Archive for April, 2008
AT&T Reported Ready To Offer 3G iPhone, Starting at $199
Fortune reports that AT&T expects to launch Apple’s new 3G iPhone either on, or very near to, the June 27 anniversary of the original handset’s 2007 launch. Citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter, the magazine said AT&T intends to heavily subsidize the new smartphone, giving anyone who signs up for a two-year contract a $200 reduction on the iPhone’s retail sticker price.
Currently the least expensive iPhone is the 8GB model for $399, which could manufacture the price $199 with the subsidy.
AT&T’s strategy, Fortune said, is to use a discounted 3G iPhone to entice subscribers away from rivals Verizon and Sprint. AT&T CFO Rick Lindner recently told investors that AT&T continues to see users flocking to the iPhone. “Over 40 percent of those customers are new to us,” he said.
Lindner plus said AT&T had not seen any slowdown in demand for the original iPhone in advance of the carrier’s impending release of a 3G version. “Through the first quarter, it was pretty stable,” he said.
A Potential Opening
According to Fortune, AT&T’s introduction of a new 3G Blackberry from Research In Motion is being delayed by several months from its original June delivery term. that would seem to supply Apple with a potential opening to produce inroads at AT&T in both the consumer and enterprise markets.
Still, some industry observers think Apple still has a faraway way to go before it can challenge the Blackberry’s supremacy in the enterprise. “For enterprises, it’s really about typing and the keyboard,” said Brownlee Thomas, a principal analyst with Forrester Research.
“The iPhone gives a wonderful user experience for viewing photos or looking up a phone number,” Thomas observed, but its touch-sensitive screen “is not something you can type a expanded e-mail on.” And it will probably take Apple “a couple more generations before that…
Orginal post by Mike
Court Ruling Could End P2P Music-Download Lawsuits
A federal court has dealt a body blow to the recording industry’s efforts to sue society who use peer-to-peer software to download music from the Web. In fact, says one copyright lawyer, the P2P decision could mean the end of the Recording Industry organization of America’s litigation strategy.
In Atlantic Records v. Howell, U.S. District Court Judge Neil V. Wake rejected the RIAA’s theory that the defendants distributed music files merely by making them publicly available through the Kazaa P2P application. Contrary to the music industry’s theory, “Merely making an unauthorized copy of a copyrighted work available to the public does not violate a copyright holder’s exclusive right of distribution,” the judge wrote.
The facts of the case are fairly typical. MediaSentry, the private investigator that researches these matters for the RIAA, used Kazaa to identify 4,000 files available from the Howells’ computer, with 54 of them copyrighted music files. MediaSentry took screenshots showing the files available and downloaded 12 of the songs.
‘Gold Standard’
The defendants, Jeffrey and Pamela Howell, say they made valid copies of their CDs for personal use and they didn’t know Kazaa was making them public. Asked in a deposition whether he was sharing music files online, Jeffrey Howell said, “I was not, no. The computer was, but I was not. The computer in some scheme … made files that I did not know available on the Net.”
“This case harmonizes everything. It sets the gold standard,” said Ray Beckerman, a copyright attorney with the New York firm of Vandenberg & Feliu and author of the Recording Industry v. The public blog, in a telephone interview. “Other district courts will follow it. Appeals courts will follow it.”
In the Howell case, the recording industry now has to “show he actually disseminated to members of the public — and that he did…
Orginal post by Mike
Time Warner Will Sell Cable Unit as AOL Income Drops
Time Warner has decided to sell its cable operation even as it struggles to unmistaken its ailing America Online unit, CEO Jeff Bewkes announced in the company’s quarterly earnings shout Wednesday. On the positive side, income from the company’s cable networks and film operations offset a whopping 23 percent decline at AOL.
“We’ve decided that a complete structural separation of moment Warner Cable, under the right circumstances, is in the best interests of both companies’ shareholders,” Bewkes said. “We feel these companies would be better off separated than they are together.”
The move was not unexpected. In an open letter to shareholders, Bewkes previously tipped his hand, saying, “As the industry evolves, day Warner Cable has increasingly different capital and financial needs than our other businesses.”
Asked why the separation was taking so faraway, Bewkes said, “It’s not taking expanded and there are tricky governance issues involved.”
AOL Restructuring
AOL, faraway ago the No. 1 Net grade, saw revenues and profits plummet in the first quarter. Profits were down 25 percent and revenues decreased 23 percent. Bewkes promised to complete the restructuring essential to separate AOL’s dial-up and advertising businesses.
