Archive for October 28th, 2008
Designer Sleeves for Your Notebook — Goin’ in Style
Designer Sleeve Laptop Cases are a fun and functional way to protect your laptop computer. You ain’t seen anything like em! Composed of thick, durable neoprene rubber that cushions your laptop for maximum protection, it can slide in and out of your backpack, briefcase or luggage with real ease. The natural rubberized feel of the wet suit material is fun and fashionable, while providing natural moisture, shock and scratch protection. You can’t believe what designs they have! ...
Will Microsoft Tempt Enterprises Up To the Cloud?
A quick and very unscientific poll of developers at the Microsoft Professional Developers conference in Los Angeles this week suggests that even the Microsoft brand might not bring enterprises rushing headlong into the cloud. There was broad but cautious enthusiasm about the company having stepped up its push into collaborative services and software — after all “the cloud” isn’t going away, most people said, and Microsoft is making the right move by using its global hef...
VentureBeat’s How to Manage the Downturn
VentureBeat is holding a roundtable for CEOs and founders wondering how to deal with the downturn Wednesday (that’s tomorrow) at 8 a.m. Two panels of investors and entrepreneurs will discuss what they did to survive and thrive through the last downturn, how this recession is different, and what that means for decision-making over the next six months. Ten lucky GigaOM readers can get a 45 percent discount on tickets using the code VBGIGA Apply by filling out this form. ...
Anybody Buying Blu-ray?
There are ads for them all over the place as everybody seems to be pushing Blu-ray as the better version of DVD – much like DAT was the new audio cassette (but at least that’s digital vs. analog, not better digital vs. digital) and we know what happened to DAT … And who can argue with 1080 lines of resolution (BR) vs. 480 (DVD), but we the consuming universe just don’t want to shell out $30 for a BR title when we are quite happy to pay less (often much, much less) for a ...
Josh Silverman at the Absolut Ice Bar
A few video questions with Skype CEO Silverman at Skype’s fifth birthday party. tags: skype, london, uk, absolut, party Follow Phil Wolff on Twitter or FriendFeed or on Skype. Follow Skype Journal on twitter ...
Fiber is Cheaper: Verizon
Remember Interactive TV, the pre-Internet form of interactivity, that failed to fly because content was to be centrally created? Way back in one of the early-1990s stagings of PC Forum, Bell Atlantic CEO Ray Smith, struggling with the possibility that Interactive TV would fail, declared, “Fiber beats copper on truck rolls alone, even without a business model.” I have not been able to find anything like Ray Smith’s statement in any Google-able form, nevertheless I heard it with ...
Opinion: Corporate Morality Is Not a Group Effort
Today is Diwali, one of the holiest days on the Hindu calendar, one that has transcended religious barriers because it celebrates the victory of good over evil. It is therefore appropriate that today is when the news is emerging that large Internet companies — Google, Microsoft and Yahoo — are teaming up with human rights groups and other organizations to set up a Global Network Initiative that will help “avoid or minimize the impact of government restrictions on freedom of...
MatchMaster: Beckham’s Electronic Soccer Game
Well, you may never bend it like David Beckham, but his little MatchMaster electronic soccer game let’s you practice, train and eat properly to get you well on your virtual way. Sort of like an updated and totally sports-obsessed Tamagotchi, it’s an interactive handheld game (even down to very small hands) that let’s you live the life of a soccer star — and no, it’s not all glamour and glory! MatchMaster will test your ability to develop your gadget&...
Free Press Asks FCC for Broadband Bill of Rights
The Free Press on Friday filed a petition with the Federal Communication Commission asking the agency to create rules that would force Internet Service Providers to detail how they manage and route traffic and what actual speeds are on their networks. We know that in some cases advertised speeds are those that only occur on an empty network under ideal conditions. The filing hews closely to what we called for in our Broadband Bill of Rights, but as an activist organization, the Free Press actu...
Microsoft Office Is Coming To the Cloud
Microsoft’s Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote will have a new home in the cloud, the company announced at the Microsoft Developers Conference in Los Angeles this morning, adding the Office suite to the cadre of software and services it has said it will provide as it develops its Windows Azure cloud-based platform. The browser-based versions of the apps will run on Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari, as well as on Windows Mobile devices. It will go into a tech preview for developers ...
AdaptiveBlue Raises Second Round, Beefs Up Semantic Browsing
AdaptiveBlue has raised a $4.5 million Series B round from RRE Ventures and Union Square Ventures and will use the funds to add to its fulltime staff of eight and continue developing Glue, a new, contextual social networking layer it has added to its well-thought-out semantic browsing technology. Glue is a Firefox plug-in that lets users share browsing histories on partner sites like Amazon, Netflix, IMDB, Yelp and Last.fm. Glue users can also jump directly to partner sites from others’ ...
God & Country Line Up to Stop White Spaces
A week before the Federal Communication Commission is set to vote on a proposal to turn over spectrum between the digital television channels for a wireless broadband service, singer/songwriter Dolly Parton has come out against the plan. She joins mega-church pastor Joel Osteen and a slew of other strange bedfellows who depend on wireless microphones for their performances. On the other side are tech stalwarts such as Google, Microsoft, Motorola and Dell. Wireless mic users and the National Ass...
