Verizon Wireless to open access to consumer's choice of handsets
Calling the move a "new paradigm for the entire wireless industry," Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam told reporters this morning the entire CDMA and PCS spectrum of his cellular network will open access to the customer's choice of handset equipment.
As McAdam explained, the company will be providing the full technical specifications for access to its network, as an open document, early in 2008. Manufacturers will be given the opportunity to bring their devices up to speed, and VW will institute a testing process for hardware, apparently whose manufacturers are interested in meeting those specifications. There will be no preference applied to which hardware gets tested.
Nintendo concedes it can't smash homebrew R4 mod
It's not a reference to the eagerly awaited Wii title Super Smash Brothers Brawl. "We cannot smash them all." is a quote from a Nintendo spokesperson regarding unauthorized third-party modification devices for the DS.
The R4 is a microSD reader that fits into the Nintendo DS' Slot-1 port and bypasses all of the handheld's security functions, allowing a host of uses: playing music and movies, reading text files, creating homebrew software, and playing "backed up" - or copied - games.
Black Friday: Are PCs and software as hot as gadgets?
How did PCs and software fare in comparison to other consumer electronics products on the day after Thanksgiving? The answer may depend on where those products are sold - online or up front - according to NPD's chief analyst.
HDTVs, MP3s, GPS, and other emerging gadgets seem to be outshining established electronics products categories such as PCs and software in Black Friday sales and promotions -- in brick-and-mortar stores, at least.
Some Cyber Monday traffic triples, Yahoo reports commerce outages
Early indications from the National Retail Federation and elsewhere are revealing positive sales traffic this Cyber Monday, as the headquarters site that coined the phrase triples its hit count by 1:00 pm EST.
CyberMonday.com serves as a portal site, comparing online shopping deals for the season's big-ticket items from its 550 member stores. Its hosting service reported the rollover earlier this afternoon.
One California county asks to use questionable voting machines anyway
Election officials in Marin County, California have asked the state's Secretary of State for permission to go ahead and use voting machines that are the subject of a lawsuit filed against their manufacturer last week.
Last Monday, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen filed a $15 million lawsuit against Election Systems & Software, Inc., for selling some 972 voting machines to five counties as upgrades to equipment that had already come under suspicion, without giving the State an opportunity to test and certify the new systems first.
New QuickTime exploit triggers the same old stack overflow
It would appear a January fix that supposedly protects against malformed URLs to the RTSC protocol of Apple's QuickTime wasn't a complete fix after all.
The US-CERT office of the Dept. of Homeland Security confirmed this morning that an intentionally malformed header sent to the Real Time Streaming Protocol handler of Apple's QuickTime for Windows, and presumably for Mac OS as well, will cause a familiar stack buffer overflow problem that could be exploitable from the outside.
T-Mobile Germany to defend iPhone contract in court
T-Mobile is set to defend its exclusive rights to iPhone sales within Germany on Thursday, as a German court will hear arguments for and against the deal.
While the company is making an unlocked version of the phone available, it is appealing the injunction filed against it by Vodafone. If successful, the company will end sales of that model, and possibly file suit against its rival to recover damages.
It's back to the garage for MTV's 'Rock Band'
While many users have posted complaints of hardware unresponsiveness, the surprising shoddiness of the gear may ironically resonate with real-life musicians.
Amid a swarm of complaints regarding its unresponsive Strat controller, Harmonix has issued a software patch for MTV's Rock Band, addressing the guitar's downstrumming problems.
Wal-Mart may drive online sales with bare-bones margins
Wal-Mart economics made simple: sell it cheap, sell more of it. This strategy seems to be well-received by consumers this holiday season, but may handicap the sales of higher-end competitors.
Discount retail giant Wal-Mart is driving its sales by diminishing profit margins. A random sale item pulled from walmart.com, Garmin's StreetPilot c330 Vehicle GPS Navigator, is cheaper than all competitors by a fraction. The lowest price on most comparative shopping sites is $169.00, today on Walmart.com, the item sells for $168.88. The same product on Amazon.com costs $224.95.
Will a Black Friday sales surge spell real profits?
In the consumer electronics space, high sales volumes don't necessarily add up to high profits. But as some see it, if Black Friday pricing is well planned and executed, retailers and manufacturers both stand to gain.
Black Friday clearly turned out to be a boon for financially pinched consumers, but will this year's high sales figures for consumer electonics and other holiday gifts translate into real profits for retailers and manufacturers? Although it's still too early to tell for sure, some observers are starting to reach preliminary conclusions.
Sony's new PSP selling faster than original in Japan
Sales of Sony's new PlayStation Portable in Japan have topped 1 million in just two months, hitting the milestone two weeks sooner than the original PSP did three years ago. The updated model is smaller and lighter than its predecessor, and is available in pink to attract female gamers.
Sony's handheld has been struggling to compete with Nintendo's DS, which has become the fastest-selling gaming device in history. Nintendo released two new DS bundles last week to further shore up holiday sales, and expects to sell 28 million units for the fiscal year ending in March. Sony, meanwhile, is forecasting sales of 10 million PSPs over the same time period.
Lower retail sales per person could mean higher online sales
Initial data from the National Retail Federation point to higher retail sales traffic and higher overall sales for last weekend, but less spent per person in stores - implying more consumers may be hunting for online bargains.
The National Retail Federation's initial report for US consumer spending patterns over the Thanksgiving holidays, released this morning, show some surprises for both optimists and doomsayers: While traffic for retail stores rose 4.8% over the previous year to 147 million active shoppers, a survey conducted by the NRF and BIGresearch estimated shoppers were likely to have paid less per person in retail stores over the weekend, and more online.
Will Circuit City be this year's Scrooge?
Consumer electronics retailer Circuit City is showing an early improvement in holiday sales, thanks in part to widespread employee cutbacks.
Circuit City sales this past weekend were reported to have risen 3.7% over the previous year, although things could perhaps only gotten better after its apparently disastrous 2006. The good news gave Circuit City shares a 25.6% boost in early trading this morning on the New York Exchange, though shares settled back to near their Friday lows of $6, perhaps after investors did the some research on the back end.
TiVo launches in Canada, but without HD
While TiVo is pushing new high-definition models in the United States, the company has gone up north to sell its standard-definition DVRs, with an 80GB Series2 TiVo now available in Canada.
Canadians who have desired to fast-forward through commercials and pause live TV can pick up a TiVo at Best Buy, The Brick, London Drug or Future Shop for $199 CAD. This does not include TiVo serivce, which runs $12.95 per month, although is cheaper when prepaid annually.
Can an upbeat 'Black Friday' help float 'Cyber Monday'?
Despite some gloomy predictions for a bleak sales season, the early numbers from US retailers shows a robust post-Thanksgiving retail weekend.
The initial data from leading retail market intelligence firm ShopperTrak is encouraging: Retail sales for US stores on Friday, November 23 topped the $10 billion mark, coming in at $10.295 billion - up 8.3% over the previous year, and meeting that firm's expectations.
Most Commented Stories
BetaNews, your source for breaking tech news, reviews, and in-depth reporting since 1998.
Regional iGaming Content
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.