d8

eBay CEO says not sorry company bought (and sold) Skype

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.--eBay chief executive John Donahoe on Wednesday defended both the decision to buy Skype as well as the company's later move to sell most of its stake in the Web telephony firm.

"It was an acquisition I'm not sorry we made," Donahoe said at the D: All Things Digital conference. "Taking risk is one of the things you have to do in an uncertain Internet (environment)."

eBay, he said, thought Skype could reduce friction by connecting buyers and sellers more directly. "It turns out Skype is a fantastic way … Read more

DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg live at D8

"What's better: A great 2D movie or the worst 3D movie?" Stephen Colbert, host of "The Colbert Report," put that question to DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg earlier this year, and while it was obviously a joke, it was also an entirely apt question for a guy who has been beating the drum on 3D for years now.

In fact, you could say that Katzenberg is the foremost evangelist for 3D. Back in 2007, he was describing it as "the single most revolutionary change since color pictures." So for him, the recent deluge … Read more

At D, all hail the iPad

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.--There is one clear star emerging at this year's D: All Things Digital conference: Apple's iPad.

In addition to all the stage time that the tablet got during Steve Jobs' talk last night, it is also dominating the discussion with other presenters.

Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg sang Jobs praises for several minutes, before declaring: "His greatest accomplishment is going to be this tablet."

"As Steve said last night, there is something indescribable about the connection," Katzenberg said. "Our children are going to get educated on it. They are going … Read more

Comcast not looking to sell any of NBC's parts

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.--Comcast COO Steve Burke said on Wednesday that Comcast isn't looking to get rid of NBC Universal's movie studios or theme parks, saying that all of its parts are part of a good media company.

"Our modus operandi is not to sell things," Burke said, kicking off the first full day of the D: All Things Digital conference, noting that all of NBC Universal's many businesses make it "well-rounded."

However, while he said that content and distribution can make for a good marriage, he said that is only the … Read more

Steve Jobs at D8: the videos

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.--Although CNET worked dilligently to convey all the highlights of Steve Jobs' talk here last night in our live blog, there's really no substitute for hearing it straight from the horse's mouth.

Thankfully, the folks at D: All Things Digital have offered up some embeddable video, which we have included below. (And for those who just want a recap, feel free to check out my summary story of last night's talk.)

One of the more interesting things Jobs had to say was that Apple was working on a tablet before a phone, even … Read more

Steve Jobs at D8: Post-PC era is nigh

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.--At the D8 conference here, Steve Jobs didn't whip out the newest iPhone or tell us which category will be next to get an "i" before it, but his words offered a glimpse of where the iconic CEO thinks the industry is headed.

Speaking for an hour and a half at the D: All Things Digital confab, Jobs said the day is coming when only one out of every few people will need a traditional computer.

"When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks because that's what you needed … Read more

D8: The conference bag

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.--While the biggest question on the minds of D8 attendees is what Steve Jobs will say later tonight, perhaps the second biggest question for some was what would be inside this year's goody bag.

The bad news is that this year's bag is less chock full than in past years, which saw goodies ranging from Guitar Hero III to Flip cameras and more. This year's biggest tech item is an Insignia-brand electronic child locator tucked among the usual assortment of books, pens, notepads, and the shirt that, without directly saying so, says "… Read more

Steve Jobs: Let the post-PC era begin (live blog)

Editor's note: We used Cover It Live for this event, so if you missed the live blog, you can still replay it in the embedded component below. Replaying the event will give you all the live updates along with commentary from our readers and a few CNET editors. For those of you who just want the updates, we've included them in regular text here.

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.--The D: All Things Digital conference kicked off Tuesday night with an appearance by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. CNET's Ina Fried covered the event live, with additional coverage from Josh Lowensohn and Apple watcher Erica Ogg.

In a wide-ranging chat with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at D8, Jobs told why PCs are like trucks, shared a secret of the iPad's birth, and said the story of a missing iPhone would make a great movie. Jobs' talk comes just as Apple has passed Microsoft to become the most valuable tech company and takes place on the eve of Apple's developer conference.

We'll also be covering the rest of All Things D, which runs through Thursday and includes appearances by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie, HTC CEO Peter Chou, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, and many others.

6:01 p.m. PDT: We're all seated, just waiting for Jobs, Swisher, and Mossberg.

6:03 p.m. PDT: News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch will kick things off, with Jobs likely to take the stage around 6:10 or so.

6:04 p.m. PDT: Despite the fact that this is a crowd full of big wigs, folks were lining up to get a good seat. A sign of just how big a draw Steve Jobs really is. I saw him earlier, he's in his standard uniform.

6:05 p.m. PDT (Josh Lowensohn): Hello readers, thanks for joining us. I'll be keeping an eye on your comments and adding some to our stream. Also, some of your questions will be answered by Ina, Erica Ogg, and myself, if we can squeeze them in. Please don't get too frustrated if we don't include yours, as we tend to get quite a few of them during one of these events. Thanks! … Read more

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