Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Nokia hits Apple with latest patent complaint
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:38:00 PST ]
The Finnish company alleges that Apple infringes seven Nokia patents "in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers."

Microsoft, Yahoo help keep India away from porn?
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:45:00 PST ]
Report suggests Microsoft and Yahoo are among the search engines complying with a new Indian law that offers severe penalties for allowing access to "lascivious" content.

Unannounced HP 210 Netbook 'in stock'
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:57:00 PST ]
Reseller eCost lists the Mini 210, which packs Intel's newest Atom N450 silicon, at $389. And even HP has jumped the gun.

Muziic Web app offers Vevo without ads
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:35:00 PST ]
The online version of the YouTube-based music service includes content from Vevo without pre-roll advertisements, as well as a crossfader. And there's more to come.

Real-time tracking of those who wander
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:04:00 PST ]
Medical Mobile Monitoring develops a medical-alert tracking system that lets users track someone via GPS satellite online, but its funny-looking pendant misses the mark.

More attacks expected on Facebook, Twitter in 2010
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:50:00 PST ]
McAfee Labs 2010 Threat Predictions report warns of increased attacks on social networks, as well as Adobe Reader and Google's Chrome OS.

Teen Muziic founder chastised by Vevo
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:53:00 PST ]
David Nelson, the 16-year-old founder of a music-video service that piggybacks on YouTube's API, runs afoul of Vevo, the start-up video service backed by three of the top four largest music labels.

Leaked Nexus One documents: $530 unlocked, $180 with T-Mobile
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:30:00 PST ]
A tipster send Gizmodo screenshots that supposedly reveal some interesting details of Google's new phone.

DDoS attack hobbles sites, including Amazon
[ Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:00:42 EST ]
An attack directed at the DNS provider for some of the Internet's larger e-commerce companies -- including Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Expedia -- took several Internet shopping sites offline Wednesday evening, two days before Christmas.

Recycle yule into Christmas alt-fuel
[ Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:36:46 EST ]
For all the joy of Christmas morning, there's certainly a lot of waste involved.

Boeing's 787, as innovative inside as outside
[ Fri, 25 Dec 2009 13:39:28 EST ]
Oh sure, Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner is made of composite materials and it's super fuel efficient, but unless you own an airline, the only thing you care about is how comfortable it is. Boeing knows this, and has striven to give passengers an experience unlike any other airplane.

Training day for astronaut mom
[ Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:41:21 EST ]
Gearing up for blast off on a Russian Soyuz rocket is a tricky balancing act for Cady Coleman, who can spend one evening cooking dinner and picking up toys and the next preparing to orbit the Earth at 17,000 mph.

Ford brings Wi-Fi to the highway
[ Sat, 26 Dec 2009 09:26:11 EST ]
Ford is making its cars into mobile Wi-Fi hot spots. The next generation of the Sync in-car entertainment and information system will use a USB mobile broadband modem to establish a secure wireless connection.

How to survive a plane crash
[ Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:54:54 EST ]
On Tuesday, an American Airlines flight carrying 154 passengers slid off a runway while landing in torrential rain in Jamaica, stopping just short of the Caribbean Sea. The impact severely damaged the aircraft -- which broke into three separate pieces -- and caused the Boeing 737's engines to shear off the wings. Thankfully, there were no fatalities; 91 people were taken to hospitals where they were evaluated and most were released.

Cities embrace mobile apps, 'Gov 2.0'
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:08:01 EST ]
Have a complaint about potholes or hot subway cars? Look to your phone for answers. Larger cities across the U.S. are turning to mobile technology to collect and disseminate information. Some call it Gov 2.0.

AT&T site appears to resume iPhone sales in NYC
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:49:41 EST ]
If you live in New York City and want to buy an iPhone as a post-Christmas treat, you may run into some roadblocks.

Iranian regime propaganda flourishes on 'Spinternet'
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:29:29 EST ]
As protests sweep through Iran, a handful of Web sites -- Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube in particular -- are once again widely credited for their crucial role in the process. But before we swallow yet another dose of cyber-utopianism, a more critical look at how the Internet has abetted both sides is in order.

