Technology

Gears of War 2 BLASTS and here is why

If you have not heard of GoW, following rave is not for you. If hated GoW, it is not for you. If you were not getting tingling sensation from GoW 2 previews, it is not for you. BUT if you would like to see your character crush a Locust’s head under his feet and would like the [...]

November 13th, 2008 | supa | Comments | Continued

Google Introduces Video Chat in Gmail

Keeping true to the philosophy of making Web Browsers the next PC, Google has announced Video Chat option inside its email service - Gmail on Tuesday. This should give Yahoo and Microsoft run for their … money (if Yahoo still has any).

The new service called Gmail voide and video chat includes video streaming via your WebCam [...]

November 12th, 2008 | supa | Comments | Continued

iPhone 3G jumps to the top in a gloomy handset market

The economy is bad to say the least and consumer spending has been going down. For the month of October consumer spending dropped 0.3 percent the biggest setback since June 2004. Naturally the commodity sale volume has been going down as well including Cell Phones. But tough situations separate good from bad and the winner [...]

November 11th, 2008 | supa | Comments | Continued

Yahoo Calendar Beta: Disappointing!

My primary email is Yahoo! Mail and therefore I have been dying to see the integration of Notes, Contacts, Calendar and Mail get better (After all, it has been years since Google calendar came out with AJAX). Unfortunately, Yahoo Calendar’s new Beta, released October 8th, is not even catching up to its already far-ahead competitors.
Features
Most [...]

October 31st, 2008 | supa | Comments | Continued

Tivo and Netflix join forces

Tivo and Netflix have linked up a deal to provide netflix movies on TV’s through the Tivo DVR’s. Netflix and TiVo® Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL subscribers will now be able to stream movies and TV episodes instantly from Netflix directly to their TV sets.
“Joining forces with Netflix creates the ultimate video on [...]

October 30th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop and Server now available

Canonical Ltd. has announced that Ubuntu Linux 8.10, code named Intrepid Ibex, is now available for download. In related news, Canonical also announced the simultaneous release of Ubuntu 8.10 Server Edition.
Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop has featured built-in for a connected digital lifestyle.

It introduces new 3G network support where users can move from wired and WiFi networks [...]

October 30th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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Social gaming play, Playfish raises $17 mil series B

Social gaming play, Playfish, announced today that it has completed a new round of funding led by Accel Partners and Index Ventures. The $17 million Series B investment will be used to grow Playfish. The company is betting on social games, which according to Playfish, has an important role in the future of the gaming [...]

October 28th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Apple supports Gay Marriage, helps with $100K

Apple is political now. In a very unusual move for the industry, Apple has declared itself publicly opposed to Proposition 8. Proposition 8, titled ‘Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry’, is an initiative measure to amend California’s constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. Such marriages were legalized following a decision of the [...]

October 26th, 2008 | supa | Comments | Continued

Funny Video: What if the world hates you for not voting

What if result of the Presidential Elections comes down to one vote - yours? And what if you have failed to vote by 4th of November? I am not talking about the movie Swing Vote (2008). I am talking about a new customizable hilarious video campaign from CNNBC videos.
CNNBC have created an interactive video that [...]

October 23rd, 2008 | supa | Comments | Continued

Yahoo to layoff 1500 as Profit falls 64 percent, gets sued by AA

As we reported of layoff season plaguing the valley, Yahoo announced removing 10% of its 14,300 workforce as its profits fall 64 percent for 3rd quarter.  The layoffs will happen over the next two months. Yahoo stock went down 6% to close at 12.07 but in the after hours trading after the announcement, stock is [...]

October 21st, 2008 | supa | Comments | Continued

Layoff season: Wikia, Veoh cut jobs on Monday, Yahoo to detail on Tuesday

We’ve Sensed It. We’ve Seen The Signs. Now… It’s Happening. - The Happening (2008)
It was expected, that melting WallStreet will hurt everything in its vicinity and now it is happening in the valley. Wikia.com, a community based plateform for wikipages, has laid of 30 percent of its 43 person workforce on Monday, according to ValleyWag. [...]

October 20th, 2008 | supa | Comments | Continued

Re: Top 10 Reasons All Video Games Should be 2D

I just read on Old-wizard.com, Top 10 Reasons All Video Games should be 2D and I wanted to shoot that person’s 2D ass with my 3D Dark Matter Gun. Some of the arguments presented in that article are so absurd, they do deserve a good hearted laugh.

