BBC News - Technology
PSP Go is the talk of E3 openingA new version of Sony's PlayStation Portable is expected to be launched at the E3 video games show, in Los Angeles.
» 1 Jun 2009, 12:26 am
Strong reception for Google WaveWeb developers and experts give a positive reaction to Google Wave, which promises a new way to communicate online.
» 1 Jun 2009, 1:26 am
US launches cyber security planPresident Obama unveils plans for a US cyber security tsar, saying digital infrastructure is a "strategic national asset".
» 29 May 2009, 10:35 am
Seven million 'use illegal files'The British economy is losing tens of billions of pounds to illegal file-sharing, government advisers say.
» 28 May 2009, 4:01 pm
Sky puts content on Xbox consoleSky has struck a deal with Microsoft that will see its live TV and film content brought to the Xbox 360 console.
» 28 May 2009, 9:46 pm
Big drop in global server salesWorldwide server sales fell 24.5% in the first quarter of 2009, according to a report from market research firm IDC
» 29 May 2009, 4:06 am
Microsoft promises 'search 2.0'Microsoft re-launches its search engine, promising to make search simpler, and aiming to overhaul Yahoo.
» 28 May 2009, 8:33 am
Time Warner and AOL to separateUS media giant Time Warner announces that it is to completely separate itself from AOL around the end of the year.
» 28 May 2009, 6:06 am
Ofcom prepares Olympics airwavesRegulator works to make sure the thousands of wireless devices during the London 2012 games will work properly.
» 28 May 2009, 12:43 am
Facebook helps reunite 'Kidnap son' with his motherA mother in Dorset is reunited with her son, 27 years after she claims he was kidnapped, after her sister saw him on Facebook.
» 29 May 2009, 2:42 am
Get your up-to-date fix of blog posts about all things digital» 21 May 2008, 4:53 am
CNet Tech News
April chip sales: Good news, bad newsThe market remains weak with corporate IT spending down, consumer electronics mixed, and the auto industry stalled. But there does seem to be a new normal.
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:12 am
For Internet Week, NY's tech elite emerge from bunkersThe second annual digital culture extravaganza starts Monday, and it will be taking place in a very different New York than last year's, to say the least.
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:00 am
Swapping SIMs to save big bucks on calls abroadFor travelers who can't stomach the high rates U.S. carriers charge for international roaming, there is an alternative.
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:00 am
Fantasy features of an Apple tabletBetween smartphones and laptops lies a no-man's land for gadgets. If Apple does venture there, here's what it should pack.
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:00 am
Hara: Software for a carbon-constrained economyBacked by Kleiner Perkins, start-up Hara is fielding software to help businesses track use of energy and other resources. Will it take hold without national carbon regulations?
» 31 May 2009, 9:01 pm
Boston Power plans battery plant for cars, laptopsWith growing concern over the lack of U.S. car battery manufacturing, Boston Power says a proposed auto and laptop battery plant in Massachusetts is "shovel ready."
» 31 May 2009, 9:01 pm
Qualcomm adds 'Snapdragon' chip and shows devicesQualcomm says it is adding new Snapdragon silicon to its series of chips for Netbooks and other small devices.
» 31 May 2009, 7:15 pm
The making of a PostSecret bookWorking late into the night on the floor of a Manhattan hotel, the founder of the hugely popular online secret-sharing project assembled dozens of new secrets for a new manuscript.
» 31 May 2009, 7:13 pm
Nvidia Netbooks: Windows now, Android laterNvidia's Tegra chip will appear in Windows devices at Computex and phone companies will be in tow. Nvidia is also aiming at Google's Android operating environment for future Netbooks.
» 31 May 2009, 10:10 am
Next gen iPhone auto-focus, compass revealed?Chinese language blog UMPCFever releases photos purported to be of the next-generation iPhone running iPhone OS 3.0 and demoing new camera and compass features.
» 30 May 2009, 8:38 pm
Time Warner and AOL: When Harry met SulliedThe history of the Time Warner-AOL merger is one of extraordinary hype, hope, and ho-ho-ho.
» 30 May 2009, 12:52 pm
CNN Tech News
Why our science fiction future fizzledAt the 1964 New York World's Fair, people stood in line for hours to check out "Futurama." Forty years later, we're still waiting for congestion-free highways, jet packs and the paperless office. What's holding up our "Star Trek"-like gadgets?
» 29 May 2009, 10:31 am
New position will guard online securityPresident Obama announced today he is creating the post of cyber security coordinator to oversee "a new comprehensive approach to securing America's digital infrastructure."
» 29 May 2009, 12:23 pm
New astronaut reveals greatest fearHe's a helicopter test pilot who spent 18 years in the British Army. He just beat more than 8,400 others to become one of Europe's newest astronauts, destined for the International Space Station.
» 29 May 2009, 7:08 am
Space Spotlight: Exploring galactic depths» 29 May 2009, 5:43 am
Report: Climate change crisis 'catastrophic'The first comprehensive report into the human cost of climate change warns the world is in the throes of a "silent crisis" that is killing 300,000 people each year.
» 29 May 2009, 10:17 am
Woman starts turtle-saving crusadeWith its white sand and clear, blue water, Trinidad's Matura Beach looks like a postcard. It's a far cry from its recent past, when leatherback sea turtle carcasses littered the ground and kept tourists away.
» 29 May 2009, 4:44 am
Report: Corals rival humans in genetic realmAdvances in the study of coral in the last few years has led a group of scientists to conclude that corals almost rival humans in their genetic complexity and their relationship to algae is key to their survival.
» 28 May 2009, 11:14 pm
How technology lifts Pixar's 'Up'If you want to consider a difficult computational problem, try thinking of the algorithms required to animate more than 10,000 helium balloons which are collectively hoisting aloft a small house. That was the challenge Pixar faced when it began work on "Up," its tenth feature film, which hits theaters on Friday.
» 28 May 2009, 8:42 am
Digg - Tech Industry
New HDMI 1.4 Brings Ethernet, 3D, 4Kx2K Res Support To VideoThis week, the HDMI Licensing group announced the next logicalstep in the protocol, with HDMI 1.4 being revealed.This new spec promises networking capabilities with Ethernetconnectivity, not to mention an Audio Return Channel to enableupstream audio connections via the HDMI cable. Furthermore, it willsupport 3D over HDMI...
» 31 May 2009, 11:30 pm
This is Really Bad News for Apple and IBMThis is not good!
» 31 May 2009, 7:50 pm
How to Download Embedded Flash Files Using your BrowserThe use of Flash plug-ins in browsers is now almost obligatory. Yes, it’s easy to view and enjoy the rich media content delivered by interactive Flash embedded pages
» 31 May 2009, 6:00 pm
From the Palm Pilot to the Palm Pre - The History of PalmFrom the first Palm Pilot onward, Palm, Inc. has been up, down, and sideways. Bouncing around between U.S. Robotics, 3Com, Handspring, and other offshoots before finally coalescing into Palm, Inc. as it stands today.
» 31 May 2009, 5:00 pm
Search For Movie Piracy Equipment Was Invasion of PrivacyA Canadian court has ordered a cinema to pay $10,000 damages after staff searched a family’s bags looking for camming equipment, but ended up breaching their privacy. The search by staff also turned up something embarrassing in older daughter’s bag. Mom had no idea. Not impressed.
» 31 May 2009, 3:40 pm
Twitter Goes Down, Spymaster Makes Fun Of ThemYes, Twitter is down. Yes, again. Yes, they’re looking into it. Yes, this is another Twitter post. Spymaster, the somewhat controversial and addictive Twitter-based game obviously doesn’t work nearly as well when Twitter is down. In fact, it doesn’t work at all. The creators have made a fun little Fail Whale graphic of their own.
» 31 May 2009, 7:50 am
UK File-Sharers Download $19B Worth of Content Annually?New govt-sponsored study says huge economic losses are being sustained due to “large-scale” illegal file-sharing, but contains several glaring flaws in its conclusions.
» 30 May 2009, 2:10 pm
Y2K: The Apocalypse That Wasn'tOld-timey Y2K paranoia.
» 30 May 2009, 1:40 pm
Hands on: much to like in Hulu DesktopHulu has introduced Hulu Desktop as part of its new Hulu Labs. The client allows Mac and Windows users to browse their favorite TV shows and movies on the desktop using an Apple or Windows Media Center remote. So far, we like it.
» 30 May 2009, 4:40 am
Microsoft: We won't force Bing on anyoneTechRadar asked Search Lead Paul Stoddart about the possibility of a 'desktop Bing' but was told unequivocally that the focus is on the internet – and that Microsoft was being very careful in making sure that Bing was an option rather than foisted on people.
