New Nintendo DSi handheld to launch in November
After a couple of rumor-heavy weeks, Nintendo will officially release an upgrade to its popular touch-screen handheld game system in Japan next month.
The most celebrated feature of the DSi is its dual-camera setup. One is mounted inside the clamshell, and the other on the outside. With these 640 x 480 "eyes" come the requisite photo manipulation tools, the roots of which Nintendo included with the Game Boy Camera more than ten years ago. Pictures can be merged together, drawn upon, or distorted.
RareShare social network builds an uncommon community
Even its proprietor says it's not a good thing when you have to join the RareShare social network, but for those suffering ultra-obscure diseases and disorders, it's a powerful resource.
The site, currently building its way through beta, is geared toward those suffering from what the National Institutes of Health call rare or orphan diseases -- those affecting about one (or fewer) Americans in 1500. The term "orphan disease" indicates one so uncommon that drug companies tend to ignore it, but if you're the only person you and your doctor have ever heard of with a highly uncommon condition, the "orphan" label feels mighty personal.
AOL bloggers sigh over closure of Journals, Hometown
Two of AOL's efforts to keep pace with the Web 2.0 era are slipping quietly into the 404 files as the service announced plans to close AOL Journals and Hometown at the end of the month.
One BetaNews reader this morning shared the e-mail he received from AOL, which included this: "It's very important that you save your Journals content before the shutdown. We're working on a way to easily move your Journal to another blogging service -- you can expect an email within the next week with more details about how to do it. We want the transition to go as smoothly as possible for you, so you'll have two choices. You can either save your information manually and find another place to blog on your own, or choose to automatically transfer your Journal to a different blogging service we've selected."
Lotus Notes makes a play for iPhone users with mobile e-mail
Beyond its previously available native support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, the Apple iPhone's business stature jumped up another notch this week with a free application dubbed iNotes ultralite from IBM's Lotus division.
While Apple's App Store has been rejecting applications from smaller developers, a new iNotes Web application from IBM's Lotus is one piece of software being enthusiastically welcomed into the iPhone fold.
Microsoft launches a contest to Perk up its search appeal
Looking to draw fresh users into the arms of Live Search, Microsoft on Wednesday announced a half-year contest in which users can exchange clicks for tickets, and tickets for various goodies.
The SearchPerks contest, which launched Wednesday, is open to 250,000 respondents for now, though Microsoft says that it could open the gates to as many as a million if there's interest (its site's legalese says it's already expecting 1,000,000). Participants earn a "ticket" for using Windows Live, MSN, or Live Search -- up to 25 tickets every day. The contest is slated to run through April 15, 2009.
Hyper-V Server now available as a free download
Download Hyper-V 2008 Server Stand-alone from FileForum now.
It isn't like Microsoft to give away an entire operating system for free, but beginning today, it will: A stand-alone server whose sole purpose is to be a hypervisor platform for virtualized guest operating systems, is now available free of charge.
Skype 4.0 Beta 2 shrinks window, hints at Mac support?
The first beta of Skype 4.0 exposed testers to a totally redesigned UI that placed increased emphasis on video conferencing. In the second beta, released today, the Skype team provided a more familiar-feeling alternative.
Based upon what seemed to be a universally negative reaction to the amount of real estate Skype's new UI required, beta 2 of version 4.0 offers the ability to switch to a window more similar to previous versions. Skype's Mike Bartlett said the team received over 45,000 comments, with the predominant issue being the interface.
Keystream tech puts TV ads in 'empty' spaces of moving images
Technology from a California company could insert interactive ads and other content into the clear blue sky, or right field, or any other area on your TV or movie screens where the action isn't.
The technology, in the works since 2003 at privately held Keystream, analyzes video on the fly, detects where moving objects are going, and places its overlays somewhere unobtrusive -- for instance, upfield as a running back heads downfield. An overlay might be a simple logo, or it could be an interactive element, such as an offer to buy that running back's team jersey.
.NET Framework 4.0 to become less SOAP-centric, embrace REST
It was surprising enough when four years ago, Microsoft made an historic decision to ditch its own Web services architecture attempts and go with the flow. Today, it announced its next version of Windows will go with a different flow.
For the last four years, one of the most prominent signs of Microsoft's change of thinking with regard to the division of labor in programming, has been its embrace of Simple Object Access Protocol (now just called SOAP, after too much deliberation over the acronym) in Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). It was Web standards organizations, not Microsoft, that initially drove the widespread adoption of so-called WS-* services that use SOAP, but Windows' embrace of SOAP later cemented the standard as a fixture of Web development.
Netflix releases its own API for developers
The Application Programming Interface (API) that will allow third party developers to create new tools for use with the Netflix movie and user data is now open,enabling them to build new applications based on Netflix's platform.
The free API (available here) includes JavaScript and REST APIs and ATOM feeds. The JavaScript component allows users to integrate such things as the user's queue into other Web applications.
RealNetworks, MPAA in a cage match over RealDVD
On the same day, RealNetworks sued Hollywood studios and the DVD Copy Control Association, and the MPAA sued RealNetworks over the less-than-month-old RealDVD software that allows users to save copies of DVDs.
Using DVD Copy Control Association v. Kaleidescape Inc as a legal precedent, Real sued for a declaratory judgment for the protection of RealDVD. According to the company, the action was a response to threats made by major movie studio parents Disney, Viacom, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, NBC Universal, and Warner Bros.
Nokia acquires OZ in a play for phone-based e-mail
Yesterday, Nokia purchased a software vendor which competes against RIM's BlackBerry and Motorola's Good Technology Group. With these and lots of other changes now afoot, in which direction(s) is Nokia headed?
On the eve of the rollout of a new consumer-targeted phone, Nokia announced plans on Tuesday to acquire OZ Communications, a company that produces mobile messaging software in the same general ballpark as RIM and Motorola's Good Technology Group.
Sony PS4: It's never too early to wonder
Japanese site PC Watch has started the global rumor mill churning with a report that Sony's Cell BE processor that powers the PS3 could still be a viable chip for the company's next next-gen console.
Without citing sources, PC Watch appears to be saying that a technological leap of the same scale as from the PlayStation 2 to the PS3, may no longer be affordable. As a result, the article says -- showing material from recent presentations on the Cell processor family as evidence -- Sony may be considering elevating what had been called the "PlayStation 3 +" project to PlayStation 4 status.
Amazon's cloud to host Windows Server
After tests are completed sometime this fall, the cloud provider announced this morning, customers will be able to deploy complete Windows Server-based machine images to Amazon's high-capacity computing cloud, eliminating hardware costs.
In what could be a waterspout moment, if you will, for cloud computing, Amazon Web Services (AWS) developer Jeff Barr announced this morning that his operation is currently hosting a private beta of hosted Microsoft Windows Server instances. Within the next three months, AWS customers will be able to deploy machine images with 32- or 64-bit versions of Windows Server -- including high-performance packages -- to Amazon's cloud, to be hosted remotely.
Tech stocks ride a roller coaster while Congress deliberates
One moment it's all doom and gloom, and the next it's brighter days ahead. But with Congress actually uttering the "D" word in place of the "R" word as debate on the bailout bill continues, the market now consistently lacks stability.
With Congress having taken yesterday off for the Bank Holiday, investors saw opportunities and potential bargains everywhere they looked, especially with Apple stock trading at a 16-month low. So injecting a much-needed dose of confidence back into the markets, the buyers came back yesterday, giving Apple an 8% boost, responding to what was the single largest Dow 30 point drop in history by looking forward to better times.
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