Bing US Market Share Hits 9.9%

Topic: Technology News

Apparently those rumors of Bing declining in September weren't true after all. Microsoft's assault on Google has continued unabated through the Fall and the Bing search engine can now claim almost 10% of the U.S. search market share. (TechCrunch) ComScore reports that Google is also up, gaining .5% share this month, and 2.4% year-over-year.

Bing's growth since its launch in May is impressive, but it shouldn't be seen as a sign that Google is in any trouble. The fledgling 'decision engine' still has yet to nab any market share away from Google. Once more, its monthly gains have come at the expense of Yahoo, who is down 3% this year. Since Yahoo is already promised to Bing, these gains aren't quite as impressive as they sound.

Posted on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:25:41 CST | by Robert Evans

The Great iPhone Heist of 2009

Topic: Technology News

Sherlock Holmes is coming out in theaters next month, but where he's really needed right now is Belgium. That's where a cadre of clever criminals have absconded with 3-4,000 iPhones (AppleInsider). Local reports can't seem to agree on exactly how many phones were stolen from a warehouse belonging to CEVA Logistics in the city of Willebroek.

The actual heist sounds like a traditional 'Mission Impossible' type of break-in. The thieves climbed onto the roof and then cut a hole into it, dropped down into the building, and lifted roughly $3 million USD in smartphones. Considering the level of inside knowledge required to pull something like this off, it's likely one of the criminals had inside information.

Posted on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:42:36 CST | by Robert Evans

2009 Holiday PC Price-Cuts To Be Less Than 2008?

Topic: Technology News

If you're looking for a great discount on a PC this holiday season, you'll be able to find several. Unfortunately, the cuts in price this year might not be close to what we were getting last year. Digitimes reports that last year, some vendors cut their PC prices by as much as 70-80%. The cuts in 2008 were necessary to clear out flooded inventories.

Fortunately for the vendors, but unfortunately for us, the PC market has recovered nicely since then. Such a massive clearing-out won't be necessary this year, and price cuts aren't likely to be deeper than 30-50%. This holiday season (especially Black Friday) will still be packed with great deals, but we probably won't see prices as low as they were last year.

Posted on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:20:03 CST | by Robert Evans

80% Of Customers Won't Pay For News

Topic: Technology News

Today, a Forrester Research report containing some very bad news for Rupert Murdoch was released. Fierce Mobile states that the report showed that 80% of US consumers claimed they would no longer use newspapers and magazines online if the content stops being free. Only 20% said they would agree to pay for premium access.

As you might remember, last week News Corp stated that they intend to pull their content from Google within the next few months. The company, which is headed by Murdoch and is generally seen as the 'leader of the pack' for news media, intends to lead the industry away from Google's 'free' approach.

Posted on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:14:52 CST | by Robert Evans

Asus To Buy Toshiba's Notebook Brand?

Topic: Technology News

Asustek is a company with some serious goals. They intend to be one of the top three notebook vendors in the world, and they plan to accomplish this by 2011. While putting out one of the best lines of netbooks on the market is a good start, Asus knows they need to do more. Digitimes reports that the company is looking towards corporate acquisitions as a way to give themselves a boost.

Their first target appears to be Toshiba's notebook business. Asus has already had contact with the company and, while nothing is finalized, it sounds like this is an offer that both companies are taking seriously. Toshiba is a well-known brand, and having access to that name would be of substantial benefit to Asus.

Posted on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:13:25 CST | by Robert Evans

NASA Confirms Water On The Moon

Topic: Technology News

I am no scientist, but we already reported that there is water on the moon in September. Ok, back then NASA said there are water molecules. As I said I am not a scientist and the difference of water molecules and water is not clear to me.
In any case yesterday NASA made the big announcement that through bombing the moon they found water on the moon.
Read more

Posted on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:26:03 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

News Corp To Pull Content From Google Within Months

Topic: Technology News

In the years to come, we may think of this news as the spark that started a fire. Or we'll see it as the dying gasp of old media. Right now it's far too early to tell. What isn't up for debate is that a very big conflict is about to kick off. The Telegraph reports that Jonathan Miller, digital officer for News Corp, has stated that his company is ready to block Google's access to its sites.

Miller stated that his boss, Rupert Murdoch, is ready to lead the entire media industry in this direction. If he does so, it will kick off a very clear battle between the forces of new media, and old media. Mr. Miller believes that this conflict will be resolved within two years. I'm not so sure myself, the ideologies that are clashing here are both well-developed and deeply entrenched.

Posted on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:42:39 CST | by Robert Evans

Youtube Starts Streaming 1080p HD Next Week

Topic: Technology News

Youtube announced that they would begin supporting 1080p HD videos starting next week.
Starting next week, YouTube's HD mode will add support for viewing videos in 720p or 1080p, depending on the resolution of the original source, up from our maximum output of 720p today.
This is great news as more and more users have a box that brings Youtube onto their TV in the living room. Read more

Posted on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Popular Science 100 Best Innovations of The Year 2009 Unveiled

Topic: Technology News

The Popular Science (POPSCI) magazine has published their 100 Best Innovations of The Year list. This is their 22nd annual edition.
POPSCI lists 10 great innovations of 2009 in 10 categories with one getting the honors of the Grand Award.
In the gadget category the Canon EOS 5D Mark II wins the Grand Award. Other gadgets listed include the Panasonic GF1, Sony HDR-XR520V and the Android OS.
Read more

Posted on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:42:36 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Samsung Not Dropping Symbian After All?

Topic: Technology News

Yesterday we reported on news that Samsung was dropping Symbian in order to focus more development time on their new bada operating system. Despite the fact that this information came from Samsung senior VP Don Joo, it does not appear to have been accurate. Mobile Burn reports that they contacted Samsung's Seoul headquarters, who denied this comment.

Samsung HQ stated that the original Digitimes rumor was "not in line with Samsung's smartphone strategy". They went onto reassert their membership in the Symbian foundation, and that they plan to continue their 'multi-OS' strategy. I think this will probably turn out to be a good idea. I don't have particularly high hopes for bada.

Posted on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:49:20 CST | by Robert Evans

Intel & AMD Settle Ancient Feud For $1.25 Billion

Topic: Technology News

One of the longest-running conflicts in the electronics world ended today, with the announcement (via Bloomberg.com) that Intel has agreed to pay AMD $1.25 billion as part of a legal-settlement. This ends a four-year long legal battle between the two companies, and the announcement was met with an astonishing 27% jump in AMD stock.

The agreement both manufacturers came to gives them a cross-license pact that will settle all outstanding claims of breach of the prior contracts. Intel agreed to abide by a new set of business-practice provisions as well, although the details of those provisions remain unknown. This is good news for both AMD and Intel. The former company will no longer suffer from Intel's practice of giving discounts to customers that don't use AMD products. This 'embargo' has done a lot of damage to AMD over the last few years.

Posted on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:04:55 CST | by Robert Evans