10. Simpler: Remember how simple Mario 1 was? Remember [...]

October 20th, 2008 | supa | Comments | Continued

Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 Released (and it gives Beta a bad name)

Firefox 3.1 Beta 1 is now available for download. The release is intended for testing the core functionality of many new features scheduled for Firefox 3.1 release.  New features in this release include usability improvements, Web standard improvements in Gecko layout engine, added support for CSS2.1 and CSS3 properties.
However, my experience with this version of [...]

October 19th, 2008 | supa | Comments | Continued
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Blackberry Flip, now available from T-Mobile

We had previously covered the announcement of the Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220, the first flip phone from Research in Motion. RIM had announced the flip in September and starting today, the Pearl 8220 is now available for purchase from T-Mobile.
In addition to the new flip design, the phone supports video recording and playback, a 2.0 [...]

October 13th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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Blackberry Storm: first RIM touchphone with iphone like multi-touch

Research in Motion has announced the Storm, the first Blackberry smartphone with a touch interface. With the Storm, RIM now officialy has an iPhone competitor. The new phone will make it much more difficult for Apple to enter the enterprise market as the Storm is a worthy competitor and has the advantage of the Blackberry [...]

October 9th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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AMD reorgs, spins off chip manufacturing

Advanced Micro Devices has announced a reorganization of it’s operations. The manufacturing plants that produce all it’s processors will be spun off as a separate company.
AMD has been going through troubling times as it’s acquisition of ATI has yet to result in synergistic products that can give it an edge over its competitors. Also, AMD’s [...]

October 9th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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HP acquires LeftHand networks for $360 million

HP has acquired LeftHand Networks Inc., a storage virtualization and iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions company for $360 million in cash. LeftHand Networks’ solutions enable midsize companies and remote offices or branches of large corporations to easily and cost-effectively protect critical business data
Founded in 1999, LeftHand Networks is privately held and headquartered in Boulder, [...]

October 5th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Nokia 5800, Nokia’s first attempt at an iPhone competitor

Nokia has just launched the 5800 XpressMusic and it’s a lot like the iPhone. As Nokia’s first mass-market device with a touch screen, the 5800 is being positioned as a lifestyle device for music, just like Apple iPhone. The touch interface is designed to have shortcuts from the homescreen to menu items such as calendar, [...]

October 3rd, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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OpenPandora - an open source handheld device!

The OpenPandora project is ready to ship the first batch of 3000 open source Pandora handheld devices starting the end of September 2008. The system will cost about $330 in the US and is for all practical purposes, a portable computer with game controls. The device boast an impressive spec, includes 3-D acceleration and a [...]

October 1st, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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WiMAX goes live in Baltimore with Sprint

Sprint’s XOHM mobile broadband service, based on WiMAX technology, is now live and operational in Baltimore. According to Sprint, the 4G network will offer high-speed mobile Internet browsing, social-networking tools, location-centric services and multimedia including music, video and on-demand at download speeds of 2-4 Mbps. This is faster than data rates available on Sprint’s EVDO [...]

September 30th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Google G1 to get DRM-free music from Amazon’s Music Store

Amazon’s MP3 is preloaded as an application in T-Mobile’s G1, the first phone designed on Google’s Android platform. G1 users will be able to purchase DRM-free MP3’s from the store to listen on their phone.
The Amazon partnership is crucial for Google’s G1 to compete with the iPhone, which integrates very well with Apple’s iTunes store [...]

September 27th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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Google’s very own phone, the G1

Google’s very own Android phone has hit the market today. T-Mobile is launching the G1, the world’s first Android-powered phone. Rumors have been floating around the Google phone built by HTC, as HTC filed for FCC approval for a touch screen device.
The G1 is a full touchscreen device and has an inbuilt QWERTY keyboard that [...]

September 23rd, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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Armani and Samsung launch the NIGHT EFFECT

Samsung and Armani have launched the latest luxury mobile phone, the NIGHT LIFE. The two companies are working together as part of an alliance for creating designer portable and home consumer electronics. The goal: consumer devices with the aesthetic appeal of Giorgio Armani and the sophistication of Samsung technology.
The illuminating LED’s around the edge are [...]

