Archives: August 2009

Help for Snow Leopard Printing Woes

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 31, Categories: Apple

By and large, Mac upgrades to Snow Leopard seem to be going pretty smoothly, but there are a lot of reports of problems with printers and scanners. This isn't entirely...

Can Hulu’s High Prices Hold?

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on August 31, Categories: video

This fall, new episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, and other hit shows will keep millions of online eyeballs glued to Hulu. But some advertisers are reluctant to pay the...

Clearing the Clouds from VMware's Road Map

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on August 31, Categories: software

VMware eased into its annual conference in San Francisco on Aug. 31 with a few small announcements about cost savings and industry partnerships. The spotlight now turns to Chief Executive...

Snow Leopard: Printer Compatibility Update

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 31, Categories: Apple

Since the release of Snow Leopard on Friday, there have been lots of reports of printer incompatibilities, mostly involving Hewlett-Packard and Epson printers. Both companies have responded with fairly detailed...

Calix Raises $100 Million in Funding

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 31, Categories: broadband

Carl Russo, the legendary entrepreneur who sold a start-up to Cisco for $7 billion several years ago, can be proud of another milestone. On Aug. 31, Calix, a networking equipment company where Russo is CEO, announced it completed a $100 million round of funding lead by Foundation Capital. Russo tells BusinessWeek.com he poured in some of his own money as well.

Intel Boosts Outlook on Improving Demand

Posted by: Cliff Edwards on August 28, Categories: Chips, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Personal Computers, Tech Spending

Dell, Hewlett-Packard Co. and other customers of Intel remain cautious about end-user demand, but the chipmaker says things are finally looking up. Santa Clara (Calif.)-based Intel on Aug. 28 said...

Snow Leopard's Secret Anti-Malware Feature

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 27, Categories: Apple

Snow Leopard, the new version of Apple's Mac operating system, is sufficiently short on new user features that Apple wouldn't have hidden one of the more significant additions. But that's...

Free Software Foundation Wants to Waste Your Money

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 26, Categories: open source

The Free Software Foundation, whose mission of supplying the world with free (as in free speech, not free beer, as founder Richard M. Stallman puts it) software sometimes looks like...

One-Off Viral Videos Now Can Make Money on YouTube

Posted by: Rob Hof on August 25, Categories: Google, YouTube, advertising, digital media, video

Ever since Google's YouTube video sharing unit started trying to make some serious money in late 2007, it has mainly tried to place ads on videos produced by people who...

Motorola to Launch Its Android Phone on Sept. 10

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 25, Categories: wireless

I just received an e-mail invitation to a Sept. 10 Motorola event in San Francisco. The invite provides no details on the mysterious event, but it features the fun little robot that represents Androidwhich is software for mobile phones created by a coalition of companies led by Google. It's clearly not a stretch to call this invite what it is: An invitation to the launch of Motorola's first Android-based phone.

Sony’s Family of E-Readers Grows

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on August 25, Categories: E-books

Look out, Amazon. During a Tuesday morning event for journalists held at the New York Public Library, Sony announced a new, touch-screen wireless electronic book reader that will take aim...

Rhapsody for iPhone: RealNetworks Tweaks Apple's Tail

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 24, Categories: Apple

Reflecting the personality of its combative CEO, Rob Glaser, RealNetworks has never been a company to shrink from a fight. Over the years, it has gone head-to-head with Microsoft, Apple,...

Nokia Unveils Netbook, Beats Apple to the Punch

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 24, Categories: wireless

On Aug. 24, Nokia unveiled its first netbook. Called the Nokia Booklet 3G, the long-rumored device features a 10-inch screen, weighs 2.75 pounds, runs Windows, and can connect to Wi-Fi as well as to cellular wireless networks.

Apple, AT&T, and the Rush to Judgment

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 22, Categories: Apple

Back in July, when Apple rejected the iPhone Google Voice from the iTunes App Store, the tech world instantly came to the conclusion that AT&T, iPhone's exclusive U.S. carrier, made...

