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Google Chrome 4: Yes, it's fast, but is it usable?
As Betanews readers have responded to our stories about Chrome's JavaScript superiority...Does that mean we'd actually use this browser? Well...
Verizon Wireless launches new Android, Chocolate, and ruggedized phones
The lower-priced Eris joins the Droid, while the Chocolate gets a touchscreen and more music playback.
Early sales figures for Windows 7 nicely high, but do we know why?
Fans of triple-digit surges in figures quoted by Betanews will love this one, as it appears Microsoft rediscovered how to pull off a software launch.
Myka announces its latest Linux-based 'net top box'
Myka's ION brings Boxee, XMBC, and much more to HDTVs.
What hath Mac wrought? A remembrance after a quarter-century
The reason there's a Macintosh today is not because of some brilliant flash of engineering genius, but because Apple had the audacity to learn from its mistakes.
Early build of Moblin 2.1 improves connectivity, but not device support
The Linux Foundation's Atom-centric OS yesterday received a major overhaul with the project release of Moblin 2.1 for netbooks and nettops.
The iPhone's China syndrome: Sales of 5,000 and climbing
There's actually a country where Apple's device is not a godsend, where sales can be measured in the dozens.
New European counterpart to FCC will ensure 'a more neutral net'
Late Thursday night, the ruling telecom administrators of the EU's member nations signed away their final authority to a new entity overseen by the EC.
Sophos study suggests Windows 7 UAC's default setting is self-defeating
Without any anti-virus installed, a Sophos test showed, User Account Control was only capable of thwarting just one malware package out of ten samples chosen.
Indiscreet tweet trips awareness of Web SSL vulnerability
A group of high-level security engineers had been making progress on thwarting a low-level threat to the Web, until somebody blurted it all out on Twitter.
How RIM can avoid a premature endgame for BlackBerry
By Carmi Levy on November 5, 2009, 12:23 PM
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Once not so long ago, if you wanted bulletproof e-mail on a mobile device, you bought a BlackBerry. Research In Motion, the company that practically defined wireless messaging a decade ago, has done quite nicely for itself since then, garnering over 56% of the market for smartphones in the US and about 20% of the overall wireless handset market that includes smartphones as well as conventional feature phones. Its end-to-end encryption and still-unique service paradigm that routes messaging traffic through secure Network Operations Centers further endeared the platform to enterprise buyers, even as the company was successfully pushing the franchise into the consumer space.
Unfortunately for RIM, nothing stays the same in the increasingly competitive wireless market. The BlackBerry is no longer a market of one, and many of the features that defined the platform -- including push e-mail and enterprise-class security -- are no longer unique. Worse, the critical feature set for a modern smartphone has expanded to include rich Web access, broad application availability, and an integrated, Web services-aware operating system. It's no secret that the BlackBerry platform lags in all of these areas with its fine-for-the-1990s browser, relatively paltry app ecosystem, and an OS that despite regular incremental updates still betrays its decade-old roots.
Continue reading How RIM can avoid a premature endgame for BlackBerry...
CinemaNow streaming movies coming to Best Buy
By Tim Conneally on November 3, 2009, 2:22 PM
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It was a short couple of weeks ago that Best Buy announced it had partnered with Netflix to equip its in-house brand of Insignia connected Blu-Ray players with support for Netflix Instant streaming like Sony, LG, and Samsung all had done to their own players.
Now, Best Buy is following the lead of companies like TiVo, LG, and, Pioneer by partnering with Sonic Solutions to include CinemaNow streaming in more devices. The company says CinemaNow will become a standard feature in "connected consumer electronics devices sold throughout US Best Buy retail stores," and online.
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Insider trading scandal claims former AMD CEO after IBM SVP indictment
By Scott M. Fulton, III on November 2, 2009, 12:06 PM
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In what may become the most wide-ranging insider stock trading scheme to be uncovered this decade, evidence uncovered last month by the US Securities and Exchange Commission led to the indictment last week of IBM Senior Vice President Robert Moffat, believed to have been the next-in-line for the CEO post. Moffat was indicted on October 16, arrested on criminal insider trading charges, and has posted $2 million bail, according to reports.
Now, the latest name to become linked to the alleged scheme has submitted his resignation, effective next January, and will take a leave of absence in the interim. Dr. Hector Ruiz was chairman of GlobalFoundries, the manufacturing entity spun off from AMD, which Ruiz led as its chairman and CEO during the dawn of the multicore era.
