Category: News (Page 100 of 130)

      Grab Your Popcorn: Apple Responds To Google

      September 18, 2009 /

      Steve Jobs is ready for a brawl.It appears Apple isn’t going to take allegations that it did indeed reject the Google Voice app lying down. The company has fired back in a short statement to Silicon Alley Insider.

      We do not agree with all of the statements made by Google in their FCC letter. Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application and we continue to discuss it with Google.

      Well someone is lying – we know that much – and I’m still going to bet it’s Apple. Why would Google release statements to the contrary if they were still in talks with Apple. That doesn’t fit with Google SOP in any way, though ass-covering does seem to fit fit Apple quite well. As SAI has it, Google declined to comment any further on the situation. I just hope the FCC is around to break-up the ensuing slap fight should things get any worse.

      Apple, Apps, iPhone, News

      Google’s FCC Responses Reveal A Rotten Apple

      September 18, 2009 /

      Rotten Apple.Google has handled the FCC investigation over the rejection of Google Voice applications on the iPhone applaudably well. The search giant has offered lengthy explanations of just what the application does and answered FCC questions with tact an honesty, even going so far as to keep private the conversations it had with Apple regarding the subject matter.

      Those conversations weren’t meant to stay private, though, and after several Freedom of Information Act filings Google’s letters to the FCC can now be viewed in unedited form (PDF). The most interesting response, and the one Google had tried to keep private, cements Apple’s villainy in the matter and suggests Apple lied to the FCC with regard to the application.

      According to Google, Apple did reject the application, the news of which was delivered by none other than Phil Schiller. You may recall that Apple claimed it did not reject the app but was still pondering just what to do. It’s been a month since that claim surfaced and yet we still have no Google Voice app.

      It seems pretty obvious that Google was giving Apple some time to do the right thing. So what if they wanted to lie; if the application finally made it into the store, even on a few months delay, no problem. But Apple did nothing, so instead of asking the FCC to reject the FoIA requests, Google released the documents in full, which puts Apple in a very unfriendly sort of limelight. No one is happy about this decision, and a lot of people are downright pissed. From here it looks like we’ll just be waiting to see whether Apple will try to appease the consumer and the FCC with an approval, or be forced to do so via legislation.

      Apple, Apps, News

      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

      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

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