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Google Buzz: Another attempt to harness the content firehose
Similar to how Google successfully remolded RSS into a Google tool, the company now wants to remold Gmail into one big Google party
Success: Google's Nexus One shipping support line takes tech support questions
UPDATED Though the support line had been set up for shipping, it now appears Google personnel are happy to hear technical concerns.
Goodnight, moon: What I learned from a space shuttle
Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: Can the tech sector learn a few lessons from the space program? Certainly, if you believe in learning from someone else's mistakes.
Netflix to FCC: NBCU + Comcast could bypass net neutrality
Weaning itself from the post office as its main means of video transfer, Netflix would like someone to ensure the Internet remains just as unencumbered.
Rhapsody to become an independent company
RealNetworks and Viacom subsidiary MTV Networks have begun the process of spinning off music service Rhapsody into an independent company.
Nvidia debuts new dynamically-switched graphics card technology
Today, Nvidia announced that its Optimus technology for GPU switching will soon be available in a handful of Asus notebooks.
Google lowers 'unusually high' early termination fee on Nexus One
Google has lowered the Nexus One's early termination fees which were twice as high as the norm.
Netgear and Ericsson introduce a mobile broadband hotspot with a twist
It's a mobile broadband hotspot, but it's for use in the home.
Report: Streaming video drove 72% global increase in mobile data consumption
A new study says streaming video is "the single most influential factor driving the need for increased mobile network capacity."
Stymied by continuing Nexus One 3G issues, Google blames the environment
If you're still afflicted with the 3G flip-flop trouble, then you might consider moving. That appears to be the only suggestion Google can give for now.
Wolfram|Alpha makes a strong argument for virtual keyboards
"Answer engine" Wolfram|Alpha has updated its iPhone/iPod Touch app, harnessing the strength of the virtual keyboard.
Success: Google's Nexus One shipping support line takes tech support questions
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 9, 2010, 11:06 AM
4 Comments
11:35 am EST Tuesday, February 9, 2010 · In a test of Google's willingness to take customer concerns this morning, Betanews Editor-in-Chief Nathan Mook -- a new Nexus One owner himself who has not experienced either the 3G connectivity problem or the touchscreen tracking problem -- contacted the Nexus One shipping support line with a technical concern. After getting off the phone with a live Google support staffer in San Francisco, Nate reported very positive results.
The problem Nate was having, he says, is minor: The phone's automatic brightness isn't working well, remaining too dark when auto-brightness is turned on. Plus, the phone's touch-sensitive panel buttons at the bottom appear non-sensitive if you touch too close to the bottom.
Continue reading Success: Google's Nexus One shipping support line takes tech support questions...
Netflix to FCC: NBCU + Comcast could bypass net neutrality
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 8, 2010, 3:02 PM
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In a world where Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski's six principles for net neutrality are enforced, everyone who makes a living on the Internet could conceivably be "unburdened by the unnecessary intervention of network operators or government regulators." The exception would be when a pipeline provider such as Comcast merges with a content provider such as NBC Universal, to make certain classes of content viewable online only when it designates. That's the opinion of attorneys for video rental service Netflix, in a filing last month with the FCC and recently made public.
"Netflix believes that the codification of the existing network neutrality principles, together with the addition of nondiscrimination and transparency, create an effective framework for preserving an open Internet," begins Netflix' filing, written last January 14 (PDF available here). "These rules will allow all parts of the industry -- network operators, consumer electronics manufacturers, and edge providers of content, applications, and services -- to continue to innovate at a rapid pace, unburdened by the unnecessary intervention of network operators or government regulators."
Continue reading Netflix to FCC: NBCU + Comcast could bypass net neutrality...
Stymied by continuing Nexus One 3G issues, Google blames the environment
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 8, 2010, 11:59 AM
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For the most part, last week's over-the-air software update to Google Nexus One phones, which was intended to address the 3G connectivity issues with certain versions of the phone's firmware (with a gift of added multitouch), appears unsuccessful for many commenters to Google's support forums. Very few customers reported improvement, and some who did in the early going are now saying their flip-flop problems between 3G and EDGE have returned.