DC Metro: How Not to Use Twitter

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 21, Categories: Twitter

Twitter and Washington, D.C.'s Metro transit system would seem to be made for each other. Metro customers need real-time status information, especially given the system's recent bout of large and...

AT&T to Require Data Plans for Smartphones

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 21, Categories: wireless

Starting on Sept. 6, AT&T will require all new smartphone users to subscribe to the carrier's wireless data plans, the company confirms to BusinessWeek.com.

FCC to Examine Wireless Industry Competition

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 21, Categories: wireless

On Aug. 27, the Federal Communications Commission will consider whether to examine the state of competition in the wireless industry. The agency may decide to look more closely at the industry's largest players, including Verizon Wireless and AT&T

Laptops' Price Slide Continues

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 20, Categories: PC

Consumers could long buy tiny laptops called netbooks for under $300. Now, it appears that larger notebooks' prices are sliding in the same direction as well.

Microsoft's Patent Dust-Ups

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on August 19, Categories: Bill Gates, Microsoft, open source software, patents, software

For the past half dozen years, Microsoft has been busily getting its patent house in order. In a bid to protect itself against lawsuits alleging that it has infringed on...

MySpace Buys Popular Facebook App iLike

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on August 19, Categories: MySpace

After rumors of an impending deal leaked two days earlier, MySpace officially announced its acquisition of music startup iLike on Wednesday. Though terms of the deal were not disclosed, AllThingsD...

Greg Reyes Exonerated On Options Backdating. Why That's A Good Thing.

Posted by: Peter Burrows on August 19, Categories: Options Backdating

I've covered Greg Reyes' legal woes around options backdating from the very start--from the time word was just starting to zip around Silicon Valley that the Justice Department was looking...

Duh! RBC Analyst Says iPhone To Challenge Incumbents

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 18, Categories: Curmudgeonly

I get a lot of analysts reports and except for the work of a few folks whose judgment and reporting skills I value, toss most of them unread. But for...

Dell's Cell Phone Strategy: Off To A Fizzling Start

Posted by: Peter Burrows on August 17, Categories: Dell

Over the past two years, Dell Inc. has been working on an expanded consumer strategy, but wisely wanted to keep quiet until it had its story just right. After all,...

myYearbook: Would You Pay for Social Networking Extras?

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on August 17, Categories: Social Media

In many ways, myYearbook is the polar opposite of Facebook. While the average age of Facebook users gets older and older, myYearbook grows its core demographic of 13-17 year-olds, which...

Apple Tablet: The Mystery of Data Input

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 17, Categories: Apple

I swore to myself that I wouldn't write about the Apple tablet, that great unicorn of the high tech world, until I had some actual knowledge of what it really...

RockMelt Web Browser Faces Uphill Climb

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on August 14, Categories: Web browser

Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen is busy making dozens of small bets on startups in his $300 million venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. RockMelt may emerge as one of his most...

ZTE Makes Inroads Into the U.S.

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 13, Categories: wireless

On Aug. 13, ZTE announced that Verizon Wireless will carry its wireless broadband USB modem. This is the first time for Verizon to offer a ZTE product. The deal could be the precursor of more wins to come ZTE's way.

Outlook for the Mac: Suddenly Everyone Loves Exchange

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 13, Categories: Apple

Microsoft's announcement today that it was bringing Outlook to the Mac, reported by my colleague Arik Hesseldahl, was a very curious one. The product is not due for more than...

Does Palm Violate User Privacy?

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 13, Categories: Palm

Does Palm Pre infringe user privacy more than other phones do? According to one software developer, the smartphone collects data on user location and sends it to Palm. The device also notifies Palm if an application crashes.

Appeals Court Nixes DVD Copying, Reverses Kaleidescape

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 12, Categories: digital media

If you think people should be able to make copies of their own DVDs and believe that bad news comes in threes, brace yourself. Yesterday, a federal court in Los...

Hollywood Wins Key Round Against RealNetworks' RealDVD

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 11, Categories: digital media

Hollywood extended its nearly unbroken string of legal victories in defense of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Tuesday when U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel issued a preliminary injunction (PDF,...

