TechSlant http://techslant.com Technology News and Comment Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:09:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 en 2047378http://www.feedburner.com And pigs flew too: DRM-free songs from iTunes soon? http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techslant_rss/~3/458825875/ http://techslant.com/and-pigs-flew-too-drm-free-songs-from-itunes-soon/#comments Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:09:28 +0000 DerekD http://techslant.com/?p=224 Over a year after iTunes began offering music without copy protection from EMI titles, Apple is in discussions with the other three top recording companies about acquiring DRM-free songs, according to two music industry sources. This would be a huge victory for opponents of the restrictive DRM for iTunes (the reason many of my friends don’t use it). Rhapsody is now offering many MP3 downloads without DRM protection, and has been for several months now, so iTunes had to respond.

The talks are still preliminary and no deals have been finalized, but one source said one of the major labels is “very close to an agreement”. Rumors have been gathering on the Internet for a week that Sony would soon be offering music without the controversial digital rights management software, but for now, that’s just talk. 

Spokespeople for Apple and the major labels declined to comment, citing still ongoing talks. My assumption is that it will get done, and the landscape of downloadable songs will be changed forever.

Should the deals get done, the songs offered by Apple’s iTunes would no longer be restricted to playing on Apple devices, such as the iPhone or iPod. This has been one of the main criticisms of iTunes music for a long time (Apple blames the labels for insisting on DRM, which sounds like blame-slinging to me, but…we digress).

More details here about this story.

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]]> http://techslant.com/and-pigs-flew-too-drm-free-songs-from-itunes-soon/feed/ http://techslant.com/and-pigs-flew-too-drm-free-songs-from-itunes-soon/ Yahoo! CEO to step down, and leave a big mess behind http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techslant_rss/~3/457371787/ http://techslant.com/yahoo-ceo-to-step-down-and-leave-a-big-mess-behind/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:58:57 +0000 DerekD http://techslant.com/?p=221 Yahoo, under huge financial pressure and mounting losses, has begun a search to replace company co-founder Jerry Yang as chief executive, the company said Monday. The sad thing is, it may already be too late to really help much. Yang was mostly blamed for the lack of initiative with the sale of Yahoo! to MS a few months back, and admitted it was due to “emotional attachment”, almost always a bad mixture with billion dollar deals.

“Jerry and the board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level,” Chairman Roy Bostock said in a statement. “We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his many contributions as CEO over the past 18 months, and we are pleased that he plans to stay actively involved at Yahoo as a key executive and member of the Board.”

Yang will resume his position as chief Yahoo, the company said, the role he had before taking over in 2007 after former CEO Terry Semel departed.

More of the ugly, sorted details here about their financial issues, losses and layoffs: Link

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]]> http://techslant.com/yahoo-ceo-to-step-down-and-leave-a-big-mess-behind/feed/ http://techslant.com/yahoo-ceo-to-step-down-and-leave-a-big-mess-behind/ Black Friday is coming, but are the deals what people are hoping for? http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techslant_rss/~3/454883951/ http://techslant.com/black-friday-is-coming-but-are-the-deals-what-people-are-hoping-for/#comments Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:12:34 +0000 DerekD http://techslant.com/?p=218 The horrid economy being a given, Black Friday will undoubtedly produce the usual levels of retail craziness. But is it as insane as it should be, given the fact that few people want to buy anything right now?

If you’re desperate enough to brave huge lines and deal-crazed crowds on the day after Thanksgiving, well, I salute you (and offer you my sympathy). And there’s BlackFriday.info, a site that rounds up Black Friday ads in advance so you can plan your shopping at 4am. Considering my brain’s neurons don’t start firing normally until about 7am, I know these are sales i’ll be missing out on. But is it a big deal this year?

As of Friday, the site has ads for about two dozen stores, including Best Buy, Radio Shack (this place still in business?) and more.

To be honest, I’m not seeing any deals that are really making me want to wake up at 4am. I’m shocked, with the consumer spending index being as low as it is, that stores aren’t stepping up with lower prices. I mean, where’s the $150 Blu-ray player? Or the $500 42-inch HDTV? Something to make you quiver with anticipation? Nowhere to be found. 

I believe stores may be taking the opposite tack; with the lowering economy, they’re taking a stance they can’t afford to discount stuff too much. Which is the wrong approach with customers these days, I think. If they aren’t buying gas, even at half the price it was a few months ago, what makes companies think they’re open their wallet for Blu-Ray players and HDTV’s? 

