An updated Japanese law puts sharp teeth on that country's laws against unauthorized downloading copyrighted material. The law, which goes into effect today, imposes harsh penalties for downloading just one file - and potentially even watching an unauthorized YouTube video. No, this isn't another dystopian sci-fi film about the land...
Point-and-shoot cameras have been a hit with consumers for more than a century, and they keep getting better. But it doesn't matter, they're doomed anyway. Even awesome image quality and all the features in the world can't save them from the mighty smartphone.The Basics"You press the button, we do the...
Modern game consoles are much more powerful than yesterday’s Pong-pads, but their setup and business model remain virtually identical to the Ataris and Colecovisions of yore. But all of that’s about to change - this coming generation of game consoles will be the last to resemble anything you remember.The BasicsIn...
The future of Microsoft’s Xbox appears to be moving briskly toward interactive TV, based on a high-profile hire of CBS Entertainment’s former television chief and the launch of two interactive TV “programs” that tap into Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral. This week, Microsoft hired Nancy Tellem, the former CBS exec, to run...
Everyone knows optical storage discs are on their way out in the long run, but ironically, the the biggest, newest format of them all could become extinct before the rest. Here’s why Blu-ray might join VHS in the dustbin long before DVDs or CDs give up the ghost.The BasicsIn 2006,...
If Intel has its way, touch will be just one of the ways to control Windows 8 ultrabooks. The chipmaker is looking to add voice commands and Kinect-like gestures for what it calls “perceptual computing.”On Tuesday, Intel announced a partnership with Nuance Communications to put a locally hosted voice recognition...
If there’s one thing the DeathWatch knows, it’s that all things must come to an end. So we’re pausing to review the fortunes of our first 13 unlucky inductees. The fates of some of them may surprise you.In reverse chronological order, here’s a look at the initial baker’s dozen and...
Microsoft was pretty much a bystander in Apple’s patent battle with Samsung, but the Windows folks couldn’t be happier with Apple’s $1.05 billion victory. By signing a patent deal with Apple and taking its own direction for smartphones, Microsoft is now better positioned to become a viable alternative to the...
Zynga’s Mafia Wars, Farmville and Bubble Safari are enormously popular pastimes that helped define social/casual gaming. But faced with a changing market and an unpopular leader, can Zynga innovate its way out of the hole it keeps digging for itself?The BasicsZynga’s climb to the top of social gaming didn’t take...
Over the weekend, cloud gaming company OnLive went through a sort of quasi-bankruptcy, selling off its assets and leaving its investors, employees, and stockholders out in the cold. The only possible winners? OnLive’s very small number of users.Early Friday, Mashable reported that OnLive might be shutting down. Later in the...
When Motorola Mobility was plummeting to its doom in 2011, Google rode to the rescue. Now, with massive layoffs and a proposed sale of critical assets, the knight in shining armor seems hellbent on tearing its acquisition to pieces as part of its restructuring process. Is Motorola nothing more a...
Research In Motion has nearly finished developing its BlackBerry 10 operating system. New smartphones from the Canadian manufacturer are expected to be released at the beginning of 2013, but they may not be the only Blackberry 10 devices. According to reports, RIM is open to licensing BlackBerry 10 to other...
While Apple Store employees are all getting raises, Best Buy workers are getting pink slips. Is it all over for the last of the big box electronics mega-chains, or will a last-minute offer from its billionaire founder help Best Buy reinvent itself?Wobbled by the same market changes that killed off...
What happens when one of the most secretive companies in the technology industry goes to court to battle its largest competitor? It is forced to reveal what it does not want to reveal, which has created a feeding frenzy in the tech press over every little detail that surfaces. But...
The game publisher that brought the world Madden NFL, The Sims and Battlefield has shed nearly 60% of its value in the last year, and its stock is down more than 80% from its all-time high. Why are investors so sour? Because despite being one of the world’s largest game...
You knew it had to happen, but it still stings. With Amazon’s complicated update of its Cloud Player digital music service, the company has made its cloud-based music-locker service much less friendly to users who don’t want to pay for a subscription.Amazon’s announcement Tuesday made it sound like the online...
It's that time of year again. The Apple rumor mill is working overtime as customers await iOS 6 and the iPhone 5 in the fall, with a 7-inch iPad and long-anticipated HDTV set on the horizon. One purported iOS 6 feature could propel Apple into wearable computing in a very...
Unlimited streaming made Netflix the Blockbuster-buster, but the company’s value has dropped 75% in the past year after its price hike/Qwikster fiasco. Can original content and overseas expansion reverse the slide?The BasicsNetflix began as a mail-order alternative to renting videos from Blockbuster: perfect for folks looking for a larger catalog...
Microsoft tapped former Clinton advisor and PR maven Mark Penn last week to lead a “SWAT team” focused on bolstering Microsoft’s consumer initiatives. The first target? Bing, Microsoft’s search engine.According to Microsoft, Penn will lead a “cross-functional team focused on consumer initiatives and will draw on his experience in strategic...
The dresses in the commercials may be magenta, but the ink on the balance sheets is red. T-Mobile USA continues to slip behind its rivals. Can the rebel mobile carrier find a new CEO to bring it back to prominence before Deutsche Telekom hangs up? The BasicsT-Mobile USA (a subsidiary...
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