» 30 May 2009, 2:50 am
Google Co-Founder: 'Search is Going to Get Smarter'The size of the web isn't the problem for search, Google co-founder Sergey Brin claimed at the Google IO conference this week. Instead, the problem is the kind of questions search users want answered. Brin says adding intelligence to search is the way to solve the problem.
» 30 May 2009, 1:50 am
Engadget
ASUS preparing NVIDIA Ion-based Eee Box B1006?In a brief snippet of a rumor, DigiTimes is reporting that ASUS is planning an Ion-based Eee Box B1006 for Q3 of 2009. Netbooks too, but those don't have a production schedule yet according to the Taiwanese tattle-rag. Ion's a good start, but if they shackle it to an Intel Atom 230 processor and once again bludgeon our dreams of a low-cost home theater PC capable of handling full-screen Flash video, well, somebody's going to get hurt.Filed under: DesktopsASUS preparing NVIDIA Ion-based Eee Box B1006? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
» 1 Jun 2009, 5:34 am
Preyro robot experiment could enable robots to better mimic animals, kill us allIt's kind of strange, really, how we can see just how near the end is, yet these so-called geniuses employed within the realm of academia are totally oblivious to their own evil deeds. Take cognitive science professor John Long, for instance, who is currently conducting a Preyro robot experiment in a Vassar College lab that intends to "allow robots to mimic animals far better than before." To him, he's just hoping to study evolutionary patterns in order to better understand how certain tweaks to things like fins and tails affect performance in the place we call reality. Though, there's a very real possibility that this research could accelerate the impending robot apocalypse by at least a score. Oh, what we'd give to be incognizant of the t
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:42 am
Samsung's WVGA AMOLED: 800x400 pixels and swine-flu immuneThere it is, the display that wil undoubtedly find its way into your future high-end smartphone. You're looking at Samsung's newest AMOLED display now pushing 300 pixels per inch scattered across a 800 x 480 (WVGA) panel with improved brightness. That's a damn fine display when you consider how brilliant typical 400 x 240 OLED displays are including that of the 480 x 272 pixel stunner found on the Zune HD. Sorry, no word on when these will go mass production but it's gotta be soon, right? Right!Filed under: DisplaysSamsung's WVGA AMOLED: 800x400 pixels and swine-flu immune originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:31 am
Dell's Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops with a kiss of Merlot RedHey, it's just a color change but red is undeniably sexy especially when wrapped around Dell's design-heavy Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops. Already rumored and spied, a post over at Dell's Direct2Dell blog makes the Merlot Red laptops official. Man, high-gloss finish with red leather accents... it's like kissing Betty Page. Er, was that out loud? Gallery: Dell's Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops with a kiss of Merlot RedFiled under: LaptopsDell's Studio XPS 13 and 16 laptops with a kiss of Merlot Red originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:23 am
Video: fanless Eee PC running Android on Snapdragon hands-on, oh myNow we're talking Computex. We, along with Tweaktown and JKK Mobile just spotted an ASUS Eee PC netbook smartbook prototype running Android on a 1GHz Snapdragon chipset. Now get this: the design is fanless due to Snapdragon's low power consumption. The result should be a device with oodles of battery life and $0 Microsoft licensing tax if this thing ever goes production. The prototype runs the 1GHz version of the Snapdragon chipset and is thus capable of 720p HD Video and everything else already spotted in Toshiba's TG01 smartphone. But as we saw this morning, beefier Snapdragon chipsets running at 1.3GHz with enhanced graphics and 1.5GHz with dual-CPUs are on the way. Check the video after the break.[Via Jkk Mobile and Tweaktown]Continue r
» 1 Jun 2009, 3:44 am
Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker approved by vacationing Billy CorganWe don't know a single soul who hasn't wanted to hear Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness from start-to-finish whilst swimming off the coast of Phuket, but seriously, who's going to tune in on a $40 waterproof Bluetooth speaker ball? Then again, maybe Billy's secretly more concerned with his choice of swimwear and lack of sunscreen than the clarity of Iha's riffs.Filed under: Portable AudioWaterproof Bluetooth Speaker approved by vacationing Billy Corgan originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
» 1 Jun 2009, 3:18 am
Psion relents: 'netbook' ok to describe chubby cheap laptops lacking powerAs the world's attention turns from netbooks to smartbooks, Psion and Intel have ceased battle over use of the former term. Remember, this ridiculous case escalated to the point of Psion claiming $1.2 billion (billion!) in damages suffered as a result of infringement on its netbook trademark for a product few have heard of outside of the highly specialized supply chain logistics area. The "amicable" agreement reached with Intel has Psion voluntarily withdrawing its trademark. What wasn't said in the press release is how much money was extorted from the industry or the net effect on Psion sales from all the free publicity. Regardless, we're sure it's been a profitable exercise for Psion Teklogix. Now, could the obscure owner of the "smartboo
» 1 Jun 2009, 2:58 am
PVI to buy E Ink for $215 millionYou may not know who Taiwan-based Prime View International is but the makers of the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader sure do. See, PVI is the company that builds the electronic paper displays for the world's most popular ebook readers. Now, it's also the expectant owner of US-based E Ink and all the associated patents that come with. The deal, if approved by government regulators, is expected to close by October.Filed under: DisplaysPVI to buy E Ink for $215 million originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
» 1 Jun 2009, 2:16 am
Engadget live from Computex 2009You a fan of netbooks, smartbooks, CULV thin-and-lights, and whatever the next trend brings to portable computing? Good, Engadget Chinese is on the ground in Taipei covering the big Computex show live. It's the best place to be for Taiwanese-sourced products, manufacturing, and silicon... which pretty much means the entirety of the consumer electronics industry. Best of all, our Chinese editors are translating the most important news to English on the fly. So hit the read link to follow the action in near real-time or kick back right here and see the best-of-the-best mingle with the rest of the our global coverage.Engadget live from Computex 2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use
» 1 Jun 2009, 1:47 am
Thinkware's iNAVI ES300 navigator reeks of winWe can't quite figure it out, but it seems the navigation makers in North America just can't muster the courage to develop something such as this for our market. We could very well be wrong here, but seriously, is there no pent-up demand for a TV tuning GPS system with a spacious 7-inch display here in the US / Canada / Mexico? Anywho, the South Koreans are scoring once more with the downright beautiful Thinkware iNAVI ES300, which arrives with a sweet side-panel control system, integrated battery, 2GB / 4GB / 8GB of internal storage, 3D maps and a DMB tuner. Oh, and this is considered "low-end" by its standards. Those in the right places can snag one soon for â‚©329,000 ($263), â‚©379,000 ($303) or â‚©429,000 ($343) from least capacious to
» 1 Jun 2009, 1:34 am
Samsung's Pixon 12: a dozen megapixels of cameraphone nonsense in JuneAfter failing to show at the Mobile World Congress event in February, Samsung's rumored 12 megapixel cameraphone has finally arrived. Meet the Pixon 12 and its 3.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a Sammy promise of fast shutter speeds and quick browsing. As a camera, the Pixon 12 (M8910) brings a dedicated shutter button, touch auto-focus (wherever you touch becomes the focal point) that locks in to track moving subjects, Smart Auto mode that adjusts to conditions, and a 28-mm wide angle lens. The unit also saves images relatively quickly (for a cameraphone) so that you can fire off the next shot within 2 seconds. Just remember, more megapixels do not make for better photos especially when jammed tightly into a sensor small enough for a cellph
» 1 Jun 2009, 12:35 am
Gizmodo
ASUS Demos Snapdragon-Based Eee PC With Android [Asus]In their continued quest to hash out absolutely every permutation of the netbook category, ASUS has created something pretty interesting: a passively-cooled Android netbook based on the ultra-low-draw Qualcomm Snapdragon platform. From the outside, this particular model is a spitting image of the fantastic 1008HA Seashell, but this is just one of a few styles the company is showing off at Computex. Inside is a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, which is based on ARM architecture and first used in a smartphone, not a netbook. Using this hardware means that this particular Eee doesn't need a fan—or even a heatsink—to keep cool, and that power consumption would be slight, even compared to netbooks based on Intel's power-sipping Atom. As evidenced
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:35 am
Google Plans to Sell eBooks By the End of 2009 [Google]As Amazon slowly inches toward sealing up the entire eBook industry, Google's getting antsy. Speaking at the BookExpo convention this weekend, a company rep stated Google's intentions to sell eBooks by the end of the year, adding ominously, "this time we mean it." Thing is, the NYT report on the announcement is a bit cryptic. Let's see what we can glean: Amazon offers Kindle editions of most new best sellers for $9.99, far less than the typical $26 at which publishers sell new hardcovers. In early discussions, Google has said it will allow publishers to set consumer prices. Ok, so books could be a bit more expensive. Next. Google plan[s] to sell readers online access to digital versions of various titles. When offline... readers would still
» 1 Jun 2009, 3:56 am
Samsung Pixon 12: The First 12-Megapixel Cameraphone You Can Actually Buy [Cellphones]Fortunately, the Pixon's 12-megapixel claim to greatness, which guarantees you nothing at all except for the industry's largest file sizes, is complemented by some decent specs, starting with a 3.1" AMOLED touchscreen, 3G and FM radio. Obviously, though, the flash-equipped camera is the star of the show here, and while relentless megapixel one-upmanship is fruitless and annoying, the Pixon looks like it'll be a decent pocket shooter despite its narrow obsession. Touch autofocus lets you choose a focal point with a finger tap, after which the camera will automatically keep focus on its subject. Shooting speed is quicker than average, clocking in at about two seconds per shot. A bevy of online photo services are supported out of the box, and
» 1 Jun 2009, 2:08 am
Microsoft Opens Bing Two Days Early (As In, Now) [Microsoft]Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, has opened up to the public in a wide, if not total, rollout. It looks pretty good. We tested it with a familiar term, though, and something interesting happened: In the automatically generated top links for Gizmodo are months-old links to single posts about the second Bill Gates/Seinfeld ad and leaked box shots of the Zune 16GB and 160GB models. Really? Google's top eight, on the other hand, make a bit more sense, with links to tag pages for the Palm Pre, Steve Jobs and Space—three currently (or recently) trending topics, among others. Bing's weird results are probably just the result of some young, dumb algorithms, but they certainly don't look great. [Bing—Thanks, Jagslive, Andy Scott, and Lorenc!
