Netflix partners with LG on streaming movie device
The movie rental service has decided to abandon its plans for its own set-top box, instead opting to offer its platform through a new device to be manufactured by LG.
A networked set-top box player will make its debut at CES 2008 next week, while actual retail rollout is slated for the second half of this year. The device provides Netflix a delivery method that would allow it to move beyond the computer screen as its current streaming movie offers.
Microsoft's planned obsolescence smacks Office 2003
It seems as though the planned obsolescence that Microsoft committed so blatantly in Vista is now impacting Office 2003, too, with the arrival of Service Pack 3.
If you need to access old Microsoft file formats for early versions of Word, Excel, or Powerpoint -- but you've suddenly and dramatically found yourself unable to do so -- there's an intentional reason from Microsoft behind that conundrum, according to a bulletin put out by Microsoft last month.
US ranks poorly as global privacy situation worsens
A London-based human rights watchdog group on surveillance and privacy has released its National Privacy Ranking for 2007, ranking the U.S, Russia, China and much of Southeast Asia at the bottom.
Privacy International ranked Greece, Romania and Canada as leaders in protecting their citizens' privacy.
Sears found to be using spyware to track visitors
Security researches are criticizing retailer Sears for not adequately describing its efforts to track the behaviors of those who provide the company with their contact information.
The process begins after the customer provides Sears.com with an e-mail address. An e-mail will appear in the customer's inbox inviting them to join a program called "My SHC Community."
CES 'Better Questions' contest: Win Vista Ultimate, CS3, Zune and more
In preparation for CES 2008, which kicks off in Las Vegas on Sunday, we have decided to give away a number of products that have been gathering dust around the office. All you need to do to win is come up with a good question.
The rules are easy: leave a comment below with a question we should ask at CES. This question can be directed at a specific manufacturer or general technology. It should be something that would be interesting to other BetaNews readers and that it is possible to answer. We will post answers to the winning questions as we ask them during the event.
FCC relaxes rules for digital TV transition due to testing overlap
The FCC has posted its third periodic review of the rules and policies regarding the conversion from analog to digital television, showing a further degree of slackening in regulations.
In light of FCC commissioner Adelstein's criticism of the transition from analog to digital TV, saying that the Commission lacked a strategic plan, it appears that the FCC is now even becoming hazy on the February 17, 2009 deadline date mandated by Congress.
CES Trend #6: The rush to render the iPhone obsolete
No list of trends would be complete without a mention of Apple's iPhone, a device that many handset manufacturers will be looking to beat in 2008 in order to attract a consumer that is ever more interested in advanced wireless services. Many of those devices will debut at CES next week.
Since its launch in June of last year, iPhone sales have nearly topped 2 million. While the closed nature of Apple's business model has kept the device out of the hands of many consumers, the iPhone no doubt has sparked a revolution in the entire mobile phone industry.
High-speed cell phones get delayed by Qualcomm court ruling
In a court decision that could dampen deployment of high-speed wireless Internet in the US, Qualcomm has been banned from shipping cell phone chipsets using three technologies judged as belonging to archrival Broadcom.
Many consumers, businesses, and wireless carriers in the US desiring WCDMA or UMTA Internet phones based on Qualcomm chipsets will now need to wait a while, due to a new court ruling announced today in a patent dispute brought against Qualcomm by competing Broadcom.
Vonage settles last of patent infringement cases
The last day of 2007 brought some relief to struggling Internet telephone provider Vonage, as the company settled the last patent infringement lawsuit against it, this time with telecommunications giant Nortel.
AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel had all sued Vonage earlier in the year. Verizon was the first to sue the company, and for a period left Vonage unable to accept new subscribers. In the end, Vonage was forced to pay $80 million each to Verizon and Sprint, while the cost of its AT&T settlement was not yet disclosed.
Low-cost Laptop effort sued in Nigeria for $20 million
LANCOR (Lagos Analysis Corporation), a Nigerian company headquartered in Massachusetts, has sued One Laptop Per Child for $20 million in damages and an injunction blocking OLPC from distribution in Nigeria.
In August, the company's lawyers publicly accused OLPC of clandestine use of LANCOR product "information," and infringement of intellectual property rights. They claimed Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of OLPC, purchased 2 of LANCOR's keyboards on August 7, 2006, then, weeks later, the company reverse engineered its XO keyboards to be more like the KB-201s Negroponte allegedly purchased.
Xbox Live running normally after spotty holiday service
While Microsoft is not specifically citing any cause, reported issues with the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live service seem to have been resolved as of Wednesday morning.
In all, the problems lasted 12 days, frustrating those who may have unwrapped a new Xbox over the holidays, or even longtime users eager to play the latest game that was found under their Christmas tree this year.
CES Trend #7: Mobile entertainment meets auto safety
Mobile video to your back seat, cameras for your car mirrors, gesture recognition in your dashboard...The 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), set to open its doors on January 7, will offer the largest amount of floor space ever accorded to auto electronics in the long history of the Las Vegas show.
If you've ever wondered what kinds of computerized capabilities your next car is likely to give you, more than 600 exhibitors savvy on this subject -- including heavyweights such as Microsoft, General Motors, Ford, and Kenwood -- will be on hand to let you see and try things out for yourself.
CES Trend #8: Cheaper flash memory leads to new CE possibilities
Our countdown to next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas continues now with how impossibly cheap flash memory, coupled with lesser than expected demand for it, could lead to newer classes of flash-based devices.
The dream of embedded device designers and consumer device manufacturers is to be able to embed new, higher levels of functionality into more everyday items. Still on the drawing boards of futurist designers are the wallet or purse that can report itself stolen, the doorknob that remembers what time it was last opened, the authentication device capable of passing or failing employees' smart cards in low- or no-power situations, and the credit card that helps its bearer make his payment on time.
CES Trend #9: Will CE vendors start steering clear of DRM?
Our countdown to next week's CES centers now on whether the CE industry will at last reach a solution to the DRM conundrum. The new trend toward DRM-free music doesn't appear to be shaking the Blu-ray and HD DVD folks, who continue to cling to proprietary disk formats. Will consumers seek a video alternative, and might it come from China?
At the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES), there will be abundant evidence of at least some exhibitors, perhaps many, abandoning their dependence on digital rights management technologies in favor of spurring more digital music downloads.
CES Trend #10: Will wireless require multiple connectivity to remain viable?
BetaNews begins its countdown to next week's Consumer Electronics Show: From dual-mode handsets to a new technology dubbed Femtocell, hardware vendors and service providers are doing their best to meet a strong desire among consumers for seamless device connectivity across the growing tangle of networks.
Consumers crave easy connectivity over multiple wireless networks, and hardware makers preparing to exhibit at CES 2008 next week are trying their best to give that to them. But according to some industry analysts, technical issues still remain.
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