Android to include more apps Monday, and some won't be free
Android open source developers will be able to start charging for their software in January, Google announced today. Meanwhile, Google's online store for mobile software -- now containing only a few dozen applications -- is still in beta.
Just after the New Year, Android open source developers will be able to start charging for their software applications, Google said in a blog post today, while also announcing that the Android market will start opening up for more applications next Monday.
Beta test a new wireless headset for the office and your PC
Best test firm Centercode is looking for people in the workplace who spend a significant amount of time on the telephone. The product being tested is unlike any other in that it not only connects to the desktop phone system at your office, it also works with your PC.
Centercode wants those of you whose job depends on daily phone time and would have your life improved with a new wireless headset. You get the wireless freedom and the ability to conduct wireless VoIP calls as well as landline based calls easily.
Samsung's Blu-ray players are next to get Netflix
Samsung today has announced two of its existing Blu-ray players, the BD-2500 and BD-2550, can receive a feature upgrade to support the popular Netflix streaming on demand service today.
These are the fourth and fifth devices this year to be granted access to the Netflix streaming library, and follow LG's BD300 as the latest dedicated Blu-ray players to receive the functionality. Both of Samsung's players are currently available for $399.99, roughly the same price as LG's player.
Comcast to roll out 50 Mbps 'wideband' to Philly, Boston, NJ, NH
With fiberoptic service such as Verizon's FiOS and AT&T's U-verse threatening to absorb current cable Internet customers, Comcast is moving ahead with its goal of leapfrogging over fiber by the end of 2010.
In another step toward its goal of providing DOCSIS 3.0 service nationwide by 2010, Comcast today said it will begin the formal rollout of what it's now calling "wideband" service, with download speeds peaking as high as 50 Mbps, in four more markets: Philadelphia, Boston, and parts of New Jersey and New Hampshire. Availability of very-high-speed service in those areas will come "in the next few weeks," according to a Comcast statement this morning.
TiVo lifts the curtain on new on-demand partner content
Lala whistles a happy, DRM-free tune
The new Lala music service's great leap forward isn't in offering DRM-free tracks -- it's the acknowledgment that really, 30 seconds isn't enough to know whether you like a song enough to buy it.
Granted, Lala's offering of DRM-free music tracks is clearly another nail in the coffin of the sale of deliberately damaged downloads. But maybe even more importantly, Lala is acknowledging that, really, 30 seconds isn't enough to know whether you like a song -- and it's sure not enough to convince your friends.
Amazon CFO: New Kindle will wait until 2009
2:56 pm PDT October 22, 2008 - Amazon's third-quarter earnings call had plenty of positive things to say about their success with the Kindle e-book reader. Good thing the company's happy with it, because it'll be the one and only Kindle for the remainder of the year.
CFO Tom Szkutak confirmed during this afternoon's call that there will be no newer model of the Kindle reader until 2009.
Google is still talking with DOJ about Yahoo deal
Google hasn't changed its position around a Yahoo deal since early October, according to a report today. The search engine giant is still talking with the DOJ about antitrust concerns.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt reportedly said this week that his company is still talking with the US Department of Justice about a proposed pact with Yahoo which is widely seen as an effort to help Yahoo ward off buyout by Microsoft.
Baltimore: No G1s available at T-Mobile stores, but no lines either
With the iPhone, thousands stood in line, some for days, some in tents, waiting anxiously for the first boxes to be trucked in. How would the wait for the T-Mobile G1 phone be any different? Tim Conneally found out right away.
BALTIMORE (BetaNews, 11:05 am EDT) - I was greeted by a white UPS envelope leaning against my front door as I came home from walking my dog last night. It was nearly 9:00 pm, and when I had left the house no more than an hour before, no deliveries had arrived. How did I manage to get this package after e-mailing and calling the company with no response? How had I received my long-awaited Android G1 with absolutely no word from T-Mobile?
Seattle: G1s sell out, especially due to short supply
Supplies of T-Mobile G1 phones were short at some stores in the Northwest US, so although customers numbered only a few dozen, at least a few stores could say they sold out by 12 pm PDT, as Angela Gunn reports.
SEATTLE (BetaNews) - 8:00 am comes early for some of us -- in fact, in Seattle in October, the sun's barely up. But today if you snoozed you lose, as those who were not in line in front of the downtown T-Mobile store were out of luck by noon.
New York: G1 business is brisk, though maybe not booming
Business for T-Mobile's new G1 phone is brisk, if not exactly booming, in the byways and boroughs of New York City, as Jacqueline Emigh found out first-hand today.
NEW YORK, N.Y. (BetaNews) -- Although the lines weren't necessarily all that long, some New Yorkers did get up early to stand in queue on the first day of sales for T-Mobile's G1, the first phone to be based on the Google-spearheaded Android open source platform.
Star Wars MMORPG announced, future console version eyed
BioWare and LucasArts today officially announced the long-rumored story-based MMORPG for PC called Star Wars: The Old Republic. It was not long before an EA exec began talk of creating a console version.
MMORPG blog today called it "the worst-kept secret in the video game industry," because the project has been known since last year, but has not been officially announced until now.
Google returns missing open source software to Android Market
Customers stayed in suspense until this morning, but most of Google's 50 promised open source applications were indeed ready for download from Android Market when T-Mobile's G1 phone launched today.
Although T-Mobile customers didn't know for sure until this morning, and at least some developers didn't get the word until last night, some three dozen open source applications made it onto the Android Market in time for the start of G1 sales this morning.
Finally, BlackBerry Bold to hit the US on November 4
Hoping that consumers will also be willing to vote with their dollars in two weeks, AT&T has chosen Election Day in the US as its premiere date for the BlackBerry Bold, with Android G1 phone sales already well under way by that time.
In a statement this morning, AT&T said it's preparing to sell the HSDPA-supporting BlackBerry Bold for a starting price of $299.99, exclusively through its own retail outlets on November 4.
Apple: 13 M iPhones sold in total, 2.6 M Macs sold last quarter
5:23 pm EDT October 21, 2008 - During Apple's afternoon earnings call for its fiscal fourth quarter on Tuesday afternoon, CFO Peter Oppenheimer reported that any slowdown on iPod unit growth was effectively stopped, along with record Mac and iPhone sales.
Since the premiere of the iPhone 3G in July, Apple has sold 6.9 million units according to company estimates -- which compares to 6.1 million first-generation iPhones sold over the entire life of the product up to the 3G launch date.
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