Business Industry

A new mobile service scheduled to be unveiled in the coming weeks is making headlines worldwide because of its unique concept whereby customers receive free calls and text messages in by accepting advertisement banners on their mobile phones. While ... the service, Blyk, is being heralded as a revolutionary idea, the concept is actually a modernized version of an already established service. Virgin Mobile in the United States started a similar compromise last year, offering a designated amount of free calls in exchange for advertisement. But the introduction of Blyk is being regarded as an ... (view more)

Just about everyone is out to get Microsoft. That's the problem with being a virtual hegemonic state; like the U.S., everyone wants a piece of the pie and it often means taking it by force. So, just what are the primary threats to Microsoft? When it ... comes to its the company's Office "turf", the competitors are now lining up, and neither the products nor their makers are slouches by any means. In the following week, three tech titans announced plans to bring down the god of business software, Microsoft and its Office. Yahoo, Google, and even IBM have plans to develop competing software with ... (view more)

Eudora is back from the dead. Take that news to any English class and they'll likely think you're referring to famed author Eudora Welty. However, in tech circles Eudora is a well-known email program owned by Qualcomm Inc. (Not surprisingly, it was ... actually named after the author) In the mid-'90s, Eudora was one of the most popular and widely used programs on the Internet. However, it soon got overshadowed by the email software Microsoft bundled with Windows. Web-mail sites -- such as Hotmail and Yahoo Mail -- also took a chunk out of Eudora's market. After many rocky years in the marketplace ... (view more)

NBC Universal is not wasting any time sulking over their recent failure to reach a deal with Apple Inc. that would see the company offer shows from their hit fall lineup on the iTunes website. NBC Universal officially announced that all of the ... episodes for the new fall season will be made available on the Amazon Unbox digital downloading service. Amazon Inc. and NBC Universal have signed a lucrative contract that will see NBC television shows selling at $1.99 per episode on Unbox. New episodes are promised to be consistently uploaded onto the website the day after they air on network ... (view more)

Move over Sony, Apple's iTunes has won the online music battle. As a result, Sony will surrender and close its Connect Music Store as early as March 2008. Although Connect's official ending is certainly big news, the vultures have been circling for ... months. Back in June, suspicions arose when Sony Connect Inc. announced that it was eliminating positions. The reason the company gave for this layoff surrounded shifting its resources to other online services such as its PlayStation video game system. Officially, Sony denied any connection between these changes and a possible closing. For those ... (view more)

This is a story about Sony batteries. Although you might be anticipating an article about another Sony battery exploding somewhere at some time injuring someone, you're wrong. Instead, the Japanese company has made an environmentally-friendly ... breakthrough in battery technology. The sweet science Believe it or not, the battery runs on sugar. It works by breaking down sugar with enzymes so that electrical energy is created. When asked why sugar was chosen to be the miracle ingredient, a Sony representative replied, "Sugar is a naturally occurring energy source produced by plants through ... (view more)

You didn't expect retail glutton Wal-Mart to sit idly by while iTunes, Napster, and the new LimeWire shared in all the legal download dollars, did you? Of course not. That's why it's very little surprise that the omnipresent American chain has ... announced it will be going online in a big way when it comes to music. Like its deals on anything from t-shirts to tea, Wal-Mart has begun offering bargain basement prices for downloads to a variety of devices, including the Apple's iPod, iPhone, and Microsoft's Zune. Just how low can Wal-Mart go? To 94 cents, apparently. That's the price of the average ... (view more)

Nokia Corp., the world's largest mobile phone maker, is asking the United States to stop importing all chipsets made by Qualcomm Inc. along with any other phones and products made by the company. Nokia is also asking the U.S. International Trade ... Commission to start a full-fledged legal investigation of Qualcomm. Why? Nokia claims that Qualcomm has perpetuated unfair trade practices by infringing on their patents. This complaint comes amidst a multinational legal battle between Nokia and Qualcomm that started after the recent expiration of a licensing agreement between the two companies. The ... (view more)

LimeWire Store is coming to a network near you. Lime Wire LLC -- the company behind controversial LimeWire file-sharing software -- will make itself legitimate by creating a digital music store. Users will be able to search for and purchase music ... directly from the LimeWire program. Since convenience is a priority, a few different payment options will be accessible. For those who buy music frequently, monthly subscriptions will work in their favor. Customers making individual track purchases will pay between 99 cents and $1.29 per song. As well, all songs will be in MP3 audio format. (Source: ... (view more)

Sony electronics is recalling close to 400,000 Cyber-Shot cameras worldwide due to a dangerous defect. The specific models in question are the Cyber-Shot DSC-T5, with serial numbers between 3500001 and 3574100. The recalled cameras have a metal ... plating on the bottom of their units that may warp. If warping occurs, a sharp edge will be created that can cut or scratch a user's hand. An oversight during the manufacturing of the cameras is responsible for the problem. It turns out that the plating was not equipped with enough adhesive strength to prevent it from lifting. While this is an error on ... (view more)