March, 2008 — Tech News and Analysis

Archive for March 2008

Jott is one of those deceptively useful services for mobile phone users that can make your phone far more useful than it is without it.  What makes Jott so great is that … Read More »

Comcast is moving away from the much criticized practice of blocking P2P traffic, and instead is looking at alternatives to rein in a small group of Comcast customers that can be labeled bandwidth hogs. Comcast Cable’s CTO explains. Read More »

 
 

Nokia-Navteq Deal Hits An EU Air Pocket

Is it really possible that the European Union regulators are actually fair and balanced? Microsoft and a few dozen other global companies might disagree, but today’s actions point to an EU that is not afraid to shake-a-stick at one of its own. Nokia’s $8.1 billion takeover of … Read More »

Legaltorrents.com, one of the oldest and most prominent destinations for legal BitTorrent downloads, is relaunching today, and its new version offers a bunch of new features for users and content creators alike, among them a donation system to offer content creators … Read More »

10 Tips to Widget-up Your Startup Brand

Widgets are taking social media by storm and becoming a valuable online marketing platform for interaction with consumers. Last June, comScore estimated that widgets reach 177 million people every month, or 21 percent of the worldwide online audience. ComScore’s tracking methods are debated (see also … Read More »

Google Turns Lights Off for Earth Hour

Despite the fact that Google said Blackle, the all-black site based on the company’s search engine technology that claimed to save energy, was BS, the search giant turned its home page black for Earth Hour this weekend. Google said the gesture was aimed at … Read More »

Computers Just Keep Sucking More Power

I’ve been out of touch for a while now, and for past few days, I have been in catch-up mode. Last week, I caught up with Ted Schlein, general partner with the Sand Hill Road VC firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. We discussed, … Read More »

The Safran Digital Group will produce scripted short-form content for the Xbox, according to reports. We’ll have more tomorrow, but for now the basics: Safran represents clients like the actor and producer Sean Combs, Nia Vardalos, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, but major movie … Read More »

The Social Map To Where?

Earlier today, Loic Le Meur posted a visual interpretation of some of the most hyped technologies/buzz words, arguing that after flirting with all sorts of social web services, it is time to re-centralize. Oy! The visual map created by Loic is actually quite enlightening: barring … Read More »

Being able to pick and choose which cable channels you want instead of having them all bundled into one package would bring “economic ruin,” according to recent research from Yankee Group. But as online video grows, the point may already be moot. “A la carte” … Read More »

SugarSync & Capzles…Try Them

There’s been a lot of talk about file syncing and sharing software lately. I wrote about Dropbox, while Stacey waxed eloquent about FolderShare. Another recent introduction is Sharpcast’s SugarSync, a cross-platform solution that also has the ability to sync photos and videos from your … Read More »

Word has come out that the Asus EEE PC with Windows XP instead of Linux will start appearing at Best Buy in early … Read More »

More Must Reads

She’s the insanely successful, Kids Choice Award winning singing/acting daughter of famed mullet-rocking one-hit wonder Billy Ray Cyrus. Her Hannah Montana 3D concert film is almost solely responsible for a 3 percent increase at the overall box office for 2008 thus far. And, of … Read More »

The New York Times, in a story based largely on information from marketing research firm Insight Media, is predicting a coming wave of tiny digital projectors – microprojectors – hitting the shelves by the end of this year. Insight’s own site goes on to say … Read More »

Now that I have the Q1 Ultra Premium, it’s time for me to say goodbye to Samantha, the Samsung Q1P. She’s up for sale … Read More »

Today has not gone the way I envisioned it, not by a long shot.  It started innocently enough with me grabbing the Fujitsu P1620 out of the dock to get some work … Read More »

We taped the 35th episode of The GigaOM Show this past week. I interviewed Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems where we discussed different topics including the importance of fundamental research, how Sun is changing and why he bought MySQL. With this episode, we are going … Read More »

We’re running a survey to help us tailor our posts to you, the web worker. Take a minute to let us know how you’re working (and where). You might win a copy of our book just for completing the survey! Thanks. Read More »

I am sitting here in my local Starbucks, ducking while typing as there are four (4) kids running around the front of the store throwing things at each other … Read More »

Monday’s decision by the Justice Department to allow XM and Sirius to merge, combined with incumbents such as Verizon and AT&T winning much of the spectrum on offer in the 700 MHz auction, means we’re likely see M&A among the major satellite players in … Read More »

On the run in your car with mobile devices all the live-long day? Belkin’s Travel Power Adapter might be the best friend your glovebox every had based … Read More »

Data centers are becoming a bigger and bigger draw on energy resources. According to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency last year, they accounted for only 1.5 percent of the energy consumed in the U.S. But an interesting story by James Niccolai of … Read More »