Maybe we’ll see better deals emerge as the dark day draws closer. For now, I’m not impressed at all. Feel free to leave comments here if you see a really amazing deal, but right now, I don’t see anything worth getting too excited over.

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]]> http://techslant.com/black-friday-is-coming-but-are-the-deals-what-people-are-hoping-for/feed/ http://techslant.com/black-friday-is-coming-but-are-the-deals-what-people-are-hoping-for/ Seven years for a patch? Say it isn’t so, Microsoft http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techslant_rss/~3/454876113/ http://techslant.com/seven-years-for-a-patch-say-it-isnt-so-microsoft/#comments Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:01:10 +0000 DerekD http://techslant.com/?p=216 Microsoft has (finally and tentatively) offered an explanation as to why it took the company seven years to release a patch for a known vulnerability and security issue.

The flaw, which lies in the Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, was finally addressed Tuesday in Microsoft security bulletin MS08-068. The issue could enable an SMB Relay attack, which would allow an attacker to install programs; view, change or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights remotely, and it wouldn’t be used to see what cool songs you have in your iTunes. 

Christopher Budd, a security manager in the Microsoft Response Center, said in a blog post last week that while Microsoft had been aware of the vulnerability, fixing it would have broken customer network applications, which is sort of understandable, but considering the resources of MS, no excuse for this really, in this writer’s humble opinion.

More about this here.

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]]> http://techslant.com/seven-years-for-a-patch-say-it-isnt-so-microsoft/feed/ http://techslant.com/seven-years-for-a-patch-say-it-isnt-so-microsoft/ PC Makers, the Economy, and who will survive (and thrive) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techslant_rss/~3/454423849/ http://techslant.com/pc-makers-the-economy-and-who-will-survive-and-thrive/#comments Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:26:56 +0000 DerekD http://techslant.com/?p=213 Commercial (and consumer) spending on technology is expected to drop in the next year, and the PC industry is bracing for a big impact, perhaps even more than many sectors.

Already beginning to feel the effects of sagging prices, thinning margins, and oversaturated markets in North America and Europe, there’s clearly going to be a shakeout among the biggest players as the economy enters a full-blown recession. Most believe a recession is already here. 

Intel’s ominous warning this week that the company sees dropping demans for its chips signaled that the worst is still to come for PC makers as they navigate the current economic storm. So how will the five biggest producers of PCs, which account for about 54 percent of all PCs sold, fare as demand wanes and prices drop?

Will Dell be the king of the crop? Not likely. They’ll weather the storm, but be badly bruised for the ordeal. Their recent cost cutting and expansion of sales around the world and into different markets will save it from long-term damage most likely.

According to several industry pundits, it’s Hewlett-Packard that will fare the best. Being the top PC vendor in the world for the last two years, they appear best positioned to weather a recession, should it officially arrive.

This article discusses why this may be the case.

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]]> http://techslant.com/pc-makers-the-economy-and-who-will-survive-and-thrive/feed/ http://techslant.com/pc-makers-the-economy-and-who-will-survive-and-thrive/ “Vista Capable”? Well, not quite… http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techslant_rss/~3/453474015/ http://techslant.com/vista-capable-well-not-quite/#comments Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:26:25 +0000 DerekD http://techslant.com/?p=210 The Microsoft view of Vista is darkening by the day, especially with the latest lawsuit hanging over their heads over the “Vista Capable” designation, apparently given to systems that could not run Vista properly.

Intel was upset apparently over Microsoft’s plan to require Vista Capable machines to have graphics cards that would support Vista’s new driver model, as its 915 chipset was not planned to have that support at first launch.

Microsoft eventually did drop that requirement, a shift that is now being tried in court with a recent class action suit filed that probably has MS throwing fits. The plaintiffs in that case charge that, by caving to Intel, Microsoft allowed sub-optimal Vista machines to be sold with the Vista Capable sticker (a very distinct possibility).

The very latest court filings, legal chess moves, etc are all detailed here. It’s getting a little heated, even among MS internally. All of this should make them even more eager to get Windows 7 out there even faster, to distance themselves from what has become a huge mistake.

