central

Spanish news site Expansion reported Tuesday that Google plans to launch GrandCentral, an online voice communications service, in Spain sometime during 2009. According to the report, Google will allow voice calls to be placed for free, but each will be linked to the voicemail service. Currently, GrandCentral is only available in the U.S.

UGO Entertainment and its parent company, Hearst Corp., announced late Tuesday that it will acquire 1UP.com and its associated sites, GameVideos.com, MyCheats.com, and GameTab.com. A release from UGO asserts that with 1UP and the affiliated sites joining its own network of gaming … Read more

These days, everyone can use a few good laughs. Guess that means Comedy Central's latest launch is well-timed.

The Viacom-owned cable network took Jokes.com, a property it acquired in 2002, and relaunched it Wednesday as a hub for its stand-up comedy archives. Sort of like a Hulu for stand-up comedy, it's debuting with over 5,000 video clips (embeddable and shareable, naturally) and 12,000 text-based jokes that are searchable by topic ("George W. Bush" or "holidays") and by comedian. A "Comedians A-Z" database provides information on different stand-up comics and … Read more

Google has released a new application for Mac users called "Vocito" that puts GrandCentral calling right on your desktop. It integrates with OS X's address book, Automater app, and third-party applications like Blacktree's QuickSilver to let you start a GrandCentral-powered call no matter what you're doing on your machine.

Similar to JaJah and Jaxtr, Vocito's system for setting up calls involves you first picking who you want to call, then choosing which one of your GrandCentral-connected phones you want it to be connected from. You then hit dial and GrandCentral does the rest. It'… Read more

It is said by those who know (and those who merely have a sniff of the facts) that cocaine is quite a popular entertainment for many a technical mind.

I am told that it provides a temporary feeling of invincibility, one that can be useful when networking, selling a less than watertight notion or attempting to persuade a member of your target sex that you are, indeed, a person worth sharing combining notions with.

Now the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany has found good reason for coke users to toss aside their guilt and let their parents … Read more

It always happens: I'm stirring sauce, soup, or something, and I have to find some place to stash the dripping spoon in between stirring. I usually rely on saucers, but that just means I wind up with one more dish to wash as I prepare dinner. Wouldn't it be nice if the spoon could take care of itself? Jonathan's Lazy Spoons do just that: these wooden spoons have a notch on the handle so that you can balance them on the edge of the pan or bowl where you've been stirring up a storm.

Lazy Spoons … Read more

NEW YORK--Two years after acquiring it, MTV Networks has shaped Atom Films into Atom.com, a sister site to its Comedy Central network dedicated to short-form, Web-based comedy.

Executives from the Viacom-owned MTV Networks held a press conference here on Thursday to kick off the new site, which Executive Vice President of Digital Media Erik Flannigan described as "our punk-rock label...where you're purposely encouraging development that's supposed to (expletive) with the system and break down boundaries."

Along with four new original Web series commissioned by Comedy Central, which range from an animated show about conjoined … Read more

Seagate announced today its newest device to join the network attack storage (NAS) community: the Maxtor Central Axis.

Slated to be available in North America next month, the Central Axis promises to be a central space that hosts regular data files as well as digital content for home users. The Device supports the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) standard, meaning it will work very well with DLNA-compliant devices such as the popular games consoles Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3.

The Central Axis will also come with an easy backup solution that backs up data from any computers within … Read more

In the great cycle of technology, today is the day-after-Jobs-keynote when we are bummed about the morsels that were dished out the day before. Witness: iPhone activation, lockdown, and data plan woes. Also, ISPs take one big step down the slippery slope, the SUV takes a nosedive, and Stewart and Colbert hit Hulu. Rejoice!

Apple may soon be free from AT&T http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-9964695-17.html

iPhone 3G: AT&T memo to retail managers shows iPhone 3G policy http://gizmodo.com/5014909/att-memo-to-retail-managers-shows-iphone-3g-policy http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/06/09/3g_iphone_to_be_in_store_activated_free_upgrade_for_recent_buyers.html … Read more

This post was updated at 11:01 AM PT on Tuesday to clarify wording: television content from Viacom is almost exclusively handled by MTV Networks.

In an unexpected move, video site Hulu will be getting some political loudmouths just in time for the 2008 presidential election: Comedy Central's late-night personalities Jon Stewart of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report.

We had to check and make sure the press release wasn't a joke, but there are indeed full episodes from both programs available. It comes as somewhat of a surprise, considering Comedy … Read more