[Software News] Google Moderator Puts Social-Media Twist on Meetings
[Software News] Hole in Adobe software allows free movie downloads
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A security hole in Adobe Systems Inc software, used to distribute movies and TV shows over the Internet, is giving users free access to record and copy from Amazon.com Inc's video streaming service. The problem exposes online video content to the rampant piracy that plagued the music industry during the Napster era and is undermining efforts by retailers, movie studios and...
[Software News] DirecTV to market AT&T satellite service
NEW YORK (Reuters) - DirecTV Group (DTV.O), the largest U.S. satellite television provider, said on Friday it has reached an agreement with AT&T Inc (T.N) to offer customers a co-branded package of video, home phone, wireless phone and Internet service from Feb 1 2009. DirecTV will begin selling the service once AT&T's current partnership with DISH Network (DISH.O) expires on Jan 31. AT&T said...
[Software News] More Americans watching video online
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The number of Americans watching video on their computers has doubled over the past year and growing numbers of younger viewers are enjoying movies and TV shows online, according to a study released Friday by ABI Research. The study found that the number of American consumers watching video streamed through a browser had soared over the past year, from 32 percent ...
[Software News] US presidential debates to stream online in Spanish
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - MySpace announced Friday that the US presidential debates will be streamed online in Spanish as well as English to reach a key Hispanic voting bloc via the Internet. Hispanic news company ImpreMedia has teamed with MySpace to broadcast the presidential and vice presidential debates, along with simultaneous translation into Spanish, live online at www.impre.com ...
[Software News] Congress sending child porn bills to president
WASHINGTON - Congress is sending President Bush several bills that would tighten laws on child pornographers' use of the Internet. The House on Friday passed by 418-0 a measure clarifying that images obtained over the Internet were subject to federal interstate commerce laws. The bill was in response to a federal court ruling that prosecutors must show that images kept on a computer had crossed stat...
[Software News] Congress takes up online threats to children
Amid an economic crisis, Congress found some time this week to address online threats to children. The Protect Our Children Act, introduced by Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., made it through the Senate on Thursday. Separate bills authored by Sens. John McCain and Hillary Clinton were folded into the legislation, which authorizes more than $320 million for the Justice Department over the next five yea...
[Software News] Apple makes iTunes more accessible for the blind
WATERTOWN, Mass. - Most teens listen to their music on digital players, but Cory Cadlik, who is blind, had to ask for help when he wanted to buy songs for his iPod from the online music store iTunes. To Cadlik, a self-described tech "geek," that was too frustrating to tolerate. "For me to be as tech savvy as I am, and not be able to do something ... I hated it," said Cadlik, 17, of Medway, Mass. "I ...
[Software News] Stars tune-in to Web video, advertisers still shy
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The fall television season kicked off this past week, but viewers looking for their favorite actors returning to airwaves may not find them on TV as new Web-based shows increasingly draw stars online. The Internet, and the experimental low-budget dramas and comedy shows it spawned, has emerged as a refuge for Hollywood players such as "Family Guy" creator Seth McF...
[Software News] SKorea approves eBay's purchase of top online shopping mall
SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea Thursday gave a conditional green light to Internet auction site eBay to acquire Gmarket, the country's top online auction and shopping mall. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) authorised eBay to buy a 36 percent stake in Gmarket from Interpark Corp and Interpark chairman Lee Ki-Hyung, a spokesman for the anti-trust watchdog said. "Desp...
[Software News] University of Ill. virtual campus flounders
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - An $8.9 million online campus launched by the University of Illinois nine months ago has had disappointing enrollment and fewer course offerings than expected, but the man who created it isn't giving up. Instead, University of Illinois President Joseph White said he wants to turn the school's Global Campus into an independent, accredited university to speed up development of degree...
[Software News] Verizon: Put the brakes on broadband monitoring
Start-up NebuAd had hoped to build a business on monitoring broadband customers' Web browsing and delivering relevant ads. Then its partners began dropping out, its chief executive resigned, and earlier this month the company suspended its business plan. Never let it be said that politicians are quick on the uptake. The Senate Commerce Committee nevertheless is holding a hearing on Thursd...
[Software News] Top ISPs Deny Watching You Online
Three top Internet service providers on Thursday denied using online behavioral advertising and called on all Internet companies to adhere to standards that require customers to opt in to the tracking of their online activities. AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon denied keeping tabs on customers' Internet activity in order to service up more targeted online ads, but reserved the right to do...
[Software News] Dissect the Candidates' Speeches, Line by Line
Just in time for the upcoming first presidential debate, Fairness, a non-partisan public interest organization, has released the latest version of its online discussion tool for post-event analysis. CriTweak 0.8 will go live following the debate on Friday, September 26 on ElectionDocs.com, where archives of McCain's and Obama's campaign speeches, position papers, and debate transcripts can be found. ...
[Software News] T-Mobile's Android Phone Has Limits Outside Google
Now that analysts are getting their hands on the T-Mobile G1, talk is beginning about what the first Android-powered phone doesn't offer. T-Mobile launched the HTC-made device Tuesday, complete with full touchscreen functionality and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for a mobile Web experience largely driven by Google products, including Search, Google Street View, Gmail and YouTube. The phone i...
[Software News] IPTV subscriptions to grow 64 percent in 2008: Gartner
LONDON (Reuters) - Worldwide subscriptions to Internet-based television platforms are on track to reach 19.6 million subscribers in 2008, a 64 percent increase, according to analysts at Gartner. Revenue from worldwide Internet protocol television is forecast to reach $4.5 billion, up 93.5 percent from a year earlier, with Western Europe boasting the largest number of IPTV subscribers and North...
[Software News] EBay gets conditional OK for stake in Korean site
NEW YORK - EBay Inc. said Thursday it received preliminary conditional approval from South Korean regulators for its potential purchase of a stake in Gmarket Inc., operator of an online marketplace in that country. EBay shares rose 79 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $22.41, while Gmarket's U.S. shares rose $2.16, or 9.9 percent, to $24.24. San Jose, Calif.-based eBay had said in August that it was in talk...
[Software News] McGangsta: Ed McMahon to rap in viral videos
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ed McMahon has an unexpected new job title: rapper. The 85-year-old former "Tonight Show" sidekick will star in two viral rap videos for FreeCreditReport.com, a financial Web site owned by credit bureau Experian. The videos feature McMahon wearing a tracksuit, being chauffeured around Los Angeles in a Cadillac Escalade golf cart and waxing lyrical about his very public financ...
[Software News] US-TECH Summary
America Movil braces for iPhone shortage in Brazil SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Mexico's America Movil (AMXL.MX) is set to start selling Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone in Brazil on Friday but does not expect to have enough of the hugely popular devices to meet demand, an executive at the company's Brazilian unit said on Thursday. Claro, America Movil's (AMX.N) Brazilian unit, received an initial lot of just 30,000 iPhones from Apple. It had hoped to receive a much...
[Software News] Google's 10th Birthday Present: World-Changing Ideas
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