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Latest by Geoff Duncan

Executives Bow Out of Sling Media

A year after being acquired by EchoStar, five key executives from Sling Media are leaving the company.

Apple to Own 40 Pct of Smartphone Market?

A new forecast from UK market analysis firm says Apple might account for 40 percent of the world's smartphone market by 2013...knocking Nokia out of the top slot.

Rambus Patents Ruled Unenforceable

In a closely watched case, patents held by Rambus have been ruled unenforceable against memory maker Micron...because Rambus destroyed documents.

Outgoing FCC Chair Backs DTV Switch

Outgoing FCC chairman Kevin Martin said delaying the February 17, 2009 switch to digital TV would create confusion...but the voucher program needs to get running again.

China Closes 91 Sites In Morality Crackdown

China has shut down 91 Web sites - including a political blog - for offering pornographic and vulgar content.

Microsoft Opens Windows 7 Beta for 2 Weeks

Microsoft has apologized for problems eager Windows users encountered downloading the Windows 7 beta...and will offer unlimited downloads for two weeks.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G3 Packs Web Browser

Sony's new Cyber-shot DSC-G3 camera packs Wi-Fi...and an integrated Web browser to help users connect to Wi-Fi hotspots.

Panasonic Debuts Portable Blu-ray Player

Itching to take your Blu-ray content with you on the go? Panasonic's DMP-B15 will sport an 8.9-inch screen and three hours of video playback time.

Patent Suit Targets 22 Software Companies

A Texas company has filed a patent infringement suit against 22 companies for violating patents issued in the mid-1990s regarding application integrity and security.

AT&T Bringing Satellite TV to Vehicles

AT&T's new CruiseCast system will put satellite TV (and a foot-wide receiver dish) in your car for about $1,300...and $30 a month.

Mobile TV Coming to 22 U.S. Cities

The Open Mobile Video Coalition has announced 63 stations in 22 U.S. markets have committed to starting mobile television broadcasts in 2009.

Vizio Announces Connected HDTV Platform

Vizio says future TVs in its Connected HDTV platform will handle everything from Netflix and Blockbuster rentals to Rhapsody and Pandora music...and games.

Microsoft Inks Major Search Deals

Microsoft has beaten out Google and Yahoo as the preferred Internet search provider on Verizon Wireless, and packing Windows Live Search on new Dell PCs.

Sirius XM Rolls Out New MiRGE Radio

Newly combined Sirius XM satellite radio has rolled out the not-so-cleverly named MiRGE, its first interoperable radio combining Sirius and XM service.

Dell Rolls Out New XPS Studio Notebooks

Dell's new Studio XPS 16 and STudio XPS 13 notebooks feature high performance components...and a sleek black, leather, and aluminum look.

OLPC Lays Off Half Its Staff

The One Laptop Per Child Project is laying off half its staff - blaming the economic crunch - while now promising a $0 laptop for the world's least developed markets.

Gateway Intros Two Notebook Lines at CES

Gateway's new multimedia-friendly MD series features a 15.6-inch screen and fashionable options, while the lightweight UC series packs a 16:9 13.3-inch screen.

LaCie’s LaCinema Hard Disk Does HDTV

Is it a hard disk, or a media locker? LaCie's LaCinema Classic hard disk is kind of both, offering HDMI output, 1080p upscaling, DivX support...and up to 1 TB of storage.

SanDisk Packs the Hits into slotRadio

SanDisk's new slotRadio cards come with 1,000 songs from the BillBoard charts, presorted into playlists so users don't have to go to any effort.

Eye-Fi Plans to Support YouTube

Eye-Fi has announced it is working on a way for users of its Wi-Fi enabled media cards to upload video directly to YouTube.

Clearwire Lights Up WiMAX in Portland

Clearwire has launched its WiMAX mobile broadband network in Portland, Oregon, making it the second U.S. city with WiMAX 4G mobile broadband.

BlackBerry Curve 8900 Lands at T-Mobile

T-Mobile has announced it will be carrying the BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone this February...although it will not offer 3G data service.

Motorola Phone Uses Recycled Plastics

Motorola's A3100 smartphone runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and features a fully customizable touchscreen, while the new W233 Renew uses plastics made from recycled water bottles.

India’s Satyam Head Resigns, Admits Fraud

The chairman of India's Satyam Computer Services B. Ramalinga Raju has quit after admitting the company had been doctoring its books for years.

SanDisk Debuts One-Touch Backup USB Drive

SanDisk's new Ultra Backup USB portable flash drive is the world's first to offer single-touch integrated backup software.

Apple Unveils New MacBook, DRM-free iTunes

In the company's final Macworld keynote, Apple announces iLife '09, iWork '09, a new 17-inch MacBook Pro..and takes iTunes DRM-free.

HP Rolls Out New Systems at CES

Hewlett Packard is rolling out new computers at CES, including a new Firebird gaming desktop, new notebooks, and the HP Mini 2140.

Refurbed iPhones at Best Buy for $50 Off

Electronics retailer Best Buy has announced it is now carrying refurbished iPhone 3Gs, and selling the 8 GB model for $149 and the 16 GB model for $249.

At Last: Retrospect 8 for Windows and Mac

EMC has taken the wraps off Retrospect 8.0, a major update to its world-class backup software...with full versions for Windows and Mac OS X.

ClickFree Transformer Uses Any USB Drive

ClickFree's new Transformer Cable claims to turn any USB hard drive into a hassle-free automatic backup device for Windows.

Canon Rolls Out 2009 Camcorder Line

Canon has unveiled its 2009 camcorder line, including five HD Vixia camcorders and six standard-definition units...some of which use flash storage.

Samsung TVs to Pack Yahoo Widget Engine

Samsung has announced that by spring 2009, it will be selling HDTVs that can tap into Internet content via Yahoo's Widget Engine.

Adobe, Intel to Bring Flash to TVs

Adobe and Intel have announced plans to bring Adobe's Flash platform to televisions, enabling more sophisticated on-screen interfaces and access to Web content.

Apple’s Jobs Admits to Hormone Imbalance

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has admitted his recent weight loss has been caused by a hormonal imbalance...but it's easy to treat and he'll remain Apple's CEO.

Iomega Announces Home Media Network Drive

Iomega says their new Home Media Network Hard Drive is so easy to use novices can be backing up computers and streaming media in less than five minutes.

Nielsen: U.S. Album Sales Down 14 Pct

According to Nielsen Soundscan, U.S. music album sales were down 14 percent in 2008...and while albums downloads still grew, they didn't make up the difference.

Competitors Gain on Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer has historically been the 800-pound gorilla of the browser market - and it still is - but Firefox, Safari, and Chrome are all gaining converts.

Microsoft Planning Layoffs?

Unsubstantiated rumors have begun circulating Microsoft plans to lay off up to 17 percent of its global workforce as soon is mid-January. Do you believe it?