September 22nd, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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It’s over for Seinfeld and Gates, Microsoft launches new commercials

After a boring 3 ads from the duo of Seinfeld and Gates, Microsoft is realizing that the ads are just creating the wrong kind of image: a dull and boring company. No more, we speculate, as a new set of ads have been launched.
Under the “Life without walls” tagline, which is a key part of [...]

September 22nd, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Google increases search market share in August

Google is one of the most popular web destination among internet users. The company continues to grow it’s online search market share and currently holds top spot. According to comScore’s August search engine rankings, Google increased it market share by 1.1% at the expense of Yahoo and Microsoft, which were down by 0.9 and 0.6 [...]

September 21st, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Online advertising hit by wall street crisis

The financial meltdown is having a big impact on online image based advertising revenues. According to a study by the Neilsen group, financial services companies are hurting and cutting down on ad spending.
Compares to the first 2 quarters of 2007, financial services companies have spent 27% less in the first two quarters in 2008, a [...]

September 21st, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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Yahoo search to webplay music

Yahoo has teamed up with RealNetworks to integrate music playback to it’s search results. Beginning today, users who search for an artist with available content on Yahoo! will be able to click & play music right in the Yahoo! shortcut at the top of the search results and instantly stream full-length songs by that artist [...]

September 18th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Google Maps for Mobile has street views, walking directions

Google maps now offers street view on java powered and Blackberry mobile devices. Street View can be launched from any address and if Google has photos in their database from that location, maps will display the street view for the address. Street View can be overlaid on the map or in full screen and also [...]

September 18th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Sandisk tight lipped but Samsung sings

Sandisk issued a statement yesterday about rumors that Samsung may be acquiding the flash memory maker. It’s business as usual it seems
“SanDisk periodically has conversations with multiple parties, including Samsung, regarding a variety of potential business opportunities. We evaluate all of these opportunities, but maintain a policy of not commenting on market rumors or speculation.”
However, [...]

September 17th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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HP announces massive layoffs as EDS acquisition completes

As HP integrates it’s acquisition of EDS, the company has announced restructuring of it’s combined workforce. HP will shed approximately 7.5 percent! of it’s employees or about 24600 heads. About half of the reductions will occur in the United States. HP says it will provide employees affected by this restructuring program with severance packages, counseling [...]

September 16th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Intel leapfrogs AMD with 6 core processor

Intel has announced it’s 6 core Xeon high performance processors based on it’s 45 nm process technology. The Intel® Xeon® Processor 7400 Series, code-named Dunnington, will support up to 6 cores with 16 MB of shared cache memory. The processors come in frequencies up to 2.66 GHz and power consumption as low as 50 watts. [...]

September 16th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Amazon’s IMDB now lets you watch free movies!

Amazon’s IMDB has launched free online videos including popular TV shows and hollywood movies. Over 6,000 full-length feature films and TV episodes can now be watched free on IMDb.com.
The announcement also introduces an easy to upload service for folks who own rights for TV shows and videos using Amazon’s withoutabox service. Withoutabox is a division [...]

September 15th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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Best Buy acquires Napster, what?

Best Buy, the consumer technology retailer, has purchased Napster, a pioneer in digital music entertainment. Napster agreed to be acquired at $2.65 per share in cash for a purchase price of approximately $121 million.
This is good for Napster but where does it fit in within Best Buy?  Maybe Best Buy can offer Napster music solutions [...]

September 15th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Google invests in satellite broadband company

O3b Networks Ltd. has secured the backing of Google for it’s broadband satellite network. O3b Networks is building a new telecommunications infrastructure offering low-latency links from 1 Mbps to 10 Gbps for core trunking and 3G Cellular backhaul.
In telecommunications, backhaul refers to transporting traffic between distributed sites (typically access points like homes, schools, internet cafe’s [...]

September 14th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued

Chrome pushes Firefox to include Private/Porn mode in 3.1

With Google’s Chrome browser now available in beta for Windows, Firefox is already changing it’s product roadmap. A post on the development lists has revealed renewed focus from Mike Connor, Firefox 3 development lead, on introducing private mode in the next update to Firefox in response to the incognito mode introduced in Google’s Chrome. A [...]

September 14th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued
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Zetta, cloud storage company, raises $10 mil

Zetta, a provider of cloud storage solutions for enterprises, today announced that it has closed a $10.68 million Series A financing round led by venture capital firms Sigma Partners and Foundation Capital. Zetta plans [...]

September 14th, 2008 | rp | Comments | Continued