Technology News

Why Google Buzz Isn't Labeled 'Beta' and Why It Sort of is Anyway

Source: Michael Ricci
March 15, 2010

For the latter half of the last decade, Google software was synonymous with the word “beta." Gmail, the company's Web-based e-mail client, carried the beta label for more than five years -- finally dropping the descriptor in July. What does it mean, and why do so few recent Google services start off with it? For a definition, we turn to Google's dictionary. Beta: “The 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet." OK, what else you got? Beta: “Preliminary or testing stage ...

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Who Hates the National Broadband Plan?

Source: PC Magazine
March 15, 2010

Are you ready for more Internet? That's the question that U.S. regulators will soon be asking, as Reuters is reporting that the Federal Communications Commission is set to reveal the National Broadband Plan on March 16. While some details of the plan remain to be seen, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has already mentioned a few of the key highlights that the FCC will be recommending to Congress. These include a goal to connect 100 million Americans to 100 Mbps Internet ...

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A Dream for Music, but Label's Nightmare

Source: Michael Ricci
March 15, 2010

THE Apple iPad, which goes on sale April 3, will access video, applications and Web sites wirelessly no cords or cables needed.

But to move your trusty old music collection onto this wonder gadget and take it with you to work, or on vacation, you'll have to pull out a U.S.B. sync cable, plug the device into your PC and transfer those music files over. Its kind of a hassle, and it becomes worse when you buy a song on ...

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Federal Court Rules Against Cable Providers

Source: Michael Ricci
March 15, 2010

Major cable providers lost a key battle with government regulators on Friday, as a federal appeals court ruled that companies like Cablevision and Comcast must continue to make programming they own available to satellite companies. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. ruled that the Federal Communications Commission could continue its so-called “program access rule," passed by statute in 1992, that are intended to prevent cable companies from withholding the most desirable channels, particularly sports channels, from rivals. ...

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Apple: Free iPad with Every Replacement Battery

Source: All About Jazz
March 15, 2010

In a support document, Apple tells us that when you eventually send your iPad in to have its battery replaced, Apple will just send you a new iPad instead. The Battery Replacement Service will cost $100. Ever since Apple ditched the floppy-drive with the original iMac, people have kicked up a fuss about each new hardware “omission", calling it a “deal- breaker" (as in “No built- in dial-up modem? Sorry Apple. That's a deal-breaker.") The latest has been the steady ...

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March 15, 1985: Dot-Com Revolution Starts with a Whimper

Source: All About Jazz
March 15, 2010

1985: Symbolics, a Massachusetts computer company, registers symbolics.com, the internet's first domain name.

The market for these unique addresses would not heat up for years, but this click heard 'round the world would eventually provide just about anyone a place in cyberspace to call their own. Owning your own domain is nothing to brag about anymore, while trying to get one that resembles your name or something personally meaningful has become an exercise in futility. But a quarter of a ...

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Improve Your Facebook Pages with RootmMusic

Source: HypeBot
March 13, 2010

RootMusic enables the seemless creation of robust Facebook band pages and then allows fans to add thew artist as a tab to their own existing Facebook Page. And unlike standard Facebook pages where the music stops when the fan begins any other activity; with RootMusic, they can listen while they read news, comment,etc. Artists can also enable song downloads and integrate a Twitter feed.

A quick overview:

EMI Loses to Pink Floyd in Online Sales Battle

Source: HypeBot
March 13, 2010

A UK judge has ruled that a mid 1990's contract between Pink Floyd and EMI that includes maintaining the artistic integrity of each album release does not allow EMI to sell single tracks on iTunes and other online outlets. But the court stopped short of making EMI pull the tracks down. An EMI statement said: “Today's judgment does not require EMI to cease making Pink Floyd's catalog available as single track downloads, and EMI continues to sell Pink Floyd's music ...

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