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Headlines for December 18th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:00:42 +0000

RIM Wants Cheaper BlackBerry Plans, More Love – "With Verizon's aggressive Droid ad campaign, RIM may not be feeling the love any more.
After all, Verizon pretty much submarined the BlackBerry Storm 2 launch in favor of a pair of Android phones – perhaps as payback for the dog's breakfast that was the BlackBerry Storm 1."
Design Company Bing Sues Microsoft Over Trademark – "A small Missouri company with the word "Bing" in its name has sued Microsoft for branding its search engine with the same word, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition by the software giant."
Privacy Groups Call on FTC to Investigate Facebook – "Privacy is one of the top concerns for millions of Americans who go online each day. A very large percentage of the millions of Americans who go online end up using social networking site Facebook to keep in touch with friends and coworkers."
Google in talks to buy Yelp – Google is in talks to acquire Yelp Inc, an Internet local search and review provider, according to published reports.
Windows Mobile on Life Support, Drops Behind iPhone – "The iPhone has leapfrogged Windows Mobile to jump into the number two position for smartphone platforms in the United States. That news could be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel's back for the floundering Windows Mobile operating system."

Headlines for December 9th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:00:16 +0000

Google debuts news story experiment " – Google has often been seen as a competitor to traditional newspapers, but the search giant is now teaming up with two major papers for a new experiment in presenting news online.
Google announced on Wednesday "Living Stories," an experimental new feature designed to deliver news stories, updates, editorials, and multimedia focusing on specific topics, all on one single Web page."
Verizon updates Droid software; users hope it fixes echo problem – "An over-the-air software update to the Droid smartphone started yesterday, but it wasn't clear whether the 14 enhancements address a voice echo problem that hundreds of users complained about in online forums."
AT&T: Tighter control of cell data usage ahead – "Wireless data hogs who jam the airwaves by watching video on their iPhones will be put on tighter leashes, an AT&T Inc. executive said Wednesday.
The carrier has had trouble keeping up with wireless data usage, leading to dropped connections and long waits for users trying to run programs on their devices. AT&T is upgrading its network to cope, but its head of consumer services, Ralph de la Vega, told investors at a UBS conference in New York that it will also give high-bandwidth users incentives to "reduce or modify their usage.""
Google Chrome for Mac: First Impressions – "Google finally released the beta version of its Chrome browser for Mac on Tuesday. As expected, the new browser is lacking some features that its Windows counterpart has, such as bookmark sync, a bookmark manager, and offline capability."
DHS takes action in bungled posting of airport security secrets – washingtonpost.com – "The Department of Homeland Security has initiated unspecified personnel actions against individuals involved in the bungled online posting this spring of a government document that revealed airport screening secrets, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told senators Wednesday morning."
Facebook Privacy Changes Go Live, Beware of "Everyone" – "As promised, Facebook has begun rolling out new privacy options to its 350 million users.Watch out for the "Everyone" setting."

Headlines for November 20th, 2009

[modern media mom] — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:02:02 +0000

10 Things We Want to See in Internet Explorer 9 – "Although its work started just a few weeks ago, Microsoft unveiled some new ideas it's bringing to Internet Explorer 9 this week. The company said that it plans to make the browser more Web- and developer-friendly, while still maintaining the familiar Internet Explorer identity. That sounds nice, but in the end, Microsoft said very little about what it plans to offer in Internet Explorer 9."
YouTube automatic captioning: one more reason GOOG’s not evil – "Google has introduced some more useful YouTube technology: automatic captioning."
Sony planning new online store – "Sony is planning a new online store a la Apple's iTunes, but with a few twists.
Announced at a strategy meeting in Tokyo on Thursday, the new service will hawk music, movies, books, and other downloadable content geared for its various electronics, including TVs, mobile phones, music players, and computers."
Nook sold out for the holidays – "If you were interested in buying the Barnes & Noble Nook as a holiday gift, strike it off your list. The e-reader is now officially sold out through 2009, according to the B&N Web site."
Why Google Should Cool It With Chrome OS – "Sometimes you have to take a step down to step up. That’s what Google should’ve done with its open-source PC operating system Chrome OS, which the corporation demonstrated Thursday.
Instead, Google is positioning Google Chrome OS against Microsoft with a lightweight OS shipping with netbooks next year. Chrome OS will function as a modified browser, enabling netbooks to handle everyday computing with web-based applications. That’s right: No native software, just the web."

Headlines for November 3rd, 2009

[modern media mom] — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:04:58 +0000

Google Chrome Beta Gets Bookmark Sync – "The latest beta version of Google's Chrome Web browser is making it easier for you to keep track of all your favorite Web sites across multiple computers. The search giant introduced bookmark syncing this week as a feature of Chrome's latest trial version."
Start-up sues over Nook – "A small start-up has picked on the might of number two book king Barnes and Noble claiming that the bookseller misappropriated trade secrets in creating the Nook e-reader.
Spring Design said it had a nondisclosure agreement with Barnes & Noble and had been discussing its e-reader plans with the bookseller since early this year."
New Chorus App For iPhone Lets Friends Chime In With Their Favorites – If Apple's App Store and Facebook had a baby, the result might be Chorus, a new social application from envIO Networks for the iPhone that lets users discover new apps based on advice from their friends.
Microsoft Price Cut Goes After Google Apps – "In a move aimed at heading off those who might "Go Google," Microsoft has cut the prices of its Exchange Online service by half and its Business Productivity Online Services suite by a third."
Best Buy to Deliver Streaming Movies via CinemaNow – Best Buy is teaming up with Sonic Solutions to provide customers on-demand access to streaming movies and TV shows.
Dedicated tweeting gadget TwitterPeek launches – "A new gadget designed specifically for people who want to tweet on the go was launched Tuesday by gadget maker Peek.
The device, dubbed TwitterPeek, does one thing and one thing only: it lets people tweet. It doesn't access e-mail. It doesn't make phone calls. It tweets. That's it."