Archive for August 8th, 2008
GTA IV for PC To Feature Expanded Multiplayer System
Gamers will see the release of Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV) for their platform of choice this fall. Game developer Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two have announced that the popular title will hit store shelves on Nov. 18. Naturally, gameplay in GTA IV will be a little different on the PC than it is on the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, principally because gamers often use keyboards and mice instead of specialized controllers. However, Rockstar is adding what it calls a ne...
Intuit Raids the 80s for the Jingle Generator
Let’s just admit it: “Your Love” by one-hit wonder The Outfield still holds up, more than 20 years on. Its catchy melody is rivaled only by the inability to sing in the same high-pitch as the lead singer. But will its sing-along-ability be enough to get you to buy QuickBooks? You have to give Intuit an “A” for effort. There is nothing fun about any of its products, but that isn’t stopping the company from trying (reallllllly trying) to add a little levity to...
Faster Web Pages Makes Users Happy
I can’t believe that in this age of Twitter, 24-hour news cycles and always-on access, anyone needs to point out that slow web sites alienate customers, but just in case, there’s an interview at Royal Pingdom with Steve Souders, who works at Google on web site performance and is the creator of YSlow software, which measures web site performance. It’s a nice reminder that there are many links in the chain that create a user’s web experience, and it focuses on what develo...
No Takebacks: 5 Most Screwed-Up Tech Buys
As the tech world gets itself in a tizzy over Google saying its 5 percent stake in AOL might be impaired — basically it may now be worth less than they thought it was — we thought we’d revisit some of the most notable tech writedowns in history. Under U.S. accounting rules, once something’s impaired, it can’t be marked up again, which typically leads to a write-off. The write-offs on our list aren’t necessarily the largest, but we think they exemplify a certa...
I’m Tired of Charity Spam
This is probably going to come across as either insensitive or politically incorrect but if I receive another e-mail from someone raising money for charity….. The number of these of e-mails flowing into my inbox is getting out of hand. The Web has made it far too easy to reach out to friends and colleagues when it comes to raising money for charity. All you need to do is tap into one of your online address books, click on “all”, and, voila, you’ve just asked most of the p...
Why Do PR Firms Send Unsolicited Embargoed Press Announcements?
Yesterday I received the following message: — From: Terry May To: tammysnook@hightechpr.net Subject: GIPS enables VoIP for iPhone - embargoed news until Monday Hi Guys, On Monday (8/11), GIPS (Global IP Solutions), a global leader in IPmedia processing, plans to announce it is enabling VoIP for Apple’s iPhone. This means that application developers can quickly integrate quality, real-time VoIP applications, which makes it easier for consumers to enjoy their favorite iPhone games, ap...
NanoLite’s Got It Right!
We’ve all been there before — trying to fit our key into a pitch black keyhole. Pick car or house, it’s still a pain fumbling in the dark to get that darn key in there! NanoLite to the rescue! The world’s smallest adhesive light (0.56″ X 0.7″ and 0.2″ thick), it easily adhers to keys or any other flat surface and can be activated simply by pressing a small recessed button, which radiates a small but bright light. No tools or assembly are requ...
Donate to the 8/8/8 moneybomb!
Today’s the day, folks. If you . . . ” . . . share the view that warrantless surveillance, telecom immunity and other such outrages of the lawless surveillance state MUST END—AND END NOW . . . “. . . donate here today. I did. Technorati Tags: Constitution, FourthAmendment, Telco, Wiretap ...
You Can’t Patch a Social Network
What makes social networks successful is precisely the thing that makes them vulnerable to hackers: Trusting and sharing with others, sometimes even strangers. Now that they’re under attack from worms and malware, operators are trying to patch security loopholes. But it’s hard to fix the DNA without altering the nature of the organism. Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have all come under attack in recent days. In Twitter’s case, hackers whose pages contained malware started following...
Text-To-VoIP Plug-in for MorphVOX Pro
Found a cool Text-To-VoIP Plug-In for MorphVOX Pro that allows you to speak over the Internet or soft-phone using customizable text-to-speech voices. Essentially it lets you type phrases/words, it converts the text-to-speech, and then plays it over your PC’s audio connection. This plug-in allows you to type text messages to your friends over voice clients such as Ventrilo, MSN, Skype, softphones, World of Warcraft Voice Chat, Counter-Strike and other VoIP-enabled games. They claim the ...
The iPhone Kill Switch — Something for Austin Powers?
Apple’s iPhone “kill switch” has prompted much hand-wringing, despite the fact that no one knows exactly what it does. But the thing is, we just don’t know. Until Apple explains why it has included this function, or an application appears on the blacklist and is wiped from someone’s phone, it’s all just the usual leaping to conclusions on a sleepy Friday in August, as reported on CNET. An independent iPhone developer and author recently discovered a UR...
The Lost Video: David Usher on Social Media
In preparing to transfer data to a new MacBook, I’ve been spending some time cleaning up the old MacBook. In going through things, I found an interview that I did with Canadian musician David Usher at the mesh conference a few months ago. (Apologies for some minor production issues such as the less-than-professional start!) Usher is fairly unique within the music business because he’s enthusiastically embraced social media, everything from blogging and Twitter to MySpace and Facebook...