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]]> http://techslant.com/vista-capable-well-not-quite/feed/ http://techslant.com/vista-capable-well-not-quite/ Reports: Windows 7 may not improve performance much http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techslant_rss/~3/450362540/ http://techslant.com/reports-windows-7-may-not-improve-performance-much/#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:18:33 +0000 DerekD http://techslant.com/?p=208 While many of those who have played around and tested an early late alpha version of Windows 7 have noted that it feels pretty zippy, especially for such an early version, InfoWorld says early benchmarks show the software is just on par with its predecessor., which is more than a disappointment.

In a article written on Monday, InfoWorld said that Windows 7 is a “virtual twin” of Vista when it comes to performance. Uh oh, if that type of thing spreads…bad news for MS.

Microsoft’s efforts to position Windows 7 as better performing could be stunted badly. At the same time, bear in mind, this is a pre-beta version. Early releases often lag in performance since optimizations tend to be among the later steps in operating system development, at least for most software developers.

For its part, Microsoft is encouraging folks to withhold judgment until a later beta is released more widely.

“Microsoft consistently encourages people to hold benchmark tests until software is finished and ready for broad release,” Microsoft said in a statement.

This would be a good thing to keep tabs on, though. Hopefully when later versions are released, benchmarks will be better.

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]]> http://techslant.com/reports-windows-7-may-not-improve-performance-much/feed/ http://techslant.com/reports-windows-7-may-not-improve-performance-much/ iPhone 2.2 Firmware Update may be out on the 21st of November? http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techslant_rss/~3/450352505/ http://techslant.com/iphone-22-firmware-update-may-be-out-on-the-21st-of-november/#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:08:00 +0000 DerekD http://techslant.com/?p=204 It appears an important update for the iPhone is nearing release, much sooner than many had predicted.

While the iPhone OS 2.1 software update is still settling in among a few users, and had made significant improvements for many users, there’s a rumor flying around now that the next firmware version update might be coming a little quicker than most thought. Testing is going well, and according to an inside tester, the iPhone OS v2.2 will be released into the market on Nov. 21st, 2008.

That’s about 10 days from now. But though it brings quite a number of new features (full support for Google Maps, downloadable podcasts among the big ones), it still lacks copy/paste and a number of other things iPhone people have been clamoring for since the beginning. There’s always time later on, but I can guess a number of iPhone users may be growing impatient already.

This date is really just a rumor, so take it with a grain of salt.

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]]> http://techslant.com/iphone-22-firmware-update-may-be-out-on-the-21st-of-november/feed/ http://techslant.com/iphone-22-firmware-update-may-be-out-on-the-21st-of-november/ Circuit City files for bankruptcy: And so the wheel turns http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techslant_rss/~3/448879030/ http://techslant.com/circuit-city-files-for-bankruptcy-and-so-the-wheel-turns/#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:23:17 +0000 DerekD http://techslant.com/?p=201 Yes, the economy shows little signs of improving, though in this case it had some help with some pretty bone-headed decisions in the process: Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. Not a shock really; poor management and shoddy store/worker conditions have doomed this company for a few years now. 155 stores have already closed, and now the company is on the brink of going under completely.

They claim to have secured $1.1 billion in capital to continue operations, but you know the really chilling statistic here: Wal-Mart is struggling to make money and is projecting a down year, so you know what that means for CC, right? Exactly.

More FAQ details here about the logistics for customers: Link

And here is more in-depth analysis of the situation: Link

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]]> http://techslant.com/circuit-city-files-for-bankruptcy-and-so-the-wheel-turns/feed/ http://techslant.com/circuit-city-files-for-bankruptcy-and-so-the-wheel-turns/ MGM first to post feature-length films to YouTube http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techslant_rss/~3/447979962/ http://techslant.com/mgm-first-to-post-feature-length-films-to-youtube/#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:18:02 +0000 DerekD http://techslant.com/?p=198 It was reported late last week (and finalized in company memos today) that MGM will be the first studio to post feature-length movies on YouTube. The deal was first reported by the New York Times here.

I’d say this was an essential movement for the commercial survival of the site, and most tech commentators i’ve read agree with that assessment. Hulu.com was mostly to blame for YouTube’s change of strategy, as ad dollars were starting to flow over to Hulu, whereas YouTube was seen as a kiddie vehicle for quick video clips, and was losing traffic to Hulu.

Who knows if it will be enough, but it’s a start, and more studios are expected to follow MGM’s lead and migrate some properties to be viewable on YouTube. It’ll be interesting to see how this race goes; it could affect the future of video streaming entertainment content on the web and who controls it.

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