» 1 Jun 2009, 1:14 am
Interactivation: When Music Makers and Tesla Coils Collide [Maker Faire 2009]On display at Maker Faire 2009, Interactivation is a whimsical, slightly non-sensical cross between a six-way collaborative music machine and a Tesla coil, producing improvised sounds and scientific trickery from the same machine. Interactivation was created by a group called Lightning Temple, who want to use sound vibrations to promote holistic healing or something like that. Great. But it's the tech I'm more interested in. newVideoPlayer("/interactivation.flv", 506, 304,""); The music component of Interactivation works by running each of the six stations through a sequencing program on a laptop. Each station has an array arcade-y buttons connected to a circuit board that triggers audio samples and/or loops, which wash over each other in
» 31 May 2009, 7:45 pm
Puppy Monorail Makes Me Fear for Mankind's Future [Maker Faire 2009]newVideoPlayer("/puppymonorail.flv", 506, 304,""); Of all the ridiculous things one can see at the Maker Faire, the Puppy Mover Monorail might take the cake. The scary thing about the Puppy Monorail is that it has managed to evolve over the years. The project started out as a modest 3 car train, but now has expanded to a WHOPPING five cars (FIVE!!!). Still, until I see some real puppies moving 10 feet down that squiggly track, I'm not sold. Also, one of the train cars should really be a milk bowl. [Puppy Mover Monorail]
» 31 May 2009, 7:15 pm
DIY Video Camera Stabilizer Provides Champagne-Level Film Making On A Beer Budget [DIY]If you, too, want to start making Hollywood caliber videos like our man Adam Frucci, this $14 DIY video camera stabilizer project we found over at Lifehacker today will help. Now you just need to work on being funny. [MAKE (PDF) via Lifehacker]
» 31 May 2009, 6:30 pm
Unconfirmed: Zune HD Launch Is September 5, Says Microsoft 'Guru' [Unconfirmed]Microsoft "guru" Paul Thurott says the Zune HD launches on September 5. Mind you, this info comes fresh from the Zune forums, so we'll slap a rumor on it for now with the caveat that it matches our earlier post about a September launch window. [Zune Forums - Thanks Joel]
» 31 May 2009, 3:10 pm
Will You Be Prime? [Bling]In the tradition of the Atari ring comes this gold Optimus Prime ring from deviantartist =Dans-Magic. It's the perfect gift for that special someone. That same special someone who's willing to wait hours and hours in line with you at a premiere so you can go into the theater to watch Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and ogle Megan Fox half-naked on a motorcycle. [Geekologie]
» 31 May 2009, 3:00 pm
Energizer Energi To Go Line Now Boosts iPhone Battery Life, Sucks Up Solar [Batteries]The folks at Energizer are updating their Energi To Go line of rechargeable battery life extenders to encompass the iPhone 3G and solar power. The first new entries, two form-fitting, rubberized AP Charger battery packs for the iPhone, had me thinking of Incase Power Slider. They're not as eye-catching as the Incase, but they're not as expensive, either. It's $50 for the AP1000 and $80 for the beefier, longer-lasting AP1500. Weigh your options, battery pack wants and desires accordingly. Also, in the case of the AP1500, Energizer promises to double the battery life of a typical iPhone charge. Updated: As some commenters have noted, and I'm inclined to agree with, that branding front and center is fugly at best. Definitely not subtle. In the
» 31 May 2009, 2:00 pm
Smile: The First Six-Astronaut Crew Ever at the ISS [Space]Right now, orbiting at 250 miles above Earth's surface, we have a permanent crew of six astronauts at the International Space Station, a first in the history of space exploration. Both the Russian MIR and United States' Skylab had a permanent crew of three. The International Space Station also had three astronauts until last Friday, when ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk arrived onboard the Soyuz TMA-15. Together with the other three existing members, they have become the Expedition 20 mission crew, the first 6-member resident crew ever in a orbital outpost. [Hyperbola]
» 31 May 2009, 1:30 pm
Mashable!
Bing Opens Up. Is It Good? It’s Too Early To Tell.Bing, Microsoft’s latest effort to beat Google at what it does best - search - is now live for everyone. It’s bearing the ubiquitous “beta” tag, and contrary to what many expected from Microsoft, the search is decent. But it’s also strangely familiar. Is it decent enough to compete with Google? Read on. Anxious to see what Microsoft has in store for us, I’ve fired up a couple of usual examples: “Mashable“, “Stan Schroeder” (the standard vanity searches), “MSI megabook 677” (some random piece of hardware), “Star Trek” (new movie, old series, let’s see which will get prioritized) etc. The results were solid, too good, perhaps, for a very new search engine, but also oddly familiar. And then it dawned on me: itâ€
» 1 Jun 2009, 12:19 am
MTV Movie Awards: Live and IllegalI’m inadvertently watching the MTV Movie Awards…but not on TV. Rather, I just stumbled upon many of the live streamed versions, in which TV viewers set up a camera in front of their TV screens and stream live to a worldwide web audience. The quality is terrible, and it’s a raw deal for MTV too. Despite the drawbacks, there are at least two reasons these feeds take off: limited access to these shows globally and a chance to chat about the show with web friends in real-time. If you weren’t able to tune in to the UK screening of Britain’s Got Talent, for instance, there was a popular livestream on Justin.tv. So as more than 1100 concurrent viewers flock to one of many livestreams of the MTV Movie Awards, TV networks need to act:
» 31 May 2009, 7:50 pm
Testing Google Wave: This Thing is TidalEveryone’s been talking about it: Google Wave. Google’s super communication tool has been a top trend on Twitter, a focus of media speculation, and was even able to knock Microsoft’s Bing from the top of the news cycle. But almost all the hype has been based on the demos - almost nobody’s actually got to try out Google Wave. Well, thanks to a few of our friends, we had the opportunity today to try out the alpha version of this groundbreaking new service. From creating waves to joining in on discussions, we put the newest Google sensation through the ringer. Does Google Wave stand up to the hype? Still got questions? We’re still testing Google Wave, and we’ll answer questions in the comments! Interface Overview: The interfac
» 31 May 2009, 5:43 pm
Facebook Is Very Confused About BreastsFacebook has caved on a decision to ban photos posted by a woman who had surgery for breast cancer, according to reports in Irish newspaper The Examiner. The 45-year old British woman posted pics of her mastectomy scars to her Facebook profile to educate other women, then found Facebook had removed them based on the site’s policy of removing “sexual content”. A Facebook group called “GET SHARON ADAMS PICTURE BACK ON FACEBOOK FOR BREAST CANCER” was formed to protest against the photo removal, and Facebook has now reversed its decision. The company explained: We’ve investigated this further and determined that we made a mistake in removing these photos. Our User Operations team reviews thousands of reported photos a day and m
» 31 May 2009, 4:37 pm
The Top 6 Game-Changing Features of Google WaveWithout a doubt, the product that has the entire web buzzing right now is Google Wave, the search giant’s newly announced communication platform. Earlier this week, we brought you detailed information on the new Google product in our article Google Wave: A Complete Guide, but now we want to explore exactly why everyone is so excited about Google Wave. You’ve probably heard people talk about Google Wave being a game-changer, a disruptive product, or maybe even as an email killer. But while keywords and phrases like these grab people’s attention, they don’t explain why or how Google Wave could be a paradigm-shifter. In this article, we explore these questions by highlighting some of Google Wave’s most unique and promising feature
