TiVo turns into digital picture frame with Photobucket and Picasa
TiVo is continuing effort to establish its set-top boxes as full-fledged entertainment centers, but the company is facing increased pressure from Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3.
The race to dominate the living room is not a new one, but its been an uphill battle for many companies, and Apple's recent TV effort fell flat despite the success of its iPod and iTunes duet. But TiVo is in a unique position in that it already has its DVRs in homes -- now it just needs to expand their capabilities.
Creative debuts 32 GB flash Zen for Singapore, US
Creative upped the ante on flash-based players, offering the first flash-based player with storage comparable to some of today's hard-drive based models.
The latest Zen model will come with 32 GB of storage, slightly more than the standard sized Zune and iPod models. At that size, it would be the first flash-based player to eclipse the capacity of currently available HDD-based devices.
AOL turns to Amazon for video downloads
After apparently sluggish sales at its own homegrown store, AOL has decided to end its own video download service and outsource it to Amazon's Unbox.
Although financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, both sites would split revenues from videos sold through AOL, the companies said. AOL's own service lasted for about one year.
Microsoft plays catch-up against Yahoo and Google in advertising
Microsoft is playing catch-up against Yahoo and Google -- its chief competitors in the booming online advertising market -- with a new program called adCenter Excellence introduced today.
Microsoft's announcement comes just about two months after Yahoo's acquisition of BlueLithium, producers of an extensive ad toolkit, and not much more than a year after Yahoo's acquisition of the Right Media advertising network.
Peru, Mexico billionaire agree to buy $188 laptops
In a minor success for the struggling One Laptop Per Child project, the Peruvian government has agreed to purchase 260,000 laptops while Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is buying 50,000 for distributing in his country.
MIT professor and OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte announced the deals over the weekend, adding that Slim is an "old friend" and has been involved in the effort since the beginning.
Record label holdouts pushed to offer DRM-free songs in MP3
With EMI and Universal seeing success in offering its catalogs in MP3, remaining holdouts Sony BMG and Warner Music Group are facing pressure to do the same.
Sources are telling Billboard magazine that several factors are coming together to force the labels' hands. First, Pepsi is planning an MP3 music giveaway for next year. In addition, Wal-Mart is now telling labels to start offering DRM-less tracks or risk delisting from their online store.
LiveJournal sold to Russian media company SUP
The transaction is intended to allow Six Apart to focus on its other core brands, including MovableType, TypePad, and Vox.
This morning, blogging software producer Six Apart announced it's selling the rest of its LiveJournal service -- that part which Russian media company SUP hasn't already been running there -- to SUP for an undisclosed sum.
Blizzard parent to acquire Activision, build new gaming empire
In a transaction that can best be described with the word "WOW," the remaining portion of the Vivendi media empire left over from the sale of Universal to NBC will acquire a 68% stake in Activision, the world's first independent game console software company.
The deal will create what Activision CEO Robert Kotick -- presumably the leader of the new venture -- calls the "largest pure-play interactive entertainment publisher in the world." That publisher, which may either rival Electronic Arts or surpass it in market capital, depending on the final numbers, will own and manage what may very well be the jewel in the crown for all game publishing: World of Warcraft, which is currently being produced by the Blizzard Entertainment division of Vivendi.
Analysis: Is Black Friday truly good for an ailing US economy?
As the final figures for last Black Friday's and Cyber Monday's sales show positive gains, is this really proof that the US economy isn't as lumbering as the housing market and credit crunch would indicate?
With the price of fuel tremendously higher than anticipated last year, and with inflation starting to creep back into the picture as a result; and with the US housing market in a state of free-fall and the credit markets in a state of crisis, you'd think there shouldn't be a lot of frivolity, gaiety, and merriment in the holiday mood. As it turned out, though, retail spending both offline and online have risen nicely.
US Coast Guard rallies around Web services architecture
Service-oriented architectures keep rolling into more environments. Now, they're headed toward the US Coast Guard.
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - Although the numbers of anti-terrorist products available to government agencies keep on rising, interoperability remains very problematic. But operations and management services company Serco believes it's found an answer for the US Coast Guard through a new "unified build" software environment based on Web services.
DHS to offer liability protection for anti-terrorist tech vendors
First passed in 2002, the US Safety Act regulates what kinds of anti-terrorist technology can be sold to the government. Now, vendors gaining DHS certification are also eligible for legal liability protection -- and quite a number of them are applying.
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - Businesses wanting to sell their anti-terrorist technology to the US government need to get special certification first. The wait for this certification can be 120 days or more. But now there's a reward for patience: Vendors will now receive legal liability protections if their products make it through the process, said Bruce Davidson of the US Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), delivering an update this week on the U.S. Safety Act.
z4 re-sues Microsoft over patents
Just days after having its $140 million plus judgment against Microsoft upheld by the courts, patent holding company z4 sued Microsoft again over what it saw as insufficient progress in complying with the terms of the ruling.
Z4 says that Microsoft products continue to infringe on its rights to certain patents surrounding software activation. Microsoft has yet to comment on this latest salvo by the small Michigan company.
Microsoft: Firefox users in danger due to more frequent updates
The author of a controversial white paper comparing Firefox' security integrity with IE's has released an update, which now makes an even more contentious claim than the original.
Because Microsoft releases Web browsers less frequently and supports older editions for longer periods, claims Microsoft Security Strategy Director Jeff Jones in his latest report, Internet Explorer 7 users are less susceptible to security vulnerabilities than users of Firefox, whose updates come more frequently and whose older versions are disavowed sooner.
NEC device is said to translate Japanese on the fly
New allies argue for DOJ to lay off Microsoft
Microsoft has found allies willing to argue against further antitrust oversight, though these new allies have attracted their own share of scrutiny.
Financial transaction processing giant Visa and paper products producer Weyerhaeuser filed amicus briefs on behalf of Microsoft earlier this month, asking a federal court to allow the US Justice Dept.'s oversight period over Microsoft's business activities to lapse.
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