Biting the hand that feeds IT — sci/tech news and views for the world
Updated: 31 min 52 sec ago
US loses last chance for free wireless
Never a flyer, but finally grounded for good
An audacious plan to provide free wireless internet access across the US has finally been killed off by the FCC, much to the delight of the cellular industry.…
AOL goes soul-searching with Google in 5-year deal
Gets into mobile search (result), agrees to provide content to YouTube (not so much)
AOL has signed a deal with Google to make it the sole provider for paid text-based search and contextual ads on the company's US websites for the next five years.…
iTunes update plugs WebKit flaw
Ping-pong
The latest version of iTunes for Windows addresses 13 security vulnerabilities, as well as adding much-publicised social networking functionality.…
Boris bikes for tourists delayed till year end
Systems not robust enough
Visitors to London, and anyone else without a full account, will not be able to hire Boris bikes until the end of the year.…
HP bids $2.4bn for 3PAR
Dell's new offer given drubbing
HP has raised its bid for 3PAR to $33 a share, around $2.4bn, beating a revised Dell offer made earlier today.…
Apple states tax take on UK iPod pricing
You pay this, we take that, George Osborne gets the other, Eurocrats get the rest
Apple has made it explicitly clear how much more its charging UK consumers for its kit than US-based buyers.…
Jobs takes swing at Google over Android activations
Who's got the bigger count?
Google and Apple's bush war flared up again as Steve Jobs apparently cast aspersions over Android's activation numbers as he unveiled Apple's latest iPod and TV scrub-up yesterday.…
Apple inks Ping trademark deal with golf gear maker
Orange Ping sticks to sweet stuff
Apple cleared the use of the word Ping with golf company PING before using the name for its new Web2.0 music look-up feature in iTunes.…
General Motors bitchslaps Tesla with Range Anxiety™
Fixed grins at cheeks-aflame 'leccycar firm
As US motor mammoth GM gears up for the launch of its plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt, it has applied to trademark the term "range anxiety" - meaning the fear suffered by battery-car owners regarding their ability to get home again after a given journey. Upstart battery car maker Tesla Motors has issued a panicky and unconvincing statement in response.…
Verbatim InSight 500GB external hard drive
Coming clean on capacity
Review Verbatim's InSight external hard drive is an unusual-looking offering, but that odd wave-like curve at the front is home to the unit's status readout screen.…
StreetView passed by Kiwi cops
Google's data slurp legal in New Zealand
Police in New Zealand have bounced a complaint about Google's StreetView service back to the country's Privacy Commissioner.…
RFID patent pool prices up wireless
0.08 cents per tag
The RFID Consortium has opened for business after five years of negotiations, providing a one-stop shop for all the patents needed to manufacture RFID tags and readers.…
Punters still puzzled by broadband ads
Thanks for that Sherlock
It will come as no surprise to regular readers that 90 per cent of UK consumers are confused by broadband advertising - we'd have to assume the missing ten per cent are marketing bods for ISPs.…
My Exchange conversion
Exchange Server 2010 heals 2007 release trauma
Sysadmin blog Recently I had the opportunity to walk through complete installs of Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2010. Although I have used Exchange Server 2007 for the past two years, as with Vista, I prefer to pretend it never happened.…
NASA seeks inflatable popup roof for camper vans on Mars
Space 'lofts' to feature two-ply 'bummer shielding'
NASA says it has selected finalists in an engineering competition to design an "inflatable loft", reminiscent of the extending roofs often fitted to camper vans, but in this case intended to deploy from the roof of a "hard-shell prototype habitat" for use by astronauts on the Moon or Mars.…
Hands on with Motorola's Milestone 2 and Defy
Latest Android handsets shot in the wild
Video Tom Satchwell, Director of Marketing, Motorola Europe demonstrates the company's latest Android offerings, the Milestone 2 and the Defy.…
If HP gets 3PAR, does Donatelli get HP?
HP, Dell, everyone schtum on 3PAR bids
Opinion 3Par has not issued a statement recommending HP's $2bn bid for the company, despite the ending of a three-day period for Dell to mount a counter-offer.…
Samsung specs up 7in Android tablet
Vodafone to sell it
Samsung has posted the spec for its upcoming Android tablet, the Galaxy Tab. And Vodafone has announced availability.…
Nokia blows Ovi Files out of the sky
Get off our cloud
Nokia has pulled the plug on Ovi Files, its cloud-based storage system, and told users they've got a month before the the system gets wiped.…
Symantec and Snoop Dogg launch cybercrime rap contest
Now thass geekster
Symantec has teamed up with rapper Snoop Dogg to launch a cybercrime rap contest.…
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