Information Portal

The phone that feels the flu before you do (AP)

AP - Did your parents tell you to remember your scarf when you went out, so you wouldn't catch a cold? Today, the advice might be: Remember your cell phone.

Amazon.com Feeds Impulse Shopping Frenzy with iPhone App (PC World)

PC World - Just in time for the busy holiday shopping season, Amazon.com has released an iPhone App that gives users a direct portal to the Website without the Safari middleman. After you sign into your account, the Amazon App lets you search, buy items with a single click, ...

Actual Numbers on Paid Airport Wi-Fi Usage

I've been trying for years to get real numbers about paid airport sessions and usage from Wi-Fi providers: Then the Miami-Dade airport authority just goes and reveals them all. Cool. A local paper reports that the the authority expects to net $700,000 instead of $900,000 as its share of service. ...

EA Buys J2MSoft in Another Move Into Online Games in Asia (PC World)

PC World - Digital game developer Electronic Arts (EA) announced its second move into Asia's online game market on Tuesday, by buying South Korean online game developer J2MSoft Inc.

Entellium Files Bankruptcy, Intuit Eyeing Assets (PC World)

PC World - Troubled CRM (customer relationship management) vendor Entellium has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Intuit is interested in buying the company's assets, according to documents filed in a Washington state U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Wikipedia hopes to make editing user-friendly (AP)

AP - Concerned that many would-be contributors to Wikipedia are being scared away, the foundation that runs the Internet encyclopedia is getting a $890,000 grant to try to make the editing process more user-friendly.

Will Mac Become a Virus Trap? (PC World)

PC World - Apple has backed off its suggestion that Macs require antivirus software. Yesterday, the computer maker suffered a public relations nightmare after an article was discovered on the company's site encouraging Mac users to install antivirus software. Less than 24 hours later, Apple has quietly removed ...

Open-source Developers Set out Software Road Map for 2020 (PC World)

PC World - A group of open-source software advocates set out a road map for the software industry through 2020 at the Open World Forum conference in Paris on Tuesday.

iPhone Beware, The Nokia N97 Is Coming (PC World)

PC World - After months of waiting, Nokia finally announced the N97, the company's second (unreleased) device to challenge the iPhone and revive to the N-series to their former glory. With a 3.5" touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera and 32GB of memory, the N97 is one phone worth waiting for in the ...

Say It Ain’t So: Apple Encourages Antivirus Software (PC World)

PC World - After years of belittling-and rightfully so-Windows' lame security, Apple is quietly "encouraging" OSX users to try a little protection themselves. In a brief knowledge base article on its support site, Apple suggests that running security software is probably a good idea.

Tight Budgets Favor Low-end Servers (PC World)

PC World - Server shipments grew in the third quarter this year, though server revenue declined as companies lowered spending to meet budgetary constraints, according to a study released by Gartner on Monday.

Microsoft: Xbox 360 Routs PS3 in Record Black Friday Sales (PC World)

PC World - It's a Microsoft press release, so handle with care, but the company's claiming it did more than admirably on Black Friday, it hit the ball out of the park. Not only did the Xbox 360 outsell Sony's PlayStation 3 by three-to-one, says Microsoft, but the 360 managed ...

The Best of 2008 on iTunes

Where can you find the best movies, best albums, and best new artists of 2008? On the iTunes Store, of course. We’ve collected your favorites — the best-selling audiobooks, Apps, TV shows, songs, music videos, and podcasts — and combined them with our staff picks. The result: a huge collection ...

Netbooks Dominate Cyber Monday on Amazon (PC World)

PC World - Netbooks dominated the Computers & PC hardware bestsellers list on Amazon.com on Cyber Monday in the U.S., the biggest online shopping day of the year.

Mobile Handset Market to Shrink in 2009, Says ISuppli (PC World)

PC World - The global cell phone handset market will contract next year as consumers hang on to their handsets longer amid tough economic times, market-research company iSuppli said Wednesday.

Scientists ask: Is technology rewiring our brains? (AP)

AP - What does a teenage brain on Google look like? Do all those hours spent online rewire the circuitry? Could these kids even relate better to emoticons than to real people? These sound like concerns from worried parents. But they're coming from brain scientists.

“Plenty dazzling,” iPhone tops tech gift list

On the second day of his “12 Days of Christmas Tech Gifts,” Mike Wendland (freep.com) turns his attention to smartphones. “The best phone period,” he affirms, “remains the Apple iPhone.” “Groundbreaking in its functionality, features, and fun,” iPhone also tops his list because of the App Store, which “gives it ...

Are the Cars the Politicans Want to See the Ones You Want to Drive?

One of the striking elements of the Ford and GM business plans being presented to the Senate and House committees is both companies say they intend to comply fully with the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. In...

Croatian PM orders probe into Facebook-linked detentions (AFP)

AFP - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader launched an inquiry Wednesday into the detention and questioning of people from Internet groups who criticised his government.

Apple may be chilling iTunes competition: critics (Reuters)

Reuters - Apple might be unfairly blocking rival software makers who want to sell music for its iPhone, according to some rivals and a technology rights group.

Rising royalties send Yahoo’s Launchcast to CBS (AP)

AP - Yahoo Inc. is plugging its Internet radio service into CBS Corp.'s webcasting network in a move driven by dramatically higher fees for airing music online.

CORE: M-Rated First-Person Shooter for Nintendo DS Goes Gold (PC World)

PC World - You can count the number of DS-based first-person shooters on one hand. Three fingers, really, between GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, Call of Duty 4, and Metroid Prime: Hunters.

CBS to power Yahoo’s online radio service (AFP)

AFP - Yahoo on Wednesday announced a deal to let US radio giant CBS run its LAUNCHcast service that streams broadcasts online.

Shoppers Opened Their Wallets on Cyber Monday (PC World)

PC World - Cyber Monday, the day after the Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S., lived up to its reputation for big online retail sales, triggering disproportionately high spending during this so far modest holiday shopping season.

MySpace Mobile Launches Streaming Video (NewsFactor)

NewsFactor - The mobile revolution is merging with the social-networking revolution as MySpace partners with mobile video company RipCode on a new streaming-video service. MySpace announced its latest foray on Wednesday.

Electronic Arts buys South Korean game developer (AFP)

AFP - US videogame publisher Electronic Arts on Wednesday announced it had purchased J2MSoft Inc., a South Korean developer of online games for personal computers.

Cutting costs but still want a fancy phone? (Reuters)

Reuters - The U.S. economy's worst crisis since the 1930's depression may have some consumers questioning the wisdom of buying a fancy new cell phone just yet, but those who can't wait just might find some deals out there.

IDC sees decline in US PC market next year (AP)

AP - U.S. shipments of personal computers are expected to drop nearly 3 percent next year, while demand in much of the rest of the world will slow down quickly as the financial crisis spreads, research firm IDC said Wednesday.

Chinese City Requires Net Cafes to Use Legitimate Software (PC World)

PC World - Nanchang, the capital of China's eastern Jiangxi province, has required Internet cafe operators to replace pirated server software with licensed versions. Cafes that don't will lose their license to operate, but some are grumbling about the cost of installing legitimate software.

Wipro Redeploys Some Engineering Staff to BPO (PC World)

PC World - Indian outsourcer Wipro has decided to assign to its business process outsourcing (BPO) operations some of the software engineers it had promised to hire from college campuses.