Apple iTunes 8.0: A closer look at 'Genius'

Download iTunes for Windows 8.0 from FileForum now.

While Apple is pushing a major update to its client software filled with several new features, easily the biggest new one appears to be its music recommendation engine, called Genius.

Google will provide TV ads to NBC Universal properties

The latest platform innovation from Google enables advertisers to place bids for on-air commercial time that Google has already purchased. Now that time will come at a higher premium, with the entry of NBCU into the mix.

Google launched TV Ads last year, a means for businesses to selectively purchase television ad inventory using similar tools to what Google AdWords provides its clients for text ads, complete with minimum bids and budget maximums. After airing, customers can measure the efficacy of their campaigns. Google even provides the an Ad Creation Marketplace to assist in the creation of the commercial.

HP may trump Dell with a 24-hour battery-powered EliteBook

Tired of watching your laptop batteries conk out after two hours, even though the brochure promised four? Next month, HP expects to ship an EliteBook 6930p notebook that promises a phenomenal 24 hours of battery life without recharging.

Only about a month after Dell's rollout of Latitude notebooks with 19 hours of battery life, Hewlett-Packard has announced plans to ship its own high-end business laptop -- the EliteBook 6390p -- complete with a high capacity battery option able to deliver a full day of battery operation, without recharging.

Sprint confirms it's adding two HTC Touches to its 3G arsenal

The HTC Touch Pro smartphone, coming next month in the US to Sprint.While Verizon Wireless has been busy with its ongoing campaign to convince you that "it's the network," Sprint -- whose network has not been its strong point in recent years -- is placing new bets today that it's really the phone.

Amazon opens its MP3 store to independent sellers

Today, Amazon announced its indie publishing service CreativeSpace is now tied with its MP3 shop, allowing independent artists and labels to release DRM-free materials in Amazon's MP3 store.

Artists can set up an account on CreateSpace and sell their materials with no upfront charges; however, accounts are arranged in such a way that money is not directly distributed to artists. Instead, royalty checks are given out with expenses subtracted.

Google takes more baby steps in online privacy game

Through a series of blog posts, topped off by two announcements this week about retaining user-related data, Google is inching along toward alleviating the concerns of many users and privacy groups, trumpeting each step along the way.

In one blog post on Monday, a Google legal and engineering team announced a "significant" shortening of Google's IP retention policies, involving plans to start anonymizing users' addresses on servers after nine months instead of the previous 18 months.

Virtualization: While Microsoft loses more time, VMware loses more execs

We've been told virtualization is the fastest evolving sector of the computing industry. But now, VMware is running on autopilot without its key scientists, and Microsoft hopes another delay won't hurt it too much.

In advance of a major virtualization trade show in Las Vegas next week, two of the industry's key players will most definitely not be firing on all cylinders. Smartly diffusing a potential powder keg by letting the news out yesterday at its own show, Microsoft demonstrated

Plastic Logic displays newest e-book reader

More than two years after debuting the concept, Plastic Logic will premiere its first demo model e-book reader at DEMOfall in San Diego.

Mozilla's Aza Raskin: The journey back to Ubiquity

In an in-depth interview with BetaNews, the user experience chief of Mozilla Labs discusses a unique journey of discovery, backtracking through the groundbreaking work of his own father to rediscover the power of the command line.

Esquire 'beta tests' an animated magazine cover

To celebrate its 75th anniversary, ever-urbane magazine Esquire will include "disposable" electronic paper display (EPD) panels in its October 2008 issue.

The same magazine that has featured John Wayne with angel wings, and Muhammad Ali as St. Sebastian, proclaims "The 21st Century Begins Now," with its E Ink cover insert. The display is provided by E Ink Corp., the company responsible for providing displays for every other commercially available "e-paper" device.

Evidence Samsung and SanDisk are in merger talks

The company that holds patent rights for a breakthrough flash memory technology is apparently discussing the possibility of being acquired by the world's biggest flash producer. It's come down to this.

Flash card manufacturer SanDisk issued a statement early this morning, essentially using a bull-horn with trumpet accompaniment to awaken the world to the news that it does not comment on rumor and speculation. That speculation, it said, concerns news emerging from the Korean business press this week, indicating that it and leading flash memory producer Samsung are in merger talks.

Report: OLPC buy one, give one deal returns

Internet retail giant Amazon will be running the One Laptop Per Child "Give one / Get one" (G1G1) program for this year's holiday season, confirming announcements made in May.

