http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/ Innovations, trends, and dustups in the world of tech 2007-11-19T18:40:45-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/why_not_paper_e.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat Reader doog has an interesting comment on my colleague Rob Hof's post on Amazon.com's Kindle e-book reader: "Wake me up when the hardware costs no more than the price of, say, an iPod Shuffle, I can get titles at a... Amazon.com stephen_wildstrom 2007-11-19T18:40:45-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/googles_wireles.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat Several financial analysts came out with reports today warning Google to back off from participation in the upcoming wireless airwaves auction on its own, without a partner. wireless olga_kharif 2007-11-19T15:53:56-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/will_amazoncoms.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat I'm as interested as the next gadget watcher to see if Amazon can fulfill the sweeping promise Newsweek outlines for its Kindle e-book reader, coming out Monday. (BusinessWeek wrote about it a couple months ago. TechCrunch and Engadget liveblogged the... Amazon.com rob_hof 2007-11-19T00:57:45-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/why_muni_wirele.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat Earthlink's Nov. 16 announcement that it will "consider its strategic alternatives for its municipal wireless business" means the end of what little hope was less for ubiquitous free or nearly so Wi-Fi service in U.S. cities. Some projects in progress,... wireless stephen_wildstrom 2007-11-18T15:20:03-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/googles_high-st.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat Or should I just call it poker? With fresh speculation in the Journal today, as well as BusinessWeek, that Google may be preparing to go it alone in a bid for the 700 MHz spectrum up for auction in January,... Google rob_hof 2007-11-16T09:48:17-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/helio_shifting.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat Helio, the money-losing wireless service started by SK Telecom and EarthLink, appears to be changing its market tactics: The company may have stopped going after only the high-end of the wireless market. wireless olga_kharif 2007-11-15T12:45:36-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/hellooany_bad_c.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat Until recently, at least three or four of every 10 multimedia phones I've gotten to play around with were poorly designed. That's changed now, as Samsung, HTC and others have finally figured out how to tack music and video capabilities onto phones without making them too difficult to use. wireless olga_kharif 2007-11-15T11:51:44-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/fake_larry_elli.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat I was only semi enchanted with the Secret Diary of Steve Jobs blog. Steve is overexposed, to put it mildly, so why would anybody want more of him? But after Forbes editor Daniel Lyons came out as Fake Steve in... blogging steve_hamm 2007-11-14T16:22:44-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/will_email_real.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat That's what Saul Hansell suggests in his blog post about Google and Yahoo leveraging their email systems to create social networks. On the surface, it makes a lot of sense, given the huge numbers of email accounts and the wealth... social networks rob_hof 2007-11-14T15:57:55-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/back_to_the_fut_1.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat The Federal Communications Commission, politicians, broadcasters, newspaper owners, and a variety of self-declared consumer groups are all devoting a tremendous amount of time and effort to a fight that looks more and more like a Civil War reenactment: lots of... media stephen_wildstrom 2007-11-09T13:22:58-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/the_facebook_ba.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat Wow, for an announcement that was supposed to explain how Facebook is worth $15 billion, the company's Social Ads debut the other day sure got a lot of negative reaction--not least because of the appearance of arrogance by Facebook execs... Facebook rob_hof 2007-11-08T10:51:19-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/coming_up_wirel.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat Until now, U.S. wireless carriers have done little to encourage customer loyalty. Well, that's changing, as Sprint Nextel is preparing to unveil a consumer rewards program. wireless olga_kharif 2007-11-07T19:11:10-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/facebook_declar.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat As I write, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is announcing its long-awaited ad strategy. One piece is Beacon, a system that will let the social network's members reveal their purchases, eBay product postings, and other things they've done on some 40... Facebook rob_hof 2007-11-06T14:56:14-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/googles_android.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat Google-lead Open Handset Alliance is hoping its efforts will result in a slew of new, innovative applications and services for cell phones. The alliance's Web site posts some new applications ideas -- from kids. But what kind of applications would you like to see? What's on your wish list? Google olga_kharif 2007-11-06T12:48:32-05:00 http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/11/no_gphone_but_g.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_techbeat After months of speculation, Google has finally announced--no, not the much-anticipated Gphone, but an operating system for mobile phones. Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms, whose company Android that Google bought in 2005 is both the basis and name... Google rob_hof 2007-11-05T11:53:42-05:00