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Sale of Skype finalized

Kevin Phillips — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:47:43 +0000

eBay, the online auction giant and owner of the popular Skype software has finally sold Skype and the deal is complete. A message on the official Skype blog from company President Josh Silverman reads: "Great news – we've closed the deal with the new investors. The investor group is led by Silver Lake, and includes Andreessen Horowitz, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Joltid Limited and our founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis.

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Google phone on the way?

Kevin Phillips — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:15:09 +0000

Everything up to this point has been a warm-up for something big happening at Google. The Android operating system from Google has seen its growth increase with the launch of such devices as the Verizon Droid and the Motorola Cliq. But reports are now surfacing of something bigger on the horizon for both Google and Android. There are rumors of a new Google phone that isn't just another re-branded handset on a major cellular network. This new device will reportedly be a VOIP handset that allows you to make calls using the Google Voice service.

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Banned Xbox's flooding eBay and Craigslist

Kevin Phillips — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:08:22 +0000

In the wake of the mass Xbox Live bans hundreds of Xboxs have appeared on online marketplaces such as eBay and Craigslist by gamers looking to offload their Xboxs. In the past two weeks Microsoft has banned nearly one million users from the online gaming service after finding that they had modified their consoles to play pirated games. Since the ban is connected to the console rather than a gamer's online account, many modified Xboxs have appeared on multiple bidding and personal sales sites. eBay has issued a warning to potential buyers on its website to be wary of buying consoles in the wake of Microsoft's move.

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Windows 8 is coming in 2012

Brad Sams — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:13:22 +0000

According to the latest roadmap from Microsoft, it would appear that Windows 8 will arrive sometime in 2012. This would follow a three year product cycle that would keep it in line with Vista and Windows 7 releases. The road map is clear about the targeted date and does not try to hide the fact that the code name is "Windows 8". Little else is known about the OS other than its targeted date of release. Let the speculation begin. Image courtesy of msftkitchen.com

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Google Chrome OS available for download

Brad Sams — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:23:17 +0000

When Google finally showed off their new OS yesterday there was a lot of skepticism about working in the cloud, offline applications and many other thoughts and concerns. The good news is that if you don't want to read others hands on impressions you can now download and install the OS yourself. A couple of things to note, firstly the download will only work in a VM environment, second, this is pre-beta software so expect crashes, bumps and a rough experience. But if you're willing to take the plunge you can follow the directions here.

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Twitter no longer asks "What are you doing?"

Joshua Seed — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:22:20 +0000

In an unexpected move, Twitter has removed the "What are you doing?" question from the user interface, confirming a change in uses for the popular social networking site. The official Twitter Blog had the following to say about the new changes: "Twitter was originally conceived as a mobile status update service—an easy way to keep in touch with people in your life by sending and receiving short, frequent answers to one question, ‘What are you doing?' However, when we implemented the service, we chose to leave something out. To stay simple, Twitter did not require individuals to confirm relationships. Instead, we left things open.

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EU agrees with guidelines on Internet restriction

Matthew Hopson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:54:22 +0000

European MEP's and Council representatives have agreed on a set of guidelines that state restrictions to Internet usage may "only be imposed if they are appropriate, proportionate and necessary within a democratic society," and that users are entitled to a "fair and impartial procedure" before disconnection. The Telecoms Reform Package that the restriction guidelines are part of will go before the European Parliament and Council for a final decision in late November. The compromise is the result of all night negotiations and is the last hurdle for the package which also include, amongst other things, a rule that will require mobile phone companies to help users change contracts within 24 hours.

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YouTube Captions to Use Technology from Google Voice

Chris Carera — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:03:52 +0000

In a move meant to boost accessibility and search engine relevance, Google has announced an automatic captions service for YouTube videos, using the "automatic speech recognition" (ASR) technology currently used in the transcription feature of Google Voice. Although YouTube has long offered options for content providers to upload their own captions and subtitles, few have chosen to do so, with just around 100,000 captioned videos available out of hundreds of millions of clips posted on the site. Although Google admits that the machine-generated captions "will not always be perfect," they see the introduction of the technology as a positive step in providing content to deaf and hearing disabled users.

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Apple Seeks Patent for Embedded Ads in OS

Chris Carera — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:29:54 +0000

According to a disclosed patent application discovered last month by The New York Times, Apple Computers is seeking rights to a technology that allows advertising to have a direct spot in a device operating system. The reasoning behind the decision is most widely believed to be a cost-cutting motive, allowing consumers subsidized purchasing options for ordinarily more expensive technology. The fact that the patent is coming from Apple is seen by some analysts as a surprise and a contradiction of Apple's reputation for delivering higher quality, more user friendly technology at a premium price.

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Google releases Chrome OS information & source code

Sam Symons — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:15:52 +0000

Google's Chrome OS has been a rather interesting project for many people as of late; it was said to be an operating system that was based in the "cloud", stored mostly online, though nobody knew any exact details. Today, Google has explained more about the OS, clearing things up. As posted on the official Google blog, Chrome OS is "all about the web." As such, it is web-based, and as Google states, "The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications.

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