Americans, it seems, are addicted to cable TV. Like every other addiction, we need our hit so bad that we’ll ignore the realities of our financial situation—we’re all going broke, fast—in order to watch Entourage and Down and Dirty with Jim Norton. It goes like this: with people tightening their belts around the country (and world) they’re going to have to cut back on… → Read More
Just a few days ago, the above shot of a supposed XPERIA concept device started floating around. Though its authenticity can’t be confirmed, we certainly hope it’s fake – or, at most, a concept never intended to leave the labs. Besides being a damned nice looking piece of hardware, much of the XPERIA X1‘s appeal stems from its full, landscape QWERTY keyboard. In this… → Read More
We knew the thinnest QWERTY keyboard phone was coming, but AT&T and Pantech have officially launched the Slate. The phone measures less than one centimeter deep and is equipped with standard 2006-circa specs: 1.3MP camera, Bluetooth, and multimedia functions. To be honest though, the phone is only going to be $50 after a two-year agreement and a $50 mail-in rebate so what more can you want? → Read More
Gaming powerhouse Blizzard Entertainment has issued a press release announcing that the number of subscribers for World Of Warcraft has surpassed the 11 million mark.
The milestone for the popular MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) represents a 10% growth in 10 months and shows signs of slowing. If you consider the fact that the online game debuted in November 2004 and took… → Read More
Motorola’s new co-CEO Sanjay Jha has a plan to save the beleaguered mobile handset maker: go all-in on Google’s Android mobile operating system. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal (behind the pay wall):
The rumor is that Motorola will focus all of its efforts around three core operating systems for its phones, with Android becoming the central platform for “mid-tier” phones with… → Read More
Netbooks have been slowing down over the last year and for the most part, each one is about the same thing with a different logo on the lid. HP’s offerings seem refreshing and polished even though they sport the standard netbook specs of 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 8.9-inch or 10.2-inch display, up to 2 GB of RAM, and either a 60GB HDD or 16GB SSD. The solid-state drive can be complimented by… → Read More
Three years to the day from his corner-turn memo about changing Microsoft’s direction from software to software plus services and after two days of keynotes, Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie reviewed the launch of the Windows Azure cloud OS and forthcoming online versions of the Office suite. Ozzie: It’s fun that it’s all coming together. It was Mary Jo [Foley]… → Read More
OK, the company behind the TV commercial shown above is not really Apple but SoftBank, one of Asia’s biggest telecommunications companies and the carrier for the iPhone in this country. The SoftBank family seen in the video consists of a father (the white dog), a mother (the woman seen at the end of the clip), a brother (the guy with the glasses who is an American model based in Tokyo) and… → Read More
Sony unveiled a spectacular OLED display (curved, 0.3mm thin) at the CEATEC 2008 exhibition earlier this month, only to be followed by a product from Samsung, which the company calls “flapping display”. The Samsung display is just 0.05mm thin (yes, that’s millimeters) and currently being showcased at the FPD International 2008 in Tokyo. According to the company, the 4-inch panel… → Read More
Tokyo-based YP Systems [JP] has developed the world’s first CO2 fire extinguisher that triples as a glass breaker and a belt cutter. The device is just 19.5cm long and weighs 370g. Made specifically for use during emergency situations in vehicles, the so-called Shobo Rescue’s fire extinguishing function is kept very simple (pulling a security pin is enough). YP Systems used food… → Read More
LinkedIn has today launched its OpenSocial applications platform and one of the first providers will be UK collaboration and project management startup Huddle.net. In fact, it is the only European company on the applications provider list. Huddle Workspaces will be a bespoke application inside LinkedIn’s service with all the key functionality of its main service. In a nutshell you can create… → Read More
We haven’t heard from crap gadget vendor Thanko in a while, but they are back: This time, the Tokyo-based company presents a keyboard with a built-in heater and cooler [JP]. That means the keyboard will not only keep your hands warm during those cold days in winter but it’s also useful during the summer. Amazing stuff. Obviously Thanko used all their engineering power to create an… → Read More
The Myvu Crystal now works with your iPhone 3G Review: Good Nite Lite Reduce intra-brain pressure with amazing little nubbin Yamaha Japan presents new electric-hybrid bicycle (limited edition) Sony’s music robot Rolly can now be controlled via Bluetooth → Read More
Rumor alert: Employees of Project Playlist, a very popular music search engine and embeddable playlist tool, have been telling people that the company has hired a new CEO to lead it to the next stage of development. And the new CEO, they’re saying, is an ex-Facebook employee.
We haven’t been able to confirm this with the company, and we don’t know which ex-Facebook employee it might be. But it’s… → Read More
Former AOL executive vice president of consumer and publisher services Jim Bankoff has secured a “mid-seven-figure sum” of venture capital for SB Nation, a startup network of sports blogs.