Meanwhile, although Nexus One manufacturer HTC has typically referred phone issues to Google -- the self-proclaimed "vendor of record" when the device premiered -- as of now, it has declared the issue resolved, suggesting that customers still experiencing problems "restart their Nexus One device to restore their T-Mobile data connection."
Continue reading Stymied by continuing Nexus One 3G issues, Google blames the environment...
DOJ: Google can't leverage class action to settle with future authors
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 5, 2010, 5:39 PM
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Last September, the US Justice Dept. objected to the proposed terms of a settlement between Google and the Authors' Guild, which would have enabled Google to publish out-of-print titles in its Google Books catalog. The theory of the settlement at the time was, if authors or rights holders are given enough time to respond to a request to stand up for their rights -- say, at least several months -- and they don't do so, then that's as good as acquiescence.
Since that time, on orders of US District Judge Denny Chin, the two disputing groups have worked on a revised settlement. But yesterday, the Justice Dept. -- representing the United States' interests in the matter -- filed a second objection to the settlement. Although Google and the Authors' Guild made progress, US attorneys say, Google still appears to take the position not only that it can strike bargains on behalf of copyright holders, but that only Google can do so -- a position which they say the law does not allow them to take.
Continue reading DOJ: Google can't leverage class action to settle with future authors...
Boxee: We didn't steal anything from Hulu
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 4, 2010, 6:27 PM
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During the few comments he was asked to make during his testimony before the House Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee earlier today, NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker was asked by Committee Chairman Rep. Rick Boucher (D - Va.) whether Hulu -- a video Web service co-owned by NBC -- intentionally blocked the ability of Boxee's media center application for PCs to replay Hulu videos. Rep. Boucher's question was by way of ascertaining whether a combined Comcast + NBCU entity would routinely block competitors' access to programming it generated.
Zucker responded: "What Boxee was doing was illegally taking the content that was on Hulu without any business deal. We have several distributors...of the Hulu content that we have legal distribution deals with, so we don't preclude distribution deals. What we preclude are those that illegally take that content."
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MPEG LA won't charge free streamers to use H.264, will charge for selling codec
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 4, 2010, 6:05 PM
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While Google, Vimeo, and others continue to experiment with H.264 as the codec of choice for HTML5 Web browser-embedded video, there's still considerable debate over whether W3C -- the caretakers of HTML and other Web standards -- should allow Web proprietors to embrace standards that are not essentially free. MPEG LA, the rights holder for H.264 technology and its licensing agent for the Internet Broadcast AVC Video portfolio, recently said it will not charge royalties for the use of H.264 encoding in video that's delivered free -- specifically, for any video for which the creators or servers are not compensated -- at least until the end of 2015 (a date corrected from the end of 2016, which the licensing agency originally announced).
Does that mean H.264 is free for streamers? In a clarification for Betanews this afternoon, MPEG LA spokesperson Tom O'Reilly said it may very well be free...for those who use the codec for that purpose. But not for those who sell the encoding software that utilizes the codec.
Continue reading MPEG LA won't charge free streamers to use H.264, will charge for selling codec...
Net neutrality objections fade, Congress appears likely to pass NBCU + Comcast
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 4, 2010, 4:31 PM
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In the end, it was one lone congressman who raised the subject of net neutrality, with respect to access to content over the Internet, as more than a passing reference, or by way of suggesting that certain topics be ignored altogether: Rep. Ed Markey (D - Mass., who also chairs the Energy and Environment Subcommittee), author of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act still being deliberated in Congress, voiced his skepticism over the viability of the proposed acquisition of NBC Universal by a new unit of Comcast, saying he didn't see any guarantees that the current class of over-the-air programming offered by NBC would not be transferred to Comcast pay-TV services such as TV Everywhere.
