Tim Conneally

Thursday, Microsoft released its new free Web development software WebMatrix, a tool that lets users create, build and deploy websites based upon the web technologies and content management systems of their choosing. The goal of the software is to be an extremely simple, lightweight development environment that eliminates the need for switching back and forth between other applications while developing websites.

Sites can be built from templates or from scratch, and more than 40 open source web applications are supported, like the popular WordPress, Joomla, DotNetNuke, and more, and files can then be edited in HTML, CSS, ASP.NET or PHP. Naturally, Microsoft put some special shine on ASP.NET in WebMatrix and included support for the "Razor" view engine and special single-line-of-code helper functions to integrate with external social and commercial services.

Continue reading →

Just two months ago, Hulu launched its premium subscription service Hulu Plus which brings streaming TV content from its popular website to mobile devices and connected TVs and set-top boxes.

Now that a special for-pay version of Hulu exists for all these devices, the services that brought Hulu's free Web content to these same devices could be squeezed out of the "placeshifting" margin where they existed before.

Continue reading →

Microsoft is challenging Apple's 2008 trademark application for "app store," reports said on Wednesday. The term, Microsoft contests, should be non-trademarkable, because, in short, an App Store is a generic term for a store that sells apps, not a proper name.

"The undisputed facts further show that the combined term 'app store' is commonly used in the trade, by the general press, by consumers, by Apple's competitors, and even by Apple's founder and CEO Steve Jobs as a generic name for online stores featuring apps," Microsoft's complaint with the Trademark Trial and Appeal board says. "A search of Westlaw's US ALL NEWS database found over 1,000 current articles using 'app store' as the generic name for stores featuring apps."

Continue reading →

At the end of December, I looked at some of the book scanning options for small collections looking to archive their unique printed matter and make it accessible on digital platforms. Now, thanks to the availability of low-cost cameras and optical character recognition software, that sort of scanning is about to break into the mainstream.

iON, maker of every type of entry-level analog-to-digital conversion appliance, announced it will begin selling its own paper-to-eBook scanning solution this year called the Book Saver.

Continue reading →

MySpace, the social network that defined social networking in the dawn of the 21st century, is undergoing another round of massive cutbacks which will terminate 47% of its employees, parent company News Corp announced Tuesday. The site has been trying to re-invent itself as a music and entertainment hub as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other social communication services pick away at its rapidly dwindling audience.

The last round of layoffs at MySpace that were this severe took place in 2009, when 30% of the staff was laid off to compensate for "the realities of today's marketplace."

Continue reading →

Advocacy groups Free Press, Media Access Project, and New America Foundation sent a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday regarding the policies of MetroPCS, the nation's fifth-largest wireless operator, and the first one to activate its LTE 4G network. The groups complain MetroPCS' new "unlimited" wireless broadband service plans fall through loopholes in the FCC's new net neutrality plans, and could set a precedent for unfair content blocking.

Last week, MetroPCS unveiled new 4G LTE service plans which cost $40, $50, or $60 dollars. Each of the plans offers unlimited talk, text, and 4G Web browsing, but then the company puts up vague content barriers without defining what the usage cases are, and what consumers have access to.

Continue reading →

On Tuesday, one of the most fiercely demanded and most frequently rumored products was announced: the CDMA iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless. Lending credence to the long-running rumors, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam today said Apple has actually been testing iPhone on CDMA since 2008.

Most of the features of Verizon's iPhone 4 are identical to the one available on AT&T, aside from the different wireless radios. Contrary to recent rumors, it is not an LTE device, but EV-DO (rev A). 3G. Apple fans being what they are, it has already been noted that the faulty external antenna of the iPhone 4 that caused controversy in mid-2010 has been moderately redesigned with a series of notches visible in the chassis.

Continue reading →

Advanced Micro Devices CEO Dirk Meyer has resigned form his position, and will be replaced temporarily by CFO Thomas Seifert while the company shops around for a new head. The change in executive staff looks to be the ceremonial completion of AMD's integration with ATi.