Continue reading Insider trading scandal claims former AMD CEO after IBM SVP indictment...
Microsoft wins round one in its battle against Vista
By Scott M. Fulton, III on October 23, 2009, 12:45 PM
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Anyone who would continue to frame the consumer PC market in 1980s terms, as a continuance of the old war between Microsoft and Apple, would be sorely disappointed by this morning's earnings news from Microsoft. The measured candor that continues to emerge from CFO Chris Liddell suggests that Macintosh and iPhone are not even on the company's radar at the moment, and that his real battle is against a tougher and more menacing foe: Vista.
As of yesterday, it was officially okay for Microsoft to pronounce Vista part of its past, to "un-support" it from a marketing standpoint (though certainly not from a service standpoint). Steering Microsoft clear of the perfect storm -- the effects of the global recession, coupled with the peak in negative attitude toward Vista -- means putting Vista behind it, placing it in the adversarial role normally characterized by someone who looks a lot more like Justin Long than John Hodgman.
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Microsoft misses a perfect opportunity for Windows 7 and multitouch
By Scott M. Fulton, III on October 22, 2009, 12:41 PM
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Here are some observations after having watched Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's Windows 7 rollout, as streamed live from a Soho loft earlier this morning: Although I'm on record as praising Windows 7 (at Vista's expense), Microsoft missed a window here to make its new product more tangible and more interesting to consumers.
We saw plenty of demonstrations today about multitouch, which will at some point be perceived as a key feature of Windows 7 once more people are able to get their hands on it. But the only two routes Microsoft presented this morning were through expensive touch-sensitive TVs (which don't make sense to folks who prefer remote control) and through a new class of PCs that has yet to find a proper form factor, let alone make its way from the factory.
Continue reading Microsoft misses a perfect opportunity for Windows 7 and multitouch...
Giving it all to Google: It may be too late to complain
By Scott M. Fulton, III on October 20, 2009, 12:32 PM
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The problem is not so much Google itself. The problem is with the self-absorbed-yet-insecure nature of a plurality of industries, media being just one among them, whose collective inability to plan how they would conduct business in the era of digital multimedia communication, led them to essentially give up, give in, and let Google build it all for them.
Conducting business is all about staying visible, not just in front of the public's eyes but in its conscience as well. It's why Coca-Cola continues to advertise itself even though folks are likely to go on drinking it anyway (there's a great gag about this fact in Ricky Gervais' latest film, The Invention of Lying). At a time during the evolution of the Internet when businesses were busy trying to construct analogs for physical business entities -- such as online shopping malls with 3D virtual escalators, online business directories that were alphabetized, and "portals" that sought to become the world's centers for particular industries, such as dog grooming -- along came an Occam's Razor that appeared to make everything much simpler: It was the idea that visibility, that critical ingredient of all business relationships, can be engineered.
Continue reading Giving it all to Google: It may be too late to complain...
Intel's plan to bring back the PC market
By Scott M. Fulton, III on October 14, 2009, 12:03 PM
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When the worst part of the Economic Storm of 2008 was about to hit, Intel made preparations by moving its emphasis toward Atom, its lowest-end processor for netbooks and embedded devices -- at the time, a single-core unit. Sure, it would drive average selling prices (ASPs) down several points, but it would provide the sales volume necessary to keep Intel in the game, so all hands were bracing themselves against Atom for support.
The biggest sign to date that the storm has officially passed came from Intel's quarterly call exactly one year later. Mention of Atom, the lifeline of the company through the worst of it, was minimized. And we're back to talking about Nehalem, the company's current power-saving architecture, and the move from 45 nm to 32 nm lithography. At least in the skies above Santa Clara, the all-clear has sounded.
Continue reading Intel's plan to bring back the PC market...
Levinson quits Google's board, stays with Apple, amid FTC scrutiny
By Scott M. Fulton, III on October 12, 2009, 3:59 PM
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With the on-again/off-again relationship between the US Federal Trade Commission and antitrust enforcement clearly coming on again with the rise of the Obama Administration -- and the appointment of former FTC Commissioner Christine Varney at DOJ Antitrust -- it may no longer be acceptable among technology company directors to leverage their status with one company to influence another. Genentech Chairman Arthur Levinson's involvement as a lead director with both Google and Apple had never raised eyebrows until this year, when newly appointed regulators sought to eliminate the perception of possible collusion between technology companies.
