October, 2008 — Tech News and Analysis

Archive for October 2008

Open Source Browsers Shine in Webware's Prizefight

Webware has an interesting post up today called “Prizefight: Battle of the Browsers.” It’s a slightly less than scientific comparison of Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer–and in the video Webware has posted, they admit that–but it still yields interesting results. In Webware’s comparison, Google … Read More »

FireWire-to-USB: MacBook Redeemer?

Apple’s decision to axe FireWire from the MacBook line is not sitting well with many users, to say the least. For high-quality audio and video transfers, FireWire is the standard for professionals and hobbyists alike. Though USB is technically capable of faster transfer speeds … Read More »

 
 

1. DNA tests. 2. Electric cars 3. An unmanned moonship. 5. The world’s biggest particle accelerator. What are we missing here? No. 4 — Hulu.com. That’s right, easy access to TV on the web is changing the world, according to Time, which just … Read More »

ShareThis Is Sharing More

ShareThis, a Cincinnati-based startup whose handy plugin lets users share web site links and publishers track the popularity of web content, says it now has 91 million unique users and grew its publisher base by 15,000 to a total of 60,000 in the … Read More »

Corporate Citizenship: Building a Sustainable Business

U.S. businesses are creating new citizenship initiatives at a record pace. But meeting the pressures of various stakeholders and optimising strategy to take advantage of opportunities can be a daunting task. How are U.S. businesses meeting the challenges? How does globalization affect corporate citizenship? What are … Read More »

I got a tip off from the LiveSide folks earlier this week that we’d see it and they were spot on: the technical preview of Live Mesh … Read More »

Zombie Comedy, Graveyard: NTV Station Today

Zombie-themed comedy is hardly anything new, but Man in the Box: “Halloween Zombie-ocalypse” features great performances and comedic timing — plus, its crazy-fast pace makes it a model of efficient storytelling. And continuing in a Halloween theme (Guys, it’s tomorrow! Are you excited yet?), today … Read More »

How-To: Create iPhone Ringtones in Garageband

If you own an iPhone and a Mac you can easily create ringtones within Garageband. I love music, but am not a music maker, so I don’t really use Garageband at all. Luckily, you don’t have to know much of anything about the program to easily … Read More »

Virtual Protest Threatens Linden Lab's Profitability

The denizens of Linden Lab’s virtual world Second Life are a passionate lot, so when the San Francisco company recently announced a steep purchase and maintenance fee increase on popular regions of their virtual land, sign-waving avatars were soon gathered outside Linden’s SL office, … Read More »

The BBC is inviting users to beta-test new features for its iPlayer ahead of a full release of another upgraded version of the TV and radio content delivery site likely in the second quarter of next year, according to its digital media head, … Read More »

I’m sure we all know that the number 6.5 comes before the number 7. I’m betting that most of you didn’t know that we’ll see Windows Mobile 6.5 before WinMo … Read More »

The HP Mini 1000s have piqued a lot of interest and that interest may ramp up even more if HP’s current discussions with wireless carriers produce fruit.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that HP is in discussion with US carriers to offer subsized … Read More »

More Must Reads

Having storage in the cloud is great, but easy access to your data is the icing on the cake. Box.net is one of those online storage services we’ve mentioned … Read More »

Kevin Kennedey who yesterday resigned his position as CEO and president of teleco equipment maker JDS Uniphase, was named CEO and president of Avaya Inc. this morning. Kennedy will replace Avaya’s Interim CEO Charles Giancarlo, who will step up to the role of chairman at the … Read More »

There’s never a shortage of applications to track your task list, from online choices like Remember the Milk to full-blown GTD applications like OmniFocus and Things to simple lists like Today or the built-in tasks in Mail.app on OS X. Lately, though, I’ve found myself looking … Read More »

Over the past few years, I have been saying that for telecom companies, losing access lines while trying to grow the number of subscribers to their triple-play services was like walking a tightrope wearing skates. Of course, none of the telecom executives would … Read More »

Burnaby, British Columbia-based startup NxtGen Emission Controls said today it has raised $15.4 million to commercialize its first products for retrofitting diesel engines, which they say reduce emissions and fuel consumption. Read More »

Get ready iPhone-bearing fans of Trent Reznor, a special edition of Tap Tap Revenge has just been released featuring the music of Nine Inch Nails. The game features 16 NIN tracks, from albums Slip and Ghosts I-IV, hand-selected by Reznor himself. Tap Tap Revenge was one of … Read More »

“Portland’s a very bikeable city.” So the saying goes. And man, did I hear a lot of that saying when I spent a weekend up in Oregon recently. I also had a chance to meet Sharon and Carl Jameson, creators of a long-running Portland-based web show … Read More »

The triplets are due any moment now, and that means so is your mother-in-law. Or your precious baby girl has just graduated from college and has no more of a clue than she did the day she started, so she wants to come home for “a … Read More »

YouTube Adds Deep Linking; now you can link directly to exact moments in videos, like right when the skater gets hit in the nuts. (YouTube Blog) On Networks Signs David Lynch; famed director to do a web series for the new media network based on his … Read More »

