EBay Inc.’s online payments unit PayPal on Tuesday unveiled new software that will let people to use their phones to make payments, as well as a new platform that will make it easier for consumers to pay for digital media, music and games. Get the full story »
Filed under: Consumer electronics
Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
Oct. 26, 2010 at 12:56 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Cell phones, Consumer electronics, Credit Cards, Retail, Software, Technology, Telecommunications, Wireless PayPal software to let users pay with their phones
Sony shares rise on Apple speculation
Shares of Sony Corp. rose nearly 3 percent at one stage on Tuesday as traders cited media reports speculating that the Japanese electronics maker could be a potential acquisition target of Apple Inc.
Helping to spark the speculation was a Saturday report in Barron’s that said cash-rich Apple could be contemplating a big acquisition and noted speculation about Adobe, Sony and Disney as potential targets. Get the full story »
Oct. 25, 2010 at 12:55 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Consumer electronics, Technology, Telecommunications, Wireless Wi-Fi Alliance certifies next step in wireless
Mashable.com | The Wi-Fi Alliance has begun certifying devices as Wi-Fi Direct capable. Wi-Fi Direct will enable device-to-device connections using current Wi-Fi standards, allowing the devices to basically become their own hotspots.
Oct. 25, 2010 at 11:55 a.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Consumer electronics, Technology, Telecommunications Sprint’s Tablet is cheaper, but requires a contract
The Samsung Galaxy Tab. (Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images)
Sprint Nextel plans to sell its iPad rival, the Galaxy Tab from Samsung Electronics, for a third less than the tablet computer’s price tag at Verizon Wireless. But the offer still comes with a catch that at least one analyst said would limit sales.
On Nov. 14, Sprint will kick off sales for the $400 Tab, seen as the most credible competitor so far to Apple Inc.’s popular iPad, which has been on sale for $630 since earlier this year.
But while Sprint customers will pay less up front, they may end up forking over more cash over time. The discount comes with a two-year contract requiring monthly service fees starting at $29.99 for two gigabytes of data downloads. Get the full story »
Oct. 25, 2010 at 10:54 a.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Consumer electronics, International, Technology Sony cuts PSPgo handheld prices in U.S., Japan
Sony Corp. said on Monday it would cut the price of its PSPgo portable game player in the United States and Japan this month as game makers enter the crucial year-end shopping period. Get the full story »
Sony to stop making Walkman cassette player
The Sony Walkman. (Sony)
Sony is sending its cassette tape Walkman into retirement in Japan as demand for a music player that was ground-breaking in its day dwindles to a tiny niche in the era of digital technology.
Sony stopped Japanese production of the portable music player in April and sales will end once the last batch disappears from stores, company spokeswoman Hiroko Nakamura said Monday. Get the full story »
Apple Mac will no longer have Adobe Flash player
Apple Inc. said on Friday it will on longer ship Mac computers with Adobe Systems’ Flash player pre-installed, as the company continues to erect barriers to the software. Get the full story »
Verizon Mobile disappoints ahead of iPhone
Verizon Communications Inc.’s wireless business lost more ground than expected to AT&T in the third quarter, pushing shares down 2 percent.
Verizon Wireless, its venture with Vodafone Group is widely expected to sell Apple’s iPhone early next year, but for now it is playing catch-up to AT&T, the exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier. Get the full story »
HP unveils $799 tablet with a PC feel
Hewlett-Packard unveiled its first product for the fast-growing tablet market, a $799 device running Microsoft Windows that is aimed at business customers.
HP’s Slate 500 attempts to replicate the PC experience in a tablet form, providing a contrast to rivals who have brought more of a smartphone feel to their devices. The Slate runs the same version of Windows 7 used by many companies on their standard PCs. Get the full story »
Microsoft Windows 7 sales top 240M in first year
Packages of Windows 7 lined up for purchase on Oct. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)
Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 7 has sold more than 240 million copies in its first year, the company said on Thursday, making it the fastest-selling operating system, and helping the software giant to record profits despite a recent dip in computer sales growth.
The new software, which costs from $80 for a simple upgrade to $320 for the top-of-the-range edition, was launched a year ago this week to supersede the unpopular Vista.
Although Apple Inc’s OS X and Linux-based operating systems have won some market share in the past few years, Microsoft still controls 90 percent of the world’s 1.4 billion or so personal computers, and is expecting more customers to upgrade or switch to Windows 7. Get the full story »
Verizon prices Samsung Tab just under iPad
Verizon Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. mobile service, plans to sell Samsung Electronics’s Galaxy Tab for $30 less than Apple Inc’s iPad, but analysts say the new tablet computer is priced too high. Get the full story »
Oct. 20, 2010 at 11:21 a.m.
Filed under: Cell phones, Consumer electronics, Philanthropy, Technology Salvation Army to accept text message donations
Want to make a donation to the Salvation Army? Just hit send on your cell phone.
As part of an effort to attract a younger generation of donors, the Salvation Army Chicago Metropolitan Division will soon accept donations via text messages.
After seeing the success of text messaging campaigns for relief efforts after earthquakes devastated Haiti in January — a record $43 million has been collected, according to the Mobile Giving Foundation — nonprofits have been lining up with their own campaigns.
Oct. 18, 2010 at 5:26 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Computers, Consumer electronics, Personnel moves, Software, Technology Microsoft’s successor to Bill Gates to retire
Microsoft Corp said on Monday that chief software architect Ray Ozzie, the man who took over that role from co-founder Bill Gates, would retire and not be replaced.
The move signals a new phase in Microsoft’s shift toward cloud computing, which Ozzie championed, and cements control of the company’s direction under Chief Executive Steve Ballmer. Get the full story »
Oct. 18, 2010 at 4:51 p.m.
Filed under: Consumer electronics, Earnings, Economy, Stock activity, Technology Apple trumps forecasts again, but iPad disappoints
(Reuters/Robert Galbraith)
Apple Inc. easily surpassed profit and revenue forecasts again but supply bottlenecks curbed iPad sales to below Wall Street’s bullish targets, sending its shares more than 6 percent lower.
Weaker-than-projected gross margins and iPad shipments disappointed investors who had expected more from a company that had smashed Wall Street’s targets in each of the past eight quarters.
Some analysts said sales of the iPad, which began only in April, should ramp up in the current quarter as the company resolves hitches in the supply chain. Get the full story »
Oct. 14, 2010 at 2:40 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Cell phones, Consumer electronics, Internet, Regulations, Technology, Telecommunications, Wireless FCC weighs creating fund to boost broadband
A new fund could help bring high speed Internet to unserved and remote areas of the United States, U.S. telecommunications regulators said on Thursday.
The Federal Communications Commission proposed allocating universal service funds — fees consumers pay telephone companies to subsidize landline phone services for low-income and rural families — to create a “mobility fund” to expand broadband Internet to areas without service. Get the full story »