That perception might have been obvious with regard to Eric Schmidt, the Google CEO who left Apple's board of directors last August. But for the career genetic scientist and molecular biologist whose company produced neither MP3 players nor search engines, his involvement was at one time seen as a way of sharing his life experience with multiple companies that could become partners.
Continue reading Levinson quits Google's board, stays with Apple, amid FTC scrutiny...
The roots of all evil: Apple, Google, Intel, and Microsoft
By Scott M. Fulton, III on October 9, 2009, 1:53 PM
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Americans love a winner, and will not tolerate a loser.
- General George S. Patton (as portrayed by George C. Scott)
Continue reading The roots of all evil: Apple, Google, Intel, and Microsoft...
Apple joins an exodus of companies from US Chamber of Commerce
By Scott M. Fulton, III on October 6, 2009, 8:21 PM
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A massive energy bill that has already passed the House, and is currently before the Senate, would create new government programs that would not only encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by utilities and energy companies, but set limits over time as to the quantity of that reduction over the next several years. The US Chamber of Commerce (USCC), a private business federation that is not affiliated with the federal government, went on record last August as being skeptical of any legislative or regulatory effort that assumes greenhouse gasses truly endanger human health. Late last month, the Chamber voiced its opposition to that bill.
Today, Apple Inc. joined a growing list of companies including General Electric, athletic apparel maker Nike, and even energy companies such as PG&E and nuclear power plant operator Exelon, in terminating their membership in the Chamber.
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The EC's charges: Did Intel really threaten Dell if it shifted toward AMD?
By Scott M. Fulton, III on September 21, 2009, 3:51 PM
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If the European Commission's antitrust case against Intel seemed completely clear and convincing up to now, this morning's publication of its formal provisional explanation of its charges (PDF available here) -- actually delivered last May 13 but only made public today -- muddies the waters somewhat. For while there is indeed some smoke, and certain excerpts would imply the existence of a gun from which the smoke emanated, the presence of far more smoke from various other sources not only un-resolves some questions, but adds some new ones to the mix.
Most surprising of all is the EC's explanation of rebates Intel allegedly provided to Dell Computer in exchange for limited exclusivity, the existence of which has actually not been denied. A thorough read of the evidence explained by the Commission reveals that the rebate program was apparently conceived by Dell, not Intel. And although e-mails between redacted Dell executives did warn of possible retributions by Intel had their deal not been kept as promised, those same e-mails indicate Dell had other reasons of their own to pursue exclusivity.
Continue reading The EC's charges: Did Intel really threaten Dell if it shifted toward AMD?...
Like HP, Dell also acquires a Perot empire for enterprise services
By Tim Conneally on September 21, 2009, 2:09 PM
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Though Dell has extended its brand to consumer electronics of all sorts, the company's latest drive is straight into enterprise services, a segment of the IT market which has helped HP retain a competitive edge on Dell in hardware sales.
Today, Dell announced it will be acquiring Perot Systems in a $3.9 billion all-cash transaction expected to be completed in January.
Continue reading Like HP, Dell also acquires a Perot empire for enterprise services...
Google to FCC: Apple and AT&T lied
By Tim Conneally on September 18, 2009, 2:46 PM
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The text of a letter from Google to the US Federal Communications Commission dated last August 21 -- the un-redacted contents of which were only made available today -- directly contradicts information given by Apple and iPhone partner AT&T, regarding the apparent rejection of a key Google mobile app from Apple's iTunes App Store.
Google Voice is a beta project which allows several phone lines to be united under a single new number, accessible from any phone. Earlier this year, Google submitted to Apple an app that would make the service usable on the iPhone. The fiasco over Apple's rejection of the Google Voice application from the App Store came to a head when the FCC began a formal inquiry into whether the relationship between AT&T and Apple is fair and encouraging to innovations in communication.
Palm is still losing money
By Tim Conneally on September 17, 2009, 6:31 PM
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Palm limped toward the launch of the Pre, relying on cash and short-term investments to pull it through eight consecutive money-losing quarters in an attempt to turn things around. And now that the Pre has been turned loose, and Pixi, Palm's second WebOS, device is on the way, the struggling company's long-term outlook remains modest, and it continues to post losses. Yet it doesn't want to get too specific about numbers.
