Verizon ups its FiOS speeds to 50Mbps, sets the internet on fire
Posted Nov 21st 2007 4:14AM by
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Not content with blazing up your local connection at , has once again bumped its already-painfully-fast FiOS broadband service into the realm of ridiculous. According to reports, the company is now offering a 30Mbps / 15 Mbps service at $89.95 a month, and the nerve-shattering 50 Mbps / 20 Mbps speed at $139.95. The telecom has also introduced symmetrical connections in all 16 states where it currently offers FiOS service, with a 20Mbps / 20Mbps on the up and down, starting at $64.99. Of course, it’s all bleeps and buzzes in our particularly lonely corner of Brooklyn, where we’ll have to suffer the indignation of a lowly 10Mbps connection until the big V blesses us with some real speed… you hearing us, dudes?
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Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
We aren’t about to believe that Axiom Audio’s Audiobyte is actually the first made for the PC, but it’s pretty swank, regardless. The setup consists of a pair of ultra-compact speakers, a dedicated stereo amplifier and an optional (but totally necessary) subwoofer. Additionally, the firm offers ‘em up in seven different finishes including lacquered, real-wood Burled Walnut, and the standalone amplifier pushes some 55-watts to each 6.5- x 5.5- x 4-inch speaker. The pair houses a 1-inch titanium dome tweeter and a 3-inch aluminum cone woofer, and the optional Audiobyte subbie packs an isobarically-loaded 6.5-inch driver, but is unfortunately passive in nature. Interestingly, the system’s amplifier features an integrated USB plug, so DAPs can be plugged in directly for audio playback sans a running PC. As for pricing, the 2.0 setup will run you between $349 and $559 depending on finish, and the optional subwoofer will tack on another $179 to whichever pair you choose. Click on for one more look, won’tcha?
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Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
At this point, it’s not clear if the interest around Sony’s ultra-thin, XEL-1 OLED TV is plain ol’ first-gen technology, gawker enthusiasm or valid consumer interest. As such, it’s hard to say whether an initial production run of just 2,000 units spread across 700 stores in Japan is going to be a problem or not. However, if you’re lucky enough to stumble across this storefront display you’d best not dawdle and dig deep for that ¥200,000 (about $1700 US) MSRP right then and there. As for the rest of us, the chances of that 1,000,000:1 contrast or Europe any time soon is just that, a million to one.
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Attorneys in a shareholder lawsuit against Apple Inc. over its backdating of stock options said Tuesday they plan to refile some of the claims. ADVERTISEMENT
The shareholders claimed in the June 2006 lawsuit that company directors and officers, including Chief Executive Steve Jobs, committed fraud when they backdated some awards made between 1997 and 2001 to time the options when prices were low and boost later payouts. Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled Monday that claims alleging fraud in some proxy statements were filed after the federal statute of limitations had expired. But he gave the plaintiffs an option to amend their complaint to change their arguments. Dozens of companies have admitted to backdating schemes. Last year, Apple conducted an internal probe, acknowledged the backdating incidents at issue in this case and restated some of its earnings. The shareholders had asked the court to order that backdated options and any proceeds from them be returned to the company. Fogel ruled that the lawsuit raised some valid arguments but said its claims against Jobs and other officers did not contain enough detail. Lead plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Molumphy said Tuesday he intends to refile the case focusing on issues the judge identified. “The discovery we have so far has made the case stronger,” he said but declined to explain. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling declined to comment on the ruling. The case is Apple Computer Inc. Derivative Litigation, 06-04128. Derivative lawsuits are filed by shareholders on behalf of a company. Last week, Fogel rejected a similar lawsuit against Apple led by a New York pension system but said those plaintiffs could refile it by joining the derivative lawsuit. That case was Vogel v. Jobs, 06-05208.
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
Although the Rumbler, conceived and sold by Federal Signal, has been helping cops grab the attention of citizens for a few months, its shock waves are just now getting the publicity they demand. The setup is being installed on patrol cars in locales such as Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and New York, and it serves the purpose of moving crowds / vehicles out of the way when an officer is headed to an emergency. More specifically, Rumbler-equipped rides take advantage of the powerful woofers and amplifier to shake the ground beneath them and get people a-lookin’ some 200-feet away. Reportedly, the gizmo is meant to be used “judiciously, in situations where motorists should pull over to make way for the police,” and it can also be helpful in grabbing the eyes of deaf drivers who cannot hear the traditional siren. ‘Course, you could just load up your ride with a few subs and pop in a low-frequency CD to achieve the , but don’t be shocked if your copycatting ways net you an unwanted citation.