But with NBC being the butt end of jokes on TV everywhere, and elsewhere, with respect to its dismal standing in audience ratings and its poor handling of the recent "Tonight Show" reprogramming kerfuffle, the objections raised by Rep. Markey might not have mattered much. In some folks' mind, why would anyone want to pay for NBC shows anyway?
Continue reading Net neutrality objections fade, Congress appears likely to pass NBCU + Comcast...
H.264 licensing body won't charge royalties for HTML5, other Web streams
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 3, 2010, 6:05 PM
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One of the key objections Mozilla and its supporters have had to the use of H.264 codecs for HTML5 video -- the built-in decoding system being developed for the next edition of HTML -- is that it's proprietary technology. As such, there are no guarantees against the rights holders to that technology staking claims to it, and charging money for it...and there may not be much protection against others who believe they have claims on it, to test their theories in a full-scale patent infringement trial.
Up to now, the MPEG Licensing Authority (MPEG LA) has not been charging royalties to anyone, including streamers and the viewers of streamed content, for the use of H.264 encoding and decoding for the specific purpose of delivering free streams. That way, for example, the participants in YouTube's and Vimeo's current tests of H.264 in HTML5 -- Web browser-based video without any plug-ins -- can proceed without incurring charges.
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Early mixed results for over-the-air 3G fix for Nexus One
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 3, 2010, 3:31 PM
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This morning, Google began deploying an over-the-air software update for its Nexus One phones, including the addition of true pinch-to-zoom multitouch and synchronization features for Google Maps, as well as a purported fix for poor 3G connectivity for at least one version of the phone's firmware. In the early minutes after deployment, there appeared to be some hope as some users of Google's support forums reported improved signal strength.
But that was in the early going. As the hours passed, customers were correcting their existing reports, and others were adding new reports, of only marginally improved 3G speeds at best. Connectivity appears to have improved for some -- getting at least some 3G where there was none before -- but that's not a complete solution for them yet. What's more, troubles with 3G signals being completely dropped when the phone is touched by human hands -- a problem reported by a minority of users, but still a sizable number -- seemed to continue.
Continue reading Early mixed results for over-the-air 3G fix for Nexus One...
It's a three-way race: Opera preview clings to lead over Safari 4, Chrome 5
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 2, 2010, 5:34 PM
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Download Opera 10.5 "Pre-alpha" for Windows from Fileforum now.
This week marked Google's first release of a development build browser called Chrome 5, which contains some not-yet-fully-implemented features including the browser's first personalized security settings. In recent months, Chrome's dev build has been the standard-setter for performance in Windows, with scores in Betanews tests that rise by as much as one point -- one relative quantum of IE7/Vista horsepower -- per month.
Continue reading It's a three-way race: Opera preview clings to lead over Safari 4, Chrome 5...
Proposed settlement in Facebook Beacon case draws fire from advocacy groups
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 2, 2010, 4:19 PM
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Just over two years ago now, Facebook began deploying a behavioral tracking service it called Beacon, which automatically enabled the tracking of Facebook users' behavior, but shared that data with advertising partners. It wasn't an "opt-in" service by anyone's definition, and after Facebook took down most of the service, customers filed a class-action suit against the social network.
In a proposed settlement last September, Facebook is opting to use its own money -- some $9.5 million -- to establish a fund for the creation of a foundation to help make Web users more aware of their privacy rights, and how they can improve their online safety. It's what the law calls a cy près settlement, named for an old French phrase that literally means, "the next best thing."
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Commercial Windows Azure is now live, along with cloud-based storage
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 2, 2010, 12:35 PM
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Late yesterday afternoon, right on schedule, Microsoft announced the "general availability" of Windows Azure, its cloud-based hosting service for .NET applications. With a release like this, "GA" is somewhat peculiar, especially since the service has actually been in operation for several months. But it does mean that a ribbon has been cut, and from now on, new accounts are being signed up as commercial licenses. Old accounts are being given the warning to either convert or jump ship.
