May 2008 - Posts

• Sony pushing 'live' content into theaters

  No longer are movie theaters just for movies. Sony Pictures Entertainment sees them as almost-live performance venues. The entertainment company wants to display live events in theaters equipped with digital projectors, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Sony has established a new unit, called The Hot Ticket, ... Posted May 22 2008, 02:50 PM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• NewsGator introduces feed suggestions

  NewsGator converted its popular RSS feed aggregation clients to freeware in January 2008, and now that seed has borne fruit: recommended fruit, to be precise. NewsGator's new Recommended Stories filter introduces users to stories and feeds they aren't already subscribed to, but might like. (Credit: NewsGator) ... Posted May 22 2008, 02:23 PM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Large companies paying workers to read employee e-mail, study finds

  If you were thinking of using your work e-mail for job hunting or online dating, you better think twice. A new survey finds that 41 percent of large companies (those with 20,000 or more employees) are paying staffers to read or otherwise analyze the contents of employees' outbound e-mail. ... Posted May 22 2008, 01:57 PM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• LendingTree sued over data breach

  One month after suing three lending firms, LendingTree has now been sued by a Bronx man who claims a security breach with the mortgage site has harmed his credit score, led to higher credit card interest rates, and resulted in him getting rejected for at least one loan. The lawsuit ... Posted May 22 2008, 01:17 PM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Google co-founder pushes for Yahoo Ad deal

  Google's co-founder Larry Page respects Yahoo's struggle to remain independent, and he says there's still a chance an advertising deal between the two companies can work. Speaking at an event Thursday in Washington, D.C., Page said the a deal could be structured to help Yahoo maintain ... Posted May 22 2008, 12:48 PM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Coming in June: iGoogle canvas view, ads

  Google will overhaul its iGoogle interface in June and give people a way to advertise on personalized home page service, the company said. The ads will be an option for iGoogle's "canvas view," which lets iGoogle applications expand to fill the whole browser screen, Google said Tuesday on its ... Posted May 22 2008, 12:32 PM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Flock draws $15 million for social browsing

  Flock, a Firefox-based Web browser that plays up social networking online, has raised $15 million in a fourth round of funding led by Fidelity Ventures. The company's previous investors, Bessemer Venture Partners, Catamount Ventures, and Shasta Ventures, also participated in the round. The deal shows continued faith in the ... Posted May 22 2008, 12:06 PM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Google seizes search share in April

  (Credit: ComScore) Google gained share of U.S. search in April compared with rivals, ComScore said Wednesday. Compared with March, the company gained 1.8 percentage points to reach 61.6 percent share, ComScore said. Yahoo dropped 0.9 percentage points to 20.4 percent, Microsoft dropped 0.3 to ... Posted May 22 2008, 11:25 AM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Boeing's Hummingbird UAV hums along

  The A160T Hummingbird comes in for a landing May 9 at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona after a high-altitude hovering demonstration. (Credit: Boeing) A disparate pair of aviation R&D projects at Boeing have hit milestones recently. The A160T Hummingbird, a helicopter-style unmanned ... Posted May 22 2008, 10:17 AM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Only 57 percent of CFOs see adequate ROI from IT

  Maybe IT doesn't matter, after all. At least, not as much as it should. Technology Issues for Financial Executives has issued the results of its annual survey of chief financial officers and their views on technology spending, and found that roughly 57 percent of the 629 CFOs surveyed felt they aren't getting sufficient return on investment (ROI) from their technology spending. Lest you think that the CFOs are too distant from the CIO to have a true grasp on ROI, keep in mind that the survey found that 41 percent of organizations have CIOs reporting to CFOs. Other data was equally interesting: Among those surveyed, IT spending has increased over the last three years, and is expected to grow in 2008, as well; Greater than 50 percent suggest medium to high ROI on technology investments but only 11 percent reported a "High" ROI; ... Posted May 22 2008, 09:36 AM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Apple's digital home, five years out

  Five years from now, with Apple aiming to become the center of the digital home, users may expect to see a number of key products and services designed to connect PCs and digital content to HDTV stereo audiovisual networks, according to "The Future of Apple" report, released by Forrester Research ... Posted May 22 2008, 09:18 AM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Peter Gabriel's new audiophile quality subscription site

  The downloads are all recorded here, live. (Credit: Real World) Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios has launched a download service with high-end British loudspeaker manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins. It's called the B&W Music Club and it offers exclusive monthly albums to members, recorded at Gabriel's Real World ... Posted May 22 2008, 08:51 AM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Sticky robot scales walls

  SRI International has announced the development of a wall-climbing robot that uses a new electrical adhesive technology called "compliant electroadhesion" that can stick to anything from brick to glass--even damp, dirty glass. (Credit: SRI International) Electroadhesion, or electrically controlled electrostatic attraction, is an electrically controlled adhesion technology that induces an ... Posted May 22 2008, 08:00 AM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• EU to investigate Microsoft file format support

  A new plan by Microsoft to allow its Office software to save and edit files in a rival format will face a probe by the European Commission. The Commission said late Wednesday that it will investigate whether Microsoft's decision to add support for the Open Document Format to Office ... Posted May 22 2008, 06:56 AM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog

• Cheaper gas is just a few clicks away

  Perhaps you heard Wednesday's news about the price of crude oil once again reaching all-time highs, and, like me, you're wondering how that's going to affect gas prices at the pump as you fill up for your Memorial Day weekend trip. Rest assured, you've got the ... Posted May 22 2008, 06:00 AM by CNET News.com | Tech news blog