November 01, 2005, 6:05 PM PST
Sprint's pricey song store
Posted by: Kent German

Sprint Nextel has done what just weeks ago I thought was the impossible. The carrier has unveiled a music download service that (surprise!) actually lets you purchase music wirelessly. The service will be offered on upcoming Samsung and Sanyo phones compatible with the fledging Sprint 3G EV-DO network that is due for broad expansion through the close of the year and in 2006. While most MP3 cell phones, such as the Motorola Rokr E1 and Sony Ericsson W800i, force you to download songs through a computer, Sprint's store is truly mobile with magic music purchases over the air. But don't get too excited yet: Sprint says songs will cost a staggering $2.50 each. Yet again, it's one step forward, two steps back.

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November 01, 2005, 2:17 PM PST
Old news online...nightly!
Posted by: Molly Wood

NBC says it will start airing the NBC Nightly News online, free and in its entirety, after it's already been shown in all time zones across the country. So, you can get the news the bloggers covered days ago, hours after it's been on TV. Hey, but at least it's free!

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November 01, 2005, 2:08 PM PST
Wal-Mart and the mythical $400 laptop
Posted by: Molly Wood

Bargain tracker Black Friday 2005 is reporting that Wal-Mart may soon offer an HP laptop for $398, along with a $398 desktop. If true, such deals would probably cause a stampede on Black Friday, so watch out, wear your helmets, and stay away from the hunting department.

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November 01, 2005, 2:00 PM PST
Sleazy Livestrong cybersquatters ousted
Posted by: Molly Wood

No, CSA Marketing and Chris Angeles, you may no longer squat on domain names that you use to sell yellow Livestrong bracelets, proceeds from which you pocket after fooling people into thinking they're donating money to cancer research. And we can't believe you even have to be told. Jerks.

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November 01, 2005, 1:56 PM PST
Sony's new PSP media manager
Posted by: Will Greenwald

Sony has just released its PSP Media Manager software for Windows. PSP Media Manager is to the PSP what iTunes is to the iPod; the program organizes, converts, and transfers media between the PSP and your PC. It supports movies, music, images, and can even back up savefiles from games. The application can also subscribe to podcasts and video blogs and automatically transfer them to the PSP. A host of third-party file transfer and conversion apps have been available for the PSP since its release, but this is the first time Sony has presented a comprehensive media manager for its portable. PSP Media Manager can be downloaded through Sony's site for $20, and the boxed software is available with a USB cable for $25.

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November 01, 2005, 1:00 PM PST
Gates promotes online Windows, Office editions
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

Today, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced a move toward online editions of Windows and Office. Windows Live and Office Live will allow users to subscribe to Web-only versions of the software; the new ad-based online editions would supplement but not replace the current desktop versions. Windows Live gives subscribers the ability to make phone calls over the Internet and conduct personalized online Web searches. Office Live will target small businesses and allow for greater online collaboration between remote subscribers. For more details, see News.com.

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November 01, 2005, 12:47 PM PST
Apple issues Mac OS X update
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

Yesterday, Apple issued a minor update, including a few new security updates, to its popular Mac OS X Tiger 10.4 release. Security-related enhancements include encrypted iChat instant-messaging conversations, a patch for Mac's Software Update feature, and an update to Mac's Keychain Access, which stores passwords.

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November 01, 2005, 11:06 AM PST
Cingular and RIM announce BlackBerry 8700c
Posted by: Bonnie Cha

Today, Cingular Wireless and Research in Motion introduced the RIM BlackBerry 8700c, the first EDGE-enabled and Intel-powered BlackBerry device. The 8700c will initially be available exclusively from Cingular starting on November 21, at a pricey $299.99 with a two-year contract (excluding monthly data plans). So what do you get for those three Benjamins? Well, obviously, you get the benefit of EDGE data speeds, which is complemented by the new 312MHz Intel PXA901 processor. In short, you should enjoy faster Web browsing, attachment downloads, and performance. The quad-band 8700c also sports 64MB of flash memory, 16MB of SRAM, a speakerphone, integrated Bluetooth, and a 65,000-color QVGA screen. And about the screen: The 8700c has autosensing technology that automatically adjusts both the LCD and the keyboard backlight, depending on your environment--outdoors, indoors, a dark room, and so forth. And what would a BlackBerry be without a QWERTY keyboard and e-mail support, from which you can access up to 10 accounts? All of this looks promising, and it could offer another fix for CrackBerry addicts, so check back soon for our coverage of the 8700c.

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November 01, 2005, 10:22 AM PST
RSS for business
Posted by: Dorian Benkoil

Most of the press about RSS feeds has been about how they let you aggregate headlines you want on pages such as MyYahoo, MyMSN, Google's personalized home page, and specialized feed readers. They can, in fact, be a great marketing tool.

Dave Rosenberg, who writes for CNET and contributes to an InfoWorld blog, today alerted me to other RSS opportunities.

It turns out that some Web-based services for applications like SugarCRM, which provides customer relationship management data, and Basecamp, which is for multiparty project management and calendars, use RSS as well. So that's an opportunity to buy a service that uses RSS, which is interesting.

But it also means that you may have an opportunity to use this relatively simple technology to package and repackage information that's behind a wall, for special clients or for those that you wish to charge. Also, it allows you to let others manipulate and input data on the platform. What do you have that you could put in a feed behind a paid wall that folks would be happy to have, or what service surrounding your business is there that people pay to interact with?

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