From this point on, prospective Azure customers will be given the opportunity to experiment with a limited amount of storage and transaction bandwidth, for a limited time. From now until July 31, testers will be allowed free access to 25 hours of a small compute instance with 500 MB of storage, and 10,000 transactions on one SQL Azure database (which will only be free for the first three months). Usage above that level will be charged at the regular rate of $0.12 per hour plus $0.15 per GB per month storage, and $9.99 per month per 1 GB database.
Continue reading Commercial Windows Azure is now live, along with cloud-based storage...
Google drops clues on more document-centric Chrome OS for tablets
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 2, 2010, 11:31 AM
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Since the development of X, one of the first windowing UIs for UNIX, and as evidenced by Apple's early experiments with Lisa, the forerunner of Macintosh, software designers have been intrigued by the concept of a document-centric computing environment. More like a physical desktop, such a system would center not around the programs you launch but the work you do. The functions and applications pertaining to that work would pop up in the margins, but most of the time would stay out of the way.
That's the old-fashioned idea that the designers behind the Chromium OS project -- the open source team whose work feeds into Google's Chrome OS -- are now publicly experimenting with. With only a few crude mockups to show off today, the crew appears to be considering an environment that's scalable to any size tablet, where the document consumes the entire screen, but the functions and apps are tucked away either outside the margins or through zoomable context menus.
Continue reading Google drops clues on more document-centric Chrome OS for tablets...
First Google Chrome 5 offers a peek at future security settings
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 1, 2010, 4:34 PM
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Download Google Chrome for Windows Dev Channel build 5.0.301.1 from Fileforum now.
At the beginning of what will eventually be released as version 5 of Google's Web browser for Windows and other platforms, the developers of Chrome are just now taking into account what other manufacturers might have considered a fundamental aspect: the ability to turn on and off active content, such as JavaScript.
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Google: Phase-out of IE6 support will remain limited to Google Apps
By Scott M. Fulton, III on February 1, 2010, 2:51 PM
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In a now very well-cited blog post from last Friday, Google Apps Senior Product Manager Rajen Sheth announced that as of March 1, Google Docs and Google Sites (the company's tool for building your own Web sites) will no longer support Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 Web browser. A Google spokesperson told Betanews this afternoon that Sheth meant exactly what he said, and no more -- specifically, that the initial phase-out will begin a schedule of similar phase-outs for other apps in the Google Apps suite.
The statement should not be taken to mean, the spokesperson told Betanews, that the company's various Web properties (for instance, ad platforms) will no longer support IE6. Sheth was only speaking for the Google Apps team, we were told. YouTube, a Google division, announced its plan to phase out IE6 support last July.
Continue reading Google: Phase-out of IE6 support will remain limited to Google Apps...
Google's next step in hardwiring the Internet: More location-sensitive DNS
By Scott M. Fulton, III on January 29, 2010, 6:18 PM
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If today's Internet worked the way it was originally designed, where content took whatever route seemed most convenient at the time to reach its destination, there's a good chance we'd already be in a state of gridlock today. As it turns out, global-scale load balancing has already been well under way for several years, with companies like Akamai providing edge caching services that move copies of frequently accessed content from a high-volume server geographically closer to the clients that access it.
Now, Google wants the entire Internet to be capable of implementing a concept that could make similar services to Akamai's feasible on smaller scales everywhere. Earlier this week, the company announced it had submitted a formal proposal to the Internet Engineering Task Force, that would enable authoritative nameservers -- the principal directories in the Domain Name Server system -- to ascertain more clearly where the request for a resolved address is coming from. That way, Google says, the DNS server can craft a response that can be more directly and expressly routed to its recipient. As it stands now, recursive resolvers -- the DNS entities that more often directly face the public -- tend to forward requests to nameservers using their own geography, rather than that of the original client.