“We were not satisfied with the performance of display advertising on our owned and operated stock,” Bewkes said of AOL. He pointed to problems with integrating its Platform A advertising unit. “We didn’t integrate Platform A fast adequate, and that created a sales-channel clash. We have moved quickly to resolve that,” he said. “We are creating one sales team able and motivated to sell across all of Platform A.”
The outcome will be continuing poor news from AOL until the restructuring is complete, he said. Essentially, AOL has several different sales forces in place from various acquisitions and has taken longer to integrate them all. “We had not put them together yet. We missed some opportunities…
Orginal post by Mike
Messenger for Mac 7 Adds Enterprise Audio, Video Support
As Macintosh computers invent some inroads into the enterprise, they are still behind in positive areas of corporate communications. On Tuesday, Microsoft took a step toward closing a bit of that gap by releasing its Messenger for Mac 7 with audio and video support, whether users are connected via Office Communications Server 2007.
With Communications Server 2007 and the newest Messenger for Mac on a corporate system, users can have face-to-face instant messaging, audio/video meetings — and even multi-party conferencing — with others both inside and outside their office. that includes humans using Windows PCs and users of the Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger services. It does not support communication with AOL Instant Messenger or society using .Mac accounts.
Supports Bonjour, Easy Searching
Messenger 7, which now supports the Bonjour service-discovery functionality that is built into the Mac operating system, is available as a free download. It requires Mac OS X 10.4.9, Windows Live ID for personal accounts, or Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 for enterprise users.
The new offering plus makes it easier for enterprise workers to search a corporate address book from within Messenger, or to find internal contacts. A user can see which contacts are connected to a local network and, for example, whether you have two contacts named Sam, you can assign nicknames. Contacts can be located in large buddy lists via a search-as-you-type box. The company additionally said that communications have increased safety measure within the corporate network.
New “presence” enhancements in Messenger plus allow users to add a personal letter to contact data, so that you can let others know when you’re available for chatting. Mac users with a Windows Live detail can additionally share files and other communications through Messenger 7.
No Audio/Video When Stand-Alone
On officeformac.com, the blog for Microsoft’s Office for Mac team, a team…
Orginal post by Mike
BlackBerry 9000 Specs
Well well, here we are with the BlackBerry 9000 specifications in greater detail. No concept whether the device will receive a different name like the Pearl or Curve when released, but it will features the following :-
- Radio: GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA
- Bands: Quad-band GPRS/EDGE: 800/850/1800/1900MHz
- HSDPA: 850/1900/2100MHz
- microSD memory card slot
- HVGA Color LCD (480×320) display
- TrackBall Navigation
- 2 megapixel camera
- WiFi connectivity
- A-GPS navigation
- Software: 4.6
You will be able to get it from AT&T, NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone although AT&T will be a US exclusive and holds the honor of being the first carrier in the 9000’s worldwide launch.
Permalink | Comment | Uberbargain | Uberphones
Orginal post by Mike
Thermaltake M9D PC Chassis
Thermaltake has a new PC chassis that aims to dazzle you, thanks to lights that has been pre-installed within. It will illuminate in shifting colors each date you touch the button, causing a definite distraction to your opponent during a crucial moment at the LAN party so that you can buy adequate instance to get that frag in right before the closing buzzer. Features of that innovative design include a 23cm touch color fan with five modes of color shifting for the ultimate in-room rave party. Everything inside is set to remain cool as a cucumber thanks to a well-organized fan cooling system. No notion on how much the Thermaltake M9D will cost, but is certain as heck looks damn appealing - perhaps that is the inner child speaking.
Permalink | Comment | Uberbargain | Uberphones
Orginal post by Mike
Elecom Egg Mouse 20th Anniversary
The Elecom Egg mouse has just turned 20, and interestingly ample that has been a Japan-only product for the better part of the last two decades, hence leaving the rest of the world in the dark concerning its existence. Elecom has decided to celebrate its 20th birthday by releasing an updated version that features half a dozen colors (white, grey, blue, orange, black and pink) that come in a glossy finish, boasting a trio of buttons and a scroll wheel. It will still be a Japan-only product, unfortunately, retailing for approximately $29 when released that May. I wonder how much will it cost to import one.
Permalink | Comment | Uberbargain | Uberphones
Orginal post by Mike
