Apparently not having tested the prevailing winds before trying to pull off a launch, the Senate Majority Leader changed course and withdrew the controversial pro-telco FISA amendment from the Senate floor late yesterday.

As the Washington Post reported late yesterday, on the same day that Majority Leader Harry Reid brought to the Senate floor one version of a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act amendment bill that granted prosecutorial immunity to telecommunications companies, he withdrew the same bill in deference to another one that omits that grant.

Continue reading →

AT&T announced today that its U-verse TV package will include eight more high definition channels, bringing the service a total of 40 HD channels.

The rollout of U-verse appears to be gaining some momentum after a period of what some would call clumsiness and lackluster uptake, especially when compared with Verizon's FiOS. AT&T re-affirmed its commitment to the all-in-one (internet, cable, phone) service last week, saying it anticipated one million subscribers by the end of 2007.

Continue reading →

Palm announced the online availability of its newest Treo today, the 755p. Will this device be a strong opening to 2008 for the company that has recently been faltering?

Palm continues its commitment to its eponymous OS with the Treo 755p, the successor to the 700p smartphone. It is available today at verizonwireless.com, and will be in VZW stores on January 7.

Continue reading →

The Internet gambling industry was dealt another lousy hand this morning in Geneva, as trade negotiators decided they're okay with US objections to Internet gambling as long as it takes measures that could privatize the Post Office.

Under an international agreement which took effect in 2000, nations agreed to suspend tariffs against one another in order to open each other's markets to not only goods but services. This was the General Agreement on Tariffs and Services (GATS), and the US is one of the nations bound by that agreement.

Continue reading →

A procedural hurdle that would have stopped debate on a controversial amendment to the FISA law failed in the US Senate early this afternoon.

By a vote of 76-10, the US Senate has voted to consider an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that contains a controversial provision granting telecommunications companies immunity from federal prosecution for having cooperated with the government in surveillance operations.

Continue reading →

The networking company says that Vonage is violating nine of its patents, including those related to emergency and information calls, as well as click-to-call functionality.

Just when it seemed Vonage might be able to spend the winter out of court, it finds itself dragged back in. Nortel filed suit against the VoIP provider last Friday in US District Court for the State of Delaware, seeking an injunction against it to prevent further use of what Nortel claims to be its technologies.

Continue reading →

Alltel Wireless Corp. will launch a new feature on Friday that allows voice messages to be converted to SMS text messages.

The mobile company is using voice recognition software, much like that used in automated 411 lines and telephone bank services, with the aim being to provide a hands-free method of texting.

Continue reading →

Those wishing to receive an Amazon Kindle book reader before Christmas are resorting to auction site eBay, and paying a 200 percent premium in the process.

Despite mediocre reviews from well-known technology pundits Walt Mossberg and David Pogue, consumers are eager to get their hands on the new device. The $399 Kindle has sold out from Amazon, and the company has stopped giving estimated ship dates.

Continue reading →

If the world's interests can truly be encapsulated by the end-of-year Google Zeitgeist rankings, then perhaps it's time for the media to re-evaluate its priorities as British sports appear to outrank some American celebrities.

Since 2001, Google has been releasing lists of search trends and patterns culled from aggregate search data, which it calls Zeitgeist. Friday we got to see what everyone has been asking about all year.

Continue reading →

While it might not be as good as actually getting a Wii for Christmas, Nintendo and GameStop have joined forces to help consumers get their hand on one...eventually.

"Tens of thousands" of rain checks will be available through the video game retailer for those who agree to pay for the full $249 price of the popular gaming console up front. The rain check would be redeemable in January.

Continue reading →

In another indictment of the reliability of electronic voting systems put in place since the 2000 federal elections debacle, a report released Friday shows some Ohio tallies could be rendered inaccurate using tools as simple as a magnet.

The integrity of electronic voting systems has been a key issue in Ohio, where the last two presidential elections have generated considerable controversy, and where many believe the real outcomes remain in doubt. In November 2006, Jennifer Brunner was elected Secretary of State there mostly on the promise of restoring voting integrity to the state.

Continue reading →

In an interview published over the weekend in Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kazuo Hirai said he expects global PS3 sales to top 11 million by the end of March.

While hitting the 11 million mark won't put the PS3 above Nintendo and Microsoft, it does bring Sony closer to its rivals, which is important to encourage development on the platform. The company recently slashed the price of its software development kit.

Continue reading →

With iPod- and MP3-enabled home networked audio systems now launched by multiple vendors, and a major test by DirecTV reportedly set for early in 2008, will networking on powerlines actually start to shine at this year's CES?

With CES just a few short weeks away now, people are giving more thought to what trends we'll see. Some say that powerline -- a type of network that runs across inexpensive electrical wiring instead of cable, fiber or copper -- is finally starting to set off sparks right now.

Continue reading →

The same week it announced sharply lower revenues for its second quarter, embattled handheld device maker Palm laid off 10 percent of its workforce.

More than 100 Palm employees were given pink slips last week, according to reports, which the company later confirmed without offering a specific number. Palm counts a staff of around 1,150 worldwide, but is in the process of reorganizing its business following a tough year.

Continue reading →

The problem with making democracies work is that any one point of view, way to work, or agenda for action can only garner enough support amid its multitude of alternatives that, at any one time, only a sizable minority can claim to be in favor of it. And the problem with making socialist societies work is that fairness, balance, equal distribution of wealth, and justice all require regulation, which by definition requires a regulator, which by design works against the socialist ideal.

The World-Wide Web is neither a democracy nor a social utopia. Certainly the fact that it is utilized by an astonishingly large plurality has been enough to excite people into believing it has the nature, texture, or substance of some kind of society. And time and again since its inception, individuals, institutions, and corporations have set forth some presumably historic measures to give the Web some type of perceived hierarchy, to capitalize on the wide recognition they receive by way of the Web and convert that perception into authority.

Continue reading →