» 31 May 2009, 3:57 pm
Top 7 Twitter Tutorials on YouTubeYouTube is not only a great way to watch endless hours of cute kittens doing people things, but a way to learn about a range of topics visually. Users have put up thousands of tutorials ranging from animal care to our favorite microblogging tool, Twitter. Whether you want to get your best friend started on Twitter or want the scoop on some of Twitter’s best desktop apps, the following YouTube videos will keep you entertained while educating you about various aspects of the Twitterverse. Oh, and be sure to look out for the video of the man in the fur suit. 1. Twitter in Plain English Have a friend who just doesn’t get Twitter? Did you just start with Twitter yourself? Then this video, from @CommonCraft is just the place to start. 2. T
» 31 May 2009, 3:07 pm
How Social Media is Changing the Late Night TV LandscapeBy the end of the night on March 2, 2009, new “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon had scored big, attracting 2.9 million viewers — a full million more than his competitor in the time slot, Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson. It was one of the best debuts in recent memory for a late night show, beating Ferguson’s 2005 premiere, and Jimmy Kimmel’s debut on ABC in 2003 (in a time slot a half hour earlier). Fallon’s ratings have leveled off a bit in the three months since his debut, but he’s still managed to win his time slot in 53 of his first 55 nights, and holds a 69% ratings advantage over Ferguson in the valuable 18-34 year old demographic. One of the reasons Fallon might be doing so well, so quickly, is his superior use of social
» 31 May 2009, 9:29 am
The Top 12 Social Media Stories This WeekFrom Google Wave to Susan Boyle, social media has been in full swing this week. Both Google and Microsoft decided to launch new products, while the social media starlet Boyle sang her heart out on the finale of Britain’s Got Talent. There has been no shortage of social media buzz. We also served up a fresh round of web resources. Want to learn about how to create great Twitter backgrounds? Or perhaps you want to find out everything there is to know about Google Wave? Well, we have you covered with our top 12 social media stories of the week: 1. Could Google Wave Redefine Email and Web Communication? - Google announced Google Wave this week during the Google I/O conference. Is it the next step in web communication? 2. HOW TO: Create
» 30 May 2009, 8:54 pm
fTag: Create a Realtime Twitter Stream About AnythingNote: you can try out Mashable’s fTag page and chat with Mashable readers here. Twitter hashtags are great, but sometimes it’s hard to track conversations around a tag simply by using Twitter search. That’s where new service fTag comes along…it attempts to replace the hashtag with an “ftag” (a word with an underscore before it) and pulls together all those tagged Tweets into a single stream on the site. It also lets you contribute to the stream from the fTags site itself. So whether you want to talk about Lost Dogs, or Global Warming, or Mashable, fTags provides a place to do it. It’s a neat idea with one (potentially big) vulnerability: the obvious next step for Twitter to challenge Facebook would be to launch Twitter
» 30 May 2009, 8:40 pm
10 Brand New Wolfram Alpha Easter EggsLess than two weeks ago, we brought to your attention 10 unique and fun easter eggs within Wolfram Alpha, the new computational knowledge engine that calculates answers based on your queries. You the readers though did your own sleuthing and found ten even better Wolfram easter eggs. And while that may have seemed like the end, it was not. You also suggested a couple of iconic cultural references that you wish Wolfram Alpha could answer. Well, the all-knowing computational machine was listening to your comments on Mashable. In fact, because of Mashable comments, there are at least 10 new easter eggs within Wolfram Alpha. Let’s take a look at them now: Have more suggestions for easter eggs? Add them to the comments. Wolfram Alpha may
» 30 May 2009, 6:22 pm
Visualizing Online Buzz: iPhone Dominates the ConversationMark Ghuneim, (@mediaeater) is the Founder/CEO of digital marketing agency and technology incubator Wiredset and social media tracking service Trendrr. It’s no secret that the iPhone has taken the mobile marketplace by storm in the last 18 months. With good reason, it is indeed a quantum leap forward for consumers, developers and the entire industry. Here is a quick look at awareness and engagement levels of the iPhone when measured against competitors and cousins in the Apple family. In terms of engagement, one of the best ways to identify how much a brand is mobilizing evangelists is to take a look at conversations. When compared to other mobile devices, the iPhone holds a clear advantage when it comes to chatter. As you can see below,
» 30 May 2009, 4:11 pm
MSNBC - Tech and Science
12 really, really ugly cell phonesSome cell phones really look great, but are impossible to use. Other cell phones have cool features, but are ugly ducklings. Then there are those rare mobile monstrosities that fail at both looks and usability. Some have pricing issues as well. The phones in our dirty dozen list all suffer from either design flaws or functionality failures, or both.
» 30 May 2009, 3:06 pm
NYT: Vying for plum work — Hacking for U.S.The government’s urgent push into cyberwarfare has set off a rush among the biggest military companies for billions of dollars in new defense contracts.
» 30 May 2009, 1:27 pm
Nintendo to launch new Wii Fit, Mario gamesNintendo Co Ltd plans to launch a new version of its "Wii Fit" home exercise game this autumn, the Nikkei business daily reported Sunday.
» 31 May 2009, 3:06 am
Microsoft reverses Windows 7 Starter limitMicrosoft Corp said on Friday it would not limit the number of applications available at one time on the Starter edition of its upcoming Windows 7 operating system, reversing its earlier strategy of limiting its capabilities and urging users to upgrade.
» 30 May 2009, 9:42 am
Obama announces U.S. cyber security planThe United States has for too long failed to adequately protect the security of its computer networks, President Barack Obama said Friday, announcing he will name a new cyber czar to take on the job.
» 29 May 2009, 8:58 am
Obama's new cyber czar may create turf warThe digital battlefield is proving to be difficult terrain for President Barack Obama. As he unveiled his plan Friday to make the nation's computer networks more secure, he fulfilled a campaign pledge to make cyber security a top priority. But he fell short on another promise to create a cyber adviser "who will report directly to me."
» 29 May 2009, 1:00 pm
Top 5 most wanted E3 gamesWill Nintendo show a new 'Zelda?' Will Rockstar roll out a Western?
» 28 May 2009, 3:39 pm
Slide show: Month in Space: Marvelous missionsSee Russia's red moon, Hubble highlights and other stunning space imagery from May 2009.
» 27 May 2009, 5:44 pm
Docking brings space station to full staff of 6A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three new space station residents docked at the orbiting complex Friday. With three astronauts there to greet them, the space station now has a full staff of six for the first time in its 10-year history.
» 29 May 2009, 9:14 am
Two chances to see ‘Manhattanhenge’For 15 minutes around sunset on two days this summer, the sun will set in exact alignment with the cross streets of Manhattan's street grid, making the city's towering buildings function something like a modern-day Stonehenge.
» 29 May 2009, 9:19 am
Exhibitors gear up for upgraded E3The Electronic Entertainment Expo may be back on the upswing after two years of downsizing, but that doesn't mean the gaming industry's once showy spectacle known as E3 is returning to its heyday of a few years ago.