Ifbyphone Store Locator - Route Calls By Location
Ifbyphone recently announced the Ifbyphone Store Locator, yet another business solution in our suite of instant phone applications. Store Locator routes incoming calls to a business phone number to the location nearest to the caller. For example, a franchise can advertise one number nationally. If I call that number from Chicago, my phone call will be routed to their nearest store in Chicago. As Irv Shapiro, CEO, stated in our press release: “Store Locators aren’t new but they often ...
Telephony Podcast: Ifbyphone CEO Irv Shapiro
TelephonyOnline.com is featuring a Podcast interview about Ifbyphone. To hear it, visit the URL below: http://telephonyonline.com/podcasts/ifbyphone-irv-shapiro-0806/ To download the podcast, visit: http://telephonyonline.com/podcasts/telephony/telephony_podcast_3.41.mp3 ...
July Media Roundup
I recently started doing a monthly roundup of media citings and now that I’m back from vacation, here’s a quick summary of where I turned up during the month of July. Ottawa Business Journal - Espial’s outlook after acquiring Kasenna: “Taking Stock: Espying a Tough Road Ahead” Business Week - “Can Cingular’s Savior Work His Magic at Vonage?” Chicago Sun-Times - Ifbyphone profile: “Answering the Call” ITWorld Canada - “Rogers iPhon...
Post-Vacation News Roundup - XConnect, Jajah, Mobivox, Fonolo, magicJack
Things always happen when you’re on vacation, so I’m just catching up on industry news now. Didn’t seem to miss a whole lot while I was gone, but I wanted to note four items that have just hit the market in the past couple of days. They’re all different and probably warrant separate posts, but I have too much new stuff to move on to, and wanted to at least give them some attention. So, in no particular order, here are some items that you should be aware of, if not alread...
Tech IPOs Return With Rackspace
After a long dry spell, the technology initial public offerings took a small step towards a comeback as Rackspace Hosting, a San Antonio-Texas-based company announced its IPO. The company that will trade on NYSE under the ticker RAX is selling about 15 million shares at $12.50 a share - in the process raising about $187.5 million from the market. Goldman, Sachs, Credit Suisse & Merrill Lynch are joint book-runners on this deal.The deal should come as a big win for local VC heavyweights - No...
In a Down Economy, Angel Investors Change Course
The grim economy has led not only to a drop in consumer spending and the foreclosure of more than a million homes, but to changes in the way angel capital is deployed. Angels, by definition, invest their own money in startups, so downturns in the stock market and falling home values can mean they have less to invest and are more gun-shy about investing it. While data for the first half of 2008 isn’t in yet, most angel investors with whom I’ve spoken tell me that rather than run from...
Google’s AOL Investment a Loss
In a SEC filing, Google acknowledged that it might come out on the losing side of its $1 billion investment in AOL. Based on our review, we believe our investment in AOL may be impaired… We will continue to review this investment for impairment in the future. There can be no assurance that impairment charges will not be required in the future, and any such amounts may be material to our Consolidated Statements of Income. Back in April, I had pointed out that Google’s investment in...
Monster iCarPlay Wireless 200 — Yes, Indeed!
Stop fumbling with CDs or going without your favorite tunes, and start playing your iPod wirelessly through your car’s FM radio. Monster iCarPlay Wireless 200 lets you enjoy all your music and keep your iPod charged up at the same time. With other FM transmitters, finding an FM frequency clear enough for use with your iPod can be time consuming and distracting — especially while driving. The 200 incorporates exclusive Monster AutoScan technology that automatically seeks out and tun...
New Report Says Tiered Broadband Bad, Unlikely
The Free Press issued a report this afternoon casting doubt on the theory of network congestion that has been cited by ISPs as the reason behind P2P blocking or broadband caps, and offering more rational solutions for dealing with sporadic congestion. It also claims that tiered broadband and limitation pricing — in which a carrier charges per gigabyte fee after users exceed a certain cap — is unlikely to become reality. Prior to the report coming out, I had spent the afternoon aski...
$100 Billion Worth of Gadgets
Chinese consumer electronics (”gadgets” to me and you) revenue will reach $100 billion by the end of next year, according to a new study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and market researcher GfK. China is expected to grow full-year 2008 consumer electronics revenue 16.5%, the study went on to say. Now can you imagine what this figure might be if the global economy wasn’t getting so sticky? Tags: cea, china, consumer electronics Related Entries Packet8 ...
Machines Can Ease the Olympics Translation Crunch
The Olympics is a boon to translators. Much of the reporting, interpretation and documentation for the massively international event is handled by humans, human translators with the right skills can be scarce. “Between some pairs of languages, there are very few people who are experts in both,” said Sanford Cohen, founder of message translation firm SpeakLike. But it’s not just the languages needed, either. New forms of communication like IM, email, voicemail and the web demand different ...
PlayStation Home Beta Up for Grabs
Later today, the PlayStation Store will reportedly be updated with the addition of the PlayStation Home theme. By downloading the theme, users are submitting an application to join the PlayStation Home Beta test community. This will be an inside experience test driving something that could be very cool — and your input will help make it so. Sony will be using a variety of criteria, including activity on the PlayStation Network, to determine who is eligible for the Beta community.&#...
Subscribes
Archives
-
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- November 1999
- January 1970
Sipy...
-
News, opinions and announcements about fast changing communication tools and technologies, from various blogs and ezine.