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
BOSTON - When technology companies talk up the potential of the developing world, they usually mean places that already are hotbeds like China or India. ADVERTISEMENT
IBM Corp. is placing bets on African countries where it has launched a mentoring program for college students. The project, called Makocha Minds, using the Swahili word for “teachers,” puts 250 of IBM’s top researchers in regular contact with engineering, math and computing students at universities in 10 sub-Saharan countries: Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Kenya, Senegal, Botswana, Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria. The participants chat mainly by e-mail or phone, but in-person meetings could happen eventually. The students usually want general guidance on becoming successful or pursuing advanced degrees, rather than help with their homework, said Mark Dean, head of IBM’S Almaden Research Center in Silicon Valley and leader of the project. Dean said the project lays groundwork for IBM to do business in Africa, where potentially groundbreaking research is being pursued on diverse topics like plant genomics and nuclear power. “We believe that Africa is that next emerging opportunity,” he said. “We need to be familiar with different cultures and languages and operations in the African countries. What we want is the African people and African businesses to look at IBM as a trusted provider.” Other technology companies have tried strengthening their interactions in Africa, including Google Inc., whose foundation has backed business-plan competitions in Ghana and Tanzania. However, experts in international technology development said IBM’s mentoring program appears unique.
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
Research firm says planned internet capacity upgrades will fall 60% short by 2010
Posted Nov 20th 2007 9:23PM by
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A new study published by the Nemertes Research Group indicates that demand for bandwidth will outstrip capacity by 2010 — and that planned infrastructure upgrades will fall some 60-70 percent short of making up the difference. Using a model it claims anticipates the next bandwidth-consuming innovation, Nemertes says that carriers and other infrastructure providers will have to spend at least an additional $42B over the estimated $72B it estimates is currently budgeted to prevent the bandwidth crunch from taking place — but we’re a little unclear on where those numbers are coming from, so don’t start running your cable modem on overdrive just yet. Either way, it looks like network scaling is something we’ll all be affected by over the next few years — unless the shame of watching people make fools of themselves on YouTube is finally too much and we move to the beach for good.
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Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
NEW YORK - A new version of the Firefox browser, now available for testing mainly by developers, offers improvements on finding frequently visited Web sites and tools for running Web applications without a live Internet connection. ADVERTISEMENT
The Beta 1 version of Firefox 3 released this week still has problems, including the inability to run newer Web-mail programs from Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp., and a final version for consumers isn’t expected for several months. But it offers a window on what’s to come. Many of its new features concern bookmarks, an area typically slow to change in the browsing world. You can now add keywords, or tags, to sort bookmarks by topic. And a new “Places” feature lets you quickly access sites you recently bookmarked or tagged and pages you visit frequently but haven’t bookmarked. There’s also a new star button for easily adding sites to your bookmark list — similar to what’s already available on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 browser. Offline Web support — for example, letting you compose Web mail while offline to send after you’re back online — is bound to come in handy as more software developers design programs to be run completely over the Internet, eliminating installation complexities. But Web developers must add the Firefox offline functionality to their sites, so the usefulness of this feature will be limited at first. Other new features include the ability to resume downloads midway if the connection is interrupted and an updated password manager that doesn’t disrupt the log-in process. Versions for Windows, Mac and Linux computers were released Monday by Mozilla, an open-source community in which thousands of people collectively develop free products, mostly as volunteers. ___ On the Net:
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
Dell’s Inspiron 1525 / 1526 leak out, set to land next month
Posted Nov 20th 2007 6:31PM by
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Those pondering the purchase of an Inspiron should probably hold off for a month or so if you can, as it looks like suitable successors will soon be available for both. The 6.6-pound 1525 and 1526 machines are the 15.4-inch replacements for the aforementioned pair and should target small businesses / low(er)-end consumers. Initial specs sheets reveal that the 1525 will be based on the Santa Rosa architecture, while the 1526 gets AMD-powered and offers up an ATI Radeon X1270 graphics set. Furthermore, the pair will feature up to 4GB of RAM, WXGA / WXGA+ / WSXGA+ panel choices, SATA hard drives, an optional Blu-ray reader (1525 only), built-in WiFi, optional WWAN and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. You’ll also find four USB 2.0 ports, a 4-pin FireWire connector, Ethernet / 56k modem, VGA out, optional HDMI, audio in / out, a 8-in-1 multicard reader, ExpressCard slot and your choice of Vista or Ubuntu Linux. Not much looks to have changed in the design department, and apparently, you’ll still be able to order ‘em with a custom lid color. Also, there’s no definitive word on price just yet, but you can safely expect ‘em to land in the same neighborhood as the units they are replacing when the duo ships to nearly every corner of the globe in mid-December.
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