Here’s this week’s list of stories we may have missed, but which you shouldn’t. 1) Why we make misjudgments: On Tues. Mar 25, our friends at VentureHacks did a better job than I did of editing-down Marc Andreessen’s latest opus on cognitive bias, which is … Read More »

In the "won’t they ever learn" category the city of Los Angeles intends to levy a 9% tax on VoIP service.  The last I heard there is a federal moratorium on taxing Internet-based services … Read More »

Looking for a fresh, new place to find everything related to Windows Mobile? You’re in luck because My Today Screen launches on April 1st… no foolin’! Actually, the site … Read More »

Reputation Management has been getting more and more press lately – the idea that it’s not enough to track what’s being said about your company on the web, but that you have to proactively get involved in the conversations to turn … Read More »

I know there’s been some free-after-rebate deals on the AT&T Palm Centro lately, but if you missed ‘em, you can hit Best Buy this coming … Read More »

Good PSAs, with their short runtime and punchy conclusions, have always done well in the online video world. This week, an assortment of odd clips came together with nothing in common other than a desire to educate people on serious (and not-so-serious) matters. Public Service Announcement: … Read More »

Pulver Media, the New York-based company well known for VON, the trade shows for the VoIP industry and a magazine with the same name might be shutting down, joining the dot.gone club, according to sources. The rumors of the shutdown of Pulver Media first started to … Read More »

The declining relevance of telephone directories erased 95 percent of publisher RH Donnelley’s market capitalization over the last 12 months. Although Google’s free 1-800-GOOG-411 service may attract some share of the directory assistance business, the crux of the problem lies with the diminished standing … Read More »

It’s very common for the work-at-home or primarily work-at-home web worker to lead a nomadic computing life. One of my favorite ways to make this style of working efficient is to keep a USB key with applications I like in my pocket at all times. I’ve … Read More »

Well, maybe not to crash your phone, but at least to test out some cutting edge beta applications on it. Mob4Hire is the latest startup to be playing in the crowdsourcing arena. Their plan: hook up testers who own mobile … Read More »

Since I compute more on web-based apps these days, I’m don’t often use the integrated search features in Vista and XP’s Desktop search tools. Still, I’m thinking of … Read More »

As we noted earlier, CBS is testing an HD version of its video player. This caught our eye since CBS Interactive president Quincy Smith was pretty anti-HD just a few months ago. So we fired off a quick note to Smith, who was ready … Read More »

For Your Imagination, a New York-based online video production and distribution shop, has raised $1 million in seed funding from ConsensusOne Ventures, in addition to the $1 million it raised from the same firm last year. The startup, which produces shows like Break … Read More »

I’m getting ready to hit Sin City for next week’s CTIA Wireless show, from April 1-3, so for those of you not planning to attend — or who will attend but plan to gamble away your expense money — here’s your cheat sheet for the … Read More »

As out parent company GigaOM reports, the USDA has just approved a $267 million loan to Denver, Colorado-based Open Range Communications. The money, according to the USDA press release, will go to provide broadband service to “518 communities in 17 states.” At the moment, … Read More »

Apparently in Hindi, “badmash” roughly translates into “naughty,” while “dishoom” is the onomatopoeic equivalent to “pow” or “bang.” This dose of cross-cultural understanding comes thanks to a new campaign for the (non-existent) job of America’s Prime Minister by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan. … Read More »

Carbon Sponge Box: Researchers at Tucson, Arizona’s Global Research Technologies have built a refrigerator-sized device that acts like a sponge for carbon emissions. Called the Atmospheric Carbon Capture Systems (ACCESS) Air-Capture System, the secretive material used captures carbon from the air (currently at a rate … Read More »

Now that I’ve got Vista up and running on the Q1 Ultra Premium, it’s time for a Starbucks run later today. I just installed the VZ Access … Read More »

As covered before, working with calendars is another one of those business necessities that is crucial to running a business. Managing multiple calendars is tedious, but necessary to staying in sync with those in your work and personal … Read More »

CBS Launches HD Player; network hops on the high-def bandwagon by streaming in H.264/AVC format at 480p (720p and 1080p on the way). (TechCrunch) FCC Lets Satellite Providers Phase In HD; DirecTV and Dish don’t have to carry every TV station’s local HD signal immediately after … Read More »

Well, I have to formally apologize to jkOTR reader, Hector Gomez. He’s been sending me snippets and clues of the upcoming Palm Treo 800w that’s been rumored for … Read More »

Recession, recession, recession. As if founding isn’t hard enough! We’ve written recently about how you can prepare yourself for an especially difficult year in the marketplace, and even about how such challenges can be good for startups. Still, it’s going to be a tough … Read More »

I didn’t know about most of these, but Darla Mack has my back. She’s listed about eight useful codes for S60 devices in case you need to fully format … Read More »

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