DOJ asks for more info from Google in ITA bid
Google has said this weekend that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a second request for information in regards to the search giant’s bid to purchase ITA Software for $700 million.
ITA software is the company behind flight information software used by Bing, Kayak and Orbitz among others.
The software helps users search for flights, compare flight options and prices, and ultimately purchase tickets.
Google has no such software built-in to its search engine, and in that respect, Microsoft’s Bing has the advantage.
Kayak and Orbitz voiced concerns that after the purchase, Google could shut off ITA information to them. Google has said it will not do anything of the sort.
Google responded to the second request: “While we think this acquisition will benefit travelers as well as those seeking their business, we know that closer scrutiny has been one consequence of Google’s success, and we said that we wouldn’t be surprised if there were a regulatory review before the deal closes. This week we received what’s called a “second request,” which means that the U.S. Department of Justice is asking for more information so that they can continue to review the deal.”
Past “second requests” have historically meant that the DOJ is concerned about the impact the deal will have on an industry.
Google acquires Angstro, adds founder to team
Google has acquired the Web start-up Angstro this week while also moving co-founder Rohit Khare to the Google team.
The search giant has been in an acquisition frenzy over the past few months, purchasing a plethora of sites and services that will help their upcoming assault on the social networking world and its champion Facebook.
Khare is a respected Internet researcher and entrepreneur.
Earlier in the summer, Google purchased the social gaming siteSlide, while recruiting its founder Max Levchin to become a VP of engineering for social media efforts. Levchin was the co-founder of PayPal.
Google has also invested $150 million in social gaming market leader Zynga.
The social networking service, dubbed “Google Me” internally is still in “stealth mode” and Google will not publicly discuss it.
Google versus Facebook has become a hot-topic in the tech world, with many believing Facebook will soon start its own advertising network to rival Google’s AdSense, while Google prepares its full assault on the social networking world.
Netflix releases iPhone app
The long awaited Netflix Watch Instantly client for the iPhone and iPod Touch has finally arrived.
Netflix announced the availability of their free iPhone app in the iTunes App Store today. It requires iOS 3.13 or later.
The Watch Instantly service already allowed Netflix subscribers to stream video directly to devices including computers, Blu-ray players, HDTVs & game consoles. An iPad app has also been available since April of this year when the device launched.
A client for Android devices is also in development.
“We’re excited that our members can now carry Netflix around in their pockets and instantly watch movies and TV shows streamed from Netflix right to their iPhone or iPod touch” said Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings.
Google Chat gets phone call capability for US users
Gmail users in the US can now use the Voice & Video Chat service to make phone calls. The new service is accessed directly through Gmail’s Chat interface.
If you have a Google Voice account, the associated phone number will be used for outbound calls. You can also forward calls from Google Voice to Google Voice & Video Chat.
The included call screening feature even allows Google Voice users to listen to callers as they leave messages.
Currently calls to US numbers are free, while there is a charge for calling internationally which varies depending on the country.
Facebook sues social networking site for using “book” in its name
Social networking juggernaut Facebook is suing a new website called Teachbook, which is designed to help teachers, administrators & parents share classroom resources with each other.
The suit alleges, “Misappropriating the distinctive BOOK portion of Facebook’s trademark, Defendant has created its own competing online networking community in a blatant attempt to become Facebook “for Teachers.””
Facebook’s lawyers are claiming that using the name Teachbook is intended to (and would) confuse people into believing the site is associated with Facebook.
While there’s certainly truth to the claim that the use of “book” in Teachbook’s name is intended to let people know it’s a social networking site, it doesn’t automatically follow that people will assume an affilliation with Facebook.
In fact it seems like an equally valid argument that the average person would assume the name implies Teachbook is an alternative to Facebook, and therefore not affiliated.
PlayStation 4 will still use optical media, says Hirai
During an interview with MCV, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai ruled out an all-digital future, at least for the PlayStation 4, saying the console will still use optical media.
Sony was generally criticized for launching the PSPGo handheld, which removed the company’s proprietary UMD drives, and turned everything digital, forcing gamers to purchase and download their games through the PlayStation Store.
