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Latest by Geoff Duncan

Apple Sued over iPod Hearing Loss Claims

Yes, you heard right: a Louisiana man has filed suit against Apple Computer, complaining iPods have a defective design which leads to hearing loss.

More Notebooks than Desktops Sold in 2005

It's been predicted for years, but 2005 may finally mark the first time notebook computers outsold desktop systems in the United States.

CBS To Sell Survivor Episodes Online

CBS says it plans to sell episodes of 'Survivor: Panama - Exile Island' from (gasp!) its own Web site for $1.99 per episode.

Authors Write Readers via Amazon Connect

Brace yourself: Amazon Connect is "enabling" customers to receive direct messages from favorite authors via the Amazon.com home page.

Microsoft Plans Gov’t Blog Complaint Rules

Microsoft pledges to create rules governing how it will deal with government complains about blogs and Web sites it hosts.

ICANN, VeriSign Limit .com Price Hikes

ICANN and Verisign have posted a revised version of their settlement agreement which would limit increases in .com domain fees.

Online Fraud Declining, Losses Up?

A new report from Javelin Strategy and Research finds incidents of online fraud are declining, while the average loss per incident is going up.

Warner Music to Offer Ringtones For Skype

Warner Music Group announced today it plans to make selected music available as ringtones to users of the Skype Internet telephony service.

AOL, Mark Burnett Team for Online Gold Rush

America Online and "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett have inked a deal for an online-only treasure hunt reality show.

RIM Prevails in German Patent Battle

A German court has ruled in favor of embattled BlackBerry maker RIM in a patent dispute, even as the company faces a possible U.S. shutdown.

Jupiter: TV Time and Online Time Now Equal

A new study from Jupiter Research reports that U.S. consumers now spend as much time online - 14 hours a week! - as they spend watching television.

LA City Attorney Sues Over GTA: San Andreas

It may be late to the game, but the LA City Attorney has filed a civil suit against Take-Two Interactive over hidden sex scenes in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Study: 35 Pct of Parents Play Video Games

A study from the Entertainment Software Association finds 35 percent of parents say they play computer and video games. How cool (er, how lame!) is that?

iTunes Adds SpongeBob, Punk’d, South Park

In a move perhaps notable because it doesn't involve Disney, iTunes is now offering shows from MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon.

Wal-Mart Serves Exclusive Online Music

In a move to establish a trendier image, mega-retailer Wal-Mart has launched Wal-Mart Soundcheck, online programming featuring exclusive studio performances and interviews.

DumbFind.com Adds Tags to Refine Searches

The new beta search engine Dumbfind.com has two search tags: one for your literal search terms, another for a tag or category you can use to narrow things down.

New IBM Speech Tech Aims to Be Superhuman

IBM has taken the wraps of new speech recognition technologies which can offer on-the-fly translation, create subtitles, and comprehend nuances of spoken English commands.

Ask Jeeves Launches New Image Search

Ask Jeeves has launched its own proprietary image search technology with a "Zoom" feature to cluster search results in useful ways.

Sony Grants Movie Rights for Siren

Sony Computer Entertainment has granted Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures rights to its "Siren" horror game.

Disney to Acquire Pixar for $7.4 Bln

The Walt Disney Company announced it'll be acquiring animation house Pixar in a $7.4 billion all-stock transaction, and putting Pixar CEO Steve Jobs on its board of directors.

Microsoft Gets Delay on EU Antitrust Fines

Microsoft has gained a few weeks' breathing room on the European Commission's recent threat to start levying $2 million-a-day fines over antitrust breaches.

Netflix to Carry HD DVD Titles in March

Rent-by-mail firm Netflix has announced it plans to carry HD DVD titles as soon as they launch this March.

Anime Now Arms Akimbo

Video-via-Internet company Akimbo will soon carry Anime Network, bringing a broad selection of popular Japanese animation titles to the video-on-demand market.

SmartVideo: Free Music Videos for Mobiles

SmartVideo Technologies says it's just put today's hottest music videos on Internet-capable mobile devices throughout North America - for free.

ABI: iTunes Ignited Online Video

Research firm ABI finds Apple's move to sell video via iTunes ignited a new market, although it'll take as long as five years to catch up to traditional distributors.

Supreme Court Passes on Hearing RIM Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear th latest chapter in RIM's torrid patent infringement case with NTP.

Intel, Nokia, Motorola Team for Mobile TV

Motorola, Intel, Nokia, Texas Instruments, and other firms have formed the Mobile DTV Alliance to tout DVB-H mobile video.

Mobile Phones Don’t Raise Cancer Risk

A new, large-scale UK study finds no link between mobile phone use and the development of brain cancer.

Phishing Attacks Reach All-Time High

The Anti-Phishing Working Group reports that unique email fraud attacks reached an all-time high in November 2005.

Twenty Years of PC Viruses

It was twenty years ago today / When PC viruses got away / Even though they're oh-so-wrong / They're definitely going strong

Google Spurns DOJ Search Data Subpoena

Sparking privacy debates, search engine Google has refused to comply with a White House subpoena demanding one week's worth of anonymized search queries.

Konica Minolta Exits Camera, Film Business

Surprising everyone, Japan's Konica Minolta is leaving the camera and film businesses, shutting down one of the world's best known names in photography.

U.S. Video Game Sales for PCs Fell in 2005

Retail sales monitor The NPD Group says U.S. PC video game sales sank 14 percent in 2005 to under $1 billion.

Disney Launches Preschool Online Service

The House of Mouse has rolled out Preschool Time Online, a $49.95/year broadband service which lets preschoolers learn with Disney Channel characters.

Cingular Offers Windows Mobile Smartphone

Cingular's new 2125 Smartphone features Windows Mobile 5.0, a $199 price tag, and no chiclet QWERTY keyboard.

Napster Claims 500K Premium Subscribers

Formerly rogue file-sharing service Napster claims more than 500,000 users have subscribed to its premium (and legal) online music service.

Seagate Ships Perpendicular Notebook Drives

Seagate has begun shipping 160GB, 2.5-inch notebook hard drives featuring data-dense perpendicular recording technology.

PreFound.com Lets Others Search For You

New site PreFound.com figures people are better than computers at evaluating search results, and delivers search results based on what other people have already found.