Vmedia shows phone with its own blue-laser optical disc drive
Indian cellular carrier Spice Telecom is placing its bets on a phone that will use an optical disc drive in order to play movies. It's the first such device of its kind, combining next-generation miniaturized storage with Bollywood star power.
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, Boulder, Colorado-based Vmedia Research is showing off what is likely the world's first cellular handset with a blue laser optical disc drive. It'll make its premiere in India as the "Movie Phone" from Spice Telecom.
Yahoo and video platform Maven Networks formally tie the knot
The acquisition of a new and surging startup in the video services field demonstrates that Yahoo intends to pursue its restructuring strategy, just as though February 1 never happened.
Two weeks ago might have been the dawn of Yahoo's next step in moving its multimedia platform strategy forward, had it not been for Microsoft stealing its thunder that week. Today, however, Yahoo went forward with its formal announcement that it is purchasing video and advertising platform producer Maven Networks for $160 million.
Custom 404 pages from Google Toolbar beta cause a stir
6:20 pm EST February 12, 2008 - No sooner did we get through posting that BetaNews hadn't found a problem with the version 5 beta of Google Toolbar than it actually did find one: Indeed, the beta is capable of substituting a custom 404 page such as the ones BetaNews and other sites are capable of generating for themselves, for its own Google-supplied counterpart.
Google Toolbar 5 showed this substitute in place of a URL to one of our Web pages that we later learned was malformed. Normally, Internet Explorer would allow us to post our own custom 404 page.5:03 pm EST - If you know where to look, you can turn off unwanted features in your software. But in the latest beta brouhaha, Google is being accused by testers of burying one of its off switches in a deep, dark corner that few would know how to find.
Apple TV update goes live with high-definition rentals
Apple silently pushed its promised update to customers with its Apple TV device on Tuesday.
The update will take about six minutes to download over a broadband connection, and another five to ten minutes to install. The update will install in three parts, with the Apple logo and progress bar reappearing each time.
Apple debuts Aperture 2, slashes price
On Tuesday, nearly a year and a half after the company first broke into the professional photography market with its editing suite, a new version was released.
Apple says about 100 new features are included in this latest release, as well as performance enhancements and a new image processing engine. Additionally, it has dropped the price by $100 to $199.
Sony Ericsson announces mobile Internet ExpressCards
Sony Ericsson has joined the mobile Internet hardware game by premiering two of its first High Speed Packet Access ExpressCard/34 devices at 3GSM in Barcelona this week.
The EC400 and EC400g, both offer triple band HSPA/UMTS 850/1900/2100 MHz, and quad band EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 connectivity where HSPA and UMTS are not available. HSPA downlink reaches speeds of up to 7.2 megabits per second (Mbps), and uplink, speeds of 2.0 Mbps.
Google and Nokia: Enemies or friends?
Google and Nokia this week announced a search partnership, surprising some who thought the two are at war with one another. So is this just another example of industry "coopetition?" Or are these two companies truly making friends?
Just when they appeared to be embarking on a major battle over mobile platforms, the news broke from 3GSM in Barcelona this week that Google and Nokia are teaming up together on search.
Suspected UK pirates could lose Internet access
The British Parliament is considering new legislation that would give ISPs the right to ban users over the downloading of pirated material.
The policy calls for a warning notice to any customer suspected of downloading pirated files for the first offense, a suspension of their account on the second offense, and outright termination for the third.
FCC re-establishes CATV market share cap at 30 percent
A rule limiting the total amount of the market a CATV provider can address, was restored yesterday after having been ruled unviable by a federal court seven years ago. But since that time, the market has changed drastically.
Almost seven years ago, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit set aside a rule that had, up to that time, been enforced by the Federal Communications Commission. That rule established a limit with regard to how many American subscribers any cable TV service operator, or any other provider of cable programming, could serve.
BlackBerry's touchscreen talk interrupted by service outage
At 3GSM in Barcelona this week, Research In Motion Ltd. looks forward to new form factors while back home, customers are left confused as to whether their e-mails are being received.
At 3:30 pm EST Monday afternoon, a widespread infrastructure outage hit BlackBerry services, cutting off wireless e-mail for users all across North America. An emergency notification to corporate customers was sent to users providing no insight into the cause, scope, or estimated resolution time of the outage...ironically, via e-mail.
Intel's German offices raided in EC antitrust investigation
The European Commission has turned up the volume in its investigation of Intel's conduct, with retailers in Germany and Great Britain now confirming they've been raided -- the same retailers mentioned in AMD's civil suit against Intel.
Since AMD launched its civil antitrust suit against Intel in June 2005, the matter of whether Intel's private business dealings with Media Markt, Germany's largest technology retailer, has been a subject of debate. Now Media Markt along with UK tech retailer Dixon Services Group (DSG) International report their headquarters have been targeted by unannounced raids from the European Commission's antitrust regulators, on the same day as Intel acknowledged its corporate offices in Munich received similar visits.
T-Mobile partners with Yahoo on mobile search
Yahoo will become T-mobile's default mobile search provider across its European markets by the end of next month.
Yahoo's oneSearch product will be provided to T-Mobile customers in place of current offerings. In addition, the company will offer mobile versions of its services including Flickr, Messenger, Mail, weather and finance.
Microsoft scrambles to explain prototype 'white space' device failure
It could be a single malfunctioning power supply. Or, from the other side of the glass, it could be a portent of doom for a technology that would make good use of all those TV channels that no one's broadcasting on, for wireless networking.
One of two prototype devices assembled on Microsoft's behalf for the US Federal Communications Commission for testing the ability to select wireless networking frequencies that don't interfere with TV signals, failed on account of a recurring power problem, three Microsoft sources confirmed to BetaNews today.
Is Microsoft's PlayReady ready to go yet?
Announced one year ago at 3GSM in Barcelona, PlayReady is Microsoft's DRM solution for mobile content providers. Now one year later, more partners have announced planned deployments...but it has seen no rollouts yet.
PlayReady strives to provide the mobile content industry with an easily deployable implementation that cover any mobile hardware or software. Though Microsoft announced in 2007 it had partnered with Telefonica, O2, Verizon Wireless, Bouyges Telecom, and Cingular Wireless (now AT&T), a whole year went by without a single rollout.
Earthlink bails from municipal Wi-Fi, casts its net for AOL dial-up
After putting several of its municipal Wi-Fi partnerships on hold last year, Earhlink has decided to escape from this market entirely, concentrating instead on dial-up Internet access and partnerships with broadband carriers.
And now that Time Warner wants to spin off its Internet access business, Earthlink is placing itself in a position to acquire the access lines and customer base of Time Warner's AOL division, or perhaps some other current dial-up providers.
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