Matt Keller, director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa at OLPC, recently told IDG that Amazon will be handling the sales of the G1G1 program due to its size and ability to handle a large volume of customers. The program will be roughly the same as last year's, where customers buy an OLPC XO to donate to a developing country and get one of their own in return.

Evidence Samsung and SanDisk are in merger talks

The company that holds patent rights for a breakthrough flash memory technology is apparently discussing the possibility of being acquired by the world's biggest flash producer. It's come down to this.

Flash card manufacturer SanDisk issued a statement early this morning, essentially using a bull-horn with trumpet accompaniment to awaken the world to the news that it does not comment on rumor and speculation. That speculation, it said, concerns news emerging from the Korean business press this week, indicating that it and leading flash memory producer Samsung are in merger talks.

Analysts: Online news viewers rising as newspaper readership falls

Newspaper readership is down -- especially among younger adults -- and so is newspaper circulation. But online TV viewing is on the rise overall, with news the most popular content category.

Consumers seem to be getting more of their news online these days and less of it from newspapers and traditional broadcast TV, suggest the results of some industry surveys.

About 20% of US households now use the Internet for TV viewing, almost double the online viewership as two years ago, according to a study released this week by The Conference Board and TNS.

Red Hat buys virtualization specialist Qumranet

The Linux vendor will now add KVM to its existing hypervisor-based approach to virtualization, an advantage the company envisions as providing as complete a portfolio as VMware, Microsoft, and Xen.

In a move that gives Red Hat new ways of managing Windows and Linux desktops, the Linux vendor on Thursday acquired virtualization player Qumranet.

With the buyout, Red Hat obtains Qumranet's KVM (Kernel Virtual Machine) platform along with SolidICE, designed to enable a user's Windows or Linux desktop to operate in a virtual machine hosted on a central server, officials said during a press conference.

Comcast challenges FCC's authority in sanction appeal

In a filing Thursday with the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, the broadband service provider argued that the agency did not have the authority to impose sanctions in the first place.

The FCC's order did not fine Comcast, instead ordering the company to make changes to the way it handles traffic. Comcast had already agreed to make such changes on its own, including targeted throttling and a 250 GB cap on bandwidth per customer.

Adobe Flash to deliver NFL games in full

The National Football League, NBC Sports, and Adobe have announced their collaboration on Sunday Night Football Extra -- full-length live streams of NFL Sunday night football games.

An ad about nothing: First Seinfeld + Gates ad omitted Vista

Just minutes after viewing the first installment of Microsoft's new $300 million TV ad campaign featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Chairman Bill Gates, BetaNews' Tim Conneally filed this video to record his first thoughts.

BetaNews' Tim Conneally shares his first thoughts on the premiere Microsoft + Seinfeld ad. (Do forgive Tim, he started out thinking this was next Tuesday.)

Exclusive beta invitation from GameTap and BetaNews

Broadband entertainment network GameTap is searching for people who love to play games to join its beta program. Sign up through this exclusive invitation before the spots fill up.

Whether you prefer action games such as Tomb Raider, strategy games such as Civilization IV, adventure games such as Sam & Max, fighting games such as Street Fighter Alpha 3 and King of Fighters 2003, or puzzle games like Bust-A-Move and Columns, GameTap has them all playable for free.

Google Analytics starts tracking Chrome, with intriguing results

Since Google Analytics started tracking Chrome on Thursday, the new browser is showing a browser share of 6% or higher on some Web sites -- including BetaNews. But that's much higher than the under 2% share reported by Net Applications.

A follow-up look at Net Applications' hourly statistics for estimated worldwide Web browser usage share, conducted at around 2:00 pm today -- showed that Chrome achieved its peak penetration of 1.73% of the world's HTTP requests on Sept. 5 at 4:00 am EDT.

No ruling yet in TiVo vs. EchoStar patent case

The judge presiding over the patent case between TiVo and EchoStar has delayed any ruling until possibly November, buying EchoStar some time and causing TiVo some short term duress.

TiVo's share value plunged 16.5 percent on Thursday as news of Judge David Folsom's plans broke, although it had rebounded nearly nine percent on Friday to nearly $8 in late afternoon trading.

