into general networking, the deal looks likely to offer a more solid second alternative to business customers interested in combining fiber channel (FC) storage networking technology, Brocade's traditional forte, with Ethernet, some analysts say.
Adobe refreshes media player, adds free Sony, CBS movies
Adobe on Tuesday said it had begun to roll out the first update to its desktop media player, complete with a new interface and content deal with Sony.
Signing Sony onto the service means Adobe Media Player users will soon be able to watch full-length feature films from Sony Pictures. Among the first titles to debut will be Men in Black and The Fifth Element among others, according to reports.
Sony Ericsson unveils 'most affordable' Walkman phone, but price a secret
Sony Ericsson today announced the upcoming availability of its newest Walkman-branded handsets, adding a new top and bottom to the now three-year-old line of phones.
The W302 will be the "most affordable Walkman phone to date," when it premieres in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Sony Ericsson. Offering a 2-megapixel camera, FM radio, and 512MB memory stick storage, the W302 is a quad-band GSM/EDGE/GPRS device -- the only model of this new crop that doesn't offer 3G connectivity.
QVC 2.0: TiVo users can buy products on their TV through Amazon
In an attempt to further monetize its DVR offering, TiVo has partnered with online retailer Amazon to allow advertisers to sell products to TiVo users directly through their TV.
The new service is most easily described with this example: an author appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote his or her new book. At the end of the show, TiVo pops up a window with an option to purchase the book. TiVo currently embeds advertisements at the bottom of certain windows, which is likely where this offer would appear.
Microsoft prepares to auto-deliver Windows Search 4.0 to Vista users
If you notice your hard drive crunching later this month while performing a menial task, fear not: it's just the new Windows Search software creating an index of your files. Microsoft plans to automatically deliver version 4.0 of the software, formerly Windows Desktop Search, to Vista users.
Windows Search 4.0 was released in June and Microsoft says it has "seen a good number of downloads, and a number of positive responses from customers." The advantage over Vista's built-in search function is one of performance, the company claims. The structure of the search index was completely redesigned to speed up locating items on the hard drive and networked PCs.
SAP to shutter TomorrowNow unit charged in Oracle's $1B lawsuit
After failing to work out a deal for selling TomorrowNow, SAP has now decided to shut down its acquired customer support division, embattled for more than a year now by a lawsuit charging that TormorrowNow employees hacked Oracle's Web site and improperly downloaded documents, posing as Oracle customers.
The European software giant today announced plans to wind down TormorrowNow's operations by October 31, after officials said last November that selling off TormorrowNow was SAP's top choice among "several options being weighed."
Apple's Q3 numbers: iPod sales mostly flat, Macs selling at record pace
Apple said in its quarterly earnings conference call Monday that it has shipped 2.5 million Macs in its fiscal third quarter, with the company hinting at a "product transition" to come during this quarter.
In typical Apple fashion, chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer gave little details as to what the transition may be. The only hint was that the mystery product would cut into the company's gross margins.
Alltel offers subscribers slideshow tool, but it doesn't come cheap
Alltel Wireless has rolled out a new offering called MyShow that allows subscribers to create picture slideshows using pictures that are taken through a phone's camera or stored on the device through an external memory card.
Created by Fun Mobility, the MyShow service was officially launched in April during the CTIA Wireless 2008 event in Las Vegas. It simplifies the creation of an online photo gallery, while also adding text and background music to each slideshow. Once a slideshow has been created, users are able to share it either through the MyShow Web site, or install a widget created specifically for social networking sites Facebook and MySpace.
Amazon investigating problem after S3 suffers 8-hour outage
Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3) was down for more than eight hours over the weekend, affecting many prominent sites, and the company is still investigating the cause of the problem.
Cloud-based services such as those offered by Amazon provide cost effective solutions in computing and storage. However, the oft-cited drawback of relying on such offerings is that customers are left with little or no control if something goes wrong. The only option is to wait -- and in cases like this, wait nearly half a day.
Dell ships PCs with Ubuntu Linux 8.04, but not all are satisfied
Dell is now making some consumer notebook and desktop PC models available pre-installed with the latest edition of Ubuntu Linux, "Hardy Heron," in a number of countries. Still, some observers are raising questions about why these same PCs aren't available with Linux elsewhere, as well as around Dell's continued use of Ubuntu in the face of usability and application support issues.
"As of today, consumers can purchase the XPS M1330N and Inspiron 1525N laptops and Inspiron 530N desktop with Ubuntu 8.04 pre-installed at http://www.dell.com/ubuntu," wrote Dell's Anne B. Camden, in a blog entry on Friday.
More trouble for Apple as MobileMe users locked out of e-mail
In what is proving to be one of Apple's more problematic product launches since the G4 Cube, the company is now admitting some MobileMe users are unable to access their e-mail accounts.
AOL's Unofficial Apple Weblog said Monday that it had been receiving reports of MobileMe subscribers unable to access their e-mail accounts, reportedly for as long as four days.
More pressure on AMD as Intel drops prices of some of its CPUs
Putting even more pressure on rival AMD, which is already struggling and replaced its CEO, Intel over the weekend cut some processor prices from 12 percent up to 31 percent, specifically focusing in on its Core 2 and quad core CPUs.
Intel's Core 2 Duo E8500, which runs at 3.16GHz, received a 31 percent price cut, with prices dropping from $266 down to $183. The Desktop Core 2 Duo E7200, operating at 2.53GHz, received a 15 percent price cut down to $113 from $133.
CherryPal computer-Internet appliance hybrid goes on sale for $249
Not quite a thin client, not quite a full-blown desktop, the two-watt CherryPal C100 "cloud computer" is available for order today.
Silicon Valley startup CherryPal is offering its eponymous system with a profile of only 5.8" x 4.2" x 1.3", weighing only 10 ounces, with a crawling 400MHz processing speed. But it's not designed to replace a full-fledged desktop, and at most resembles an Internet appliance.
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