When asked if the PS4 would use a similar strategy, Hirai responded: “We do business in parts of the world where network infrastructure isn’t as robust as one would hope. There’s always going to be requirement for a business of our size and scope to have a physical medium.”
“To think everything will be downloaded in two years, three years or even ten years from now is taking it a little bit to the extreme.”
Earlier in the month, it was revealed that Sony is already preparing games for the upcoming PlayStation 4, the console which has not even been announced yet.
Many expect a 2012 launch date for the next-gen console.
Motorola Droid 2 gets rooted
Following in the footsteps of the Droid X, which was rooted within a week of launch, the XDA Dev team has announced they have rooted the Motorola Droid 2, just 14 days after its launch.
The initial rooting method is not easy, however, and will require decent background with ADB.
For more info on ADB, check here: ABD Wiki page.
After the device is rooted, users can then install custom ROMs, as well as have access to Superuser controls.
For now, there are not custom recovery images for the Droid 2, so installing a custom ROM is impossible.
Says a XDA Dev member: “This is needed to install custom ROMs, which as of now, there are none. That means you won’t be able to install any third-party Android ROMs on your rooted Droid 2. [Yes], they will be on their way at some point, but right now, the main appeal to rooting the Droid 2 right now is to use root-only applications, and remove the bloatware that Verizon has thrown on the device.”
If you are interested, you can view the full instructions here: Root the Moto Droid 2
DMCA is a failure for the content industry declares RIAA president
According to RIAA President Cary Sherman, the DMCA doesn’t work for the content industry because it doesn’t make service providers responsible for policing copyright infringement.
In statements made as part of a panel discussion at an event hosted by the Technology Policy Institute, Sherman said, “the DMCA isn’t working for content people at all.”
He went on to explain, “You basically cannot monitor all the infringements on the internet,” later adding, “everybody has to do something about piracy.”
This line of reasoning is nothing new for the RIAA, but it remains as flawed as ever. It requires that you accept a number of assumptions which simply don’t hold up to any real scrutiny.
The most obvious is that there’s any way to stop piracy. It’s easy to say somebody has to do it, but there’s no evidence anyone actually can.
According to the Sherman the solution is for everyone from ISPs on up to do get involved. But this creates some significant legal problems.
How does an ISP monitor the content of on their network without violating federal wiretapping law?
And that’s without considering that figuring out whether fair use is involved requires human intervention, which would automatically disqualify the provider from DMCA safe harbor protection.
So if ISPs can’t find infringement what about services like RapidShare? Sure they could use a filtering system like YouTube has implemented, but what’s to stop people from switching to a new service with no such arrangement in place?
[More]>>
Apple to host music-themed event on September 1st
Apple has sent out invites for a music-themed event on September 1st, leading many to speculate that the company will finally announce an updated iPod Touch, likely one with a camera.
Historically, Apple has announced updates for their iPod lineup and for the iTunes media store in September.
Furthermore, many believe Apple will announce a new generation Apple TV, one that uses flash memory instead of a HDD, an ARM processor, and relies more on the “cloud.”
Apple is currently negotiating deals with CBS, Fox and Disney that would allow iTunes users to rent TV shows for 99 cents an episode. All appear close to signing off, at least for some of their programming.
While still speculation, it is believed Apple will add at least one camera to the updated iPod Touch, while updating the display to a higher resolution.
Apple declined to comment further on the event.
Latest Roxio Creator adds 3D conversion, editing
Following the industry’s recent push into 3D, Roxio’s latest Creator software bundle gives users the chance to convert their 2D photos and videos into 3D, as well as manage and edit 3D content.
Consumers can import files from 3D cameras and camcorders, edit the video, save it to a number of popular formats and finally burn it to DVD, or Blu-ray if you have the proper hardware.
If you have a large collection of 2D video and photos (like everyone does), you can convert it over to 3D using a few clicks.
Gizmodo reviewed that section of the software and had this to say: “The standard amateur 3D rules apply—things work best when you leave a good distance between you and your subject; when there’s a well-defined foreground, midground, and background, etc.—but on some of the examples I saw, there was a decent 3D effect (on others it was less successful, but as always, practice makes perfect).”
Outside of the new 3D upgrades, Creator still allows for management, editing and sharing of a variety of file formats.
