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September 2008
- Comcast Web Caps May Signal End of an Era
  
  ABC News | Sep 2, 08 4:33 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - With Comcast setting a limit on Internet usage beginning next month, the end of the Internet as we know it may be at hand, as ISPs move toward usage-based models like public utilities. Comcast, the second-largest US Internet provider, was careful to say that the bandwidth limit is so high—250 gigabytes per month—it won't affect 99% of customers. But "today's bandwidth hog is tomorrow's average user," one critic tells ABC. More »
August 2008
- Verizon, Google Near Deal on Mobile Search
  
  Wall Street Journal | Aug 22, 08 1:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Verizon and Google are nearing a deal that would make Google the default search tool on Verizon mobile devices, the Wall Street Journal reports, giving a boost to the under-monetized $244-million mobile search business while setting a precedent for mobile ad revenue sharing. The deal, expected to close within weeks, will simplify mobile search for users while ending a standoff between carriers and Internet heavyweights. More »
- Comcast to Put Brakes on Bandwidth Hogs
  
  Bloomberg | Aug 21, 08 9:41 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Comcast plans to reduce Internet connection speeds for heavy users, Bloomberg reports. The company's "FairShare" system will slow users down for 10 to 20 minutes during peak periods. Comcast was recently scolded by the FCC for improperly blocking file-sharing programs like BitTorrent in an effort to manage Web traffic. More »
- Google Readies for Spectrum Showdown
  
  San Jose Mercury News | Aug 19, 08 9:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Google has launched an aggressive campaign to free up the soon-to-be-emptied "white spaces" of the TV spectrum for Internet devices and broadband access, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The spaces will open up when TV switches entirely to digital in February. Google and other tech giants are hotly disputing use of the spaces with broadcasters. More »
- Why Obama Wants 2 Txt U His VP Choice
  
  New York Times | Aug 13, 08 11:14 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Barack Obama's decision to announce his running mate by text-messaging supporters makes him seem "just like the cool kid in study hall," writes Garrett M. Graff in the New York Times . But there's more to the text blast than just embracing new technology. The move will give Obama hundreds of thousands of cellphone numbers, an invaluable resource come November. More »
- Verizon, Unions Reach Deal
  
  Wall Street Journal | Aug 11, 08 6:38 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Verizon Communications and two labor unions representing 65,000 workers struck a 3-year deal yesterday, staving off a strike set for today, reports the Wall Street Journal. The contract, which replaces one that expired Aug. 2, adds 2,500 union jobs and protects the health benefits of current union members and retirees. More »
- Service Lets Callers Dodge Conversation
  
  New York Times | Aug 2, 08 7:04 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A new phone service is a hit with people who want to make a phone call without actually talking to anybody, the New York Times reports. Slydial allows users to skip directly to leaving a message on voicemail without the recipient realizing they have an incoming call. Users say the service has helped them dodge many awkward conversations. More »
July 2008
- Pols Try to Curb Enthusiasm for Ped-Texting
  
  Chicago Tribune | Jul 29, 08 2:07 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Though walking and texting is commonplace for many Americas, experts and politicians are considering whether the increased risk of walking into a mailbox—or oncoming traffic—is worth the convenience. A bill to make the practice illegal is working through the Illinois legislature, the Chicago Tribune reports, with advocates citing a growing number of injuries—and deaths—associated with ped-texting. More »
- Alcatel-Lucent CEO, Chair to Quit After 6th Straight Loss
  
  New York Times | Jul 29, 08 6:46 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Patricia Russo, the CEO who led the merger of Alcatel-Lucent, will step down by the end of the year after the troubled telecom giant released yet another grim quarterly report, posting a net loss of $1.73 billion. That figure was much larger than analysts had predicted, and almost double the loss from the same quarter last year, writes the New York Times . The company's chairman will also resign. More »
- Google Agrees to Give Viacom Encrypted Data
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jul 15, 08 7:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In a deal reached last night, Google has agreed to hand over YouTube user data Viacom had demanded in its copyright lawsuit, but only after replacing user names and IP addresses with unique substitutes to protect users’ privacy, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move will allow Viacom and other plaintiffs to explore statistics without learning who’s viewing what. More »
- Troubled Sprint Woos Angry Subscribers
  
