Amazon promises to resume its Kindle shipments
In an open letter to customers today, Amazon's Jeff Bezos reported the availability of fresh shipments of its popular Kindle e-book reader, after having been in short supply since its November debut.
The Kindle device was officially launched in November 2007, but sold out in less than six hours due to a combination of high demand and major supply issues.
CBC tinkers with the notion of a social platform
How much should a TV network be experimenting with social networking in its effort to establish its brand presence on the Web? While US networks build up their video content, Canada's national broadcaster is experimenting with this question.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is working with social media site Pluck to add more personally interactive features in a Web site normally devoted to the mundane task of show promotion. CBC users will be able to participate in voting contests, forum discussions, photo sharing and commentary exclusive to certain shows.
FCC: D Block bidders driven away by prospects of high lease fees, penalties
It should have been a fairy tale come true for an entrepreneurial wireless provider with top-notch leadership. But the FCC's D Block option kept Frontline Wireless out of the picture; and today, an FCC report points the blame at no one.
Last year, the US Congress granted the Federal Communications Commission the authority to conduct an auction of portions of the public airwaves currently devoted to UHF television, with the condition that it devise the means for some of that spectrum to be used by public safety officials and first responders. Without federal funding available to secure the project, though, the FCC came up with a unique plan that would involve entrepreneurial corporations cooperating with a non-profit public safety organization, enabling the corporations to establish profitable services while at the same time helping the public firm maintain the public safety network, presumably at reduced costs.
Gigabyte's low-cost Atom-powered portable gets a name
The much anticipated, 8.9-inch, Intel Atom-powered ultra-low-cost PC from motherboard manufacturer Gigabyte, expected to hit the market in June, now has a name: M912.
Unfortunately, that's still all it officially has. As DigiTimes reported this morning, The M912 is reportedly being both designed and manufactured in-house so the company can release it in a timely fashion. If Gigabyte's current UMPC/MID offerings are any indication, the device could take on the "slider" form factor instead of the traditional "clamshell" laptop/notebook design.
Analysts: Are IT organizations slowing down spending?
The year 2008 is shaping up to be a time of cutbacks on overall enterprise IT spending, according to a new study from IDC, which also points to infrastructure improvements and application modernization as the focus of IT.
In interviews with 27 CIOs and senior IT leaders, IDC found that many IT
organizations are already reducing spending. About half of the survey's participants pointed to "an existing negative impact on the budgets from the economy." The other half said their organizations haven't felt a negative impact yet, but are anticipating a negative impact in the future.
Microsoft denies a link between IIS and SQL injection attacks
An apparent rash of SQL injection attacks on Web sites was reported by a Finnish security firm late last week, though a case of "guilt by implication" led to speculation that a privilege escalation vulnerability was the cause.
Last Friday, the Web site of security engineering firm F-Secure noted what appears to be another outbreak of successful SQL injection attacks on database-driven Web sites that use Active Server Pages to generate results. In what appears to the firm to be a twist on a classic attack scheme, an uncleansed SQL query into a database reformulates the contents of every record in its tables so that certain text fields contain hidden, malicious JavaScript code.
Apple refreshes its iMac line
Apple's consumer desktops have received faster processors and better graphics cards, which may only add momentum to a product line analysts are saying may finally be stealing market share from Vista.
In fact, Apple credits the iMac as contributing to the ability for the company to grow its overall computer business at a rate of almost three times the industry average: Apple reported a 51 percent increase in computer sales last quarter.
At least one Psystar Mac clone ships
With doubts circulating about the company's legitimacy, Psystar announced that it had begun shipping its Open Computer Mac clone last week. Early this morning, a video surfaced apparently chronicling the arrival of at least one model.
Gizmodo reader Patrick [whiskeyfrown] posted comments last week that he had received his 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo, Leopard-installed Open Computer. Today, the same user submitted a video showing the boot-up process of what is purported to be the very Psystar Open Computer. Addressing questions about the recent Psystar video showing an Open Computer running, he actually traces the cable from the tower to the monitor to show it's not a hidden Mac actually booting up.
Qwest DSL gets a speed increase in ten US States
Qwest Communications, Internet, TV, phone service provider for 14 western states announced the latest speeds available in the phased rollout of its Fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) network.
Available in 23 of its top markets in 10 states (Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah) Qwest offers the "Quantum" package for $104.99 per month that promises a 20 Mbps download speed, and the "Titanium" package for $51.99 monthly offering 12 Mbps. Both packages are $5 cheaper when coupled with local phone service.
NextWave seeks to sell its WiMAX holdings for billions
In a decision based partly on results of the 700 MHz wireless auction, NextWave Wireless now wants to sell billions of dollars in spectrum holdings while continuing with its plan to produce LTE and WiMAX gear for other operators.
In a move that sent its stock price soaring on Wall Street this week, NextWave Wireless announced late Wednesday that it had hired Deutsche Bank and UBS to help with the sale of its holdings in spectrum that potentially reach 85 percent of the US population.
Sun salvages what's left of a multicore CPU developer
Sun Microsystems has purchased Montalvo Systems, a struggling startup company that attempted to design a mobile, energy-efficient multi-core chip that never made it to production, a Sun spokesperson confirmed.
"Sun has acquired the technology assets of Montalvo Systems," a Sun PR person confirmed to BetaNews late Friday afternoon. "The assets will be integrated into Sun's Microelectronics business unit."
Dell promises to protect business customers' right not to use Vista
If you're a business customer of Dell, you might have to purchase Vista with your PC, but that doesn't mean you have to use it. Today, Dell is trying a new way to satisfy both business users' wants and Microsoft's licensing requirements.
A recent revision to Dell's policy for business PC customers lets them take full and open advantage of an apparent loophole in Microsoft's operating system licensing, though they'll pay full price for it: Assuming Microsoft goes forth with its plan to discontinue sale of all versions of Windows XP after June 30, Dell will still enable its business customers who purchase Windows Vista Business or Vista Professional to exercise certain "downgrade rights" and have Windows XP Professional installed instead.
The end is nigh for Sprint's Pivot
Three of the four cable partners in the Pivot joint venture that was intended to combine cellular- with cable television service is apparently falling apart.
The silent exit was almost the polar opposite of the fanfare that surrounded the service's launch in November 2005. At that time, the group announced a landmark 20-year deal, exclusive to Sprint for a decade.
Yahoo's open platform now has a name and a mascot
If the software industry truly is to transcend the PC level and start an entirely new economy on a Web platform, then it doesn't appear any one player will have an automatic, native advantage. Yahoo is gambling it will be one of those players.
There are four centers of gravity emerging in the complex and semi-defined social Web services field, where the application platform is moved from the local or company network to the Web. The proprietors at these four points include Microsoft, whose Live Mesh concept was given more definition just two days ago. Then there's Adobe, which is constructing a Web services platform around Flash using AIR. Also there is Google, whose tenacity alone is testament to its formidability.
AT&T to begin femtocell tests for improving cellular reception
A report from analysts at ThinkPanmure indicates AT&T will be releasing its own femtocell system with hardware provided by UK-based ip.access Ltd.
UK-based picocell and femtocell infrastructure vendor ip.access Ltd, whose Oyster 3G won the 2007 GSM Association "Best Radio Access Product" award, will reportedly be providing AT&T with seven million femtocell access points. Though it has not been disclosed if it will be the same Oyster model or a newer device, they will reportedly cost around $100.
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