Microsoft Shelves "Courier" Tablet PC Project

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Redmond,
Wash. – Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) has shelved
development of a dual-screen tablet computer, codenamed "Courier,"
that was aiming for the e-book reader market, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The company didn’t give a reason for the move, but notified the development
team last week. "It will be evaluated for use in future offerings, but we
have no plans to build such a device at this time," Microsoft spokesman
Frank Shaw told The Journal.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vwjuk
(WSJ)

Amid E-book Price Dispute, Amazon Cuts Penguin Book Prices

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Seattle
– Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) has begun selling new release books published by Penguin Books for
the discounted price of $9.99, amid a pricing dispute that has prevented Amazon
from selling any e-book titles from the publisher, The Wall Street Journal
reported. Penguin e-book titles have not been available from Amazon since April
1, despite the publisher having reached an e-book deal with Apple and the
titles being available from Barnes & Noble as well.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vwjpz
(WSJ)

MusikPitch Debuts Custom Songwriting Marketplace

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Nashville,
Tenn. – MusikPitch this week
launched its online marketplace for custom songwriting, which aims to connect
amateur songwriters with music supervisors, corporate brands and others seeking
original music. Clients post their songwriting needs and a set budget, and songwriters
then submit tracks, with clients able to provide feedback to fine-tune a final
product.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vwjzd

http://musikpitch.com

Finder of Lost iPhone 4G Regrets Not Turning It In

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
3

Redwood City,
Calif. – The 21-year-old who
found a prototype Apple (NASD:  AAPL) iPhone 4G in a bar and eventually sold it to a reporter
from Gizmodo says he regrets not doing more to return the device to its owner,
Redwood City, Calif. resident Brian Hogan told Wired.com, through his attorney
Jeffrey Bornstein. Hogan, who has been interviewed by authorities but not
charged with any crime, further told Wired.com through his attorney that
Gizmodo asserted to him that "there was nothing wrong in sharing the phone
with the tech press."

California
law considers a lost item stolen if the finder does not "make reasonable
and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property."

According
to Hogan’s lawyer, a friend of Hogan’s "offered to call Apple Care on Hogan’s
behalf," which Wired notes was "apparently the extent of Hogan’s
efforts to return the phone."

The owners of the bar where the phone was
lost also told reporters that Apple employee Gray Powell, who left the iPhone
in the bar, returned several times to see if it had been turned in.

Hogan then reached out to a number of technology publications, including Engadget and Wired.com, before selling the device to Gizmodo, whose reporter Jason Chen then published details on the unreleased device.

Chen is also under investigation in connection with the incident.

"[Hogan] made a mistake," his attorney told Wired.com. "He
should have just immediately turned that phone in."

 

Related Links:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/04/iphone-finder

http://snipurl.com/vvm0p
(DMW previous coverage)

Attensity Acquires Social Media Monitoring Firm Biz360

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Palo Alto,
Calif. – Attensity Group, a
publisher of business user applications, announced this week that it has
acquired Biz360, a provider of social media monitoring services.

Financial terms
of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2000, Redwood
City, Calif.-based Biz360 has provided social media monitoring for
clients including Allstate Insurance, Dell, HP and Astra Zenaca.

Biz360
president and CEO Brad Brodigan will become a senior vice president and general
manager at Attensity.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vwibj

http://www.biz360.com

Survey: Majority Unaware of How Sensitive Data is Stored Online

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Washington – A majority of U.S. citizens
are unaware of how their online data is stored and who secures it, according to
a new survey by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

Approximately one in five
respondents said they were unaware of whether their data was being held
"in the cloud," and 60% said they did not know what "in the
cloud" even meant.

When asked who’s responsibility it was to secure that
data, opinions were split between businesses, the government and individuals.

"As more information is stored in the cloud, coordination between the
public and private sectors is more important than ever to protect personal and
corporate data," said Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of the BSA.

"What this survey tells us is that there is a lag in the general public’s
understanding of the emerging cloud environment and how it impacts their data
— and a lack of consensus on who is responsible for securing the cloud."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vwhwl

Opera Acquires Web-based Email Firm FastMail.fm

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Oslo, Norway – Opera Software, the
developer of the Web and mobile browsers of the same name, announced on Friday
that it has acquired Australia-based FastMail.fm, a provider of Web-based email
services.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Opera, whose mobile
Web browser was recently accepted for inclusion at Apple’s App Store for the
iPhone, said the deal will enable it to expand its current messaging product
portfolio and deliver cross-platform messaging to a wide range of devices.

The
company counts 50 million users of its desktop browser and more than 55 million
users of the mobile Opera Mini.

 

Related Links:
http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2010/04/30/

http://www.fastmail.fm

Mobile Game Publisher Moblyng Raises $2.65 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Redwood City,
Calif. – Moblyng, a publisher of
games for mobile devices, has raised $2.65 million in new financing, from
previous backers Mohr Davidow Ventures and Deep Fork Capital, VentureBeat
reported.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Moblyng
publishes games across multiple mobile platforms, including the Web, iPhone,
Android and Palm WebOS, and counted more than 5 million downloads of its titles
in the past year.

The company also announced that it has signed social games developer
Playdom as a publishing partner.

Moblyng has now raised a total of $10.65
million to date.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vwhlz (VentureBeat)

http://www.moblyng.com

Federal Court Dismisses Rosetta's Google Trademark Suit

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Arlington, Va.
– A federal court in Virginia has dismissed Rosetta
Stone’s trademark infringement lawsuit against Google (NASD:  GOOG), which had sought to keep
the Silicon Valley technology giant from
selling the company’s trademarks or other similar terms as part of its AdWords
advertising program.

Rosetta Stone, which sells language learning software and
online services, said that the decision from the U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia will contribute to "consumer confusion"
by allowing counterfeiters to sell "pirated copies of trademarked products
to unsuspecting American consumers."

"We are deeply disappointed that
Rosetta Stone was not given an opportunity to present at a public trial the
facts underlying Google’s practices and the motivation that led Google to adopt
its current trademark policies," said Tom Adams, the president and CEO of
Rosetta Stone.

The company said that it is considering an appeal.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vwgzu

http://www.rosettastone.com

Lala

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0
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