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Latest by Geoff Duncan

Amazon Posts Strong Fourth Quarter Results

Bucking global trends of layoffs, losses, and downsizing, online retailer Amazon posted a $225 million quarterly profit...an an upbeat forecast.

Irish ISP to Block Illegal Music Downloads

In a settlement with record companies, Irish ISP Eircom has agreed to shut down users who illegally download music from the Internet.

NEC Cutting 20,000 Jobs

Japanese electronics giant NEC has announced it is cutting some 20,000 jobs and pulling out of some businesses as the economy hits the company's bottom line.

Dell to Enter Smartphone Market?

The Wall Street Journal reports that computer maker Dell is getting ready to move into the smartphone market...with an announcement coming as soon as February.

Upgrade to iTunes Plus One Song at a Time

Apple has enabled users to upgrade previously purchased tracks to DRM-free iTunes Plus format one song at a time, rather than converting entire libraries.

EA To Expand Boom Blox Franchise

EA has announced Boom Blox Bash Party, an expansion of its Boom Blox animated action title created in collaboration with Steven Spielberg.

Kodak, AOL Announce Job Cuts

Kodak has announced it plans to lay off between 3,500 and 4,500 workers, while AOL is jettisoning 700 more people - about 10 percent of its work force.

Google To Track ISP’s Bandwidth Throttling

Google's new Measurement Lab aims to let Internet users test their Internet connections...and determine if their ISPs are placing limits on their activity.

Nokia Intros Three New Handsets

Nokia has announced three new cell phones solidly in the tradition that made Nokia the world's top handset maker...but don't look for them in North America.

Skeptics Eye Cox’s New Network Management

Cox has announced a new network management system that can "momentarily delay" non-time-sensitive network traffic during congestion...and skeptics are dubious.

InFocus Projects DisplayLink to Intel Macs

InFocus has announced support for Intel Macs, enabling Mac users to control up to six projectors via USB.

NEC’s Eye Flavor Signage is Watching You

NEC's "eye flavor" digital signage board uses facial recognition technology to display ads based on perceived age and gender, and evaluate viewers' interest.

EU Scientists Want Kids to Turn Down PMPs

An EU scientific committee warns 5 to 10 percent of PMP users are risking permanent hearing loss from listening to music an hour a day at high volumes.

Kodak Announces 10 Megapixel EasyShare C180

Kodak's new EasyShare C180 features a 2.4-inch screen, 10 megapixel resolution, YouTube uploading, and a slim price tag, but you have to wait until August.

Apple Gets Papermaster

Apple has reached an undisclosed resolution with IBM, and Mark Papermaster will take over as Apple's hardware czar on April 24.

Man Buys Used iPod with U.S. Troop Data

A New Zealand man got more than he bargained for buying a used iPod: some 60 pages of U.S. military data, including personally identifying information.

Spam Levels Rising After McColo Shutdown

Last year's shutdown of bot-controller host McColo sent spam levels down as much as 70 percent..but now the spammers are coming back.

WTO Favors U.S. Over China on Piracy

The World Trade Organization has given the U.S. a major piracy victory, finding China has failed to live up to obligations to protect intellectual property.

Senate Passes DTV Delay Bill

Hey, you know that all-important February 17, 2009 date for being ready for digital TV. Yeah...the U.S. Senate has voted to push that back to June 12. Confused yet?

Panasonic Refreshes Lumix Camera Line

Panasonic has announced new Lumix digital cameras, including a 12 megapixel point-and-shoot and two models that, technically, can capture high-definition video.

NetBooks to Hit 35 Million in 2009?

ABI Research says 2009 will be the start of the netbook era, expecting that 35 million netbooks will be shipped worldwide this year.

Internet Tops 1 Billion Visitors

Market analysis firm comScore says more that the global Internet audience topped 1 billion people in December 2008...and China is the largest single market.

Settlement Scratches 1st-Gen iPod nano Itch

A settlement enables owners of those oh-so-easily-scratched first generation iPod nanos can enter their serial numbers for a $15 to $25 rebate.

Windows 7 Beta Available Through Feb 10

Microsoft has extended the deadline to download the first beta of Windows 7 to February 10.

Sprint Nextel to Cut 8,000 Jobs

Sprint Nextel has announced it will be eliminating some 8,000 jobs by the end of March, looking to save almost $1.2 billion a year.

Verizon Network Extender Takes It Inside

Verizon Wireless has launched its own femtocell product to improve in-home cell phone reception...and while it costs $249 up-front, there's no monthly fee.

Best Buy Takes Recycling Program Nationwide

Best Buy plans to expand its consumer electronics recycling program to over 1,000 U.S. stores on February 15, 2009.

VeriSign Buys Certicom Out from Under RIM

Remember when BlackBerry maker RIM was all set to buy security company Certicom? Not so fast: VeriSign has just bought up the company.

EA Flips Skate 2 Out to Stores

EA has shipped Skate 2 out to retailers for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3...and virtual boarders everywhere had better be ready for a challenge.

Lawmakers Eye June 12 DTV Transition Delay

Lawmakers are considering a bill to put the U.S. digital TV transition back to June 12th to give consumers more time to get ready - and get converter vouchers.

Memory Maker Qimonda Declares Bankruptcy

German DRAM maker Qimonda has filed for bankruptcy, making it the first memory manufacturer claimed by the economic downturn.

Nielsen: 5.7 Pct of Homes Aren’t DTV-Ready

Market research firm Nielsen reports that 6.5 million U.S. homes - that's about 5.7 percent of American households - aren't ready for the DTV transition.

HTC Touch Cruise Stays on Location

HTC's forthcoming Touch Cruise smartphone offers a Footprints feature lets users tag notes, audio clips, and pictures with geographic location data.

Supreme Court Quietly Kills COPA Act

The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of a ban on the Child Online Protection Act, effectively killing the controversial 1998 law.

Intel to Close Older Factories, Cut Jobs

Intel has announced plans to shut down some of its older manufacturing facilities...and the move may eliminate up to 6,000 jobs.

Microsoft Announces Layoffs

Microsoft has announced its first layoffs in corporate history, slashing 1,400 positions today and expecting to bring the total to 5,000 in the next 18 months.

Apple Reports Record Quarterly Revenue

What recession? Apple scored its best quarterly revenue ever, buoyed by sales of 2.5 million Macs, nearly 4.4 million iPhones, and almost 23 million iPods.

Apple Revs Up Low-End MacBook

Apple has quietly updated the low end of its MacBook line with Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics, a 1066Mhz frontside bus, 2 GB of RAM...and the same price.