» 29 May 2009, 4:45 pm
ReadWriteWeb
Bing Goes Live.com - Is it More Than Just Hot Air?Microsoft's new search engine Bing unexpectantly went live tonight, including as a re-direct from http://www.live.com - previously Microsoft's 'personalized start page' destination. So search has usurped a Netvibes-like start page as Microsoft's default homepage for its web services. In last week's launch announcement, Bing was being bandied about as Microsoft's latest attempt to steal market share away from Google. In particular, according to Microsoft, Bing will focus on four verticals: making a purchase decision, planning a trip, researching a health condition, and finding a local business. We took the new search engine for a test run tonight. Sponsor A note about the branding. Microsoft isn't known for its clever (or even coherent) br
» 1 Jun 2009, 3:50 am
Introducing 2 New Writers: Steven Walling and Dana OshiroToday we're debuting two new writers on ReadWriteWeb. Steven Walling is our new writer for the Enterprise channel, while Dana Oshiro takes the reigns of ReadWriteStart. Both of these fantastic new hires will be focused on our channels. Steven becomes lead writer for the still nascent ReadWriteEnterprise, which unfortunately had a false start a month and a half ago. You can expect to see a few posts a day from Steven; also we'll be introducing a re-design of RWEnterprise soon. Dana becomes lead writer for ReadWriteStart, our channel devoted to early stage startups. She will post once or twice a day there. You will see both of these writers on the main ReadWriteWeb homepage, as at this stage we're streaming everything through there. Sponsor
» 1 Jun 2009, 2:51 am
12 Companies Targeting Early Tech AdoptersOur mission at ReadWriteWeb is to explore the latest Web technology products and trends. We're fortunate to have a great group of sponsors who support this goal. So, once a week, we write a post about them; about who they are, what they do, and what they've been up to lately. We hope you'll pay them a visit as a way to show your appreciation for their sponsorship of this site. Interested in being a ReadWriteWeb sponsor? ReadWriteWeb is one of the most popular blogs in the world and is read by a sophisticated audience of thought leaders and decision-makers. We have several innovative new features in our sponsor packages that we'd love to tell you about. Email our COO Bernard Lunn for all the details. Sponsor Ready to learn more about the s
» 31 May 2009, 4:45 pm
Read-Only File-Sharing for Twitter: TwitDocLast week, we took a look at FileTwt, a file-sharing service for Twitter. After publishing that post, we heard from Bob Brinker, founder of TwitDoc, another Twitter file-sharing app. We did a couple cursory tests of his site, but were disappointed that sent files couldn't be downloaded. We wrote Brinker with these concerns, and his response was an interesting commentary on how folks use Twitter and how apps should adapt to those user habits and patterns. "Our experience is that Twitter is for fast, real-time consumption of content, not collaboration and file sharing in the editing mode," he wrote. "We find most of our users are focused on display-only content." And for display-only files, you could hardly find a simpler solution. Sponsor
» 31 May 2009, 2:33 pm
SongTwit Gives Users Another Service for Swapping Songs on TwitterOver the past week or so, we've encountered several sites that offer file-sharing services via Twitter. Though some of our commenters are dubious about the userfulness, legality, and peer-to-peer nature of the services, we generally like the idea of using Twitter to send documents, presentations, and... Oh, let's be honest. Each for our own reasons, we want to send one another songs online, usually as illegally downloaded and shared MP3s; and Twitter seems like a more interesting way of doing that than email. We've discovered a new site that lets us send songs as MP3s on our hard drives, as MP3s hosted on a website, or even as YouTube videos or imeem audio clips plucked from the app's library. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you SongTwit! Sp
» 31 May 2009, 2:30 pm
Weekly Wrapup: Google Wave, Microsoft Bing, What's New in '09, And More...In this edition of the Weekly Wrapup, our newsletter summarizing the top stories of the week, we report on Google's announcement of a new communications and collaboration platform called Google Wave, look at Microsoft's latest challenger in the search market with Bing, analyze the current trends we're seeing on the Web, look at the latest smartphone statistics, and more. We also update you with the latest from our new channel ReadWriteStart, dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs. Sponsor The Weekly Wrapup is sponsored by PowerReviews: Subscribe to Weekly Wrapup You can subscribe to the Weekly Wrapup by RSS or by email (form below). RWW Weekly Wrap-up Email Subscription form: Introducing the ReadWriteWeb Guide to Online
» 31 May 2009, 5:15 am
Cartoon: MyNSAWith the launch of MySears and MyKmart, it seems like the thing to do this week is to give your customers their very own social network. Can something like this be far behind? Sponsor More Noise to Signal Discuss
» 31 May 2009, 5:04 am
ReadWriteWeb Events Guide, 30 May 2009Time once again for the ReadWriteWeb Events Guide, our weekly roundup of upcoming social Web events. We publish it every weekend, as good a time as any to review your conference plans. Know of an event taking place that should appear here? Let us know in the comments below or contact us. Sponsor 27 May – 3 June 2009: UK (various locations) FOWA Tour 2009 That's right. FOWA is hitting the road in 2009! They're hitting four UK cities in May and June 2009 to bring you a free workshop on "cloud computing" and an afternoon of Web apps and speed networking. Not to be missed! FOWA will be at the following locations: Edinburgh: 27 May 2009 Leeds: 28 May 2009 Cambridge: 2 June 2009 Bristol: 3 June 2009 Tickets are just £59 + VAT. Check
» 30 May 2009, 2:22 pm
Poll: Business People Say Twitter More Important Than LinkedInA month-long poll conducted on business social network LinkedIn has uncovered some fascinating numbers concerning social media platforms and brand presence. The biggest surprise was that Twitter was deemed more important to brands than LinkedIn, and the poll was performed on LinkedIn. With more than 3,600 respondents so far, each well understood in terms of job titles, company size, age and gender - this is a high-quality data set worth paying attention to. The question asked was simply: "What is the most important new platform for brands to master?" Options were Twitter, Facebook, the iPhone, Digg and LinkedIn. Some of the conclusions were a real surprise. Others confirmed our suspicions. Read on for charts, bullet points and a few t
» 29 May 2009, 5:39 pm
Would You Rather Work at Google or Yahoo? (POLL) Google Suggest Creator Picks YahooYoelle Maarek, the woman credited with the creation of Google Suggest and a variety of other innovative features, has left the company and will now lead Yahoo's research efforts in the tech hot-bed of Israel. It's an interesting move, to go from the clear market leader to a company widely criticized for its flaccid search and monetization. When it comes to innovation, though, Yahoo is no slouch - and a new day may be dawning there with the arrival of new CEO Carol Bartz. Bartz seems to have a good sense of humor and as the creator of the often-wacky Google Suggest product, we assume Maarek does too. Where would you rather work, at Google or at Yahoo, if you had the choice? Sponsor Where would you rather work - Google or Yahoo?(blog p
» 29 May 2009, 2:36 pm
Twitter and TV: The New BackchannelITV, the oldest commercial television network in the UK, just announced that it will use Twitter as a backchannel for its coverage of the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Everton tomorrow afternoon. tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_and_tv_the_new_backchannel.php'; tweetmeme_source = 'rww'; The ITV Twitter app was built by thruSITES using Twitterfall, and the ITV team will use Audioboo Pro for moderating the Twitter stream. Given how popular Twitter has become in the U.K., this is definitely a smart move by ITV to use it as a backchannel. While soccer (or football, for our European readers) might not be your thing, it is interesting to see how many TV networks have now made Twitter a part of their daily routine
» 29 May 2009, 12:43 pm
techcrunch
TRV$DJAM Charges Nothing But A Tweet For New MixtapeHere's a cool way for music artists to reward their biggest fans and get some Viral Marketing® in return: drummer Travis Barker and turntablist DJ-AM (aka Adam Goldstein) are offering their just-released second mixtape, "Fix Your Face Vol. 2 - Coachella '09", up for free download in exchange for a mere Twitter message. The duo, conventiently made up of two heavy Twitter users (@trvsbrkr and @DJ_AM), aims to score some extra buzz on the social networking service and is giving away the co-produced mixtape (under the name TRV$DJAM) to anyone who sends out a tweet that reads "Download the new #trvsdjam mixtape "Fix Your Face Vol. 2 - Coachella 09" in exchange for one tweet!". Note that you need to go to this website and grant access to the ap
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:31 am
Apparently Bing Is Something Of A HitThursday may not have been Microsoft Bing Day, but today sure is. Microsoft quietly launched their new search engine without fanfare and sans parade. Last week everyone got to see the demo video and a few of us were actually able to access Bing for our reviews. Most everyone, though, just had to wait to actually try the service. Initial reader comments tended towards the negative on announcement day. Microsoft got heat for having nothing but a landing page up (and not even that for a while after the announcement). The "Bing stands for But It's Not Google" comment appeared a number of times, as did sarcastic comments like "Looks like Live search again. Good to see Microsoft trying new things." There were also a few variations of "MS is a b
» 1 Jun 2009, 3:36 am
Seatwave Scores $17 Million In Fourth Funding RoundSeatwave, the UK-based upstart behind the eponymous marketplace for secondary tickets, has landed $17 million in Series D funding led by Accel Partners with Atlas Venture, Mangrove Capital Partners, Fidelity Ventures and Adinvest joining the round, writes Atlas partner Fred Destin on his blog. Recently named Europe's fastest growing digital media company by investment bank GP Bullhound, Seatwave allows fans to trade theatre, sport and music tickets online and thus competes (hard) with TicketMaster (IAC), StubHub (eBay) and that other well-funded startup in the ticket reselling space, Viagogo.