Five Questions with…..Howard Lindzon
As a native Canadian, Howard Lindzon comes across in some respects as, well, un-Canadian…but I mean that in a good way. Unlike the typical meek Canadian demeanor, Howard is brash, confident, opinionated and, as important, not afraid to invest in startups with good ideas. If we could figure out a way to repatriate him, Canada’s startup and venture capital communities would be a lot better off and a lot more interesting. Last week, Lindzon unveiled his latest investment, Toronto-based...
The Ad Network Shakeout Has Started
The advertising network business is going to go through a gut-wrenching shakeout, and its just about getting started. The Wall Street Journal says trouble is looming for 300-odd niche ad networks and points to the shuttering of JellyCloud and lay-offs at San Francisco-based AdBrite. Even Advertising.com, a division of Time Warner, is suffering from softening of demand. Pubmatic recently released its third quarter 2008 data, which showed that the average CPMs continued to be in a free fall, espe...
DarkStrand Launches to Commercialize National Lambda Rail
DarkStrand, a three-year-old startup that won the right to offer commercial businesses access to the federally created National LambdaRail in June, will offer Fortune 500 companies access to fat pipes and compete with some of the larger companies. The goal of offering businesses their own fiber transport is nothing new, but still it adds another new player to the wholesale bandwidth market. When it bid for the contract to offer commercial access to the federal fiber network, Dark Strand compete...
Twidroid, a Twitter App For Android Launched
While it may not win any awards for its name, Twitter fans with new Android mobile phones are going to like Twidroid, an application created by Thomas Marban, the man behind Popurls. The app is available on the Android App store and it has pretty much all the features you want from a Twitter client, such as postings, replies and direct messages, user detail information, follow/unfollow a user, and directly integrated photo-posting from camera. If you have the T-Mobile G-1 device and you love Tw...
Startup Marries Games to Grid Computing
Web game developers can make decent money through advertising, but that revenue generally depends on clickthroughs and other variables beyond their control. What if they could earn some cash simply by making their games popular? That’s essentially the value proposition of Plura Processing, a startup that sells distributed network computing power. Backed by $2 million in funding from Houston’s Creeris Ventures, Plura was founded in 2007 on the observation that “There is an imm...
Sears Wants Your Old Gadgets
Sears is offering VenJuvo’s Trade4Credit program to Sears.com shoppers that will allow you to earn Sears store credit in exchange for trading in pre-owned gadgets that have been determined to still hold value. The program, which offers free recycling and shipping, will accept a variety of gadgets, including iPhones, digital cameras and camcorders, MP3 players, GPS systems and gaming systems. To use the service, simply have to log onto www.sears.trade4credit.com, select your gadget and then...
Sprint is at risk of default
According to Businessweek, telecom could get squeezed by the credit crunch - and Sprint could get hurt the most.</p “To start with, rising capital costs are likely to take a bite out of earnings. In addition, the softening economy will probably crimp demand for such telecom services as land lines, cell phones, and Internet connections.” AT&T sounded the first warning signal in late September, when CEO Randall Stephenson said the telecom giant was unable to sell commercial pape...
White Space Momentum
Many of you are leaving this blog by clicking a link to either the online petition which urges the FCC to free the TV white spaces for open unlicensed use or by going directly to the FCC e-comment page (docket 04-186). Can’t see whether you actually leave a comment or what you say, of course, but assume many of you are filing and are supportive. Thank you very much; it matters a lot to the economy as a whole (see here) and to rural areas in particular (see here). Critical to momentum are ...
My Picks From GigaNET: MTV Music, Freelancing Tips & Carbon Credits
Mondays are unusually busy for us, and it is hardly a surprise that our network of sites published a ton of stories. I picked out the best bits for our readers. I hope you like them. NewTeeVee says MTV has gone back to its roots and quietly launched its long-promised MTVMusic.com, a new site devoted to music videos. They had demoed this to me and Liz almost a year ago, but they finally launched. TheAppleBlog has a round up of 9 iPhone Apps to pimp your ride. Seriously this is a handy guide wit...
Every Where But Here
There is a lot of activity in the International arena. Here are some highlights: Vodacom is acquiring Gateway Communications in West and Central Africa. C&W is partnering with Vietnam Data Communications Company and BSNL in India. France Telecom (Orange) acquired 51% of Telkom Kenya. Telefonica now has a 9.9% stake in China Netcom. XO reaches into China with China Netcom. Google, Liberty Media and others are launching 03b, a satellite internet service ...
Best Buy Blows Guitar Hero WT Launch
Too bad, but Best Buy really blew it with the launch of Guitar Hero World Tour. We were very excited to be notified that we could pre-order the little ditty a few weeks ago, but were not happy that we were not given the option to pick it up in the store. Instead, we shelled out some more money so they could send it to us directly. And not a bad idea to save a trip to the store with the price of gas … Anyway, was in the neighborhood of Best Buy yesterday so decided to pick up The Shining DV...
Pic>1kword: Ted Stevens
Now is a GREAT Time to Invest in Early-Stage Startups:
I believe now is a great time to invest in (early) early-stage startups, especially since due to the current challenging economic times, others are pulling back. I am someone who believes that innovation happens regardless of the economic outlook and whenever everyone starts going in one direction, it is a sign to consider going in another. Tech innovation doesnt stop happening or start happening just because of the economy. But when times get challenging, so do the odds for making a great sta...
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News, opinions and announcements about fast changing communication tools and technologies, from various blogs and ezine.