Bendix/King AV8OR: Nav on the Road or in the Sky

Posted by: Stephen Wildstrom on August 11, Categories: Navigation

Personal navigation devices have been having a rough time lately. Competition in an increasingly commoditized market is driving down prices--and margins. And standalone PNDs are being squeezed between more and...

Clearwire to Buy Huawei Gear

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 11, Categories: wireless

On Aug. 11, emerging wireless services provider Clearwire announced it selected Huawei as a provider of certain wireless networking gear. Huawei joins vendors Motorola and Samsung, which have already signed up to provide Clearwire with base stations that transmit wireless signals at cell sites. "It's another proof that we are serious about the North American market," Charlie Chen, senior vice president of marketing & product management for Huawei USA tells BusinessWeek.com.

What Is Tech's Top Rivalry?

Posted by: Peter Burrows on August 10, Categories: Reader Poll

Once upon a time, rivalries really mattered in the tech industry--far more than they do now. Maybe the industry's behavior has simply matured along with the underlying economics. Growth...

VMware Acquires SpringSource to get Stickier

Posted by: Aaron Ricadela on August 10, Categories: Enterprise Software, IBM, Java, Mergers And Acquisitions, Microsoft, software

VMware took a big step today toward making its software less replaceable in corporate data centers. The company, which makes virtualization software that lets businesses run servers more efficiently, spent...

Facebook Takes Aim at Twitter, Buys FriendFeed

Posted by: Rob Hof on August 10, Categories: Facebook, FriendFeed, Social Media, Twitter, social networks

Anybody who was still wondering if Facebook had noticed the rapid rise of Twitter need wonder no more. Today, Facebook announced it's buying FriendFeed, the news- and information-sharing service founded...

Nortel-RIM Battle Heats Up

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 07, Categories: Nortel

Canadian handset maker Research In Motion alleges that Nortel offered it different terms to buy Nortel's wireless equipment business than the terms that were presented to ultimate auction winner Ericsson. And Canadian government is listening.

Rewiring Skype

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on August 07, Categories: Skype

When eBay bought Internet calling service Skype in 2005, Jeff Bonforte believed the company had made a serious oversight. The entrepreneur, who at the time was president of voice-over-Internet startup...

Facebook: Boomers Keep Coming

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on August 07, Categories: Facebook

Researcher iStrategyLabs just released new numbers on Facebook user demographics, and one figure stands out: the number of members who are 55 and older grew 25% in the last month...

Vonage Loses More Subscribers

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 05, Categories: VOIP

Web-calling service provider Vonage lost more subscribers in the second quarter, the company reported on Aug. 5. Vonage lost 89,000 customer lines, and ended the quarter with 2.5 million lines. Its user turnover rose both sequentially and year over year.

Amazon, eBay Sell More Cell Phones

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

A quarter of mobile phones recently sold in Western Europe had been purchased through online vs. physical stores, research project TNS ComTech found. Amazon and eBay facilitated the majority of the online purchases, according to the survey, which was based on responses from 60,000 consumers.

RadioShack Plans Reinvention

Posted by: Douglas MacMillan on August 04, Categories: retail

Most people visit their local RadioShack to pick up mundane electronic accessories like batteries and headphone adapters. Would a new brand name and flashy products make the store more of...

Amazon Should Let Kindle Go

Posted by: Olga Kharif on August 04, Categories: Amazon.com

Today, people buy Kindle e-book readers from Amazon's Web site. But if the e-commerce giant wants to continue dominating the e-reader category in the future, that needs to change, according to a new report from consultant Forrester Research.

Opening the Wireless Internet: The Importance of Carterfone

Posted by: Spencer Ante on August 03, Categories: wireless

Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski has come out swinging. You have to applaud his boldness. In the FCC's first major inquiry since Genachowski took over the agency on June...

Cloud War: Google's Schmidt Resigns Apple's Board

Posted by: Rob Hof on August 03, Categories: Apple, Chrome, Google, Web browser

In a move that many observers believed was long overdue, Google CEO Eric Schmidt today resigned from Apple's board. The two companies have clashed recently on the issue of Google's...