cuts

It seems like the Sirius-XM merger been dragging on for years, and both sides are eager to get it done, but what would I get out of it? I've been a happy Sirius subscriber for years. I love the commercial-free music channels, and the uninhibited talk channels are hugely entertaining. At least maybe Sirius' sound quality will get closer to XM's--it's always sounded a little better.

They still need approval from the Federal Communications Commission before the deal is done. If you ask me, it seems anticompetitive to let the only two satellite-radio companies in the U.… Read more

In looking at the reasons behind Thursday's price cut for Windows Vista, it's easy to blame the OS itself. After all, plenty of critics have panned it, users have grumbled and even Microsoft executives themselves were slinging arrows that the software wasn't ready for prime time when it launched last year.

But, it's important to note that this cut doesn't affect the bulk of the PC market, where folks get Vista as part of a new PC. Rather, the cut is limited to the comparatively small number of folks who buy a boxed copy of … Read more

Sprint Nextel is preparing to cut thousands of jobs, according to the The Wall Street Journal.

The company's new CEO, Dan Hesse, is supposedly trying to show investors that he is serious about cutting costs, the newspaper's Web site reported late on Monday. A Sprint representative declined to comment on the story.

Exactly how many people could lose their jobs is not yet known. Last year the company cut about 5,000 jobs. At the end of the last quarter Sprint reported it had roughly 60,000 employees.

Sprint is the third-largest cell phone company in the U.… Read more

One of the most frequent questions I get from CNET Download.com users is "What free software can I use to edit video?" If I didn't respond to you personally, it's likely because there's not an easy answer. It depends on what type of video you have, and what you want to do with it.

Let's start with the basics. If you didn't know, you likely already have Windows Movie Maker, which was included with Windows XP Service Pack 2 and recently beefed up for Windows Vista.

The XP version of Movie Maker is adequate for putting together clips into larger videos, adding simple transitions, and making basic edits, but I can't recommend the experience. The review on CNET Download.com is overly harsh, but it encapsulates several problems you may encounter.… Read more

The rumors were true, almost to the letter. Sony Europe has confirmed the existence of a new entry-level PlayStation 3. Scheduled to hit stores on the Continent on October 10, the new PS3 has been stripped down to hit a lower price point: it's got a smaller 40GB hard drive, no built-in flash media reader, and two (rather than four) USB ports. But the biggest change appears to be the loss of backward compatibility with PS2 games. Sony's release specifies that "[t]he new model is no longer backwards compatible with PlayStation 2 titles, reflecting both the … Read more

And, in case you hadn't heard, in a letter posted on Apple's site, Steve Jobs claims to have read "hundreds" of irate emails regarding the iPhone price drop and is therefore issuing $100 worth of Apple credits to us early adopters. Did he really read all of those emails? Hrmmmm.

While Apple is not under any obligation to do so, it was still nice of them. Now, I know some people will be like why not $200, or why not cash-money. May I repeat, not any obligation to do so. Besides, only us geeky types who … Read more

Contrary to popular belief, we don't think that all loudspeakers are depraved or trying to conquer humankind. To prove it, today we offer a pair that we truly admire, at least from an aesthetic perspective: Dynaudio's limited-edition "Sapphire" line.

This special pair, released at the 2007 Hong Kong High End Audio Visual Show to commemorate the German company's 30th anniversary, have Danish maple cabinets finished with heavy lacquer and house a 28mm tweeter, 15cm subwoofer and two 20cm woofers, Gadgetell says. But what really stands apart is their unique design, which resembles an uncut crystal … Read more

If the proposed merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio goes through, the combined company plans to offer packages of channels at reduced rates, including a 50-channel offering that's almost half the price of today's lowest-price option.

New "a la carte" options, which will enable consumers to pick 50 or 100 channels from both XM and Sirius' lineups (minus "premium" offerings like those from Playboy, that is) for $6.99 or $14.99 per month, respectively, are scheduled to kick in within one year of the merger's completion, Sirius CEO Mel … Read more

On Monday, Sony announced a $100 price cut for the 60GB PlayStation 3, taking the console's retail price down to $499. Since many gamers saw the PlayStation 3 as too expensive at its previous retail price of $599, Sony's decision was widely praised. Unfortunately, the $499 60GB PS3 isn't going to last, because Sony has just confirmed that the company is no longer producing 60GB PS3s.

On the same day the price cut was announced, Sony announced a new 80GB PS3, a console that will be bundled with Motorstorm and will retail for $599, the same as … Read more