Consumer content

BlackBerry Messenger 7 lets you make phone calls via Wi-Fi

Research In Motion users can now text or talk with their BlackBerry Messenger contacts via version 7.

A new voice feature in the latest version allows you to make free phone calls to your BBM contacts over a local Wi-Fi connection. Beyond calling someone initially, you can start off the conversation by texting and then switch to a voice call if needed. You can also tell when your BBM contacts are available for a voice call.

RIM kicked off the new BBM voice calling through the app's beta last month and said the feature received a positive response from … Read more

Ada Lovelace, early computer whiz, gets Doodle love

Today's Google Doodle honors the birth of a computer visionary who believed such machines could be more than just number crunchers.

Born December 10, 1815, Ada Lovelace is perhaps best known for her contributions toward Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, Designed but never actually built until 1991, the Analytical Engine is in many ways one of the ancestors of today's computer systems.

A mathematician and writer, Lovelace took on the task of first translating and then expanding upon an article describing the Analytical Engine. Her notes contains what some people think of as early computer progams or algorithms, … Read more

Barnes & Noble inks Nook licensing deal with HBO, NBC

Barnes & Noble today announced the launch of its Nook Video service in the U.K.

Nook Video is available to U.K. customers who own a Nook HD or Nook HD+. The offering features both films and television shows from a wide variety of providers, including BBC Worldwide, HBO, NBC Universal, and Sony Pictures. STARZ and Warner Bros. Entertainment have also inked deals with Barnes & Noble.

Upon booting up Nook Video, customers will find both new releases and older films and television shows. The videos are available for streaming or download. Nook Video is a partner of Ultraviolet, … Read more

Square launches gift cards

Square Gift Cards from Square on Vimeo.

Square, a leader in mobile payments, today launched a gift card service tied to its Square Wallet program.

The new service is designed to let anyone purchase a gift card for friends or family at any of the more than 250,000 businesses nationwide that accept Square Wallet, an iOS and Android app that lets users pay automatically with their mobile device. The recipient would then redeem the value of the gift using Square Wallet on their own device. All it takes to send a gift, Square said, is to pick a merchant, … Read more

Did Twitter's founder reveal its would-be Instagram killer?

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey may have dropped the first public proof that Twitter is getting ready to release its own photo filtering feature, a tool it hopes could help in its increasingly tense battle with Instagram.

A report published today by All Things D suggested that informed sources have said that Twitter plans to launch its photo filtering tool before year's end. A series of black-and-white photos tweeted by Dorsey today appear to have been created using Twitter's own photo hosting service, pic.twitter.com. That would mean that Dorsey, who has largely relinquished his operational role at Twitter, … Read more

Sony begins testing online Entertainment Network Store

Sony has started testing a new online marketplace to buy games, movies, and television shows.

The Sony Entertainment Network Store popped up on the Web today and was discovered by Eurogamer. For now, the marketplace appears to only be available to customers outside the U.S. When folks go to the site and choose a country and language, a U.S. option is not available.

Sony has not formally announced the marketplace, but in a comment on a blog posted to the EU PlayStation site, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe blog manager Fred Dutton said the company is "testing a … Read more

GameStop to carry Kindle Fire, give $25 gift card with purchase

Shoppers can now get their hands on a Kindle Fire tablet in a new location -- GameStop stores.

GameStop, the large video game retailer, now offers the Kindle Fire family of tablets, including the 7-inch and 8.9-inch versions of the HD device and the 7-inch version of the regular Kindle Fire. The devices will sell for the same price as on Amazon's site.

As a perk, up to January 31, buyers also will receive a free $25 Amazon gift card with any Kindle Fire purchase.

And if GameStop customers trade in an original Kindle Fire, they'll get … Read more

Xbox 360 outshines Wii U in November, NPD says

Microsoft's Xbox 360 has once again topped the U.S. game hardware market.

During November, Xbox 360 was the top-selling hardware platform, research firm NPD said yesterday. That was somewhat surprising, considering the Wii U, which is sold out nationwide, made its debut on store shelves last month. However, it's worth noting that the Wii U was launched about halfway through the month, giving it fewer days to rack up sales.

According to Microsoft, it sold 1.26 million Xbox 360 units in November, giving it the top console spot for the 23rd-consecutive month. According to NPD, the … Read more

FCC fast tracks text-to-911 service

Soon there will be more than just one way to contact 911.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced today that the four largest wireless carriers in the U.S. have agreed to fast track a service that will let people text the emergency 911 line.

AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile have all signed on and major deployments are planned to roll out in 2013 and the service should be fully available nationwide by May 15, 2014.

"Access to 911 must catch up with how consumers communicate in the 21st century -- and today, we are … Read more

Washington Post said to add paywall for online news

It's looking like one of the last vestiges to provide free online national news may be coming to a close. Joining its other paywall comrades, the Washington Post is said to start charging for its online content in 2013, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Inside sources told the Journal that the details are still being ironed out, but most likely the D.C. paper will start charging a subscription fee by next summer.

It's no secret that the newspaper industry is in dire straights. Several papers, like the Rocky Mountain News, have gone belly up and many … Read more