Mozilla pushes back Firefox deadlines
[ Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:09:24 EST ]
Mozilla won't make a 2009 deadline for releasing Firefox 3.6 and is giving itself more time to complete a major update to the popular Web browser, version 4.0.

Monday, December 28, 2009

A real-world test of Google Goggles visual search (photos)
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:00:00 PST ]
CNET's James Martin takes a walk through downtown San Francisco to test out Google's new visual search, currently running on Android devices.

Canonical shines its Ubuntu light on consumers
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:19:47 PST ]
Ubuntu has won rave reviews with the geeky Linux community, but can it make waves with average consumers? Its founder is betting the answer is yes.

Mozilla pushes back Firefox 3.6, 4.0 deadlines
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 06:27:00 PST ]
The newest version of the open-source browser won't arrive this year, and a major update might not arrive until 2011. But there are plenty of features coming.

China introduces law to boost renewable energy
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 06:41:25 PST ]
A boom in wind-power plants means a large amount of wind capacity is not always properly connected to the grid.

Smart-grid spending to hit $200 billion by 2015
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:15:05 PST ]
Technologies to automate and upgrade the grid will capture most of the $200 billion invested in modernizing electrical power systems, says Pike Research.

Another holiday blowout for Apple?
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:00:53 PST ]
Remarking on Apple's December quarter in a note to investors, a Thomas Weisel Partners analyst says iPhone and iMac sales for the period have been quite strong.

Chinese author plans lawsuit over Google Books
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:48:00 PST ]
Google scanned a book of a prominent Chinese author into the Google Books library without explicit permission, according to a report, and will face a lawsuit in China.

Report: Apple chooses supplier of tablet displays
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:50:00 PST ]
Site known for reporting Apple rumors says company has chosen a vendor for displays on its tablet, speculated to be unveiled officially at a late January event.

'Don't-be-evil' Google spurns no-evil software
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:14:00 PST ]
One open-source software programmer's joke--'The Software shall be used for Good, not Evil'--is a serious matter at Google.

GSM crypto code cracked, engineer says
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:34:54 PST ]
German computer engineer says he cracked the secret code used to encrypt most of the world's mobile phone calls, reports The New York Times.

What makes a YouTube hit?
[ Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:28:07 EST ]
YouTube this week announced the biggest viral video sensations of 2009, with Scottish singer Susan Boyle topping the list.

Jailbreak fugitive updates Facebook page
[ Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:11:13 EST ]
British police have appealed for information about the whereabouts of an escaped prisoner who has been telling the world via Facebook about his life as a fugitive.

DDoS attack hobbles sites, including Amazon
[ Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:00:42 EST ]
An attack directed at the DNS provider for some of the Internet's larger e-commerce companies -- including Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Expedia -- took several Internet shopping sites offline Wednesday evening, two days before Christmas.

Micro-blogs in China: Tweeting through the Great Firewall
[ Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:03:25 EST ]
A handful of homegrown micro-blogging sites emerged about the same time Twitter started to gain a small, yet steadily growing, share of Chinese Internet users, beginning about 2007, around a year after Twitter was launched in the U.S. in 2006.

Recycle yule into Christmas alt-fuel
[ Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:36:46 EST ]
For all the joy of Christmas morning, there's certainly a lot of waste involved.

Boeing's 787, as innovative inside as outside
[ Fri, 25 Dec 2009 13:39:28 EST ]
Oh sure, Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner is made of composite materials and it's super fuel efficient, but unless you own an airline, the only thing you care about is how comfortable it is. Boeing knows this, and has striven to give passengers an experience unlike any other airplane.

Training day for astronaut mom
[ Fri, 25 Dec 2009 08:41:21 EST ]
Gearing up for blast off on a Russian Soyuz rocket is a tricky balancing act for Cady Coleman, who can spend one evening cooking dinner and picking up toys and the next preparing to orbit the Earth at 17,000 mph.

