Archives: July 2007

Facebook Outage: Wakeup Call

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 31, Categories: Facebook

Facebook, the rapidly growing social networking service, went down this morning, and despite a company statement that it was brought down to fix a bug, I still get this screen...

Awaiting a Verdict in the First Options Backdating Criminal Trial

Posted by: Peter Burrows on July 30, Categories: Options Backdating

Earlier this morning, the jury in the Greg Reyes case filed out of the courtroom to begin their deliberations on the 10-count indictment of the former CEO of Brocade Communication....

Music Industry Takes on Traditional Radio

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 30, Categories: terrestrial radio

Music industry and traditional radio stations are about to start butting heads in another royalty battle starting up on Capitol Hill.

The uses of old computers

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on July 27, Categories: Curmudgeonly

Yesterday I visited the research labs of Eastman Kodak in Rochester, N.Y., and was struck, as I often am on visits to academic or industrial labs, by how old most...

Jimmy Wales' Search Project Gets a Grub Stake

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 27, Categories: Google, Search, Wiki, Wikipedia

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is moving another step closer to creating an open alternative to Google's search engine. Announced last December, the Search Wikia project is committed to "fix Internet...

A Big Day in the Greg Reyes Options Backdating Trial

Posted by: Peter Burrows on July 26, Categories: Options Backdating

Lawyers in the trial to convict former Brocade Communications CEO Greg Reyes on securities fraud and related charges gave their final arguments yesterday (or most of them, anyway. Attorneys are...

Verizon Bows to Google

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 26, Categories: wireless

Verizon Wireless has just agreed to side with Google on a major policy issue. That's indicative of a major power shift in the wireless industry.

Microsoft In, Google Out for Ads on Digg

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 25, Categories: Digg, Microsoft, Web 2.0, advertising

Kevin Rose at Digg is saying the popular user-driven news site has just signed a three-year exclusive ad deal with Microsoft. Bye-bye Google. Don't think it will hurt Google's bottom...

Who'd Buy an Unlocked iPhone?!

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 25, Categories: Apple Computer

Why would someone spend $800 on an unlocked iPhone? It's a mystery to me.

iPhone: Analysts and Reality

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on July 25, Categories: Apple Computer

Live by the hype, die by the hype. Apple (AAPL) stock took a beating yesterday when AT&T announced that it had activated "only" 146,000 iPhones during the two days in...

Amazon Blows 'Em Away Again

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 24, Categories: Amazon.com

The betting before Amazon.com posted second-quarter earnings was that it couldn't live up to the 80% uptick in its stock price so far this year. But the rising number of...

The Price of Power: Hackers Hit the iPhone

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on July 23, Categories: Apple Computer

I've caught a lot of flak over the years from Apple fans for maintaining that the relative freedom of the Mac from hacker attackers was due in part to the...

Where Have All the Star Witnesses Gone, in the Greg Reyes Backdating Trial?

Posted by: Peter Burrows on July 21, Categories: Options Backdating

Courtroom No. 8 at the Federal courthouse in San Francisco was packed last Thursday, on the assumption that Judge Charles Breyer would rule on a motion by the defense to...

Gotcha! SunRocket Leaves Angry Customers in its Wake

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 20, Categories: VOIP

Earlier this week, a friend of mine, Gail Norris, received the unpleasant news that her Web calling provider, SunRocket, was going out of business. That's the sort of news that can make one think twice about backing the Davids.

Amp'd On The Auction Block

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 20, Categories: wireless

Bankrupt wireless service provider Amp'd has decided to split up its business and to sell individual parts. I bet there will be many takers for Amp'd Live.

Fancy That! Google Misses on Earnings

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 19, Categories: Google, Microsoft, Search, Yahoo

Everybody knew Google was spending big bucks on everything from data centers to acquisitions. But investors, who have bid the stock up 20% so far this year, clearly had been...

Can WiMAX Slay the Dragons?

Posted by: Cliff Edwards on July 19, Categories: Internet

The plot thickens with a new technology called WiMAX. Billed as both a replacement for your cable and DSL, and a sort of wide-area mobile Wi-Fi, it seems the U.S....

