Business

Get ready to pay for Internet usage by the gigabyte rather than the flat monthly access fee you're accustomed to. At least, that could be the outcome if a new pricing test by Time Warner's RoadRunner broadband service is deemed as worthy. The ... company is the fifth-largest Internet service provider in the U.S., however, its initial test will be constrained to subscribers in Beaumont, Texas. (Sources: ISP Planet and Internetnews.com ) In their new price scheme, a user's monthly fees would depend on how much bandwidth they used during the month. A spokesperson for Time Warner has explained that ... (view more)

Sales of Apple's iPhone remain strong as illustrated by the release of figures for the first quarter of fiscal year 2008 (last 92 days of 2007). The company reported that it sold 2,315,000 iPhones during this period, which also encompasses the ... holiday season. The latest figures provided by CEO Steve Jobs during his Macworld 2008 keynote presentation on January 15, stated that Apple has passed the 4 million unit threshold. (Source: arstechnica.com ) The impressive total amounts to an average of 20,000 units sold per day, giving the iPhone a 20 percent market share of international smart phone ... (view more)

Rumor has it the first service pack update for Windows Vista will be out on 15 February. A 'service pack' is a single download produced by Microsoft to fix many different problems and add general improvements to a version of its Windows operating ... system. Microsoft have so far only confirmed that the update will be out in the current quarter (by the end of March). It's thought Microsoft may be confident about releasing Service Pack 1 early because a test version, which users download at their discretion from the company website, has proven successful. The official service pack releases ... (view more)

There's no denying that Apple's got itself a bountiful hold on the digital music market. The company's hardware retails for more than comparably-equipped devices from the competition, and yet the Touch, Nano, and Shuffle all manage to maintain the ... company's massive lead. However, that advantage might be threatened where Apple seems strongest: online. For some time, Apple's virtual music store, iTunes, has been the front-runner in offering individual songs or entire albums for a reasonable price. Buying one song at a time has proven a dynamite marketing dynamic for Apple, which clearly ... (view more)

Time Warner is testing a plan that could end flat-rate monthly broadband subscriptions. The second-largest Internet service provider in the US, Time Warner will soon launch a trial in the Beaumont, Texas market with four different prices for those ... downloading up to 5, 10, 20 or 40 gigabytes each month. They chose Beaumont randomly and say the area doesn't have a specific problem with heavy broadband use. A spokesman said it was a possible way to tackle the problem of light users effectively subsidising those who use the Internet more often. "What we're trying to accomplish is to create a ... (view more)

Sun Microsystems Inc. agreed to acquire MySQL AB, developers of open source databases for about $1 billion -- about $800 million in cash in exchange for all MySQL stock and to assume about $200 million in options. The transaction is reportedly ... expected to close late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter of this year. Sun Microsystems Inc., based in Santa Clara, CA said the acquisition accelerates its position in enterprise IT to now include the database market, saying MySQL "will bring synergies to Sun that will change the landscape of the software industry by driving new ... (view more)

Apple CEO Steve Jobs made his much-anticipated annual speech at the recent MacWorld conference, introducing the "MacBook Air" before a highly receptive crowd. The three-pound computer is officially the thinnest laptop in the world and is able to ... slide inside a manila file envelope with ease. At its thickest point, the MacBook Air measures 0.76 inches and contains the same 80 gigabyte hard drive that would typically be found in a 1.8 inch iPod. The trackpad, which is used as a computer mouse, relies on the same touch screen technology used to manipulate an Apple iPhone. (Source: usatoday.com ... (view more)

Microsoft is currently experimenting with one of their first "technovations" of 2008 which, if successful, could forever change the way we go about our grocery shopping. The new device is a technologically advanced console that assists customers in ... finding various items on their shopping list. The consumer can also use their cart-mounted device to scan the products as they lift them off the shelves and place them into the cart. With the push of a button, the consumer can also pay for their groceries directly on the cart itself. (Source: yahoo.com ) These new "smart" carts have been one of ... (view more)

Last week, Apple announced that it will be lowering prices on its UK iTunes store to reflect standardized pricing in Europe. The company currently pays more in Britain than to European record companies in order to sell music. (Source: apple.com ) ... "This is an important step towards a pan-European marketplace for music," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, in a statement. "We hope every major record label will take a pan-European view of pricing." And what happens if the music labels refuse the price reduction? In the same statement, Apple said it will, "reconsider its continuing relationship in the ... (view more)

Amazon has signed a deal to sell MP3 files from artists on the Sony label without copy protection. It's the first site to sign such deals with all four major record labels (Sony, EMI, Universal and Warner) and is a big step forward in its battle ... with rival iTunes. The agreement means Amazon can now offer songs without digital rights management (DRM) protection. That's where files are 'locked' so that they can only be used on particular computers or players. Some systems only allow the file to work on the computer which downloaded it, while others allow a limited number of machines to play the ... (view more)