BUSINESS

07/23/2008

Microsoft will let developers sell Xbox games online
The new arrangement lets game makers pick a price tag between 200 and 800 "Microsoft Points" for their titles. Eight hundred of these points are roughly worth $10.

TV makers unite for wireless HD standard
One box could beam high-definition programming to serveral TVs, but the technology is several years away from the market. Motorola plans to build the technology into its set-top boxes, which are used by many cable providers.

Appeals court agrees that anti-porn law is unconstitutional
The law, which has not taken effect, would bar people from making harmful content available to minors over the Internet. The court said it violates the First Amendment because there are less restrictive ways to protect children.

07/22/2008

New service lets you avoid awkward calls and go straight to voicemail
Users call (267) SLY-DIAL from either a cellphone or a landline, and are prompted to enter another person's cellphone number. After playing a short advertisement, Slydial puts callers directly into their target's voice mail.

The world's oldest copy of the New Testament will be reassembled online

AFP Getty

The British Library says the full text of the Codex Sinaiticus, which is the world's oldest copy of the New Testament, will be available to Web users by next July, digitally reconnecting parts that are held in Britain, Russia, Germany and a monastery in Egypt's Sinai Desert.

Analysis finds TV buyers steered to costlier LCDs
LCD or plasma? If you've been shopping for a flat-panel TV, that's the big question. According to a mystery-shopper survey, electronics salespeople don't know much about the differences, but still have a ready answer: LCD.

07/21/2008

Be wary of buying ring tones online
Eight out of 10 websites selling mobile phone ring tones and graphics are tricking people with hidden fees or false advertising, the EU's consumer affairs commissioner said Thursday.

The photos you post online may become evidence at your trial
Online hangouts like Facebook and MySpace have offered crime-solving help to detectives and become a resource for employers vetting job applicants. Now the sites are proving fruitful for prosecutors.

Facebook gets a facelift to help users share
The popular online hangout Facebook is sporting a new look to reflect changes in how its members communicate with each other and how they share photos and updates about their lives.

07/18/2008

Dell and other PC markers shipping more units
Researchers found that Hewlett-Packard Co. held on to the top spot in the global market, which it wrested from Dell Inc. in 2006. But as in the first quarter, Dell's decision to expand sales of computers to retail stores helped it gain ground.

Tech review: How do iPhone 3G alternatives stack up?

Verizon/BlackBerry/Samsung

AT&T has exclusive rights to the iPhone 3G, but the other big carriers all have phones that, while not quite as elegant, let users do similar things.

Slowing economy hinders Google profit growth
The red flags raised Thursday included a dramatic slowdown in the company's hiring pace and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt's description of the economy as "challenging."

07/17/2008

GM tests high-tech windshields that will help seniors see better
GM's new windshield won't improve their vision, but it will make objects stand out that could otherwise go unnoticed by an aged eye.

Can iPhone restaurant picks be trusted?
If you were searching for a restaurant that would please almost anyone, Dressler, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, might well be it. So why didn't the new iPhone want me to go there?

Free Web-based program opens the Net to blind users
The developer, Jeffrey Bigham, hopes it lets blind people check a flight time on a public computer at the airport, plan a bus route at the library or type up a quick e-mail at an Internet cafe.

Yahoo calls Microsoft actions 'stupefying'
The letter from Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and Chief Executive Jerry Yang also hammered investor Carl Icahn, Microsoft's partner in the latest acquisition offer, for his lack of knowledge about the Internet business.

07/16/2008

Researchers develop AC for CPUs
As chips used in advanced computers become smaller and more powerful, scientists must find a way to remove the additional heat that puts those electronics at risk of a meltdown.

Congress asks if Google-Yahoo deal creates Web-ad monopoly
Yahoo and Google say Congress has little power to stop the advertising partnership, but lawmakers can use the bully pulpit to raise concerns about the deal.

Does the iPhone need a hole for trinkets? Only in Japan
The iPhone lacks other technology long available on Japanese cellphones, such as digital TV broadcasts, a built-in camcorder, voice recognition and an "electronic wallet" function.

07/15/2008

Chat transcript: DMN Tech Team discusses the Apple iPhone 3G

G.J. MCCARTHY/DMN

Jake Marsh of McKinney (left) and Michael Henry of The Colony were among those who lined up to buy Apple's new iPhone last week.

Apple has sold 1 million iPhones in the first three days its latest model was on the market. On Tuesday, Dallas Morning News technology writers discussed features, applications and availability of the new phone.
Review: It's really a computer that makes calls
DFW Tech blog

Apple's iPhone 3G: It's really a computer that makes calls
If you've been waiting for a pocket-size device that's just as quick and powerful as your main computer, avoid the iPhone 3G.

Judge says Tiffany, not eBay, should police trademark
The 66-page decision could play a key role in deciding how business is conducted on the Web and refine trademark and copyright protections online, legal experts say.

YouTube, Viacom agree to anonymize viewer data
YouTube disclosed late Monday that it would substitute user IDs, Internet addresses and other identifiers before submitting the database to Viacom as required under a July 1 court order widely criticized by privacy activists.

07/14/2008

Microsoft cuts Xbox price by $50, plans 60GB model
Starting Sunday, the price of Microsoft's mid-range Xbox 360 console with a 20-gigabyte hard drive fell to $299 in the U.S., down from $350.

Virtual enemies get smarter

Grand Theft Auto 4

Recent advancements in video game design — and new game consoles with dazzling computing power — have endowed computer-controlled characters with a sense of self-preservation and unpredictability not seen even a year ago.

Cellphone companies fight underground competition
It's technically not illegal to unlock the software on your personal cellphone — but the companies are hoping to put a stop to traffickers that they say are siphoning away profits.

Facebook could see a standoff over Scrabble
C-O-M-P-E-T-E. Developers of a highly popular but unauthorized version of Scrabble for the online hangout Facebook vowed last week to do just that, now that a video game maker has weighed in with an official version of the word game.

07/11/2008

iPhone launch: Apple synching service malfunctions before launch
More than 80 people responded to a post on the outage by Robert Palmer, a paid blogger for Time Warner Inc.-owned The Unofficial Apple Weblog, many conveying their own technical difficulties with MobileMe.

07/14/2008

Glitches mar debut of iPhone

LARA SOLT//DMN

Dallas-Fort Worth residents who lined up to buy the 3G iphone today faced long waits and phones that don't work.
Preview: What's the big deal?
Video: Buyers line up
Tell us: Does your iPhone work?

07/10/2008

What's the big deal about the new Apple iPhone?

Getty Images

People line up in front of the Apple store on 5th Avenue in New York to buy the new phone.

The original iPhone used elegant software to cram a functional computer into a palm-sized package. The iPhone 3G, which goes on sale Friday, promises something more.
DFW Tech blog: Latest updates
Video: What it will do
Map: Where to find it

Apple iPhone debuts to lines in Far East

AP

Because of time differences, the new iPhones are going on sale first in New Zealand, then Australia, followed by Japan and Hong Kong. In the United States. The first model, which launched in the United States a year ago, ended up being sold only in six countries. The new iPhone will launch in 22 nations, and expand from there to others around the world.

'Gene wiki' to debut on Wikipedia
Authors of the "gene wiki" say they have created 7,500 Wikipedia entries on different genes and are editing another 650 already existing entries.

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