tout

Monday's top tech headlines are landing safely on your Earthly screens:

The Apple v. Samsung courtroom drama continues this week. The rundown: Apple says Samsung copied the iPhone and iPad. Samsung says it's just being competitive, and has also counter sued for patent infringement. Monday, Apple made the argument that Samsung's icons look the same as Apple's icons. What do you think?

The first week of Apple testimony revealed interesting tidbits, such as how executives liked the idea of a 7-inch iPad. We also learned that the iPhone was first called Project Purple and that it … Read more

Google, Canadians and Nic Cage. Tuesday's top tech stories are nuthin' but trouble.

Google may pay a record $22.5 million to the Federal Trade Commission to settle a charge over a privacy violation made public six months ago. Google is accused of exploiting a loophole around user privacy settings in Apple's Safari browser. And the Wall Street Journal says this would be the largest penalty a single company has been asked to pay to the FTC. The Journal first brought the issue to light and exposed how Google used a code to get around privacy controls. Ad … Read more

In today's show, we're stretching our thumbs, looking to Venus and pondering iPhone popularity:

It's time to gear up for the year's big video game conference, E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The coverage begins around 9 a.m. Pacific, noon Eastern when Microsoft holds its press event. Expect talk of Halo 4 and new entertainment features tied to Xbox Live.

Sony will be holding a press event late Monday evening, and Nintendo will be having one Tuesday to reveal more on the Wii U, right as the show floor opens.

Google will be holding an event … Read more

We're dropping down from space, getting touchy with Windows 8 and leaping over a new iPhone carrier:

The iPhone has taken a leap into the prepaid, no-contract world. Beginning in late June, the prepaid carrier Leap Wireless will sell Apple's iPhone under the Cricket service. This makes it the first carrier to sell the iPhone without a contract. But don't expect the iPhone to come cheap. The 16 GB iPhone 4s will be priced at $500 dollars.

So that leaves T-Mobile in the corner, just tapping its foot waiting for its turn to dance with Apple. With … Read more

In today's show, Yahoo gets a fresh coat of CEO, iCloud gets a lift and it's IPO week for Facebook:

After four months on the job, Scott Thompson resigned as Yahoo's chief executive. Although he has been in the middle of a scandal about the false statements made about his education, he also is leaving for health reasons. It's been reported that Thompson told the board he's battling thyroid cancer. Yahoo named ad-guru Ross Levinsohn as interim CEO. Levinsohn is the sixth Yahoo CEO in the past five years.

After Best Buy dropped the prices … Read more

Tout lets you create, share, and watch 15-second video status updates, all from your mobile device. But more than just a video app, Tout is its own self-contained social network, where you can find and follow other users, as well.

Because Tout is all about quickly shooting and sharing short videos, its interface is decidedly simple. There's a large Tout button always at the bottom of the screen, which lets you very quickly shoot and share videos. When you tap it, you can choose to either start recording a new video or upload an existing video from your device. … Read more

In today's show, we're flowing through apps, fixing our faces and keeping track of the roomie's tab:

At the BlackBerry World conference in Orlando, we learn more details on the BlackBerry 10 operating system. The interface has a multitasking feature called Flow View and the camera has a time-bending feature that can make sure everyone in a photo looks their best.

And though Research in Motion is pushing it's new virtual keyboard, the CEO made it clear today that the company is not abandoning physical keys. After this new all-touchscreen model is released later in the … Read more

For all the hype that Highlight received during SXSW Interactive, the app pretty much went silent when it came to the music part of the conference. Awareness of Highlight among techies was high, but it just never made it to the outside world. I'd like to say that this is surprising, but really, it's not.

Buzz apps seldom achieve osmosis between the tech world and the real world. Those that do sometimes find fame and fortune, but the majority just swirl around the industry vacuum before pivoting into oblivion. It's a problem.

One of the most basic … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--When you're a startup trying to upend a business dominated by a powerhouse like YouTube, and adding users far faster than Twitter did during its first serious growth spurts, it's essential that you take care of the famous people who want to come along for the ride.

For Gardner Loulan, the director of community and content at Tout, a company that's pioneering the way people use mobile devices to create short, sharable, and interactive video, catering to the needs of celebrities is something that can happen at any time.

That's why, in the middle of … Read more