» 1 Jun 2009, 3:35 am
Edocr Aims To Be A DocStoc For Corporates - Is That Enough?Edocr, a smaller competitor to other document sharing startups like DocStoc and Scribd, re-launches today with new features and an API, after a long time off-radar. Eschewing the publisher focus of Issuu, or the broad business focus of DocStoc, the boot-strapped Edocr focuses on corporates and organisations. So for instance, companies can upload all their public-facing documents, whether they be company reports, press releases, guidance documents, you name it. Admittedly the slightly dull-but-necessary focus is not going to set the world alight, but with plenty of enterprises still getting their heads around the basics of blogging, RSS and even social networks like Twitter, edocr is a simple way for companies to share their PDFs without be
» 1 Jun 2009, 3:30 am
Badda-Bing Indeed.This is just too good. One of the features of Microsoft's just launched Bing search engine is that it auto-plays videos in results when you hover over them. Naturally, the first thing a number of people, like Loic Le Meur, did was search for "sex" or "porn." The results are majestic -- if you're a teenager looking for a way around porn filters on your computer. And this isn't artful porn or something like it, it's straight-up, hardcore pornography. Now, to be fair, to see these results, you do have to manually override the adult filter on the video search, but that's a whole 2 clicks and doesn't require that you actually verify your age or anything. The Bing team on Twitter is already warning users about this following Loic and other's twe
» 1 Jun 2009, 12:21 am
MashLogic Launches, Adds High Powered Angels To Investor ListMashLogic, a browser tool that gives users contextual information about content on websites (since publisher-driven links often don't do the job), is coming out of beta this morning. And they're announcing a second seed round of financing - $500,000 from high profile investors SoftTech VC, Scott Kurnit (About.com founder), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn founder) and Gil Penchina (Wikia CEO). Kurnit also joins the board of directors of the company. Bessemer Venture Partners is incubating the startup and put in most of the original $900,000 in seed money. The company has raised a total of $1.4 million to date and works out of the Bessemer offices. We first wrote about MashLogic in October 2008 when it went into private beta:
» 1 Jun 2009, 12:08 am
Go Bing Yourself, Right NowIt doesn't have quite the same ring to it as go Google yourself, but now you can go Bing yourself. (Then again, Google took a few years to become a verb.). Bing, Microsoft's latest effort to compete in search, is now live on a "preview" site. The key thing to pay attention to is the guided search assistance on the left and the different experiences for the travel, images, video, maps, news, and shopping tabs. A few things to try:
» 31 May 2009, 10:55 pm
Real-Time Twitter Search, Hold The “Real-Time”Many believe the greatest potential of Twitter lies in its ability to perform real-time searches of various keywords. So when that functionality is delayed by some 3 hours, as it is right now, and has been throughout much of the night, with no explanation, you can imagine that users are going to get a little annoyed. Go ahead, search for anything right now -- a good example is for the word "the," as it's used in a ton of tweets. The most recent results you'll find are from 3 hours ago. Not only does this badly impact my vanity searches, but there are companies who now rely on Twitter Search to run services such as brand management. Imagine the horror Comcast must be feeling right now not being able to see my tweets constantly bitching abou
» 31 May 2009, 10:35 pm
Video: Inside The Google HolodeckAt this past week's Google I/O event in San Francisco, Google brought a contraption it calls the "Holodeck," for event-goers to experience. Basically, it's a near-360 degree way to view Google Street View in fast motion, high definition video. Danny Sullivan posted a bunch of pictures of the thing earlier in the week. Unfortunately, Google only allows it to show the area at and around the actual Google campus in Mountain View, as I'm sure it doesn't want any legal complaint from those caught sunbathing in their backyards. Also, while it does zoom past the area where the Google Goats were kept, it unfortunately failed to catch any of them on tape. Luckily, I did that for you a few weeks ago.
» 31 May 2009, 3:20 pm
Last.fm Brags About Uptime, Overheats, Goes OfflineMusic service Last.fm, which was bragging about server uptime a week and a half ago, shuts its doors for the afternoon, claiming "datacenter temperature issues beyond our control" required them to go offline. The outage began around 12:30 pm PST, so we're at two hours and counting. Updates are on their Twitter account.
» 31 May 2009, 2:32 pm
Republican PR Director Calls Facebook’s Randi Zuckerberg “totally full of sh*t”One thing I love about Facebook spokesperson Randi Zuckerberg - she says exactly what she thinks, and she isn't afraid to use the power of Facebook to back up her opinions. Mean bar bouncers can lose their Facebook pages (this was later retracted but remains funny). Meanwhile, Holocaust deniers are given a pass. Now she's taking on the Republican party, and the Republican party is fighting back. At a Startup2Startup event last week Zuckerberg talked about her experiences at the Republican and Democratic presidential conventions last year. "At the Democratic national convention we were like rock stars," Zuckerberg said. "At the Republican national convention I sat in my hotel room by myself for three days, no one would meet with us, I
» 31 May 2009, 12:48 pm
TechNewsWorld
The Buzz on Big-Ticket Bluetooth and High-End HeadgearBluetooth wireless headsets have become a lot better in the last few years at picking out the user's voice from noisy surroundings. However, a key problem has persisted: If you're in a breezy place, it's been hard to make yourself heard above the sound of the wind whistling over the microphone.
» 31 May 2009, 4:00 am
Asus and Microsoft: 'It's Better With Windows'?Every once in a while a topic comes up on the Linux blogs that simply can't be ignored. Just last week, for example, the blogs were humming along as they always do, with various cheers and debates. Indeed, bloggers were fairly rubbing their hands with glee as they sped along the highway of joy pondering such news when suddenly -- out of nowhere -- a brick wall appeared.
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:00 am
Susan Boyle: A Web Star Born, a Web Opportunity Lost?The final act of the year's biggest pop culture sensation will not be seen on TVs, beamed out to multiplexes or heard much on the airwaves. Well, at least not in America. The phenomenon of Susan Boyle, seen by millions of Britons on ITV's "Britain's Got Talent," has been a worldwide digital storm played out in sporadic installments on the Internet.
» 30 May 2009, 4:00 am
Obama Outlines Serious New Cybersecurity StrategiesPresident Barack Obama held a press conference on Friday to announce the creation of a new White House office of cybersecurity, helmed by a chief who will report to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. That person has not yet been named, but speculation is rampant that it will be Melissa Hathaway, who led a recent two-month review on cybersecurity issues.
» 29 May 2009, 2:17 pm
Google Unleashes Web App Tidal WaveThe same developers who gave you Google Maps now think they've come up with the single best way for users to navigate all the communication and collaboration tools they currently use on a computer. Judging from some early tech press/blogger reaction Google Wave may indeed have the ability to take on not only the most popular office applications but also the hottest social networks.
» 29 May 2009, 12:25 pm
It's Time to Push Back Against Twitter BacklashIt's a love-hate relationship right up there with dysfunctional parents du jour Jon and Kate; the media has a middle-school crush on Twitter, and the media is the first to say nasty things about Twitter while Twitter is in study hall. Some of its members are using a helluva lot more than 140 characters to do their damage.
» 29 May 2009, 8:30 am
A Clarion Call for Expanding E-CommerceAmerica's winemakers have won a victory for online wine sales in Kansas, but the legislative battle demonstrates the challenges that e-commerce, a key force for economic recovery, still faces from outdated thinking and entrenched political institutions. Signed into law in April, 2009, Kansas Senate Bill 212 allows direct-to-consumer wine shipments over the Web.
» 29 May 2009, 4:00 am
Of Zune, iPhone and Pre: Sweating the Small StuffThere are lots of interesting tidbits floating around the Apple-focused blogosphere lately -- Apple quietly updated its low-end white MacBook, upstart Mac cloner Psystar filed for bankruptcy, and Steve Wozniak reportedly spoke on the phone to Steve Jobs, who apparently sounded "energetic."
» 29 May 2009, 4:00 am
Japanese University Uses iPhones as Truant OfficersA prestigious Japanese university is giving away hundreds of iPhones, in part to use the device's global positioning system to nab students that skip class. Truants in Japan often fake attendance by getting friends to answer roll-call or hand in signed attendance cards. That's verging on cheating since attendance is a key requirement for graduation in Japan.
» 29 May 2009, 9:02 am
2 New E-Readers on the Block: One Cheaper, One TouchierTwo upcoming e-readers demonstrated Wednesday could force changes in the market. They are Plastic Logic's reader and British firm Interead's Cool-er. Plastic Logic's reader, which has a much larger screen than the Amazon Kindle, targets business readers. The Cool-er has the same 6-inch screen size as the Amazon Kindle 2, but it's priced at almost $100 less.
» 28 May 2009, 2:46 pm
Spotify Mobile App Plays Tunes Even When the Stream Runs DryStockholm-based Spotify is still trying to navigate a maze of licensing obstacles before it can launch a U.S. version of its much-hyped desktop streaming music application. Yet its developers showed how they've been keeping busy Wednesday with an Android smartphone app demonstration during the Google I/O conference in San Francisco.