The round of funding was led by Accel Partners, the Silicon Valley private equity firm best known for its backing of Facebook, and joined by Allen & Co as well as a number of digital media executives and… → Read More
Switzerland-based Logitech, maker of personal computer peripherals, is entering the software market by acquiring internet video communications services provider SightSpeed for $30 million in cash. The deal is expected to close in early November.
The acquisition of the 25-person company, born out of a Cornell University lab, is a result of Logitech looking to complement their hardware solutions… → Read More
TVeez, a company that specializes in marketing and onsite digital advertising, has rebranded itself and will now be known as Odysii. In conjunction with the name change, the company has also confirmed reports that it has received $15 million in a round led by Benchmark Capital and Giza Ventures, as was reported back in April.
Odysii says that the funding will be used to help expand into the… → Read More
Online tv/film site Hulu launched a year ago today, and boy did we have to eat crow.
We provided nearly constant criticism of the site since it was announced in March 2007 (no name, billion dollar valuation, name translation issues, trademark absurdity, etc.). But despite a slightly bumpy launch, we had to admit that they did an outstanding job. And today I can safely say I spend more time … → Read More
A lot of things are riding on this UI redesign for Microsoft and the Xbox team, but more importantly it’s quelling the frustrations that many of us have had to deal with since the beginning of time. The blade interface was a good start, but it was frustrating at times and it certainly deterred me from perusing the Marketplace. Streaming via Netflix has been rumored for almost a year and that… → Read More
The BlackBerry Partners Fund, a $150 million VC fund co-managed by JLA Ventures and RBC Venture Partners, has announced its first three investments:
The first is for buzzd, a geo-aware social network that also doubles as a location information guide. BlackBerry Partners Fund participated in a $3.2 million Series A Round, along with Greycroft Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, and Monitor… → Read More
Psystar is still beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men aka Apple but now they’re shipping “OS X-compatible” machines with Blu-ray installed. Sadly, there is no built-in Blu-Ray support which means you’re stuck using Toast 9 to do anything at all. In our experience, Psystar is basically selling bare bones PCs with a little tweaking… → Read More
LinkedIn has launched its new OpenSocial-based application platform called InApps – an answer to the platforms found on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, but without the clutter and “junk” apps that plague those sites. Unlike most other social networks, LinkedIn apps must go through an approval process before they will go live on the store, and all apps must be deemed “professional” in… → Read More
With the doors to the Android Market open to developers as of yesterday, the applications have begun pouring in. To celebrate, we decided to take a look at some of the notable applications lurking about in this first batch. Notable, mind you, doesn’t necessarily mean the best. A few were highlighted for their greatness. Some were noted because we just like the concept. And the others? Well… → Read More
User reviews of Guitar Hero World Tour aren’t so hot—it’s averaging a 5.8 on Metacritic (but nets an 87 based on “professional” reviews). One reason for the low score is this weird drum kit sensitivity issue that a bunch of people are reporting. Activision, the game’s publisher, says the problem only affects an early run of drums. Be that as it may, Activision says it… → Read More
For all of the millions of blogs on the web, only an incredibly small fraction generate enough revenue to serve as full time jobs. Most people are happy enough with just sharing their thoughts with the public, even if they only see a few hundred hits a months with the very occasional comment. But what if there was a way for even these small-timers to generate enough money to put food on the… → Read More
Today, the HT-S9100THX system was announced and it has its sights set on HD theater buffs across the country. The 7.1-channel system (130W/channel) includes THX’s Loudnes Plus technology and comes with four HDMI v1.3a ports. The more HDMI ports, the better, I say. Audyssey and Faroudja handle onboard audio and video processing. Faroudja’s DCDi Edge technology bumps all component, composite… → Read More
In case any of my friends and family are reading this post then you should know that I’m in desperate need of an extra wireless 360 controller. The one you see above is exclusive to Wal*Mart and is covered with a dragon and what appears to be a female. It’s only $49.74. Again, I am in desperate need of an extra 360 controller, family and friends. Thank you. Product Page → Read More
T-Online Venture and the European Founders Fund (the investment vehicle of the infamous Samwer brothers who recently invested in Facebook) have invested a total of €7 million or nearly $9 million in Netviewer, a provider of web-based collaboration and communication software. → Read More
This is not set on stone as it really depends on finding the right kind of person. If I don’t find them then there’s no vacancy. But anyway: I’m looking for an intern for TCUK. Someone curious (ok, very curious) about Web/Mobile tech startups, possibly (probably!) already blogging and willing to take direction. Ideally located in London. Also there is some database work to be… → Read More
It’s been a ridiculously long time since Fallout 2 hit the scene (10 years ago) and available today is Bethesda’s much hyped and highly anticipated RPG Fallout 3. Thousands of retailers stayed open into the early morning last night to quench gamers thirsts for destruction and gore. Some folks in DC didn’t take too kindly to the ads because they depicted our nation’s capital… → Read More
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