Continue reading Google's next step in hardwiring the Internet: More location-sensitive DNS...
New wave of outages impacts the plagued Google phone
By Scott M. Fulton, III on January 29, 2010, 1:04 PM
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Since early Friday morning, as hundreds of commenters on T-Mobile's and Google's support forums are reporting, 3G data connectivity service has been completely unavailable -- for some, since approximately 4:30 am Eastern Time this morning, but for a great many more users beginning at 10:00 am. Some users in recent minutes are reporting service restored, although indications from both forums are that service can come back and go away again.
Users attempting to connect to the Internet are apparently being greeted with this message: "To connect to the Internet with the device you are using, you'll need a webConnect data plan." At least one customer, speaking with T-Mobile customer support this morning, was informed that he appeared to have been enrolled on the wrong data plan -- specifically, one for the T-Mobile G1, not the Nexus One. If that's the case for other customers as well, the problem could lie in T-Mobile's database, which could be telling Nexus One users they're not qualified to connect. Another customer reports having been told by a support rep at HTC (the phone's manufacturer, where customers reportedly received the best service for the first outage) that T-Mobile is investigating its N1 customer databases.
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Canada's privacy office puts Facebook back in the hot seat
By Scott M. Fulton, III on January 29, 2010, 12:33 PM
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One of the principal factors behind Facebook's revision of its privacy policies has been said to be a formal complaint filed by the office of Canada's Privacy Commissioner last July. That complaint alleged that the leading social network failed to properly disclose to its users the extent to which it could use personally identifiable information, including sharing that information with partners and advertisers. The following month, Facebook agreed to implement changes.
Those changes led to last December's overhaul of the Facebook privacy system, which many now consider to be more of a giveaway than ever before. With the guise of clear and straightforward explanation, users are now being asked to accept default settings that expressly give Facebook permission to share personal information with partners, and are even told that in the absence of such permission, there are ways in which it could be shared anyway.
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Beyond obsolescence: What Microsoft Office can become
By Scott M. Fulton, III on January 28, 2010, 5:22 PM
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The original reason for Microsoft Office's existence was to provide retailers with an incentive to move product that wasn't moving. The bundle created a discount deal that enabled the momentum behind Excel, which was hot, to help push Word, which was not. It had hardly a tenth of the sales volume of WordPerfect, and Word was a product that retailers had to actively work to sell. This was at a time when software consumed shelf space in stores and was sold like automobiles -- a time which is now essentially gone.
The idea that Office could be a platform came later, with Microsoft's realization -- albeit a late one, and a hard sell for a lot of us outside the company to have made -- that there was more to this multitasking thing than linked and embedded objects. I was a very early believer in the ideal that an application could be customized to suit the functions, requirements, and even tastes of the businesses that use it. I'm proud to say I've had more than just a voice in helping to bring that reality about. It would be a false statement for me to say I predicted this from my seat on the sidelines and it came about; I got off the sidelines, took my tools with me, and worked to bring it about.
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Cable, wireless industry propose another DTV transition, broadcasters object
By Scott M. Fulton, III on January 28, 2010, 12:22 PM
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As time steadily runs out for the US Federal Communications Commission to present to Congress its proposal for federal investment in broadband Internet communications -- a proposal that's expected to be heavily focused on wireless, which falls under the FCC's purview -- major players in the debate keep dropping show-stopper bombs into the debate. One such bomb, which erupted last December, was AT&T's plea to set a firm timetable for the discontinuation of wireline telephone service in the US.
As it turns out, another bomb was dropped at around the same time, though with a longer fuse: The wireless industry association CTIA last month joined with the Consumer Electronics Commission to propose to the FCC what they characterized as an alternative solution to the problem of finding room in the nation's wireless spectrum for broadening broadband. Specifically, the two groups suggested that DTV broadcasters don't really need all the spectrum they were given during the transition process, which finally ended last year.
Continue reading Cable, wireless industry propose another DTV transition, broadcasters object...