Web Radio: In Trouble Still

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 18, Categories: net radio

It looks like the talks between music industry rep SoundExchange and Webcasters have broken down once again. I would be surprised to see the two parties returning to the negotiating table this week.

Not Much to Yahoo! About

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 17, Categories: Yahoo

In the first quarterly earnings report of the post-Terry Semel era, Yahoo! reported profits down about 2%. That was no surprise given the heads-up Yahoo provided a few weeks ago...

Jumping Off A Sinking Ship?

Posted by: Cliff Edwards on July 17, Categories: gaming

Hot on the heels of news from Microsoft that they have no idea just how many defects they expect of their millions of Xbox 360 consoles sold, the team's titular...

A Cell Phone Charm That Works

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 17, Categories: wireless

Most cell phone charms are useless. But now, a lava lamp maker has come out with a charm that's not all bling but also blink.

Will Facebook Kill Blogs?

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 16, Categories:

After seeing the kind of posts that appear on my Facebook "status updates" from my rapidly increasing roster of friends, I blurted out a status update myself: "Rob Hof is...

Facebook for $6 Billion? Wrong Question

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 12, Categories: Facebook

Amid a rumor that Facebook is now worth $6 billion to somebody like Microsoft, I think John Battelle gets it right: Mark Zuckerberg doesn't need anybody now. Through savvy moves...

Back to the future at HP

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on July 12, Categories: Business History

One of the most important tools from the early days of computing is about to make a comeback--sort of. Back in the early 1970s, the Hewlett Packard HP 35 scientific...

Coming Soon: iPhone Software Updates

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 10, Categories: Apple Computer

Apple may be about to unleash a slew of software upgrades for iPhone users. The upgrades will include iChat, says a person familiar with the matter.

Having Fun With iPhone Apps

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 10, Categories: wireless

Developers have already come out with some 150 applications for the iPhone. Which are your favorites?

Marc Andreessen's Ning Raises Huge Round of Funding

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 09, Categories: Marc Andreessen

Mike Arrington had the rumor first, and now Marc Andreessen has confirmed it: Ning, the mostly Andreessen-funded provider of services that let you create your own social-networking site, has raised...

If You Thought Google Wasn't Serious About Apps, Think Again

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 09, Categories: Google

When we wrote about the launch last February of Google Apps Premier Edition, some analysts I talked to questioned how serious the search giant was about its online office applications...

Sprint to Customers: You Are Fired, Take 2

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 06, Categories: wireless

I just talked to Sprint and got more details on why the company decided to let some of its customers go.

iPhone Europe: Don't Hold Your Breath

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on July 06, Categories: Apple Computer

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that despite a flurry of rumors, no announcement of an iPhone deal for Europe is imminent. Fortunately for us, writing...

Sprint to Customers: You Are Fired

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 05, Categories: wireless

Sprint just kicked out a bunch of its own customers. Their offense? Calling Sprint's customer service a lot. If you've been one of this letter's recepient, please contact me.

iPhone Profit Foolishness

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on July 04, Categories: Apple Computer

People who know anything about business, and the tech business in particular, should understand that there's a huge difference between the bill of materials of a piece of hardware and...

It's eBay Vs. Craiglist Now

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 03, Categories: craigslist, e-commerce, eBay

Here everybody thought Craigslist was safe from an ever-expanding eBay by virtue of the latter's 25% stake in the popular classified-ad service. No dice. Today, eBay quietly launched its heretofore...

A Running Shoe That Lights The Way

Posted by: Olga Kharif on July 02, Categories: Innovation

Shoe design goes more and more high-tech: Lunar Design, a company that designs everything from tooth brushes to cell phones, just announced it's developed a running shoe that illuminates runners as they run in the dark.

Can Yahoo Make Display Ads Work More Like Search?

Posted by: Rob Hof on July 02, Categories: Yahoo

With SmartAds, Yahoo is tapping into user behavior to help advertisers target ads in a more personalized way. I'm skeptical whether consumers will ever, as Todd Teresi, Yahoo's senior vice-president...

A Mixed Morning for Apple

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on July 02, Categories: Apple Computer

There's good news and bad news in Cupertino this morning. The good, of course, is the iPhone launch, which could hardly have gone better. While it's hard to figure out...