» 28 May 2009, 12:48 pm
TechRadar
Russia no longer haven for illegal BitTorrentersRussia has taken an unprecedented move in the fight against online crime and raided an office in Moscow belonging to BitTorrent website Interfilm.This is said to be the first raid of its kind, and quashes any rumours that Russia is a soft touch for illegal file-sharers.Even though the website's main server was based in Moscow, and several people were arrested, the raid failed to shutdown the site.According to TorrentFreak, the website is now working from the Netherlands.Interfilm still workingTwo people that were arrested in the raid were known in the online community as 'Ripper' and 'Nadezhda' and are said to be the founders of Interfilm.The website is notorious for leaked movies, especially 'cammed' ones – those filmed illegally via a v
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:55 am
In Depth: The making of Pixar's UPPixar's latest film, UP, tells the story of a retired widower called Carl who uproots his house and flies it to Venezuela, suspended from a canopy of helium balloons. During the five years the film was in production, Pixar employed new rigging, animation, shading and rendering techniques to overcome the challenges the movie brought to the table. Like the house in the film, the technology to create UP was anything but a light load. The challenges included defining intricate rigging and simulation to reproduce the balloons convincingly, and inventing a clever workaround to overcome the inherent difficulty of rendering iridescent feathers. NEW PIXAR: UP is the latest movie from the CGI giant to grace our screensThe solution for Pixar was to de
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:40 am
In Depth: Hands on: Microsoft Bing reviewMicrosoft's Bing search engine officially launches on Wednesday, but as it's already live in the UK, we've been cantering around the site, gathering together our early thoughts. Microsoft is placing a lot of expectations on its new search engine and has wasted no time in building it up by calling it a "decision engine". But it's got a job on its hands; the corporation's previous efforts at improved search offerings have been met with widespread indifference. Can Bing break Microsoft's search woes? It's too early to say. After all, Bing hasn't officially launched yet. And it clearly isn't finished in terms of its relationship to other Microsoft sites. The homepage is crisp and clear and we're told that the image will change daily. But the li
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:32 am
Orange launches 'cheapest ever' £5 per month dealOrange has announced three new deals designed to help those 'light in the pocket', with the cheapest starting at just £5 per month.The network has brought out three new tariffs with phones attached, as well as SIM-only versions should you be far too fond of your current handset to get rid of it.The £5, £10 and £15 per month tariffs are all available for an eyeball sweltering 36 months (which is a fancy way of disguising the notion of being tied down for three years) but after 18 months customers will be offered an upgrade.Bog standard and upThe £5 tariff only comes with 50 mins and 50 texts, as well as a bog standard Nokia 2630, while the £10 per month (100 mins, 300 texts) has a Nokia 3600 thrown in and the £15 per month (200 mins a
» 1 Jun 2009, 3:58 am
In Depth: How to navigate the motherboard minefieldBy God it's a scary time to be buying a motherboard. We've gotten so comfortable with Intel's age-old LGA775 socket – which has been with us since 2005's Pentium 4, amazingly – that the bad old days of deciphering which chip would go in which board seem like a distant nightmare. Well, prepare to start screaming and waking up in a cold sweat again, because right now there's a confluence of confusing sea-changes going on. These mean picking up a new mobo involves either sacrificing future-proofing or having to drop a small fortune on a new chip and RAM as well. Yes, it's horribly unfair, but please cease freaking out and allow us to guide you through this new motherboard maze: it's not as convoluted as it looks. Chief perpetrators of this
» 1 Jun 2009, 3:13 am
It's official: 'netbook' name is safeThe lengthy battle between Psion and Intel over the name 'netbook' has been settled, with Psion withdrawing its trademark registration of the term.With every man and his dog calling the diminutive laptops netbooks, it seemed unlikely that Psion would be able to keep its 'netbook' trademark and now the company has agreed not to object to any manufacturer using the netbook name in the future.Trademark tussleComplete details of the agreement between Psion and Intel aren't available but some money must have exchanged hands as at one point Psion was asking for around $1.2 billion in damages.The dispute came after Psion had trademarked the term years ago, but Intel claimed that the trademark had run out in 2003.Psion was one of the first manufact
» 1 Jun 2009, 3:07 am
BBC Earth channel debuts on YouTubeBBC Earth, BBC Worldwide's natural history channel has announced it now has its own dedicated space on YouTube.While the UK isn't privy to BBC Earth, it is the broadcaster's all-encompassing brand for its nature content, including hugely successful shows like Planet Earth.Animal magicInitially, there will be 50 clips to watch, with videos from Life Of Mammals, Blue Planet and basically a whole lot of David Attenborough relaying his encyclopaedic knowledge about every animal and insect in the world.New clips will apparently be added to the channel every week.Neil Nightingale, Head of BBC's Natural History Unit, says about the channel launch: "I'm delighted that the BBC Earth channel on You Tube will now allow people all round the world to en
» 1 Jun 2009, 2:45 am
Samsung's Pixon12 is 'world's first' 12MP cameraphoneSamsung has got itself off to a good start to the week, by announcing the arrival of the world's first 12MP cameraphone.We know we recently brought you news of Sony's Satio – which also lands a 12MP punch – but the Samsung Pixon12 (M8910) will be out in Europe in June, unlike Sony's device which will arrive Q4 of this year.The Pixon12 is an update to the company's impressive Pixon M8800, which was released last year and packed an 8MP sensor.Feature focusFeatures on the camera include a Xenon flash and Touch Auto-Focus tracking. The 'touch' means users can touch the screen to select what object they want to be in focus.The handset comes with a 3.1-inch AMOLED screen and will also record video at 720x480 resolution at 30fps.Also included
» 1 Jun 2009, 2:15 am
Facebook reverses 'sexual' image decisionFacebook has reversed a decision which riled Breast Cancer awareness groups in the UK, and is allowing images of a UK woman's mastectomy on its site.The images were originally banned by Facebook and labelled 'sexual and abusive', but protest groups, such as 'Get Sharon Adams Picture Back on Facebook for Breast Cancer', helped to make sure that the images were no longer banned.Facebook apologySpeaking to the Daily Mail, Sharon Adams said: "I put these pictures out on Facebook to put a message out to women – check your breasts regularly and do not ever be ashamed of a mastectomy. "For Facebook to claim they were sexual and abusive was absurd. Facebook has online groups about sexual positions and some groups which are bordering on racis
» 1 Jun 2009, 12:22 am
Hulu next for Xbox 360, says Twitter tweetIt was just last week that Sky announced the some of its channels will be available on the Xbox 360, but the move has prompted talk of other content providers joining in.The latest is Hulu. The US video-streaming website owned by some of the biggest broadcasters in America – NBC Universal, Fox and Disney – is rumoured to be heading to the Xbox after US presenter Olivia Munn put on her Twitter account this following revealing tweet: "Just finished promos for hulu/microsoft event I'm doing on june 8!"Bigging up a BingathonWith this, the internet was ablaze with much rumour and speculation about whether the US was going to get its version of the Sky deal on the Xbox 360.Turns out, however, all that was revealed within Munn's tweet was her
» 31 May 2009, 11:39 pm
TechWeb
Sam Palmisano's Grand Strategy For IBM Revealed In $5B Global Financing PlanThe company is offering billions to help customers "mind the gap" until so-called stimulus money begins to flow around the globe. And it expects much of that funding will be used to purchase its very own products and services.
» 1 Jun 2009, 5:00 am
Adobe Releases Flash Platform BetasThe company is positioning Adobe Flash Builder 4, Adobe Flash Catalyst, and the open source Flex 4 framework as its answer to Microsoft's Silverlight software.
» 1 Jun 2009, 1:00 am
Teradata Launches Online Developer Community For Data WarehousingThe Developer Exchange is designed to help members share ideas, code samples and discuss problems related to the building and deploying of the data warehouse vendor's products.
» 31 May 2009, 11:39 pm
Windows 7 Vs. Linux: OS Face-OffWhile Windows 7 has been brewing in Microsoft's labs, Linux has been maturing. We look at what each operating system is capable of today, and how they measure up against each other.
» 30 May 2009, 4:00 am
Ease The Pain Of E-DiscoveryHere's how three companies have pulled together IT, legal, and other stakeholders to reduce the complexity and cost of finding information when the lawyers come calling.
» 29 May 2009, 9:02 pm
Products Make E-Discovery EasierA range of offerings can help with e-discovery -- and your company may already have the technology it needs.
» 29 May 2009, 9:01 pm
Microblogs Get Down To BusinessTwitter and Yammer can offer companies a free focus group and a cheap option for collaboration.
» 29 May 2009, 9:01 pm
Information Silos Stand In The Way Of InteroperabilityGovernment IT pros are pursuing a more open public enterprise, but system interoperability remains a formidable challenge.
» 29 May 2009, 9:01 pm
Rolling Review Wrap-Up: Smartphone SecurityEach product we looked at showed different core strengths. Know your environment to find the best tool for your mobile device fleet.
» 29 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Down To Business: Is IT Innovation Dead?Even in a tech economy dominated by vendor consolidation and customer cost cutting, plenty of innovation is still happening.
» 29 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Practical Analysis: Change Starts At The TopMost IT execs aren't ready to make the organizational changes needed to capitalize on virtualization.
» 29 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Washington Post - Tech News
Going Viral: Brandon Hardesty discovered that in the age of YouTube, if you can make it in the family rec roomBrandon Hardesty sat so close to his video camera that only the top three-quarters of his enormous head was in the frame. As he stared into the lens of his camera, he clasped his chubby fingers this way and that around his big cranium. He adopted an expression of amazement, as if he were seeing...