Back in 2006, AMD announced it had begun a project to build a hybrid CPU/GPU platform called Fusion that was the result of a $5.4 billion cash and stock deal to acquire graphics company ATi. Originally, AMD said the new processors would be available in 2008 or 2009. One year later, AMD shifted its goals and told us that it would probably take a bit longer for the new design to come to fruition.

Continue reading →

If you've never gone to the Consumer Electronics Show, there's only one thing you really need to know: it's hell on the feet. The Las Vegas Convention Center is 3.2 million square feet, The Venetian ballroom and convention space adds 2.25 million square feet to that, and the Las Vegas Hilton tacks on yet another 35,000 square feet. So when you go, expect to traverse about 5.5 million square feet worth of technology company booths and presentation spaces, and this is all without even including the events, meetings, and parties tucked away in every hotel both on- and off the strip.

It's a lot of walking.

Continue reading →

Two of the world's top four mobile phone makers hold their prestigious positions with almost no presence in the United States at all, but one of them looks to have what it takes to make a strong impression in the U.S. in the not too distant future.

I'm talking about Nokia and ZTE, who each enjoy massive popularity in Europe and Asia, but who have remained relatively silent in the states. Judging by ZTE's performance at the end of 2010, and its presence at CES 2011 this week, however, the Chinese telecommunications company will be stepping up its brand in the United States in a big way when the transition to 4G technology is in full swing.

Continue reading →

In an interview with the BBC, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the Kinect motion control interface released in 2010 for the Xbox 360 will be coming to PCs "in the right time."

But Belgian middleware company SoftKinetic might just beat Microsoft to the punch with its own white-label gesture interface for Atom-based PCs and set-top boxes.

Continue reading →

All of the e-readers that use legitimate "e paper" and not some other display type license their technology from the E Ink Corporation. It's the high-visibility screen technology used in the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, the original Nook, and many more.

Late in 2010, E Ink debuted an active matrix color E Ink technology called Triton, and Chinese manufacturer Hanvon jumped on board as the first adopter of the new screens.

Continue reading →

Memjet, the printer design company headed by former Qualcomm COO Len Lauer, made its first major partnership announcements at CES 2011 yesterday, and its staggeringly fast inkjet printers will be brought to market by Lenovo in China, WEP in India, and Kpowerscience in Taiwan. North America and Europe are sure to follow.

Why should you care about Memjet? Because most of the big announcements coming from printer companies in recent years have revolved around advances in printer communication and broadened functionality. It isn't often that a disruptive technology comes along and results in a different kind of printer.

Continue reading →

At CES 2010, Qualcomm made a surprise unveiling of a full-color e-reader display technology called Mirasol that utilized a new reflective technology called IMOD (Interferrometric Modulation) that gave it the color and refresh of an LCD screen, but with the sunlight viewability and low battery consumption of e-paper. At CES 2011, the screen still hasn't been employed in any e-readers yet, but it isn't far from being a reality.

Though Qualcomm couldn't tell me today who will be utilizing the technology in an e-reader/tablet, nor could they say when it should be expected, but judging by the company's readiness to let the public handle its protoype version --as opposed to last year's model, which was only viewed on appointment, and still couldn't be touched-- and time in development, a product offering the unique display should be in the channel this year.

Continue reading →

Research in Motion's 7" BlackBerry PlayBook slate/tablet made its first official appearance back in September, and today at CES 2011, it's gotten its first 4G U.S. carrier partner, Sprint, and has gone on display for the public to touch.

Of course, what the public can do with the Playbook today is still very limited. You cannot, in fact, pick up the device, as it's attached to the display stand. However, you can swipe through the QNX-crafted interface, open up a few apps and demonstrations, use the browser, and develop a general longing for a deeper experience.

Continue reading →