Archive

The Truth in Caller ID Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. The bill aims to prevent misrepresentation of the called-from number on voice calls through any channel. Called "caller ID spoofing," the practice involves using various types of software to insert a name and number pe...

In the midst of a dispute with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over control of the airwaves, a group of broadcast companies announced a joint venture to develop a national mobile content service -- that is, "mobile TV." Including television broadcasting heavyweights such as NBC and Fox, ...

The FCC believes it has the authority to implement its National Broadband Plan -- a wide-ranging initiative that calls for nationwide Internet services, greater availability of wireless connectivity, and improved rural access to such services -- despite a recent court ruling that clouds the issue. T...

Microsoft auditors are rushing to inspect a factory in China where workers are said to be turning out products for the software giant and other high-tech firms under prison-like conditions. "We have a team of independent auditors en route to the facility to conduct a complete and thorough investigat...

Seagate and Paramount Digital Entertainment have launched a limited promotion for a Seagate portable hard drive that has been on the market for about a year-and-a-half -- they are now offering it preloaded with Paramount movies. The 21 movies preloaded on the 500 GB FreeAgent Go can be viewed only a...

Twitter's No. 1 focus is now on revenue, and the social-networking Web site wants to reassure software developers that they will get a piece of the growing pie. At Twitter's first-ever conference for developers -- the Chirp conference being held in San Franscisco on Wednesday and Thursday -- the yo...

Google isn't the only entity taking an interest in Twitter's tweets. That most venerable of government institutions, the Library of Congress, announced Wednesday it will archive every single "what's happening?" update broadcast on the short message service since it opened for business in 2006. Grant...

After months of questions about how Twitter plans on making money, the short message service and social media phenomenon on Tuesday launched its first foray into advertising. However, in doing so, the company made it clear that traditional corporate interests would take a back seat to overall custom...

The cocreators of the blockbuster "Call of Duty" series are back in the game. Jason West and Vince Zampella, who formed Infinity Ward in 2002, are launching a new development studio, Respawn Entertainment, and the duo signed an exclusive publishing agreement with Electronic Arts, which will distribu...

In today's economic environment, the last thing a CIO wants to hear is that the IT security product his or her organization purchased last year isn't going to make the cut moving forward. Sometimes the product simply doesn't work with existing infrastructure or doesn't integrate well with establish...

Now that rumors of Palm putting itself up for sale are being substantiated left and right, speculation turns to suitors. Which companies would most enliven the smartphone market by purchasing the company that nearly single-handedly developed the PDA space lo those many years ago? Prospective acquire...

Twitter has made a number of moves in the past few days that have jangled the nerves of third-party developers who fear the micro-blogging site is about to make a big push into their territory. For starters, Twitter has acquired Atebits, the maker of Tweetie, a Twitter client for the iPhone. Twitter...

Angel investing groups are still going strong despite the economic downturn. Although private equity financing dates back to the Sumerians, the current incarnation really began after World War II. The trend has accelerated since the first whirlwind of dot-com businesses in the 1990s sought private f...

Palm's share prices rallied Friday, boosted by rumors that the troubled handset maker was being pursued by prospective buyers. At press time, its shares stood at $5.16, up almost 11 percent over the previous day's close of $4.65. Palm's shares have been on the uptick all week due to buyout rumors, w...

A year ago, I suggested that the Software as a Service and cloud computing industry was entering a new stage in which vendors would begin putting greater emphasis on expanding their sales channels to broaden the addressable market for their solutions. Anyone following the SaaS/cloud computing indu...