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Latest by Geoff Duncan

Internet Explorer: Now Only 86 Pct Dominant

A new Web traffic survey finds Internet Explorer losing ground to Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, Safari, and Opera: now, IE accounts for less than seven-eighths of Web traffic.

Startup Truveo Claims Best Video Search

Start-up company Truveo today took the wraps off its video search engine, claiming more up-to-date and higher quality results than either Yahoo or Google.

More Bang…er, More Bucks for Your Phone!

Upscale Danish electronics firm Bang & Olufsen have announced they'll soon launch a super-simple, high-end mobile phone with Samsung.

Game Boy Micro Debuts in Japan

Nintendo's new cellphone-sized handheld game unit opens strong in Japan; how will it do in the U.S. next week?

XM Radio Inks $100 Mln Slapshot with NHL

XM Radio is paying $100 million to broadcast 10 years of National Hockey League games. This for a league which lost its 2004-2005 season!

Sony Recalls 3.6 Mln PS2 Power Adapters

Sony Computer Entertainment is recalling roughly 3.6 million power adapters which shipped with the thin version of the PlayStation 2 because they may overheat and melt.

Pioneer AV Receivers Add XM Radio, iPod

Pioneer's new Elite VSX-74TXVi and VSX-72TXV AV receivers add support for iPods and XM Satellite Radio at the heart of your home theater system.

NetFlix: The Tide Has Turned

Online DVD rental firm NetFlix is forecasting substantial profit increases over the next several years as the company adds subscribers and video rental stores shut down.

Japan’s Access Buys PalmSource for $324 Mln

Japanese software developer Access announced it's buying PalmSource, makers of the Palm OS, for $324 million to strengthen its mobile phone software portfolio.

Sony’s New Walkmans Gunning for the iPod

Sony is rolling out sexy new disk- and flash-based portable music players in Japan now, and elsewhere by the end of the year.

Apple Ships Tiny iPod nano

Apple kills off its the iPod mini in favor of the new flash-based iPod nano: thinner than a #2 pencil, weighing just 1.5 ounces, featuring a color screen, and starting at $199.

Inkjet Cartridge Refills Violate U.S. Law?

In a ruling with wide implications, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court last week ruled that refilling a "single use only" Lexmark printer cartridge violates U.S. contract and patent law.

Samsung Player to Play Blu-Ray and HD DVD

Next year Samsung reportedly plans to offer a DVD player capable of handling both the Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats if rivals Sony and Toshiba can't agree on a standard.

Australia: Kazaa OKs Copyright Infringement

In a ruling echoing the U.S. Supreme Court decision against Grokster, an Australian court has ruled P2P file-sharing network Kazaa authorized copyright infringement.

Mobile Phones in Europe Vying for iTunes

At Berlin's IFA electronics show, Germany's T-Mobile and the UK's O2 mobile phone providers both say they want to sell iTunes for their phones, maybe as soon as next week.

Intel to Be Inside Philips’ Showline

PC chip maker Intel's first major step into consumer electronics will be supplying the processor, chipsets, and some software for Philips' forthcoming Showline Media Center.

Toshiba Adds Pay-for-Use Mobile Internet

Toshiba opens up its MyConnect mobile Internet service to include a pay-for-user option where users pay $3.95 an hour only for time they're connected to the Internet.

Ruckus Brings Warner Home Video to Campuses

Warner Home Video and digital media provider Ruckus announced Warner feature films and television episodes will be available to student subscribers on Ruckus-enabled campuses.

Opera Browser is Free Today!

Norway's Opera Software has announced its flagship Web browser software is free on August 30th to celebrate the product's 10th anniversary.

Cingular To Sell Motorola’s iTunes Phone?

Ovum analyst Roger Entner has been quoted as saying Cingular, Motorola, and Apple will jointly announce that Cingular will be selling Motorola's iTunes-enabled cell phone.

Best Buy to Offer Velocity Micro Systems

Tech retailer Best Buy plans to offer Velocity Micro's famously high-end, hand-built gaming boxes to its in-store and online product offerings.

Blizzard: We Are Legion

Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft has over 1 million customers, and the company boasts more than 4 million players for its massively multi-player online games worldwide.

Verizon Intros Wireless Broadband & Video

Verizon has introduced BroadbandAccess, wide-area wireless broadband service in the San Francisco Bay Area, and V CAST, consumer-oriented video-on-demand for cell phones.

Up the Rio: D&M Closes Its Music Player Biz

A would-be iPod-killer becomes the iPod's latest victim as electronics maker D&M takes its Rio line of digital audio players off the market.

Zotob, Mytob Worm Writers Arrested

Morrocan and Turkish authorities, working with the FBI and assisted by Microsoft, have arrested the alleged authors of the Zotob and Mytob Windows worms.

FCC Gives VOIP 30-Day Extension on 9-1-1

The FCC has extended by 30 days its deadline that VOIP providers get customers to acknowledge they know they might have problems dialing 911 in an emergency.

IBM to Ship Continuous Backup Software

IBM's Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files backs up data locally and can transmit it to remote servers. And it's designed with mobile users in mind!

Whoa! Rewind that! TiVo Posted a Profit?

TiVo, the company which brought digital video recorders to the mainstream, did something new today: it posted its first-ever quarterly profit. Just don't get used to it.

Play Halo?! Nah. I’ll Wait for the Movie.

Microsoft has inked a deal to bring a movie based on its popular sci-fi video game "Halo" to the big screen in 2007.

Digital Shutterbugs Focus on Retail Prints

A new study from IDC reveals the number of pictures taken and printed by digital photographers in the U.S. continues to rise, but fewer images are being printed at home.

Intel Outlines Three New, Cool CPUs

Intel demonstrated three forthcoming dual-core CPUs codenamed Merom, Conroe, and Woodcrest at is Intel Developer Forum, emphazing performance-per-watt over raw speed.

Skype Opens Up to Web sites and Net Apps

The IP telephony and messaging firm Skype will let Web sites and net-based programs like games and music players integrate Skype services.

Over 39 Mln U.S. Homes Have Broadband

Research from the CMA Group finds more than 39 million U.S. households have broadband, but cable companies dipped to 55 percent of the market, their lowest share ever.

PSP 2.0 Firmware for North America Released

Sony has finally released the North American version of its 2.0 firmware for the PlayStation Portable (PSP), adding Web browsing capabilities.

Google Talk Offers IM and Voice Features

Hoping it's better to be late to a party than not to show up at all, Google launches its free beta Google Talk instant messaging and voice-over-Internet service.

Akimbo to Pitch Baseball-over-IP

Akimbo announces it will be offering official Major League Baseball content via its Internet-based video-on-demand service, including condensed games, highlights, and historic games

SmugMug Ties User Photos to Google Maps

Online photo-sharing site SmugMug now lets users tie their photos to Google Maps by entering a street address or GPS coordinates.

Sun Jump-Starts Open-Source DRM Project

Sun Microsystems is taking aim at Microsoft, Real Networks, and Apple by starting an open-source digital rights management (DRM) project called the Open Media Commons.