For the quarter ending on August 31, Palm reported a loss of $161.1 million with revenues that dropped 82% to $68 million.
Blockbuster gains ground in rental kiosk turf war
By Tim Conneally on September 16, 2009, 11:49 AM
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Yet another home movie product has turned into a color war between red and blue.
Republicans versus Democrats, Bloods versus Crips, HD DVD versus Blu-ray -- whenever two groups are vying for some territory claim, they mark it with a red or a blue flag. Coinstar's Redbox DVD rental kiosks have marked off some 15,000 locations across the United States with a big red...well, box.
Continue reading Blockbuster gains ground in rental kiosk turf war...
Dell settles its fraud case with New York, will pay $4 million
By Scott M. Fulton, III on September 16, 2009, 11:31 AM
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It's a chapter from the dark side of Dell's history that you'd think it would have worked to put behind it sooner: Last year, a New York state court found Dell guilty of deceptive business conduct and misleading advertising. Specifically, Dell had offered "no interest" financing for customers, and then not only found ways to charge "non-qualifying" customers interest, but to use collection services to hassle customers who didn't think they owed it.
It's taken nearly 16 months for Dell to come to any decision about how much restitution New York customers were owed. This morning, the state's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that amount would be $4 million, which either suggests that fewer customers were "baited-and-switched" than was previously thought, or that Dell is getting off easy.
Continue reading Dell settles its fraud case with New York, will pay $4 million...
Intel exec shake-up promotes Maloney as Gelsinger moves to EMC
By Scott M. Fulton, III on September 14, 2009, 2:29 PM
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A recent Intel television ad uses the slogan, "Our rock stars aren't like your rock stars," and features Ajay Bhatt, a long-time company engineer who led the project to create USB. But during the company's conferences such as IDF where the execs are expected to really rock the house, it's been Pat Gelsinger -- who has held the title CTO at the senior vice president level -- who typically draws the crowd. Besides CEO Paul Otellini, Gelsinger has been the company's most visible and charismatic leader.
As of today, Gelsinger is no longer with Intel, having officially jumped ship to become President and COO of a company whose ability to "rock" ranks right up there with Lawrence Welk: EMC, the storage systems company whose acquisition of storage rock-star Iomega last year put a damper on that party as well.
Continue reading Intel exec shake-up promotes Maloney as Gelsinger moves to EMC...
UK mobile market shrinks with T-Mobile, Orange merger
By Tim Conneally on September 8, 2009, 10:36 AM
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The UK's third and fourth largest mobile network operators, Orange and T-Mobile, will combine in a new joint venture this fall, the companies announced today. If authorized by antitrust regulators, the merger will create the single largest mobile company in the United Kingdom, with an estimated 28.4 million subscribers, or roughly 37% of the market.
While the British mobile phone market is much smaller and denser than its American counterpart, there are some similarities occurring between the two markets that are important to consider. Currently the largest UK operator with a 27% share is Telefonica's O2, which is the exclusive iPhone carrier like AT&T in the US. In second place with 25% of the British market is Vodafone, the company which jointly owns Verizon Wireless, the second place US carrier. The merger of Orange and T-Mobile in the UK would be like Sprint and T-Mobile merging in the United States, breaking up the market into thirds.
Continue reading UK mobile market shrinks with T-Mobile, Orange merger...
eBay sells 65% of Skype for $1.9 billion
By Tim Conneally on September 1, 2009, 10:23 AM
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eBay has announced that it has sold most of its stake in VoIP messaging software platform Skype for $1.9 billion in cash plus a $125 million note. eBay will retain a 35% stake in Skype, and the transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
The investor group which bought out eBay's share is being led by private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, and includes venture capital firms Andreesen Horowitz, Index Ventures, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Continue reading eBay sells 65% of Skype for $1.9 billion...
AT&T announces tentative wireline union deal
By Tim Conneally on August 28, 2009, 2:39 PM
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AT&T announced details of its tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America who began contract re-negotiations in April.
The CWA represents 7,000 of AT&T's legacy wireline workers, whose contracts expired in the spring. Today, AT&T announced it has tentatively arrived at a three-year agreement upon wages, pension band increases, and health care. CWA workers were threatening to strike if AT&T changed their health care benefits, which included an HMO with 100% of the premiums covered by AT&T.
Continue reading AT&T announces tentative wireline union deal...
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