Google, Plaintiffs Submit Revised Book Search Settlement
Right up against a deadline to submit a revised settlement agreement to a judge overseeing a lawsuit filed against Google by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, the parties filed their second take near midnight on Friday. The original settlement agreement had come under fire from many parties but most notably from the U.S. Department of Justice, whose withering and broad critique of the deal led the judge to demand revisions in the proposal.
October NPD: Game Sales Stumble, PS3 Tops Xbox 360
Sony's PS3 continued to outpace Microsoft's Xbox 360 in October hardware sales according to US NPD Group data, though Microsoft cleaned up in top 10 software sales, claiming five slots and 44 percent of units total. The Wii took top honors overall, but plummeted in year-over-year comparisons, falling from 803k units in October 2008 to 507k units last month.
In a surprise tumble, October video game retail software sales fell to $573m, an 18 percent decline from last year's record $698m. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter had earlier this week forecast October console software sales would be $620 million, up 20 percent compared to last year's $515 million.
Phone vs. BlackBerry vs. Droid vs. Pre: Smackdown!
The latest Android 2.0-based "iPhone killer" won't kill the iPhone or the BlackBerry -- and the cheaper HTC Droid Eris is the new smartphone that I think Apple should be concerned about. But there are now six smartphones on the market that will appeal to business and professional users, each with different strengths and weaknesses.
This article gives InfoWorld's ratings for all six -- the Apple iPhone, HTC Droid Eris, Motorola Droid, Palm Pre, Research in Motion BlackBerry Bold, and RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 -- plus an interactive ratings form in which you can enter your own weighting for each category in our exclusive Mobile Deathmatch Calculator and get a customized score for each smartphone.
HP to Acquire 3Com for $2.7 Billion
Hewlett-Packard will acquire networking vendor 3Com in a deal valued at $2.7 billion, the companies announced Wednesday.
The agreement, already approved by the HP and 3Com boards of directors, calls for HP to pay $7.90 per share in cash for 3Com.
Microsoft Lays off 800 People
Microsoft is laying off another 800 people, adding to the 5,000 the company has already let go this year.
The Techflash blog first reported the news.
The affected people are based around the world and work in various groups and will be notified on Wednesday, Microsoft said.
T-Mobile USA Restores Voice, Data Services After Disruption
Barnes & Noble Sued over E-Reader
Back on October 19th, a company called Spring Design introduced an e-reader called Alex. It had two significant features in common with Barnes & Noble's Nook, which was introduced a day later: Both sport a large monochrome e-ink screen and a smaller touch-sensitive color display below, and both run Google's Android OS.
Spring Design is now saying that the similarity is too close for comfort, and that it's suing Barnes & Noble.
Verizon Cranks Up Droid Hype Machine
Verizon Wireless will open many of its 2,000 retail stores early on Friday for first day sales of the Droid smartphone, adding to the marketing hype already begun for the Android 2.0 device from Motorola Inc.
Some stores will open at 7 a.m. and others at 8 a.m. A list of stores is available on Verizon's Web site although the site doesn't say which will open earlier and advises calling the store in advance to be sure. The QWERTY keyboard slider device sells for $200 after a rebate and a new two-year contract.
Twitter Warns of New Phishing Attack
Twitter warned users Tuesday of a new phishing scam on the social networking site.
It's the latest in a series of scams that have plagued the site over the past year, designed to trick victims into giving up their user names and passwords.
"We've seen a few phishing attempts today, if you've received a strange DM and it takes you to a Twitter login page, don't do it!," Twitter wrote on its Spam message page.
Ultimate Showdown: Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7
It's the best of times if you're a lover of operating systems, with the nearly simultaneous release of Apple's Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" (available right now) and Microsoft's Windows 7 (available Oct. 22). This leads to the inevitable debate: Which is the better operating system, Windows 7 or Snow Leopard?