Shareholders had been expecting a favorable ruling for the company, and Thursday's seemingly knee-jerk reaction could be interpreted as investors worrying that a delay in any ruling may be a positive development for EchoStar.

Is there a subsidized netbook in your future?

True to words spoken by Dell CEO Michael Dell last week, Dell's newly launched Inspiron Mini 9 will soon be bundled with Vodafone's mobile broadband services in parts of Europe. Could a certain US wireless carrier be next?

Retail availability through Vodafone "in key European markets" of Dell's Inspiron Mini 9 -- launched just yesterday -- is scheduled for late September, according to a statement from the two new partners. The Minis will be sold through Vodafone's online sales outlets and brick-and-mortar stores, and will be bundled with mobile broadband.

120 GB Zunes begin to appear in stores

Microsoft has confirmed that it has begun to ship the newer high-capacity Zunes at a price that makes it quite competitive against the market-leading iPod.

The 120 GB Zune will sell for $249, the same price as the 80 GB Apple iPod. Internet reports say the devices began shipping to retailers this week, and Microsoft says the rollout will continue to additional retailers over the next several weeks.

Rumors that the higher-capacity device was coming was first posted by Zune enthusiast site Zunerama last weekend. From there, the story took flight and reports seemed to indicate the 80 GB model was being phased out.

Google's Chrome is gaining users, especially in the wee hours

Download Google Chrome 0.2.149.27 Beta from FileForum now.

Korea Times: Sony home video at the tail end of a Korean exodus

Korea Times reports that Sony's DVD distribution arm in Korea has decided to stop selling discs in that country, making it the last of the major studios to do so.

A request for confirmation by BetaNews with Sony went unanswered as of press time. If the news is accurate, Sony would actually be the last of the major Hollywood studios to pull out of the South Korean market over the last two years, following Paramount, Disney (Buena Vista), Universal, and 20th Century Fox. It seems as if Korean consumers just aren't interested in DVDs any more.

Sony recalls hazardous Vaio notebooks

Sony this morning announced the recall of certain Vaio TZ series notebooks after a number of consumers reported overheating, with one even resulting in minor burns.

The notebooks, according to Sony, contain "irregularly positioned wires near the computer's hinge and/or a dislodged screw inside the hinge [that] can cause a short circuit and overheating."

Included in the recall are the Vaio VGN-TZ100, VGN-TZ200, VGN-TZ300 and VGN-TZ2000 series with 11.1" screens.

The Google Chrome EULA debacle: Whose content is it, anyway?

Download Google Chrome 0.2.149.27 Beta from FileForum now.

Samsung UK exec: Blu-ray's got five years to live

An official with one of the format's principal supporting companies gives it a rather short life span, saying another technology would replace it.

If Samsung UK consumer electronics chief Andy Griffiths is correct, the format would have spent only seven years as a commercially viable format. Compare this to DVD, which has been available to consumers for well over a decade.

The comments also seem to be a delayed echo of the sentiment Netflix CEO Reed Hastings expressed nine months ago, when he said his company would begin to transition its primarily physical media-based business to that of one that focuses on downloadable content.

East coast iPhone 3G users report data service outages

11:04 am EST September 4, 2008 - After iPhone 3G customers were informed yesterday by AT&T at about 10:30 am yesterday that a problem affecting their 3G data use had been resolved, an AT&T spokesperson informed Reuters that it had resolved the issue at about noon yesterday.

Samsung backs out of Symbian, Nokia buys its stake

Samsung has agreed to sell its stake in Symbian to Nokia for a reported $410 million this week, pushing Nokia ever closer to total ownership.

In early 2003, Symbian announced that Samsung had joined the likes of Ericsson, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia, Psion, and Siemens as a 5% shareholder in the company and its eponymous mobile operating system. At the time of Samsung's entry as a shareholder and on Symbian's supervisory board, Nokia held a 19% stake in the company, equal to Ericsson and Motorola.

Xperia emulator featured in new Sony Ericsson SDK

In what could conceivably become a serious alternative to alternatives swayed by the allure of Apple's iPhone, Sony Ericsson released today its SDK for developers of applications for its Xperia X1, which is still due for availability this month.

Intel buys mobile Linux startup

Intel has acquired Linux development startup Opened Hand as a part of the chipmaker's Moblin mobile Linux project.

Moblin is an open source software stack specifically designed for integration with Intel's Atom processors in Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), netbooks, and embedded systems. The project started last year, prior to Asus' release of its Celeron M-based Eee PC -- which is credited for ushering in the netbook craze.

