FTC continues to be thorn in EA's side over Take-Two bid
EA has postponed the deadline for its planned hostile takeover of Take-Two entertainment four times. Now it appears as if EA is ready to play hardball with the FTC itself.
The most recent deadline extension happened on June 3, when EA said it was postponing its decision until June 16. It appeared at that time that the two sides had reached an agreement on securing a deadline to conclude investigations into the merger.
Microsoft has closed the door, says Yahoo
A statement issued by Yahoo this afternoon says that all talks with Microsoft over any possible combination of their businesses has effectively concluded, and that it wants to maintain its own search business.
One final meeting between both companies' executives apparently took place on Sunday. "At that meeting, Microsoft representatives stated unequivocally that Microsoft is not interested in pursuing an acquisition of all of Yahoo, even at the price range it had previously suggested," the statement reads.
Sprint gains the Instinct, but can it 'kill' the iPhone?
After Apple's announcement earlier in the week regarding plans to launch iPhone 2.0 for a lower price of $199.99, Samsung announced that its Instinct smart phone will launch on June 20 with a similar $199.99 price tag...after you take those rebates into account.
With some observers calling it the first possible "iPhone killer," Instinct has a 3.1" TFT LCD screen, supports 240 x 432 resolution, 2 Mp camera, microSD slot, 32 MB internal memory, MP3 player, video support, full Internet, and Bluetooth support. The phone measures 4.5" x 2.17" x 0.49", weighs 4.4 ounces, and thus far works on the Sprint EV-DO Rev. A network.
Palm Centro finally makes its way to Verizon Wireless
Palm and Verizon Wireless today jointly announced that the popular Palm Centro smartphone will launch for the VZW network starting tomorrow.
Interested customers will be able tomorrow to purchase a cobalt blue Centro for $99, after rebates and a two-year service agreement. In addition to the voice plan, customers can pay $29.99 per month for unlimited data and an additional $30 per month for the ability to tether the phone to a laptop for use with Verizon's Broadband Access.
Expert: public utilities may be at risk for hacking
Researchers with security firm Core Security Technologies are warning that flaws within the software that manages the nation's public utility systems may be vulnerable to incursion via the Internet.
The problem exists in software called CitectSCADA, which is used to control industrial processes. SCADA is short for "Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition." The flaw has only been patched for a week, although Core Security notified Citect five months ago.
House Rep claims IT breached by China, calls for trade crackdown
Yesterday, a high-ranking congressman issued a belated clarion call for procedurally improving the US' data security, citing data breaches that took place two years ago believed to have been perpetrated by China.
Back in August 2006, Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R - Va.) -- ranking member on the House State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee -- noted that four of his office's computers had been hacked: his chief of staff's, his legislative director's, a foreign policy and human rights staff member's, and one belonging to a member of his judiciary staff. Rep. Wolf believed whoever was responsible was seeking information about casework on behalf of political dissidents and human rights activists.
Comcast gets a theoretical upstream speed boost
Comcast announced today that it has increased the upstream speeds nationwide for customers of two of its residential Internet packages, from 384 and 768 Kbps to 1 and 2 Mbps, respectively.
The nation's number two broadband service provider in 2007, behind AT&T, announced this morning it is tripling the upstream speed of its Performance and Performance Plus residential high-speed Internet packages that range from $42.95-$67.95 a month were announced to have "nearly tripled" in speed.
Analyst's own research contradicts his iPhone forecast
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster sent out mixed signals regarding his view of the future success of third-party apps on the iPhone.
Munster's research note to clients indicates that he believes Apple's new App Store could generate anywhere from $416 million to $1.2 billion in revenues during 2009, and suggested the iPhone could sell as many as 45 million units.
Doing the math: 3G iPhone not really cheaper in the long run
There's evidence of a lot of savvy business deals having taken place between AT&T and Apple, with both sides getting more of what they want from the new iPhone, while customers get the impression that they're getting a better deal too.
The big news from Monday was the dramatic drop in the up-front price for Apple's next-generation iPhone, made available in the US through AT&T. While that makes the barrier to entry somewhat easier for new buyers, and probably raises AT&T's gambling stakes for the new device, in the end, new two-year contract holders (the minimum allowable for the iPhone) will end up paying much the same, assuming they use 3G service.
RIAA backs away from one file-sharing case
Court documents from late May indicate the RIAA asked for the dismissal of a case that would have argued whether simply making one's files available for download constitutes copyright infringement.
RIAA sued Joan Cassin in April 2006, after its MediaSentry program detected a Kazaa account linked to her was sharing 406 files. Cassin's lawyers objected, and filed a motion to dismiss the case questioning the merits last year.
On Bluetooth's horizon: high speed, ultra-low-power specs
With Bluetooth now celebrating its ten-year anniversary, a senior official with the Bluetooth SIG foresees new devices that will support emerging Ultra Low Power and High Speed specifications.
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - In an interview with BetaNews Wednesday, Kevin Keating, the Bluetooth SIG's senior marketing manager, harkened back to the early days, when Bluetooth product demo sessions typically consisted of displays of cellular handsets by about eight vendors.
Mozilla Firefox 3.0 to be released June 17
Late Wednesday evening, a Mozilla spokesperson confirmed to BetaNews that the day the final edition of Firefox 3.0 would be made available to the general public, will be this upcoming Tuesday, June 17.
The time the final edition goes live was not disclosed, although the organization said it will be converting its headquarters in Mountain View, California, into "Camp Firefox" where invited guests and employees will celebrate its efforts to set a Guinness World Record for the most downloaded piece of software in a 24-hour period. That celebration is set to begin in the early evening, Pacific time.
Expect crash recovery features in new IE8 builds
Late Wednesday, a Microsoft spokesperson told BetaNews that a TechEd session in Orlando today summarized some of Internet Explorer 8's key new features for administrators, one of them being crash recovery.
One much improved feature added to the earliest public betas of Mozilla Firefox 3.0 is its ability to remember and recall open pages on a forced exit or a crash -- a feature which was originally integrated into Firefox 2.0, but which frankly didn't work all that well. That version crashed more often, in our experience, and only sometimes recalled its previous state.
A new alarm clock speakerphone for iPhones and iPods
Appropriately enough for the week of Apple's 3G iPhone launch, iHome Wireless today started shipping its first Bluetooth-enabled Alarm Clock Radio Speakerphone with support for iPhones.
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - Outfitted with a universal docking and charging station that accommodates either an iPhone or iPod, iHome Wireless' new clock radio allows you to wake up to either its own integrated AM/FM radio or music streamed from a Bluetooth-enabled phone, PDA, or computer.
New 160 GB 1.8-inch drives could revive HDD-based small devices
Toshiba today announced plans to launch two new 1.8-inch serial ATA hard drives that will ship as much as 160 GB -- the first in that form factor with such a high storage capacity, the manufacturer claims.
Toshiba's new small HDDs will be available in 80 and 160 GB. Both have a spin speed of 5400 rpm and interface speeds up to 1.5 Gbps, with the 160 GB weighing 62g and 80 GB weighing 60g. The 160 GB model MK1617GSG is a dual-platter product with four heads, while the 80 GB MK8017GSG is a single-platter HDD that has two heads. They're expected to be shipped in August.
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