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'Talking' smart cars embark on pilot test on city streets

The U.S. government is launching a project in Michigan where 3,000 "smart cars" will be able to "talk" to their drivers.

No, it's not some Knight Rider-esque KITT scenario, it's actually specialized technology that's equipping cars with Wi-Fi to see if such communication can make the roads safer.

"Vehicle-to-vehicle communication has the potential to be the ultimate game-changer in roadway safety," administrator David Strickland from the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement, "but we need to understand how to apply the … Read more

State Department revokes $16.5M Kindle contract offer

What once seemed like a dream scenario for Amazon has officially become nonexistent.

Two months ago, the U.S. State Department asked the company to negotiate a no-bid contract that would essentially earn Amazon up to $16.5 million to pass out Kindle Touches to the country's embassies overseas.

Today, the government announced that plan has officially been canceled.

Here's what the State Department posted on its Web site today:

U.S. Department of State solicitation (Request for Proposals) SAQMMA12R0272 for Amazon e-Readers, Content Management, and Logistics is cancelled and the Justification and Approval (J&A) to … Read more

Apple slams Justice Dept.'s proposed e-book settlement

The Justice Department's proposed settlement with three book publishers over alleged e-book price fixing is "fundamentally unfair, unlawful, and unprecedented," Apple said in a legal memo today.

In an antitrust lawsuit filed in April, federal prosecutors accused Apple and five book publishers of conspiring to artificially hike prices. The same day, the Justice Department announced it had reached settlements with three publishers but said Apple and the other two publishers had opted to fight the charges.

The proposed settlement -- with Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group, News Corp.'s HarperCollins Publishers, and Simon & Schuster (owned … Read more

Surveillance city? Microsoft, NYPD team on crime fight system

Microsoft and the New York Police Department have jointly developed a data aggregation and analysis system that allows officers to tap into live video camera feeds, 911 calls, mapped crime statistics, and license plate readers to fight crime.

Based on Microsoft technologies, the Domain Awareness System will be available to law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world, with the city of New York receiving 30 percent of the revenues, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced today.

The system, launched today, can help alert authorities to potential terrorist activities as well as fight everyday crime, … Read more

Why do they hate (and fear) Amazon? Count the ways

Is the future of book selling going to hinge on making a choice between a big corporation and a national treasure?

Earlier today the government released hundreds of e-mails received by the Justice Department in the aftermath of announcing its price-fixing lawsuit against Apple and some of the nation's largest book publishers. The e-mails, now available on the DOJ Web site, offer a window into the angst felt by bookstore owners, literary agents, and authors who worry that the government may be paving the way for Jeff Bezos' coldly efficient juggernaut to wipe out a generations-old way of life … Read more

Senator says Apple e-book suit has 'empowered monopolists'

New York Sen. Charles Schumer reprimanded the Department of Justice today for filing its e-book antitrust lawsuit against Apple. Using strong language in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, he wrote that "the suit could wipe out the publishing industry as we know it."

The Department of Justice brought the lawsuit against Apple in April alleging that the tech giant and a group of book publishers colluded to illegally fix e-book prices to boost profits and force e-book rival Amazon to abandon its discount pricing.

The suit also alleges that Apple and the publishers pushed an "agency model&… Read more

Checkmark offers slick location-based reminders

Apple's Reminders app, introduced in iOS 5, works perfectly well at notifying you according to your time- or location-based criteria. But a new app called Checkmark (99 cents for a limited time) gives you location-based reminders using your GPS and important locations you enter, and with a great-looking interface that's easy to navigate.

You start by adding locations important to you such as Home, Work, the Gym, and a friend's house you often visit. You can locate yourself via GPS, but you also can search for an address on a map and add a location pin that way. The next step is creating reminders based on your locations.… Read more

State Department offers Amazon up to $16.5M to hand out Kindles

The only e-reader fit enough to meet the U.S. State Department's needs is the Kindle Touch. The iPad and Nook simply won't do. The government has asked Amazon to negotiate a no-bid contract of up to $16.5 million to pass out Kindles to the country's embassies overseas. This was first reported by Nextgov.

If Amazon proposes a contract based on the State Department's needs, it would theoretically provide at least 2,500 Kindle Touches preloaded with 50 titles each to the State Department; but this number could grow because the government is looking to … Read more

Steve Jobs revealed blackmail fears, drug use in DOD document

Steve Jobs was forced to divulge several details about his life when he was seeking Top Secret security clearance in 1988.

The details were made public today in a questionnaire that Jobs had to fill out at the time for the Department of Defense, which was recently obtained by Wired through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Responding to a question on how he might be susceptible to blackmail, Jobs revealed that he had an illegitimate daughter and was concerned that he could be blackmailed if someone were to kidnap her. But a person at the DOD apparently wasn't … Read more