» 30 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Kim Hart's DownloadThere's no shortage of uses for the massive amounts of data in every nook and cranny of the Internet.
» 31 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Montgomery County Student Leader Proposes Allowing Cellphone Use at LunchtimeJuan Hendrix, an earth science teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, knows that when it comes to cellphone use in schools, looks can deceive.
» 31 May 2009, 9:00 pm
At BookExpo America, the Future is DigitalNEW YORK, May 31 -- If you wanted to think about the future of the written word, the publishing industry's annual convention, held at Manhattan's Javits Center, was the place to be over the past few days.
» 31 May 2009, 9:00 pm
This Book Is Only Half the StoryA video game blogger named Rachael Webster created a minor stir in the blogosphere last year, when it turned out that she didn't exactly exist.
» 30 May 2009, 9:00 pm
The One Fiber Optic Cable No One on the Dig for Tysons Rail Wants to HitThis part happens all the time: A construction crew putting up an office building in the heart of Tysons Corner a few years ago hit a fiber optic cable no one knew was there.
» 30 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Fast Forward: Web Radio Hits the RoadIt took a long drive over a holiday weekend -- a setting that should have played to all of radio's traditional strengths-- to show how much trouble commercial FM stations may have in store.
» 30 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Help File: A Surprise Anti-Virus UpgradeQMy copy of Webroot's anti-spyware software just installed a new anti-virus program without warning me -- even though I already have one active, and adding a second one invites all sorts of problems. Nice trick . . .
» 30 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Space Station Now Fully Staffed as Russian Capsule Brings 3 More AstronautsCAPE CANAVERAL, May 29 -- A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts docked at the international space station Friday, giving the orbiting complex a full staff of six for the first time in its 10-year history.
» 29 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Obama Says He Will Name National Cybersecurity AdviserPresident Obama used a White House speech yesterday to try to raise national concern about threats to computer networks, drawing praise from some industry executives and lawmakers but criticism from others who said his initiatives do not go far enough.
» 29 May 2009, 9:00 pm
$9 Million Contracts Scheme in Prince William, Va., Leads to Firings, FBI ProbeThree Prince William County government employees have lost their jobs over allegations that they were involved in a long-running scam to steer millions of taxpayer dollars to specified contractors. Sources close to the investigation called it one of the largest embezzlement and fraud cases in county...
» 29 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Wired News
Video: Watch a 'Tobias Attack' on the Medeco3 Cylinder LockA Wired.com video extra to the Wired magazine story.
» 31 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Toshiba Brings Facial Recognition to CarsYour car will be watching you so you can watch the road.
» 31 May 2009, 9:00 pm
The Ultimate Lock Picker Hacks Pentagon, Beats Corporate Security for Fun and ProfitTobias is laughing. And laughing. The effect is disconcerting. It's a bwa-ha-ha kind of evil mastermind laugh—appropriate if you've just sacked Constantinople, checkmated Deep Blue, or handed Superman a Dixie cup of kryptonite Kool-Aid, but downright scary in a midtown Manhattan restaurant during the early-bird special. Our fellow diners begin to stare. Tobias doesn't notice and wouldn't care anyway. He's as rumpled and wild as a nerdy grizzly bear. His place mat is covered in diagrams and sketched floor plans and scribbled arrows. His laugh fits him like a tinfoil hat. It goes on for a solid 20 seconds. But Tobias isn't crazy. Far from it. He's a professional lock breaker, a man obsessively—perhaps compulsively—dedicated to crackin
» 31 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Sculptor Gives New Meaning to 'Plastic Arts': Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comLots of sculptors these days use blowtorches and create their works in hard steel. Jerry Ross Barrish uses a glue gun and makes his art from discarded plastic. And the art is something to behold. Not that Barrish has always considered himself an artist. When he showed Wired.com around his studio recently, he admitted it's been a long path. Barrish never did art as a child, never even worked with tools. He explains, "I started to do more-traditional sculpture at SFAI [San Francisco Art Institute] and changed my major to filmmaking. For 15 years I made films; in 1986 I got a grant to live in Berlin. Made my last film in 1989, and that was the same year I made my first sculpture out of plastic that I found in fr
» 31 May 2009, 9:00 pm
MSI's Cheap Desktop Suffers From Performance AnxietyIs there an answer for the floundering desktop? Turns out there is. MSI thinks there is. They've taken the guts from one of its netbooks, slapped it into an all in one chassis, and thrown a touchscreen in the mix. They call it the Wind Top.
» 31 May 2009, 9:00 pm
June 1, 1849: Stanley Twins Steam Into HistoryThe Stanley brothers built steam cars back when gasoline engines were the 2.0.
» 31 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Alt Text: Beware Nebulous Internet DiseaseGot an itch, a cough or an inexplicable runny nose? You might be suffering from a modern medical scourge. Better disinfect that web browser.
» 31 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Want to Look Like a Telemarketer? Voyager Pro Has You CoveredThere are a lot of Bluetooth headsets out there. The Plantronics Voyager is neither subtle nor attractive. It is, however, useful and even manages to trump the king of Bluetooth headsets, the Jawbone, in a couple of areas.
» 29 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Time-Lapse Video of Massive Change on EarthWatch how people have changed Earth's surface over the past decade. Wired Science puts NASA satellite photos into time-lapse sequences that show deforestation, urbanization and drought.
» 29 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Pixar's <cite>Up</cite> House Could Really FlyCould the crazy floating house in Pixar's new movie Up really fly? Wired Science does the math.
» 29 May 2009, 9:00 pm
New Exoplanetology: 'I Learned It by Watching You, Earth'A new method of finding habitable planets involves the relatively low-tech idea of looking at Earth from space and then trying to find other planets with the same signature.
» 29 May 2009, 9:00 pm
Yahoo! News - Technology
As Web communication shrinks, so do links
(AP)AP - On the short-messaging service Twitter, space is at a premium: You've got 140 characters to make your point, and you probably don't want to waste half of it on a super-sized link to your latest YouTube obsession.
» 31 May 2009, 10:09 am
PROMISES, PROMISES: Battling cyber turf wars
(AP)AP - The digital battlefield is proving to be difficult terrain for President Barack Obama.
» 29 May 2009, 2:49 pm
ID-theft ruling: Set your own fraud alerts
(AP)AP - Companies that sell "identity-theft protection" present an alluring but questionable proposition.
» 29 May 2009, 12:03 pm
Robots with fins, tails demonstrate evolution
(AP)AP - Robots wag their tail fins and bob along like bathtub toys in a pool at a Vassar College lab. Their actions are dictated by microprocessors housed in round plastic containers, the sort you'd store soup in.
» 30 May 2009, 9:57 pm
Time Warner CEO hints at online fees for magazines
(AP)AP - Time Warner Inc. Chief Executive Jeffrey Bewkes chimed in Friday with the chorus of publishers wondering how much longer newspapers and magazines can afford to keep giving away their stories on the Internet.
» 29 May 2009, 12:57 pm
Cuba criticizes Microsoft blocking Messenger
(AP)AP - Cuba criticized Microsoft on Friday for blocking its Messenger instant messaging service on the island and in other countries under U.S. sanctions, calling it yet another example of Washington's "harsh" treatment of Havana.
» 29 May 2009, 10:32 pm
British Internet talent star Susan Boyle taken to clinic
(Reuters)Reuters - British internet singing star Susan Boyle has been admitted to a private clinic after being beaten into second place in the final of the popular "Britain's Got Talent" television contest, British media reported.
» 1 Jun 2009, 4:45 am
Giga-byte Shows CULV Laptop, Netbooks With Windows 7
(PC World)PC World - Giga-byte Technology revamped a netbook that takes advantage of touchscreen and tablet functions in Microsoft Windows 7 and put its first laptop with an Intel CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) microprocessor inside on display at Computex Taipei 2009 on Monday.
» 1 Jun 2009, 1:50 am
CCE takes mobile to the next level: Analytics
(InfoWorld)InfoWorld - 2009 InfoWorld CTO 25 AwardsKevin FlowersDirector of enabling technologiesCoca-Cola Enterprises
» 1 Jun 2009, 2:00 am
Singer Susan Boyle loses British talent show
(AFP)AFP - Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle, who won a worldwide audience after her rendition of "I Dreamed A Dream" became a hit on YouTube, came second Saturday in the British talent show that made her famous.
» 30 May 2009, 2:07 pm
E3 seen returning to glitz
(Reuters)Reuters - The interactive videogame industry's biggest convention meets next week in Los Angeles promising a return to its glitzy past, but on the heels of weak sales and the slumping economy, the future of this fun and games business is no laughing matter.
» 31 May 2009, 11:21 pm