  New York Times | Jul 8, 08 9:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Facing upset customers, merger fallout, and peeved execs, Sprint’s new CEO started the job with his work cut out for him. The company has the sector's highest rate of customer dissatisfaction. But by getting personal with patrons and employees, new boss Daniel Hesse is fighting to save the company, the New York Times reports. More »
- Dial-Up Hold-Outs: Some Just Don't Want Broadband
  
  Associated Press | Jul 3, 08 5:35 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Dial-up Internet users might not want broadband—or at least not want it enough to pay for it. That’s the word from a new study that finds high prices and a lack of interest are bigger factors than lack of access for most dial-up holdouts. The story is different, though, in rural areas, where 24% of dial-uppers would upgrade if they could, reports AP. More »
- Without AT&T Contract, iPhone 3G Runs $600
  
  New York Times | Jul 2, 08 3:26 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - AT&T will sell contract-free iPhone 3Gs for $600 (the 8-gig model) and $700 (16 gigs), a $401 mark-up, the New York Times notes. There are no details available on why a consumer would want the phone without the, er, phone, but AT&T says there is a demand—and notes that other wireless models already cost far more without contracts. More »
June 2008
- 'Sweeping' House Deal Would Expand Spy Powers
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jun 19, 08 11:40 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - House leaders brokered a long-awaited compromise on spy powers today, bringing much of the post-9/11 NSA activities—illegal at the time—under law and granting a qualified immunity to telecom companies that participated in the extra-FISA program, the Wall Street Journal reports. The “most sweeping rewrite” of spy law in 30 years, the deal would allow some wiretapping of citizens without a warrant, and expand the power to eavesdrop on transnational communication. More »
- Skype Pushes Video Calls
  
  Reuters | Jun 18, 08 1:06 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The newest version of Skype is designed to make video calls easier and more widespread. Skype 4.0, which begins public testing today, detects bandwidth and attached devices to make it simpler to use a computer to add video to calls, Reuters reports. Skype's president says that the resolution of the video is high enough that users can make real eye contact. More »
- Eavesdropping on Internet Calls Is Easy
  
  MIT Technology Review | Jun 17, 08 7:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Not only are most Internet phone calls not encrypted, but a bandwidth-saving technique could undermine encryption once it’s implemented. Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that a compression method called variable-bit-rate encoding makes it possible for eavesdroppers to identify given phrases in an encrypted VoIP call 50% of the time, reports Technology Review . More »
- Not Just iPhone—iRadio!
  
  New York Times | Jun 13, 08 9:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Apple’s new iPhone will provide free, CD-quality radio from 200 stations in 25 genres—even if that does cut into iTunes' music business, Saul Hansell blogs in the New York Times . But Apple knows that it will "fare best if it makes the iPhone as useful as possible, and that means exploiting the device’s ability to stream music, talk and video." More »
- Sprint Tries to Open Up to Customers
  
  New York Times | Jun 9, 08 10:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - You won’t get Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse if you email “Dan@Sprint.com,” but you will get the company’s attention, reports the New York Times. In an ad campaign designed to get Sprint in touch with its customers, Hesse asks “If you could change the way wireless companies did things, what would you do?” The address then appears on the screen. More »
- iPhone May Be Too Low-Tech for Japan
  
  Wired | Jun 6, 08 4:09 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The new iPhone will be in Japan at the end of the year, but it may not be souped up enough for consumers there, Wired reports. Japanese phones tend to have an endless array of cool features such as live TV and Wii-style games. Even though most people hardly ever use all those bells and whistles, that doesn't mean the simpler iPhone will be welcomed. More »
- ISPs Should Stay With Flat-Rate Pricing
  
  GigaOm | Jun 5, 08 5:05 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Cable companies are wooing Wall Street by saying they’ll offset expensive implementation of a new, high-speed software protocol by metering broadband Internet access. Bad move, Om Malik writes on GigaOm. Flat-rate high-speed access has enabled recent revolutionary innovation in the telecom business, which led to almost 70 million broadband subscriptions in 2007, and a cash cow for the cable companies. More »