Intel expects the first devices to be released with Moblin will be MIDs by such companies as Asus, Samsung, Founder and TabletKiosk.

Google Chrome takes more than just inspiration from Mozilla

A few of the names appearing in Google's promotional "graphic novel" for the first beta of its own Web browser, may ring bells for anyone who was a beta tester of Firefox 3. So just what kind of browser war does Google plan to wage?

A check of the names appearing in Google's unique introductory comic book for its new Google Chrome browser, whose beta is expected for wide release today, reveals that the new open source browser, which promises fundamental architectural changes to the nature of browsing itself, has more in common with Mozilla's Firefox 3 than just inspiration. Software engineers Ben Goodger, Darin Fisher, and Pam Greene are all prominently featured as presenters in the graphic promo; and all three were credited as principal contributors to Firefox's latest version.

Open source group sues Quebec, Microsoft for no-bid software contracting

A major problem for the development of free software is, ironically, the fact that it isn't worth anything. Not monetarily, that is, but now an open source group says its government must be forced to consider its value anyway.

Is any Quebec government agency that already has Microsoft, Novell, and IBM software installed on its networks compelled by law to consider alternative brands from Quebec-based suppliers? An association of free software publishers based in Quebec is citing a law that forbids provincial officials from entering into no-bid contracts with suppliers outside the province, in a lawsuit filed last July 15 -- but announced just yesterday -- against both Quebec and Microsoft, its key supplier.

Open source group sues Quebec, Microsoft for no-bid software contracting

A major problem for the development of free software is, ironically, the fact that it isn't worth anything. Not monetarily, that is, but now an open source group says its government must be forced to consider its value anyway.

Is any Quebec government agency that already has Microsoft, Novell, and IBM software installed on its networks compelled by law to consider alternative brands from Quebec-based suppliers? An association of free software publishers based in Quebec is citing a law that forbids provincial officials from entering into no-bid contracts with suppliers outside the province, in a lawsuit filed last July 15 -- but announced just yesterday -- against both Quebec and Microsoft, its key supplier.

Where does Barack Obama stand on technology issues?

In the second of our four-part series examining the positions of the presidential and vice presidential candidates on technology policy, BetaNews' Ed Oswald takes a look at the Illinois Democrat.

With respect to the growing middle ground between technology and politics, it could be viably argued that no one has embraced technology as part of his or her campaign -- at least as an ideal -- more than Sen. Barack Obama.

The use of online means to recruit campaign volunteers and to incite action on behalf of candidates, dates back to the 1984 campaign of Sen. Gary Hart. Web pages became a key component of campaigning in 1996, in Pres. Bill Clinton's bid for re-election against Sen. Bob Dole.

Google's Chrome is gaining users, especially in the wee hours

Download Google Chrome 0.2.149.27 Beta from FileForum now.

Korea Times: Sony home video at the tail end of a Korean exodus

Korea Times reports that Sony's DVD distribution arm in Korea has decided to stop selling discs in that country, making it the last of the major studios to do so.

A request for confirmation by BetaNews with Sony went unanswered as of press time. If the news is accurate, Sony would actually be the last of the major Hollywood studios to pull out of the South Korean market over the last two years, following Paramount, Disney (Buena Vista), Universal, and 20th Century Fox. It seems as if Korean consumers just aren't interested in DVDs any more.

Sony recalls hazardous Vaio notebooks

Sony this morning announced the recall of certain Vaio TZ series notebooks after a number of consumers reported overheating, with one even resulting in minor burns.

The notebooks, according to Sony, contain "irregularly positioned wires near the computer's hinge and/or a dislodged screw inside the hinge [that] can cause a short circuit and overheating."

Included in the recall are the Vaio VGN-TZ100, VGN-TZ200, VGN-TZ300 and VGN-TZ2000 series with 11.1" screens.

The Google Chrome EULA debacle: Whose content is it, anyway?

Download Google Chrome 0.2.149.27 Beta from FileForum now.

Samsung UK exec: Blu-ray's got five years to live

An official with one of the format's principal supporting companies gives it a rather short life span, saying another technology would replace it.

If Samsung UK consumer electronics chief Andy Griffiths is correct, the format would have spent only seven years as a commercially viable format. Compare this to DVD, which has been available to consumers for well over a decade.

