[Software News] Google CEO says ready to move ahead on Yahoo deal
[Software News] Google and GE allies in quest for clean energy
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Internet titan Google and technology colossus General Electric said Wednesday they are joining forces to promote a "smart" US electric power grid and clean energy. The companies said they will work together on green energy technologies and lobby US political leaders to support "visionary policies" on renewable energy. "Bo...
[Software News] First Google Android phone to cost $199: report
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The first mobile phone to use Google Inc's Android mobile operating software will cost $199, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Wednesday. The phone, which features a slide-out keypad, is being manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corp and will be sold by Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA unit, which plans to unveil the device at an event in New Yor...
[Software News] Google CEO won't delay Yahoo deal any further
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Google Inc.'s chief executive said Wednesday the Internet search leader won't delay its proposed advertising partnership with rival Yahoo Inc. even if government regulators need more time to assess whether the alliance will diminish competition. After voluntarily delaying the start of the Yahoo deal three months ago to give antitrust regulators time to review the potential im...
[Software News] Fed-up Chinese go online with biting food safety jokes
BEIJING (Reuters) - Fed up with an almost constant diet of bad news about quality and safety problems, some Chinese are taking out their frustrations with biting jokes on the Internet about the seemingly never-ending scandals. In the latest health scare, thousands of Chinese babies have fallen ill and three have died after drinking contaminated milk formula, prompting some Chinese to wonder ...
[Software News] EU gambling firms see WTO case coming against U.S
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A dispute over U.S. enforcement actions against European Union online gambling companies could be headed to the World Trade Organization soon, an European industry group said on Wednesday. "It looks very much as if this matter will ... be sent to the WTO at the end of the commission's investigation," Lode Van Den Hende, outside counsel for the Remote Gamb...
[Software News] Amazon Blesses IMDB.com with a Few Free Movies
The Internet Movie Database finally made the logical leap into the world of multimedia today, announcing the free streaming availability of some 6,000 full-length feature films and TV shows. IMDB.com's parent, amazon.com, is piping the content to the site. The list is of soon-to-be-available videos is fairly large. It includes Raising Arizona, Some Like it Hot, Fever Pitch, Fiddler on the...
[Software News] Porn passed over as Web users become social: author
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Social networking sites are the hottest attraction on the Internet, dethroning pornography and highlighting a major change in how people communicate, according to a web guru. Bill Tancer, a self-described "data geek," has analyzed information for over 10 million web users to conclude that we are, in fact, what we click, with Internet searches giving an up-to-d...
[Software News] Imdb.com allows free film, TV viewing
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com said on Monday that its subsidiary, Internet Movie Database, would allow users to watch feature films and TV shows for no charge on its website, imdb.com. Over 6,000 titles will be available, the company said, citing recent episodes of popular television shows like "24" and "Heroes" or classic films like "Some Like It Hot." ...
[Software News] Amazon's Imdb Offers Movies and TV Shows Free
Internet Movie Database, the company behind the popular imdb.com site, wants to give visitors a free viewing of every movie and TV show on the Internet and filmmakers a chance to show the world their films. The Amazon.com subsidiary, which was started by an international group of movie fans, said Monday that users can watch 6,000 feature films such as Fever Pitch and Fiddler on the Roof, TV ep...
[Software News] Microsoft hails open source outreach
San Francisco - Microsoft continued to make its case on Tuesday that it is a friend to open source, listing a number of efforts it has undertaken in spaces ranging from Linux to virtualization and rich Internet application technology. Traditionally, Microsoft has been viewed as the commercial counterpoint to the open-source movement. But the company's presentation on Tuesday at the ZendCon 2008 ...
[Software News] Report: WSJ.com to get social-networking makeover
The Wall Street Journal's Web site is getting a makeover, borrowing a page from social networking. The newspaper site is expected to launch "Journal Community" on Tuesday to allow paying subscribers to comment on individual stories, create discussion groups on specific topics, and ask one another for advice, according to a report Sunday by the Associated Press. Like social networ...
[Software News] Best Buy nabs Napster for $121 million
Electronics retailer Best Buy is acquiring the Napster music service--its entree into the hot online-music sector. The two companies on Monday announced a merger deal in which Best Buy is to launch an all-cash tender offer for outstanding Napster shares at $2.65 apiece, with the full acquisition valued at $121 million. That total value represents $54 million net of approximately $67 million in ca...
[Software News] Newspapers cry foul over Yahoo-Google ad deal
PARIS - The World Association of Newspapers says it opposes a pending deal on advertising between Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. The Paris-based group wants European and U.S. regulators to block the deal on antitrust grounds. WAN says the agreement would reduce the cost of paid search advertising and lower revenues for newspapers' and others' Web sites, which receive payment from the online giants. WAN ...
[Software News] I2 Telecom offers cheap calls via mobile phones
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An upstart Internet telephone company has introduced a method for U.S. mobile telephone users to call land line phones around the world for as little as two-cents a minute on top of basic rates. I2 Telecom International Inc of Roswell, Georgia, said on Monday its calling service, myglobaltalk.com, lets smartphones such as the latest models of Research in Motion Ltd&...
[Software News] Best Buy to buy Napster for $121 million
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc plans to buy digital music service Napster Inc for $121 million in cash in an effort to compete with Apple's dominant iTunes service and its iPod music players. Best Buy, one of the largest retailers of CDs, and Napster, once the best known name in digital music, both offer digital subscription services, but neither have mounted much of a challen...
[Software News] Lehman, Merrill souvenirs on sale, but not cheap
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and Merrill Lynch & Co Inc may be about to disappear from the Wall Street landscape, but their memorabilia commanded a premium on Monday. Lehman coffee mugs and golf balls emblazoned with Merrill's logo were among several dozen items up for sale on eBay Inc's online auction site after Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection and Merril...
[Software News] Newspapers say Google, Yahoo tie hurts competition
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A deal by Google Inc (GOOG.O) and Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) to share some advertising revenue will mean less money for newspapers and weaken Yahoo in the long run, the World Association of Newspapers said on Monday. The group, which represents 18,000 publications worldwide, criticized a deal struck in June in which Google will supply Yahoo with advertising services to run alo...
[Software News] Best Buy to acquire music-sharer Napster
CHICAGO - Napster Inc., the online music community that rose from a dorm room project to became the scourge of the global recording industry, is being purchased by Best Buy Inc. for nearly $127 million as the electronics retailer tries to boost its digital music business. The $2.65 per share all-cash deal announced Monday is nearly double the music network's Friday closing price but a small sum to p...
[Software News] AT&T to link iPhone to U-verse video, Internet
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. phone company AT&T Inc plans to eventually link Apple Inc's iPhone to its high-speed Internet and video service called U-verse, and introduce new features like using the phone as a remote control. At an event on Monday to showcase some recently developed technologies that are not yet being marketed, AT&T emphasized that in the future, consumers should be able to...