Link: http://news.ecombiz.biz

 

Google expects to have a resolution with China regarding censored search results "soon," chief executive Eric Schmidt said Wednesday. Schmidt was at a media conference in the United Arab Emirates when he was asked about the status of the negotiations, AP reports.

"I can't really say anything other than that we're in active negotiations with the Chinese government, and there is no specific timetable," he said. "Something will happen soon."

Link: http://news.ecombiz.biz

The co-founder of LifeLock, an identity theft protection company that was fined $12 million for exaggerating the value of its services, has a history of failed entrepreneurial ventures, including a floating ocean recreational center planned for the waters off Waikiki last year. The Federal Trade Commission announced yesterday that LifeLock agreed to pay $11 million to settle claims with its customers and $1 million to 35 states, including Hawaii. Hawaii will get $15,000, to be deposited in the state's complaint resolution fund, which will be administered by the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and used for consumer protection purposes, said Stephen Levins, executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection.http://postrank.com/graphics/blog_claim.png?s=9rc0gcyYou can add this with your blogging software, or use the following html code:

Link: http://news.ecombiz.biz

Google Maps Gets Bike Lanes/Directions Just In Time for Spring

Google addedbike lanes andbicycle directions to Google Maps today, allowing you to find routes that aren’t too hilly or congested. It’s pretty awesome!

Bike functionality is available for over 150 American cities at the moment, but it’s safe to assume that, like everything Google does, it will eventually expand to cover most of the planet.

Link: http://news.ecombiz.biz

Hewlett-Packard's upcoming slate PC boasts one clear advantage over Apple's iPad by supporting Adobe Flash, an HP executive suggests in a corporate blog posting. Apple is shunning Flash, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs suggested is buggy, for its upcoming device. The HP device will also be based off Windows 7. As the iPad heads for its April 3 release date, a number of competitors are planning to release their own offerings into the rapidly growing tablet PC market. Hewlett-Packard’s upcoming tablet PC has an advantage over Apple’s iPad thanks to its ability to run Flash, an HP executive wrote in a March 8 posting on a corporate blog. As the launch date for the iPad rapidly approaches, it becomes increasingly clear that the iPad’s deliberate shunning of Flash support may be the hamstring at which its competitors aim their knives. Whether the lack of Flash support hobbles Apple sales, and boosts the fortunes of its competitors, will likely be undeterminable for several months. "With this slate product, you’ve getting a full Web browsing experience in the palm of your hand. No watered-down Internet, no sacrifices," Phil McKinney, HP’s vice president and chief technology officer for the Personal Systems Group, wrote in the March 8 posting on the company’s Voodoo Blog. "A big bonus for the slate product is that, being based off Windows 7, it offers full Adobe support."

Link: http://news.ecombiz.biz

CodePlex Foundation has announced the expansion of its Board of Directors. The CodePlex Foundation describes itself as "a not-for-profit foundation formed with the mission of enabling the exchange of code and understanding among software companies and open-source communities." In essence, the group was spun out of Microsoft to progress on a mission of supporting open-source software that runs on Microsoft platforms. On March 9, the organization "announced the appointment of four members to its permanent Board of Directors." The announcement continued: "New appointees include Jim Jagielski, Chief Architect at SpringSource, a division of VMware, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Apache Software Foundation and an Advisory Board Member at Open Source Software Institute, and Tony Hey, Corporate Vice President of External Research for Microsoft Corporation. Continuing on the Board as permanent Directors are interim Board members Sam Ramji, Vice President of Sonoa Systems, and Stephanie Davies Boesch, Director of Program Management of .NET Framework, Microsoft."

Link: http://news.ecombiz.biz

CBS has unveiled an upgraded version of its CBS Sports: NCAA March Madness on Demand app for the iPhone with a key feature: 3G support. (Hey, if Sling Media can finally add it...) MediaPost reports that the new app offers live streaming video and Westwood One radio coverage of the NCAA tournament as before, but over 3G cellular data networks as well as Wi-Fi. It even knows how to scale the stream back if you're only in an area with EDGE. Sadly, there's one glitch: CBS has now doubled the price of the app, from $4.99 to $9.99. A free version still offers news and video highlights, but no live streaming video, scores, or other alerts. Both are available now in Apple's App Store.

Link: http://news.ecombiz.biz

Looks like a certain major U.S. carrier got a little tired of Sprint's ubiquitous NFL Mobile Live app. Verizon Wireless just announced a multi-pronged push to deliver NFL-related content on the carrier's devices. The wide-ranging four-year agreement with the NFL means Verizon will become the league's official wireless service sponsor--and that Sprint's five-year deal is now over. Select Verizon devices will offer NFL RedZone channel coverage, which will air live look-ins of key plays and touchdowns from Sunday afternoon games. Phones will also offer live streaming of the NFL Network channel, as well as NBC's Sunday Night Football. Other features include game highlight clips, on-demand analysis, live radio broadcasts of season and playoff games for home and away teams, fantasy info, customizable NFL alerts, and ringtones and games. All of this mobile coverage begins with the NFL draft on April 22 to 24; additional information of specific phones and pricing will come sometime before August.

Link: http://news.ecombiz.biz

Sony said Tuesday it will start selling 3-D televisions in June, joining a competitive industrywide push to convince consumers to embrace the technology for their living rooms. The Japanese electronics giant, known for its PlayStation 3 game consoles and Bravia flat-screen TVs, will offer its fully capable 3-D TV model in four sizes this summer. The 40-inch and 46-inch versions will go on sale on June 10 in Japan, while the 52- and 60-inch TVs will be available starting July 16. Although the company did not release a global launch date, Sony senior vice-president Yoshihisa Ishida said the new TVs will hit stores in the U.S. and other countries around the same time. The 40-inch 3-D will cost the equivalent of about $3,300 Cdn, and the biggest 60-inch will retail at $6,650. Included are two pairs of Sony's 3-D glasses, as well as a camera sensor on each unit that will adjust sound and picture quality based on viewers' positions. A remote control button enables the switch from a regular 2-D image to 3-D. Sony hopes 10 per cent of the 25 million TVs it aims to sell next fiscal year will be 3-D units.

Link: http://news.ecombiz.biz

IDC released its 2010 predictions for the PC market, and the analyst firm says virtual desktops, WiMax and a return to desktops are in the forecast.

Last year’s economic lag directly caused PC prices to take a nosedive. However, IDC thinks the average selling price of PCs will stay put in 2010 thanks to stronger demand from businesses and consumers. The loser is the mininotebook, or netbook. The research firm says 2009 was the climax for netbook market growth and share, pointing to falling prices of portable PCs and lack of differentiation when stacked up against a fully loaded PC.

Portable PCs will remain on their exponential trajectory, accounting for more than 60 percent of all PC shipments. Yet, emerging markets looking for a more affordable solution will look to desktops, slowing the purchases of portable PCs slightly. IDC predicts that market share of all-in-one desktops will double. Consumer interest combined with economic recovery in the commercial sector will fuel shipment growth and help the all-in-one desktop capture nearly 10 percent of 2010’s worldwide desktop market.

Link: http://news.ecomtech.biz

Sex.com, often touted as one of the most valuable Internet domain names, is due to head to the auction block next week.

Technology  |  Deals

 

DOM Partners LLC, a New Jersey lender that backed a 2006 purchase of the domain name for a reported $14 million, is foreclosing on the Internet property, and is due to auction it on March 18 at New York law firm Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf LLP, according to legal notices.

 

Bidding for the Internet property, the tumultuous past of which includes several lawsuits and two books, is due to start at $1 million.