HP told us that the new Mini 1000 netbook would be available with integrated 3G next year but a model in the UK has appeared that seems to trump it.  The Compaq Mini 700 has appeared on some sites in the UK and is GBP100 … Read More »

Ubuntu just keeps getting better and better and the new version out today keeps that tradition.  There are hundreds of improvements in Ubuntu 8.10 including a Connection Manager that now fully supports 3G connections.  Let’s hope the Mobile Edition gets released soon as it’s rapidly … Read More »

We broke the news about the free WiFi that AT&T finally rolled out to iPhone owners and today comes word that Blackberry addicts can get the same free love.  All … Read More »

Are you trustworthy? This is something we have to ask ourselves as web workers.Ā  In fact, our clients are probably asking us this very question through subtext, we just aren’t aware of it.Ā  Important as this question may be, there is another question that should be considered: Do … Read More »

The Financial Times is reporting that UK ISP Orange will not use an advertising product from Phorm because of concerns about user privacy. This would make Orange the odd man out in the country. BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk are all still on board … Read More »

UPDATED: Politicians are lining up to appear alongside renewable energy projects these days — yesterday it was Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, and earlier this month it was California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This morning it’s Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who … Read More »

I love it when I come across several new apps or new features on old apps that just shout out “productivity” to me. First, the latest news that I received in my inbox is that FreshBooks now has … Read More »

It’s increasingly clear, at least to me, that Apple can’t afford to ignore the netbook phenomenon. Yes, I know Apple doesn’t do cheap computers and that there are markets the company chooses not to serve, but netbooks really can’t be considered just another class of laptop, … Read More »

The NBA announced yesterday that it will now offer a standalone broadband subscription service, allowing fans to watch the games online. Read More »

This week is the big PDC show that Microsoft puts on annually and the excitement has appeared all over.  Microsoft made it clear pre-show that this would be the official first look at Windows 7 and attendees would be given the alpha version of the OS … Read More »

The MID category can be a confusing one for sure, as it is difficult to define who the target market might be.  Most regular consumers are likely served well by a connected smartphone … Read More »

Motorola continues to lose market share and more importantly money in its handset business. And the way things are going, it might never be able to spin off the division that has bled over $2.6 billion in last seven quarters with no end in sight. Read More »

Our buds at GigaOM have interviewed the CEO of Opera, Jon S. von Tetzchner, and since we think that Opera makes some of the best mobile web browsers we couldn’t wait to see it.  Tetzchner tells us that Opera Mini is one of the most … Read More »

It may be priced like a netbook but the 14.1-inch screen and bigger size sets the new eMD620-5777 from eMachines firmly in the notebook category.  The budget-minded price of $429, and eMachines tells us they expect that to go a lot lower for holiday pricing, gets … Read More »

I’m not ashamed to admit it. I run XP on my aluminum iMac. My girlfriend is ashamed of me and my brother won’t speak to me. All because of a 40gb hard drive partition and a start button. I did it mostly so that I could play … Read More »

This morning the CalCEF Angel Fund say it has invested in three firms — efficient-lighting startup HID Labs, biofuels company Allopartis Biotechnologies, and an undisclosed solar investment that is adapting chip manufacturing to make cheap, efficient solar cells. Read More »

We met with Jon S. von Tetzchner, the CEO of Opera software, and Tatsuki Tomita, senior VP of consumer products at Opera, yesterday and talked about the company’s mobile browser platforms, how it sizes up against the competition and where web browsers are headed. Read More »

It’s easy to read too much rational thought into a market that is as volatile as U.S. stocks are these days, but it seems First Solar has just handed the solar bulls a couple of very good reasons to be optimistic. The Tempe, Ariz.-based, maker of thin-film … Read More »

Netflix adds a fifth set-top box to its streaming lineup. Read More »

Wearing her giant polar bear pin and touring a thin-film solar plant, Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin looked ready to embrace the cleantech world with a major policy speech on energy today. Alas, it was not to be. Instead, Palin delivered a speech on “energy independence” … Read More »

Are you a video junkie who loves nothing more than stuffing iTunes with videos to watch in Front Row, Apple TV, or on your iPod? If you find yourself spending more time than you should fussing with conversion and the such, VideoDrive can get those … Read More »

Earlier today, I attended the “How to manage your startup in a downturn” roundtable, organized by Matt Marshall, where seasoned venture capitalists and entrepreneurs dispensed advice on how to navigate the current downturn and be prepared for the worst. Like most of these conversations, someone on … Read More »

We talk about a lot of PCs here on jkOnTheRun, from little bitty handheld PCs to laptops so big you can’t actually carry them anywhere.  One thing that is common to all our coverage of these varied PCs is how you readers never fail to have … Read More »

For those unable to tear themselves away from their computers, the Obama campaign has uploaded tonight’s half-hour infomercial/commercial/whichever, entitled American Stories, American Solutions, to YouTube. Watch it below: Read More »

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