Ford brings Wi-Fi to the highway
[ Sat, 26 Dec 2009 09:26:11 EST ]
Ford is making its cars into mobile Wi-Fi hot spots. The next generation of the Sync in-car entertainment and information system will use a USB mobile broadband modem to establish a secure wireless connection.

Reports: AT&T halts online iPhone sales in NYC
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:11:56 EST ]
If you live in New York City and want to buy an iPhone as a post-Christmas treat, you may run into some roadblocks.

Cities embrace mobile apps, 'Gov 2.0'
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:09:29 EST ]
Have a complaint about potholes or hot subway cars? Look to your phone for answers. Larger cities across the U.S. are turning to mobile technology to collect and disseminate information. Some call it Gov 2.0.

Cool gifts for shutterbugs
[ Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:47:07 GMT ]

From a practical gift of a spare battery to a lavish new camera lens, these are add-ons that any shutterbug would love.


10 best video games of 2009
[ Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:28:02 GMT ]

The last year has been a difficult one for the game industry. And yet, 2009 has still managed to deliver a bumper crop of truly excellent and even inspiring games.


Cosmic Log: Pick the weirdest wonders
[ Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:38:43 GMT ]

Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Which of the past year's scientific discoveries were the weirdest? Cast your official ballot for the 2010 Weird Science Awards.Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Which of the past year's scientific discoveries were the weirdest? Cast your official ballot for the 2010 Weird Science Awards.


Wondering about the ‘Star of Wonder’
[ Tue, 9 Dec 2008 20:38:43 GMT ]

What could the Christmas Star have been? Astronomers say the most likely candidate was actually a series of planetary conjunctions that peaked on June 17 in the year 2 B.C.


Take spectacular holiday photos
[ Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:00:10 GMT ]

A little planning and preparation can help you take holiday photos that you will be happy to share with family and friends now and over the years to come.


Apple̢۪s stock surges as rumors of tablet swirl
[ Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:27:42 GMT ]

Dec. 27: Apple Inc. shares hit an all-time high after a published report suggested that the company may be getting ready for a major product announcement. Msnbc's Chris Jansing talks with Informationweek.com's Alexander Wolfe.  (Other)Apple Inc. shares hit an all-time high Thursday after a published report suggested the intensely scrutinized yet secretive company may be getting ready for a major product announcement.


Panasonic develops more powerful batteries
[ Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:26:21 GMT ]
Panasonic Corp. has developed more powerful batteries for use in everything from laptops to electric vehicles, the Japanese electronics maker said Friday.

Top 5 snapshot printers
[ Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:02:25 GMT ]

If you don't print much beyond photos, you might want to look at a dedicated snapshot printer. They're a great deal if you plan on printing a lot of shots.


How to optimize your HDTV
[ Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:00:35 GMT ]

Standard-definition video uses a 4:3 aspect ratio. That's only three-quarters the width of a high-definition TV's 16:9 screen. HDTVs generally offer three ways around the discrepancy: They can stretch the image to fill the screen, they can blow up and crop the image, or they can pillarbox the image, displaying the unaltered 4:3 image between black or gray vertical bars.Have a new HDTV? There are some key settings that you can tweak to enhance your viewing experience.


Best Blu-ray titles to wow your home audience
[ Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:00:47 GMT ]
You have a fantastic, fully equipped home theater. So show it off with these 10 recent Blu-ray titles that will wow your audiences.

The 10 best new Firefox add-ons of 2009
[ Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:00:00 PST ]
2009 felt like a rebuilding year for Firefox add-ons, with two new frameworks created to help guide the future of extensions. But that doesn't mean there weren't any cool debuts. Check out list of the best new add-ons from the past 12 months.

Top-rated reviews of the week (photos)
[ Sat, 26 Dec 2009 06:00:00 PST ]
Here are a few of CNET's favorite items from the past week, including the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700, Asus Eee PC 1005PE Netbook, and the Mitsubishi LT-46249.