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.
UK government loses data on as many as 25 million people
Calling it a data breach is an understatement. The UK government has lost child benefit data on as many as 25 million people in its country, making it the largest loss of personal information ever reported.
The information was included on two discs and was only password protected and not encrypted, meaning it could be fairly easy to get at. The data includes names, dates of birth, bank account, and address details. The discs went missing from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) office.
Microsoft's next XNA Game Studio beta supports multi-player
An expedited beta period is planned for the artistic development environment upgrade, which will now enable programmers to build multi-player games for Games for Windows Live.
For the better part of the 1980s, it was the reason young people entered the realm of programming: to have the opportunity to build something worthwhile on their own on a computer, that's as much fun to make as it is to run, and to exploit that real chance of making it commercial. The greatest game programmers of the 20th century entered this industry through a back-door flung open wide...one that was shut throughout the last decade, as commercial games became multi-million-dollar productions by design.
Startup with Intel ties to launch Office Live competitor
A Internet startup with close ties to, and an existing partnership with, Intel, is planning to release as soon as next month a new online small business suite to directly compete with Microsoft Office Live and Google Apps, BetaNews has learned.
Yesterday, TransMedia's Glide Digital unit released Glide Crunch, a full-featured spreadsheet application that, while said to be cross-platform, targets Linux users. Following up on that development, BetaNews has learned that the company is looking at December availability for new enterprise and small business editions of its crossplatform office suite for Windows, Mac, Linux, and mobile platforms, a product that's viewed as a competitor to both Microsoft Office and Google Apps.
Verizon Wireless' newest camera phone has a rotating display
Verizon announced today's availability of the Samsung Flipshot 3.0 megapixel cameraphone in the US -- a slightly re-tooled version of the previously available A990.
Verizon today announced the availability of Samsung's new U900 FlipShot camera phone in the US. The 3.0 Mp handset is designed around the camera functions. And its rotating 2.2" 240 x 430 display is mounted in such a way that it can swivel and lock into a position more like a traditional dedicated digital camera.
Microsoft, Yahoo continue to bleed search share
While both companies showed growth in search queries, in the all-important matter of search share, both lost as much as Google gained during the month of October.
Google's search share climbed to 58.5 percent, up 1.5 percent from September. Conversely, Yahoo and Microsoft's share fell to 22.9 and 9.7 percent, down 0.8 and 0.6 percent respectively.
Sony opens up PSP game store for the PC
Sony debuted Tuesday a PC version of its PlayStation Store, aimed at replacing the old download service for the PlayStation Portable.
Users of the former service will need to transition to the new service by the end of January. Instructions will be given to users on how to use the PlayStation Store and transfer their purchased content.
Nokia case against Qualcomm in ITC declared 'finished'
It would appear infringement cases against Qualcomm by Nokia are unraveling all over the world, as a judge upholds a decision last month to dismiss an ITC proceeding in the US.
US International Trade Commission spokesperson John Greer is quoted by Reuters this afternoon as saying, "The case is finished at the ITC," referring to an administrative judge's ruling today effectively upholding last month's dismissal of Nokia's infringement claims against Qualcomm.
Is Sony finally getting its PlayStation 3 act together?
Will last month's PS3 price cuts and this week's set of additional announcements help Sony's Playstation gaming platform to hold its own against Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's Wii? The verdicts from analysts are mixed.
"I see the PS3 as running head-to-head with the Xbox [360] this holiday season in terms of units sold," said Michael Cai, a gaming analyst with Parks Associates. "What happened this week will add to the momentum that's already gotten started."
Nokia tries again with N810 Internet tablet, now available
It costs more than an iPhone, but an updated version of Nokia's second-generation Internet tablet has arrived on store shelves just in time for the holidays at a price of $479. The Nokia N810. boasts both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and a nearly 4 1/4-inch display with 800x480 resolution.
A version of Linux dubbed OS 2008 powers the N810 and includes a Mozilla-based browser with Ajax capabilities, Abobe Flash, as well as Skype and Real's Rhapsody service. The previous N800 tablet can be updated with the new software as well. Although its Internet tablets have only seen minor success in the marketplace, Nokia is hoping third party developers will create applications that make the device more enticing to consumers.
Service unlocks the human genome for the consumer
A new Google-backed service aims to allow interested users to search through their own DNA to find out information about their own genetic makeup or predisposition for certain diseases.
"The mission of 23andMe is to take the genetic revolution to a new level by offering a secure, Web-based service where individuals can explore, share and better understand their own genetic information," said Linda Avey, a biopharmaceutical expert and the site's co-founder.
AOL launches new mobile portal in UK
Senators urge FTC to turn up the heat on Google + DoubleClick
Citing the possibility that DoubleClick's and Google's massive databases of personal behavior tracking and identifying information could be merged along with their businesses, two Senate leaders are asking the FTC to proceed cautiously.
The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Herb Kohl (D - Wisc.) and Orrin Hatch (R - Utah), wrote US Federal Trade Commission Chair Deborah Platt Majoras on Monday, urging caution and restraint in her investigation of the ramifications of the mergers of contextual ad provider Google and display ad provider DoubleClick.
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