The comments also seem to be a delayed echo of the sentiment Netflix CEO Reed Hastings expressed nine months ago, when he said his company would begin to transition its primarily physical media-based business to that of one that focuses on downloadable content.

East coast iPhone 3G users report data service outages

11:04 am EST September 4, 2008 - After iPhone 3G customers were informed yesterday by AT&T at about 10:30 am yesterday that a problem affecting their 3G data use had been resolved, an AT&T spokesperson informed Reuters that it had resolved the issue at about noon yesterday.

Samsung backs out of Symbian, Nokia buys its stake

Samsung has agreed to sell its stake in Symbian to Nokia for a reported $410 million this week, pushing Nokia ever closer to total ownership.

In early 2003, Symbian announced that Samsung had joined the likes of Ericsson, Matsushita, Motorola, Nokia, Psion, and Siemens as a 5% shareholder in the company and its eponymous mobile operating system. At the time of Samsung's entry as a shareholder and on Symbian's supervisory board, Nokia held a 19% stake in the company, equal to Ericsson and Motorola.

Xperia emulator featured in new Sony Ericsson SDK

In what could conceivably become a serious alternative to alternatives swayed by the allure of Apple's iPhone, Sony Ericsson released today its SDK for developers of applications for its Xperia X1, which is still due for availability this month.

Intel buys mobile Linux startup

Intel has acquired Linux development startup Opened Hand as a part of the chipmaker's Moblin mobile Linux project.

Moblin is an open source software stack specifically designed for integration with Intel's Atom processors in Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), netbooks, and embedded systems. The project started last year, prior to Asus' release of its Celeron M-based Eee PC -- which is credited for ushering in the netbook craze.

Intel expects the first devices to be released with Moblin will be MIDs by such companies as Asus, Samsung, Founder and TabletKiosk.

Google Chrome takes more than just inspiration from Mozilla

A few of the names appearing in Google's promotional "graphic novel" for the first beta of its own Web browser, may ring bells for anyone who was a beta tester of Firefox 3. So just what kind of browser war does Google plan to wage?

A check of the names appearing in Google's unique introductory comic book for its new Google Chrome browser, whose beta is expected for wide release today, reveals that the new open source browser, which promises fundamental architectural changes to the nature of browsing itself, has more in common with Mozilla's Firefox 3 than just inspiration. Software engineers Ben Goodger, Darin Fisher, and Pam Greene are all prominently featured as presenters in the graphic promo; and all three were credited as principal contributors to Firefox's latest version.

Open source group sues Quebec, Microsoft for no-bid software contracting

A major problem for the development of free software is, ironically, the fact that it isn't worth anything. Not monetarily, that is, but now an open source group says its government must be forced to consider its value anyway.

Is any Quebec government agency that already has Microsoft, Novell, and IBM software installed on its networks compelled by law to consider alternative brands from Quebec-based suppliers? An association of free software publishers based in Quebec is citing a law that forbids provincial officials from entering into no-bid contracts with suppliers outside the province, in a lawsuit filed last July 15 -- but announced just yesterday -- against both Quebec and Microsoft, its key supplier.

Open source group sues Quebec, Microsoft for no-bid software contracting

A major problem for the development of free software is, ironically, the fact that it isn't worth anything. Not monetarily, that is, but now an open source group says its government must be forced to consider its value anyway.

Is any Quebec government agency that already has Microsoft, Novell, and IBM software installed on its networks compelled by law to consider alternative brands from Quebec-based suppliers? An association of free software publishers based in Quebec is citing a law that forbids provincial officials from entering into no-bid contracts with suppliers outside the province, in a lawsuit filed last July 15 -- but announced just yesterday -- against both Quebec and Microsoft, its key supplier.

Where does Barack Obama stand on technology issues?

In the second of our four-part series examining the positions of the presidential and vice presidential candidates on technology policy, BetaNews' Ed Oswald takes a look at the Illinois Democrat.

With respect to the growing middle ground between technology and politics, it could be viably argued that no one has embraced technology as part of his or her campaign -- at least as an ideal -- more than Sen. Barack Obama.

The use of online means to recruit campaign volunteers and to incite action on behalf of candidates, dates back to the 1984 campaign of Sen. Gary Hart. Web pages became a key component of campaigning in 1996, in Pres. Bill Clinton's bid for re-election against Sen. Bob Dole.