Author: Jeff Morgan (Page 111 of 168)

      Skype’s Founders Not Going To Play Nice

      September 17, 2009 /

      Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom.Less than three weeks after eBay announced official plans to sell Skype, Skype’s founders decided they won’t be playing nice. Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis filed suit against both eBay and private investors via Jolitd Ltd., a firm owned by the two from which Skype licenses peer-to-peer technology. The suit alleges copyright infringement and requests a permanent injunction against Skype along with damages.

      According to the lawsuit:

      The Skype companies have continued to infringe Joltid’s copyrighted works on a massive scale. Each day that the Skype Companies continue to make available its Internet telephone software for download, Skype users download Joltid’s copyrighted works approximately six times per second.

      That’s a lot of copyright infringing, and a big problem for eBay, which claims to remain on track to sell the company in Q4. Friis and Zennstrom have since been contacting private venture groups in an attempt to buy back the Skype business. However this one shakes out, I’d guess it’s going to be pretty ugly.

      Source: Reuters

      Audio, News, Websites

      Research Firm Predicts iMac, Macbook Refresh

      September 16, 2009 /

      Apple iMac.I really need to get a job at a research firm. From what these people produce, I’d say their typical day isn’t entirely unlike that of a psychic. You make some vague generalizations, write nonspecific predictions about products that have months of rumor behind them, and then make some bank.

      The latest comes from Wedge Partners, which seems to think the iMac and Macbook are due for a redesign “in the next several weeks.” The firm says the iMac will head toward a “thinner, organic design, likely with smoothed or rounded edges,” while the Macbook redesign “is likely to be limited.”

      Well isn’t this brilliant. So Apple won’t be completely abandoning their design progression for the past decade? They’re refreshing the white Macbook like rumors have been suggesting for months? What shocking news.

      Source: Tech Trader Daily

      Apple, Computers, News

      iTwinge Gives iPhone A Pointless Physical Keyboard

      September 16, 2009 /

      Mobile Mechatronics iTwinge.Looks like somebody really thinks the iPhone should have a physical keyboard. So much so, in fact, that they made one. The company is Mobile Mechatronics and the product in question is the iTwinge, a physical keyboard that plugs in to the dock connector on your iPhone and lays over the screen where the keys would normally be.

      Why Mobile Mechatronics felt the need to make this little device is beyond me. It’s ugly as sin, and the fact that it draws power from the phone makes me cringe. There’s also the fact that it covers almost half your screen, meaning you’ll need to remove the thing and stuff it in a pocket for regular phone use. To cap things off, MM wants you to spend $30 on the thing. All I can say is good luck. It’s probably not gonna happen.

      iPhone, Mobile

      Vivox Is Coming To Facebook

      September 15, 2009 /

      Vivox logo.What’s Vivox? You may be using the service without knowing it. Vivox currently delivers in-game voice chat for EVE and Second Life a boasts more than 15 million users. But the service is looking to expand into a much bigger market: Facebook.

      Yes, live voice chat is coming to Facebook, and I just have one thing to say: Thank god for Facebook Lite. I hate to sound curmudgeonly, and no one likes a broken record, but voice chat is the last thing I want from people on Facebook. I realize this is great news for people who use Facebook as a primary method of communication. For all of you this could be really fantastic news.

      I will say, the service actually sounds really cool. It offers conference support, and users outside Facebook will be able to call in to participate in real-time chat, which could make keeping in touch a whole lot easier. One of the most interesting moves Vivox is making, though, is releasing the source code to other third-party app developers.

      Vivox will run on Facebook as a plug-in, so it’s not technically part of the core set of Facebook features. By opening up the source code, Vivox is giving voice chat to anything from games to utilities. It’s pretty easy to see how Facebook is swallowing up other social services at an alarming rate. It’s nabbed chat from AIM, integrated Twitter-like features, and now looks to go after Skype. Granted, this isn’t Facbeook proper doing the last, but it’s pretty close, and this kind of integration could turn Zuckerberg’s eyes to Vivox, and potentially open his wallet.

      For now Vivox is testing in closed beta, and probably won’t go public for a while. When it does, I’ll be sure to let you know, probably by mentioning once again just how much I hate Facebook.

      Audio, News, Websites

      Sony Ericsson Claims To Change The Way You Listen To Music Forever

      September 15, 2009 /

      Sony Ericsson guy.We can pretty much guarantee this latest marketing campaign from Sony Ericsson will end in all sorts of fail. It starts with a web campaign, apparently called “Put Your Ears In Control.” The site features a goofy looking animated character with just one sentence across the screen:

      Come back here on the 21st of September to see how the way you listen to music changes forever.

      I know this sort of language isn’t exactly rare in the tech world, but give me a break. Forever? Hell, changes? This would have to be something truly radical to make the kind of impact the webpage suggests. I literally have no idea what Sony Ericsson could be talking about. Even if Sony put all the power of the Walkman behind whatever device will probably be launched, it still wouldn’t change much, and most certainly not the way I listen to music or the forever of that hobby.

      Check back on the 21st for more of me mocking Sony Ericsson for making ridiculous statements about an underwhelming device.

      Music, News

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