Cool-er ebook reader: is this the iPod for books?
May 28, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under First Look, Top Stories
Interead, a British company has made the Cool-er, a gadget that could change our reading habits for ever.
Until relatively recently, buying music meant going in to a shop and picking up a CD. Now, all you need is a computer, an internet connection and an MP3 player to instantly download any song you like.
Samsung recalls 160,000 Jitterbug phones
May 28, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Mobile Phones, Product Recalls, Top Stories
Thousands of phones sold by Jitterbug, a mobile operator that specializes in simple handsets for limited uses such as emergency calls, are being recalled because they can’t be used to call 911 in some rare cases.
Jitterbug sells bare-bones handsets and no-contract service plans geared toward seniors and other consumers who don’t make heavy use of cell phones. One of its phones, the Jitterbug OneTouch, has dedicated buttons for the Jitterbug operator, one preset number, and 911 in place of a numeric keypad. Jitterbug has service and roaming agreements with many CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) operators around the country.
18-20 Android phones Coming soon
May 28, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Mobile Phones, Top Stories
According to Andy Rubin, speaking at Google I/O, Google’s coming out with 18 or more Android Phones this year.
Rubin claims the releases will come from 8 or 9 manufacturers with faster adoption seen in Europe as US carriers try to “create highly distinctive versions of the Android phone to give themselves an edge.” Sure, edge, if that’s what you want to call the US cartel of hoops and handcuffs then go right ahead. Interestingly, Rubin also further clarified the three flavors of Android which break down as follows:
Microsoft May Rename Live Search ‘Bing’: Massive Ad Campaign Planned
May 28, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Search Engines, Top Stories
Microsoft’s new search engine is reportedly dumping its codename, Kumo, in favor of the brand name Bing. To get the word out, Microsoft is planning a massive advertising campaign to launch its new search brand. Bing’s debut will feature a $80 to $100 million online, TV, print, and radio advertising campaign, according to AdvertisingAge. To put that number in perspective, Google’s entire advertising budget for all of 2008 was $25 million, AdAge says. Microsoft is hoping a major ad push will take a chunk out of Google — the number one online search brand — in favor of Bing, the same way Microsoft’s laptop hunter ads helped in its fight against Apple.
Twitter founders plan to charge users
May 27, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Top Stories
Twitter Inc.’s co-founders say the rapidly growing online communications company will eventually charge fees for its services, but it’s unclear which ones and what will drive revenue.
“There will be a moment when you can fill out a form or something and give us money,” said Evan Williams, co-founder and chief executive officer.
“We’re working on it right now,” Williams said at The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference.
Williams and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone mentioned possible revenue-generators, including a service that would authenticate the source of information. For example, Dunkin’ Donuts could pay to make sure that impostors don’t send messages under its name.
The Missing link?: Scientists unveil lemur-like fossil at New York’s American Museum of Natural History
May 20, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Top Stories
Say hello to “Aunt Ida”- you’ll find her 47million years back on your family tree.
The lemur-like fossil, thought to be a missing link between today’s primates and distant relatives, is on show at New York’s American Museum of Natural History after being launched amid great fanfare by the city’s mayor.
The skeleton is so good that it still has an outline of fur and there are traces of its last meal.
The female animal lived during the Eocene Period, when early primates developed.
Google puts flu tracker to work on swine flu
April 29, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Top Stories
Using a new tracking tool, search engine giant Google said on Wednesday it saw a spike in searches for information about flu among people in Mexico last week even before news of the outbreak became widely known.
Google said it has put together a flu trends tracking system for Mexico based on the U.S. Google Flu tool launched last fall that is used by U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to figure out where influenza is heating up.
It is based on Google’s observation that people who are sick with flu tend to search for the same types of information on the Internet, and these searches can be used to predict where an outbreak may be occurring.
Google’s Book Search Deal
April 29, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Lawsuits, Top Stories
The Department of Justice is now looking into Google’s proposed settlement over its Book Search service, sources tell both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal . The inquiry is said to be focused on antitrust concerns surrounding the online book deal.
The Book Search settlement, announced in October, followed a three-year battle over Google’s right to display copyrighted books on its Web site. The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers claimed Google was violating copyrights by doing so. Google eventually agreed to pay $125 million to ensure authors and publishers could register to receive payments anytime their books were viewed within the service.
Microsoft’s iPhone Rival
April 29, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Top Stories, Wireless
According to The Wall Street Journal Microsoft Corp. and Verizon Wireless are in talks to launch a touch-screen multimedia cellphone code name “Pink”, in an ambitious effort to challenge Apple Inc.’s iPhone, according to people familiar with the matter.
Rumors of an iPhone on the Verizon Wireless network have been stirred before, and last week received a fresh turn. The Wall Street Journal, interviewing Verizon’s chief executive Ivan Seidenberg, said Verizon was likely to get access to the iPhone in the coming years, as it converts its 3G network over to 4G, or LTE.
Apple’s new product for the Netbook Market
April 29, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Top Stories, Wireless
Apple is coming up with a new kind of touch-screen device that is bigger than its iPhone but smaller than a laptop.
The device, according to published reports, will be a kind of miniature tablet computer. Like the iPhone, it would be able to access the Internet over cell phone data networks, allowing users to surf the Web just about anywhere. And analysts expect that, like the iconic smart-phone, the retail price would be subsidized by wireless carriers.
