ratings

Since issuing my verdict on buying the iPhone (no), I've been repeatedly asked to explain the discrepancy between CNET rating it a robust 8.0, yet my personal advice being to eschew it for now.

The answer in a word is value. For the average (read non-early adopter) consumer, it just doesn't make sense. There's the usual list of negatives (as a phone it's terrible, EDGE works slower than you'd like, mail is a mess, and it has no live TV availability) but more importantly, there's the hurdle of a two-year contract.

The next … Read more

It takes German engineering to figure out how to make a heart rate monitor without one of those chest belts that can get pretty irritating during a workout.

From German company Beurer GmbH, this heart rate monitor is based on a technique called Plethysmography. It uses a sensor to measure light that is reflected by the bloodstream from an artery in your finger. Not only can this be used to measure your pulse but it can also be used to keep track of your blood pressure.

The LCD screen provides constant feedback that makes it ideal for athletes on the … Read more

I'm sitting on the exquisitely uncomfortable benches in the San Francisco Metreon, listening to companies at the New Tech Meetup give their pitches. Two of them we've covered recently: AdPerk and Truemors. The news about Truemors: a Facebook port is forthcoming. The other three companies are also worth some bits:

Blabberize is a freaky little product that makes Monty Python-like animated graphics of faces from photos you upload. Then you upload a recording of your (or someone else's) voice. It syncs the audio or recorded speech to the moving mouth. Good for a laugh. Likewise the pitch. … Read more

A new ranking methodology at Nielsen/NetRatings gives AOL a boost while disadvantaging Google.

Nielsen/NetRatings this week made a change to its metrics for ranking the most popular Web sites. It will now focus on the amount of time people spend on a site instead of just the unique audience. This move benefits sites with services like instant messaging and e-mail over sites that offer quicker activities such as search.

Using the new total-minutes calculation, AOL is ranked as the most popular Web site in May in the U.S., followed by Yahoo; MSN/Windows Live; Fox Interactive, which … Read more

In case you've haplessly been attempting to listen to Internet radio streams throughout the day, you might have noticed most are dead. This is by no means a fluke, and on a wider scale, it's a mass protest to the royalty rate increase that passed legislation in early March. The rate increase, which gives the RIAA (whose Web site is coincidentally down today) more money for every track served to listeners, has been the focus of much debate and controversy. The new fees go into effect July 15th.

The new fees don't just affect the smaller broadcasters … Read more

In this eco-chic era, it can be tricky to separate public-relations greenwashing claims from sincere product-greening campaigns. Businesses vying to appear ecologically kinder and gentler than the competition slap a broad variety of eco-labels onto their goods and services.

Aiming to make corporate practices simpler for consumers to decipher, a new effort by B Corporation is setting stringent sustainability standards. It will audit companies' environmental and social practices, encouraging businesses to integrate green goals into everyday operations. Businesses that pass the test can tap into B Corporation's collective marketing efforts. The so-called "triple bottom line" of serving &… Read more

Large digital media companies, small Webcasters and National Public Radio on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to stall controversial new fees scheduled to kick in next month.

In a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the Webcasters argued new royalty rates scheduled to take effect July 15 are "radical and arbitary" and requested an emergency stay of the decision by a three-judge copyright panel.

The SaveNetRadio Coalition, whose members include prominent Net radio operators RealNetworks, Yahoo, Pandora and Live365, said it hoped the move will allow Congress more time to … Read more

The Supreme Court said Monday that it won't hear an appeal from an Iowa phone company that claimed Qwest Communications International owed it money for wireless phone calls that Qwest connected to its network, the Associated Press reported.

The issue centered around whether telecommunications rates should be set by federal regulators or state regulators. Specifically, Qwest was transmitting wireless traffic over Iowa Network Services network en route to its final destination. Qwest believed lower rates set by Iowa state regulators should be used. And INS believed that rates set by the Federal Communications Commission, which happen to be higher … Read more

When looking for a new spot to eat or shop, I tend to turn to Yelp (controversy aside) more than to other business rating sites. But I could be missing crucial comments made by someone outside of Yelp.

Happily, I just checked out a cool service that displays ratings from around the Web at a single glance. The browser add-on Palore aggregates business reviews from a variety of Web sites and displays them next to Google and Yahoo's local search results in Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Currently Palore has data for some 2.4 million businesses in big cities … Read more